And the Winners are…

We have our ~~first two~~ four winners!

1) PGSmith

2) Steven Lefebvre

3) Jen Anderson

4) Katie Hilton

Congrats to our winners, and we hope the rest of you are not without your own copies for too long!

Even if you didn’t win, many of you get an honorable mention for great comments. You had us laughing, blushing, and so thoroughly flattered that we decided we simply had to include the best of them here. Enjoy.

I have already informed my family that we will be having a Westerosi-themed Christmas dinner this year. :D

Please give this comment a look,
For I’d like to win a cookbook.
It would be so cool to cook,
the awesome recipes from your book!

Winter is coming and the dark night is full of terrors…. I think it’s time for some comfort food, don’t you? I know of a great cookbook that would help with it. If only I had one…. :D

” a Man needs to eat…” <—- My best Jaqen H’Ghar impression. On a more serious note, I love just about everything about this site. I have made multiple dinners, lunch and breakfast using Inn at the Crossroads. In fact, today i graduated from college and for my grad dinner i asked for some Honeyed Chicken instead of going to some fancy restaurant. Lets hope the parents don’t screw it up. Anyway, congrats on the fabulous cook book, winning one would be awesome! Keep up the good work ladies!

the night is young and full of terriers,they must be fed!

By the Seven Gods of the Andals! I’d love to get one of these!

It would be an honor to win such a book of food goodness. So glad your dream is being realized, win or not I for see a copy in my possession in the near future, the flames tell all.

The things I do for love…of cookbooks.

I will pray the Old gods and the new for this cookbook. Hope this gets to Lima, Peru.
Winter is coming to the Southern Hemisphere

Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until dinner is complete. I shall feed my wife, garden my lands, distract the cats from jumping on the counter. I shall wear no aprons and win no cooking contests. I shall prep and serve at my post. I am the knife in the darkness. I am the blender on the counter. I am the fire that lightly renders the fat, the broiler that chars the trout, the dinner bell that wakes the hungry, the sauté pan that satisfies the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night’s Kitchen, for this night and all the nights to come.

I want this cookbook, for my belly is empty and full of rumbles (for Westerosi cooking!)

*Sansa pout* Please? It’s the only thing I ever wanted!

If I get a cookbook I will probably lose my job because I’ll just cook everything in it instead of going to work. That said… bring it on.

I can’t wait for the cookbook! I’ve been cooking along with the blog. Thanks for making Game of Thrones come alive for me!

By the old gods and the new, this is FAN.TASTYc !
… worked on that one for a while (:

My heart booms like galloping Dothraki horsemen. My stomach growls like the wolves of Winterfell. I hunger for the cookbook and its bounty of dishes and drinks from Westeros to Essos! May my flagon be ever full of joy if I am selected for the cookbook giveaway!

– Isaac, Lord of Donuts

If anybody gets between those books and I, and iassakka daughter of iassakka, will cut off his manhood and feed it to the goats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If I get a book here at Spain, I’ll be grateful to you, your sons, and the sons of your sons. I swear it by the old Gods and the new.

It’s my turn to host Thankgiving and my brother is a chef. This book may be my only hope.
I’m buying it regardless. If I win one, then I’d still buy one to keep with my GoT books.
That way I’ll have a copy without gravy stains. :)

COOK ALL THE THINGS!

I always burn my bacon until it turns black.

I’m continually amazed at the lengths the two of you go to come up with recipes and procure some of the less common ingredients to replicate the dishes mentioned in the books; and the attention to detailing you do to stage the photos for the website. Good luck with the book. It’s really nice to see hard work and passion rewarded.

In the name of the Old Cooks and the New

We do not sow
Hear me boar,
The seed is wrong
Only feast for a crow.

Chop the boar
Slaugther the fowl,
The chicken wings are rising
Brace your selves, dinner is coming.

The kitchen is dark and full of meat
But a Lannister always pays his meal!
This book should be in my home
Don’t hesitate – it is known!

I can’t wait! I need some recipes for all those pigeons in my freezer ;]

I hereby swear by the Maiden, Mother, & Crone that I shall use your sacred book to prepare the finest feast ever seen in or out of the Seven Kingdoms, one that would make that gourmand Tyrion Lannister my lifelong love slave. . .

Failing that, I can only promise to cook my ass off if I get a copy, & invite you two to chow down. :-)

Honor to you and your Houses for this! I planned on getting multiple copies, so this will make a good start!

I can’t wait for this to come out! It is going to be my default gift for weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, and Christmas!

If it earned me that free signed cookbook, I’d cook for all 40,000 of Drogo’s men, and their horses too!

Oh. Ever since I found this website, I knew I had to get a copy of your book! Someday I’m going to find the flimsiest of silk gowns, grab a crown, and lay around munching Dany’s dinner while watching a Game of Thrones marathon. I mean, why not be queen for a day? :D

I would defenstrate a thousand small children to get my hands on a copy of this book.
Your blog is brilliant, and I hope your book is very very successful! If I don’t win, I’ll be putting the book on my wedding list. :D

As a chef who has worked in Antarctica and the Arctic Circle I’m ready for the cookbook even if I have to go to the wall to get it.

I’ve spent all my money on wine and whores. Take pity on me, and throw a book my way! *grins*

Welsh Rabbit – The Hobbit

Thoughts:

Although the dish can be sourced back to the early 1700s, the origin of the name is unclear. In any case, this is the ultimate Bag End variety of grilled cheese, this recipe is equally well suited to the savory spread of First Breakfast, or the mouthwatering array of Dinner.

The basic concept is that one combines cheddar, beer, and mustard, fluffs it up with some egg, then broils the whole thing on slices of toast. The resulting snack provides a wonderful array of textures, from the crunch of the toast to the rich, fluffy give of the topping. The taste is reminiscent of beer mustard on a pretzel, although the choice of a darker rye bread gives the whole dish a wonderful, rich earthiness that perfectly suits those agricultural savvy hobbits.

Welsh Rabbit Recipe

Ingredients:

2 Tbs. butter
1 shallot, sliced thin
1 cup grated cheddar
1/3 cup ale or lager
1 tsp. mustard
pinch of salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
4 slices of bread, your choice
black pepper

Melt the butter in a saucepan, then add the shallot until it has softened. Add the cheddar, ale, mustard, and salt. Stir over low heat until the cheese has just melted. Add the eggs and stir until the mixture has slightly thickened, around 2 minutes. Be sure to not overcook, or you’ll end up with scrambled eggs!

Toast the bread, then spoon the cheesy mixture over the top of the toast. Cook under a hot broiler until the top is puffy and golden. Sprinkle generously with black pepper, and serve.

Cinderella – Edible Mice

A thoroughly compelling rags-to-riches story, Cinderella has inspired countless films, ballets, books, and songs. I went on a brief fairytale/Disney kick when I got home from Walt Disney World last winter, and am just now getting back to finishing off a few of those posts.

The earliest type of Cinderella story dates as far back as the ancient Greeks, and the account by Strabo in the 1st century BCE. In that story, a large eagle drops a beautiful sandal into the lap of a king, who searches the lands until he finds the woman to whom it belongs. The Chinese version from 860 involves a magical fish, but also has the crucial lost slipper element. The first Italian version, Cenerentola, was published in 1634, followed by Charles Perault’s in 1697, which first introduces the glass slippers. The Brothers Grimm didn’t write their version, “Aschenputtel”, until the 19th century, in which the fairy godmother is actually a magical tree. WILD.

Like so many of the older stories, the Disney version of this classic tale involves crucial help from animals, most notably mice. These peanut butter mice are so gobbleable that they won’t last long! These were a favorite snack of mine as a child, and I still occasionally indulge. ;)

Edible Mice Recipe

Note: This version doesn’t include a tail, but there are many varieties of candy that could easily fit the role.

Prep: 20 minutes * Chilling: 1 hour

Yield: 10 to 12 mice

Ingredients:

1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup powdered milk
1/2 cup honey
sliced almonds, for ears
sprinkles, for noses
1 cup cinnamon sugar, or 1 cup white or dark chocolate chips, for dipping (optional)

Mix the peanut butter, dry milk, and honey together in a medium mixing bowl. Roll into small balls, about the size of a large marble, then pinch into teardrop shapes. At this point, either leave them plain, or roll in cinnamon sugar. Press a sprinkle onto the point of the teardrop for a nose, then insert two almond slices for ears. Make the eyes with a toothpick. You may also press the shape of a curling tail into the back of the mouse using a toothpick.

To cover with chocolate, place the plain balls in the refrigerator for at least an hour to chill. Line a baking sheet with wax paper. Melt the chocolate in a small bowl in the microwave, then nestle it in a slightly larger bowl filled with hot water. Remove the mice from the fridge, and dip them one at a time in the chocolate, allow the excess to drip off, then place them on the wax paper. Before the chocolate sets, add the nose and ears, using a knife to make a small hole for the ears in the chilled peanut butter, if necessary. Once the chocolate is set, gently poke holes for eyes with a toothpick, and if you like, drizzle a little extra chocolate on the back for a tail.

Cookbook Giveaway!

GUYS!

These magical boxes appeared on our porch today:

They were full of cookbooks!

And because we wouldn’t be here without all of you, we want to share.

We are giving away Four SIGNED copies of the cookbook before the release date!

~~Enter by posting a comment below. Everyone is only allowed one entry, but you are allowed to comment more than once. The more banter, the better, as far as we’re concerned!~~

~~The entry deadline is Noon on Wednesday, May 16th, at which point two winners will be selected randomly.~~

UPDATE!

We have selected two winners for the blog drawing! However, you can still enter the giveaway for another two books on Goodreads. No harm in hedging your bets. ;) Open to all fans, everywhere.

Good Luck!

Strawberries and Sweetgrass

“Tables and benches had been raised outside the pavilions, piled high with sweetgrass and strawberries and fresh-baked bread.” -A Game of Thrones

Strawberries & Sweetgrass

Thoughts:

The first taste of summer, for me, has always been strawberries. If there were a way to further improve upon their juicy goodness, this incredibly simple recipe is it. Each flavor enhances that of the strawberries without treading too heavily. Both lemongrass and ginger are distinct, but work together to compliment the basic goodness of fresh fruit, making strawberries and sweetgrass a winning dessert in my book.

Served alongside a glass of iced mead or cider, this is an instant favorite for warm summer evenings on the porch, or for a winning contribution to a picnic.

Strawberries & Sweetgrass Recipe

Total Prep Time: 10 minutes Serves: 3-4

Ingredients:

1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup mead or hard cider
1 tsp. grated ginger
1 Tbs. minced lemongrass
1 lb. strawberries

Combine all ingredients except the strawberries in a small saucepan. Cook over low heat for just long enough for the honey and mead to meld together, about 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Prepare the strawberries by removing the leafy tops, and slice into a large bowl in an assortment of shapes and sizes. Pour the sauce over the sliced fruit and toss to coat. Serve either at room temperature, or chilled. It is especially good with a glass of the same mead or cider with which you made the sauce.

Olla Podrida – Don Quixote, 1655

Olla Podrida

Don Quixote – by Miguel de Cervantes – 1615

“‘That big dish that is smoking farther off,’ said Sancho, ‘seems to me to be an olla podrida, and out of the diversity of things in such ollas, I can’t fail to light upon something tasty and good for me.'”

Thoughts:

Olla Podrida is a kind of Spanish stew, the base of which is usually pork and beans, but can include any variety of additional ingredients. Although the exact meaning of the name is a matter of some dispute, a fairly safe translation might be “Hodgepodge”. Such a popular dish was it in the 17th and 18th centuries that it was not only mentioned in Samuel Pepys’ diary, but also in Robert Burns’ “Ode Tae a Haggis”. Quirky!

My recipe is from a Spanish reader of the blog, but I have taken the liberty of adding leek, and tweaking the seasoning to my own tastes. The resulting the broth is relatively light, but complex and hearty, although that seems like an impossible contradiction. The spiciness of the chorizo gives it a bite that is neither instant nor cumulative. In this way you can enjoy the full flavors of the broth, followed by a long pleasant heat.

The egg, called a tortilla in Spain, is the perfect accompaniment to the stew; not quite like an omelette as we know it, nor yet quite like a fritatta, the texture is hearty, yet somehow still fluffy and reasonably light. The small amount of chorizo mixed in with the other ingredients calls to the spicy sausage in the stew, and the pairing of the tortilla along with the blood sausage makes it a meal, rather than just soup.

Olla Podrida Recipe

Prep: 1 hour Cook Time: ~2 hours

Serves 6

Cook’s Note: The stew is served alongside the blood sausage and the egg tortilla. Be careful with the salt–the chorizos and the morcilla will salt the stew fair enough but better to taste it and correct.

Ingredients:

1 lb. red beans, soaked in water overnight
1 little pig’s trotter
1/5 lb. Salt Pork, rinsed
3 chorizos
4 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
1 leek, white part sliced thinly
salt to taste
1 blood sausage, preferably Burgos Morcilla
cumin and thyme to taste (optional)

For the egg tortilla:

3 eggs
a few springs parsley
1 clove garlic, minced
1/3 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup olive oil
Salt and paprika to taste

Soak the beans in water overnight.

Add the soaked beans, water, and all remaining ingredients except the blood sausage and filling to a stock pot, and cover with a couple fingers’ width water. Cook over low heat for an hour and a half.

Take out the trotter and the chorizo; discard the trotter and grind one of the chorizos finely. Chopp the other two chorizo into rough chunks and add back into the stew. Be careful doing so, as the sausages will be hot!

In a separate pan, beat together the eggs and the other ingredients for the tortilla, adding the ground chorizo from the step above. Scramble all of this together, and cook in a fritatta pan; if you haven’t got a fritatta pan, you can improvise flipping the tortilla with a dinner plate placed over the omelette. Cut into 6 equal slices.

Slice the blood sausage and fry in olive oil. Set aside along with the tortilla. If you would like your stew thicker, make a roux by adding just under 2 Tbs. flour to 2 Tbs. oil over medium heat. Cook until the flour turns a pretty golden color. While whisking, add a ladelful of broth to the pan- this mixture will thicken almost immediately. Add more broth until the thick roux is pourable, at which point add it back into the stew.

Season to taste, adding cumin and thyme as desired. Serve hot with the tortilla and blood sausage on the side.

Enjoy!

Nettle Tea

“‘Found some nettles and brewed a tea,’ Shadd announced. ‘Will m’lady take a cup?’

‘Yes, with thanks.’ She cradled the tea in her scarred hands and blew on it to cool it.” -A Clash of Kings

Nettle Tea

Our Thoughts:

Somewhat lacking in fresh wild greens in Boston, we sadly had to default to dried nettle leaves to make this nettle tea. However, if you are lucky enough to have fresh leaves at your disposal, we recommend using those. We’ve planted our own nettles, partly as a defensive wall around our garden, and will update this post once we’ve tried them fresh.

It’s high in iron and vitamins, making it a wonderful surprise infusion by the side of the road while travelling. We actually didn’t care for the addition of lemon to ours, although a good dollop of honey was more than welcome.

The tea tastes very green, without the sometimes unpleasant herbal quality present in many other infusions.

Nettle Tea Recipe

We have taken a few liberties with additional ingredients; it’s unlikely that Catelyn and her party would have had all of these items on hand, but it makes for a much better tea, so we hope you will indulge us. :)

Ingredients:

1 Tbs. dried nettle leaves, or slightly less fresh
honey to taste
other additions: mint leaves, star anise, cinnamon stick, lemon, etc.

Steep leaves for a few minutes, then season to taste with honey and any additional ingredients you like. The color should be a dark green, and the flavor strong

*Fun Fact: Nettle Brew is also a good plant fertilizer, rinse for soft and sleek hair, and can be used to make beer. Stay tuned for that one… ;)

Suckling Pig in Plum Sauce

“Buy me a cup of Arbor gold, Hopfrog, and perhaps I won’t inform my father of your toast. The tiles turned against me at the Checkered Hazard, and I wasted my last stag on supper. Suckling pig in plum sauce, stuffed with chestnuts and white truffles. A man must eat.” -A Feast for Crows

Esteban, the suckling pig

Our Thoughts:

Since we started this blog, we have desperately wanted to make suckling pig in plum sauce. Our own roast pig, lovingly named “Esteban,” was the star of our premier party. Despite his needy nature, what with the days of brining, hours of slow and low roasting, and incremental basting, Esteban was delicious. The skin was crisp, and the meat incredibly tender and juicy. Serving with the plum sauce made an epic pairing.

We opted for a smaller suckling pig, as we didn’t have the option of roasting outside on a spit or in a pit. Generally, pigs above about 18 pounds do not fit in regular home ovens. Our pig was 16 pounds, and just fit in one of our ovens on a slight diagonal. Larger pigs obviously require a longer roasting time, and the roasting method changes the cook time as well.

Esteban was born and raised on the pastures of Sugar Mountain Farm, in Vermont. Sugar Mountain is currently raising money through Kickstarter to build their own abattoir. Be sure to support their great project! Many thanks to Walter and Holly, as well as our fearless courier and pig christener, Gavi.

Continue reading →

Apple Snow – 1880s

This recipe comes from Mrs. Rorer’s Philadelphia Cookbook, a small unassuming brown book that I had grown used to seeing on my grandmother’s basement bookshelf. Only years later, after I had inherited boxes of those same books, did I sit down and begin to appreciate the coolness of it.

Originally published in 1886, it’s full of strange and wonderful recipes. The pistachio ice cream, for example, uses clover for green coloring. Should you find yourself without clover, lawn grass may be substituted. There are even beautiful, handwritten recipes scattered throughout.

See? It’s the coolest.

This recipe for Apple Snow results in a simple yet satisfying, easy to make dessert. It only takes around 15 minutes, including prep time, and the finished dessert is a light, fluffy, barely sweetened bowl of apple flavored fluff.

Apple Snow Recipe

makes 6 servings – prep time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

6 good-sized apples
1 cup of sugar
Juice of one lemon
Whites of six eggs

Pare, core and steam the apples until tender, then press them through a sieve and put aside to cool; when cold, add the sugar and lemon juice. Beat the whites of the eggs to a very stiff froth, and add the apples to them by large spoonfuls, beating all the while. Serve immediately, in glasses.

Now, I went fully old school with this one. I pressed the apples through a sieve, as per the instructions, and beat the eggs in a copper bowl, rather than use a hand mixer.

To me, there is something inherently wonderful about making such a simple recipe as it was originally intended. Unlike the whir of the electric mixer, the metal-on-metal of the whisk and copper forms a sort of tenuous thread backwards in time. It’s easy to imagine a cook whipping up such a recipe in the kitchen of a fine Victorian home around the turn of the century.

Map of Westeros – In Progress

This is the second round of a Game of Thrones-themed art project. I did the first copy of such a map over a year ago, but wasn’t entirely happy with the way it turned out. This is a segment of that map: inked details, and tea-stained for depth. I love the way it pops, but the rest of the map was not in keeping with the scope of the project.

The next map will include illuminated letters, more detail, and appear to be more authentically used. I would also like to do smaller scale regional maps, such as those that might be carried by military captains on campaign.

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