Elk Meatballs stuffed with Blue Cheese

“Roundels of elk stuffed with ripe blue cheese were being brought out when one of Lord Rowan’s knights stabbed a Dornishman. The gold cloaks dragged them both away, one to a cell to rot and the other to get sewn up by Maester Ballabar.” –A Storm of Swords

Thoughts:

This recipe has been on my to-make list for quite some time, pending only the acquisition of some elk meat. I had originally imagined them as small elk tenderloins, but despite a long search, could only track down ground elk meat locally. So I thought, “How can I stuff them with blue cheese?” And then inspiration struck: meatballs stuffed with cheese. It’s only a little stretch. :)

These are awesome. As they bake, the kitchen gradually fills with this wonderful meaty smell that heightens the anticipation of finally tasting the finished meatballs. They’re roughly two-bite morsels; the first bite reveals a center of melted cheese, the flavors of which meld incredibly well with the gaminess of the elk. I’d planned to serve mine with a sauce, but every last one was eaten before I could produce any… Maybe next time!

Recipe for Elk Meatballs with Blue Cheese

Makes about a dozen small meatballs

Cook’s Notes: Can’t find Elk? Venison, Bison, and Lamb would all work well with this recipe!

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground elk
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
hefty pinch each of salt and pepper
~4 oz. block blue cheese, cut into 1/2” cubes

Preheat the oven to 400F. Mix together the first four ingredients, taking care that it is evenly combined. Pinch off a little of this mixture and form around a cube of blue cheese, working to seal the edges. Roll into a ball, and set aside.

Place the meatballs on a cooling rack on top of a cookie sheet with raised edges (to catch the grease). Bake for around 16 minutes, or until cooked through and the cheese is melty. Allow to cool slightly, then serve and enjoy!

Meatrolls – Dragonriders of Pern

“Menolly had detoured to the Lower Caverns and shared with him the handful of meatrolls she’d cadged from the cooks.”

–Dragonriders of Pern, by Anne McCaffrey

Thoughts:

These are terrible. A curse, in that, so-easy-to-make addictive sort of way.

I made a single batch, and they were gone in minutes. I couldn’t make out all the words around the mouthfuls, but from the wild gesticulations, and later exhortations to please make them again, they seemed to be a great success with the test subjects.

You can use whatever variety of sausage you like. I happened to have some wild boar sausages handy, and they suited the recipe admirably. If you can get game sausage of any kind, it’s definitely worth a try, as they help defamiliarize the experience. In any case, the resulting combination of puff pastry (how could you go wrong?) and juicy sausage is a long tried and much loved pairing. The outer pastry shell stays flaky, while the inside soaks up some of the flavorful juices from the meat.

This recipe also has the added appeal of making small enough meatrolls that they would be snitchable from the kitchens of castle, fortress, or cottage, as Menolly proved in the books. Double win!

Pernese Meatroll Recipe

Prep: 5 minutes Baking: 20 minutes

Makes 12 rolls (it won’t be enough!)

Ingredients

1 lb. package pork sausagemeat
1 (17.25 ounce) package frozen puff pastry sheet, thawed
1 beaten egg
poppy or sesame seeds (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Unfold the sheets of puff pastry, and cut lengthwise down the middle. Make five more cuts width-wise so you have 12 long pieces total. Divide the sausage meat evenly between the strips of dough, then seal the ends together with a swipe of egg.

Arrange the sausage rolls on the prepared baking sheet. Brush with egg, and sprinkle with seeds. Bake for around 20 minutes, or until they’re puffed up and a nice golden brown. Allow to cool slightly before serving.

Avocado Fries

Avocado Fries

Thoughts:

They are SO good! Appealingly crunchy on the outside, the avocado warm on the inside. They make a terrific side, snack, appetizer, or even a vegetarian filling for tacos. Sprinkled with a little salt, they are divine. Be sure to invite friends over, though, or you might eat all of them yourself!

Recipe for Avocado Fries

Makes about 20 pieces

Prep: 10 minutes Frying: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

oil for frying
1/4 cup flour
About 1/2 tsp. salt
2 large eggs, beaten with a small splash of water
1 1/2 cups panko breadcrumbs
2 firm-ripe medium avocados, pitted, peeled

Begin by slicing the avocado in half, then into quarters. Then slice each quarter into 2-3 pieces. This should give you 8-12 pieces per avocado.

In a medium saucepan, heat 1 1/2 in. oil to medium. In a bowl, mix flour with 1/4 tsp. salt in a shallow plate. Put eggs and panko on separate shallow plates. Dip avocado in flour, shaking off excess. Dip in egg, then panko to coat.

Fry a quarter of avocado slices at a time until deep golden, 30 seconds to a minute. Transfer slices to a plate lined with paper towels. Sprinkle with extra salt to taste.

Mushroom Straws

Mushroom. Puff Pastry. Parmesan. Balsamic.

Rich, savory, and delicious, these mushroom straws are an easy snack for parties. Guests will marvel at their deliciousness, never suspecting how simple they were to make. I, for one, ate about half a batch on my own throughout the course of the day. Normally, I would be embarrassed to admit such, but I think you will agree, once you’ve tasted one, that they’re difficult to stop eating.

Puff pastry, in my opinion, is always a win.

But go on to fill it with this savory puree, and it becomes even better. The balsamic, while not quite robust enough to feature in the flavor, helps to round out the woodsy flavor of the mushrooms. The saltiness of the Parm stands out without overpowering the other components, and the pinch of pepper gives just a hint of a bite.

Truly, try these out the next time you’re expecting guests, and watch how quickly they go!

Mushroom Straws Recipe

Prep: 5 minutes Baking: 15 minutes

Makes about 40 short straws

Ingredients:

1 box puff pastry (17.3 oz.)
1 shallot
3 Tbs. butter
2 oz. mushrooms
2 tsp. Balsamic vinegar
3 Tbs. grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg, beaten, for wash
poppy seeds (optional)

Thaw the puff pastry.

In a pan over medium heat, saute the shallot in butter until it’s soft. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring, for a few minutes until the mushrooms are also soft. Remove from heat, and puree the shallots and mushrooms, along with all the butter, and the balsamic, in a food processor.

Preheat the oven to 400F, and line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper. Spread out your thawed puff pastry. If it is one sheet, cut into even halves. Gently spread the mushroom filling over the whole bottom sheet of pastry, making sure to go straight to the edges. Lay the top half of the pastry over this.

Brush the top of the pastry with a beaten egg, and sprinkle with a few poppy seeds. With a sharp knife, or a pizza cutter, slice the filled dough into strips about 1/2″ wide. Place the strips on the prepared baking sheets, twisting some, if you like, for visual diversity.

Bake the mushroom straws for about 15 minutes, or until they are a rich golden brown. Allow them to cool for a few minutes before serving.

Cold Fruit Soup

“There were great joints of aurochs roasted with leeks, venison pies chunky with carrots, bacon, and mushrooms, mutton chops sauced in honey and cloves, savory duck, peppered boar, goose, skewers of pigeon and capon, beef-and-barley stew, cold fruit soup.” -A Clash of Kings

Medieval Fruit Soup

Medieval Cold Fruit Soup

Our Thoughts:

On first taste, the medieval soup comes across with just a strong honey taste. The color tells one’s brain to expect a different flavor, a strawberry, perhaps, but once over that initial surprise, you can begin to really appreciate it for its own merits. With a little cinnamon on top, the soup reminded us of a candied apple, yet the almond milk lends it just a bit of exoticness.

This recipe, along with the modern version, is available in the Cookbook.