Beef and Bacon Pies

“Part of him wanted nothing so much as to hear Bran laugh again, to sup on one of Gage’s beef-and-bacon pies, to listen to Old Nan tell her tales of the children of the forest and Florian the Fool.” -A Game of Thrones

Medieval Beef-and-Bacon Pie

Thoughts:

Both of these pies are delicious, but they are very different; the medieval pie is sweet, the modern is savory.

The sweetness of the medieval pie comes from added fruit and honey. As the pie bakes, the fruit melts, giving a lovely counter-taste to the tart vinegar and salty bacon. The fruit flavor fades into the background and what remains is a sweet, rich meat pie with an easy medley of flavors.

The savory modern pie was more what we imagined when we read about beef-and-bacon pies of Winterfell. For all that this is a relatively dense dish, the flavors are fairly light. The beef, bacon, onions, and herbs are all distinguishable, but don’t linger overlong on the palate.

Bottom line? Medieval is sweet, modern is savory. Make both, and tell us what you think! *The Modern recipe is now exclusively in the GoT Cookbook.

Medieval Beef-and-Bacon Pie

ORIGINAL RECEIPT:

To make Pyes. Pyes of mutton or beif must be fyne mynced & seasoned with pepper and salte and a lytel saffron to colour it, suet or marrow a good quantitie, a lytell vynegre, pruynes, great reasons, and dates, take the fattest of the broath of powdred beefe. – A Propre new booke of Cokery, 1545

Our changes: We added bacon. Delicious, thick cut bacon, in place of the marrow. We winged the proportions a little on the dried fruit based on what was left in our pantry.

Ingredients:

Pastry dough enough for 9″ pie pan, top and bottom (Recipe)
1 ½ lbs. stew beef cut into small pieces
½ cup bacon, diced or cut small
½ tsp. pepper (or to taste)
½ tsp. salt (or to taste)
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/3 cup prunes, sliced
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup dates, chopped
~1 cups beef broth
2-3 Tbs. flour

On the stovetop, cook the diced bacon until the fat runs from it; drain off the fat. To the bacon pan, add the beef, spices, vinegar & the fruit. Add enough broth to thoroughly wet the mixture – the final consistency should be runny.

Throw in the flour and cook on low heat until the juices form a sort of gravy.

Let cool. Line a 9-inch pie pan with and fill with the meat mixture. Add a pastry lid or leave open-faced. Bake at 375º F until filling is bubbling and the pastry cooked, approx. 40 minutes.

NB: The cookbook contains a better, more delicious, perfected modern pie recipe, complete with a lattice-woven bacon top.

Rock Your Premiere Party!

In honor of the upcoming premiere of Game of Thrones on HBO, we have put together a selection of foods that would be ideal for any premiere party. We’ve included a selection of full recipes for those willing to try their hands in the kitchen, but also provided a “fake it” option for those with less time for or inclination towards preparation.

Make It!

In this category, we’ve thrown out a bunch of options, and will leave the decisions to you! You can choose to make one thing, or all of them (if you’re feeding an army). Options are listed in order from left to right, more difficult to easier.

♦ A Full Dornish Dinner ♦

Stuffed Grapeleaves ♦ Flatbread ♦ Olives and Feta

Honeyed Chicken ♦ Skewered Lamb/Goat/Beef ♦ Pork Pies

Cream Swans ♦ Lemon Cakes ♦ Spiced Honey Biscuits ♦ Baked Apples

Southron Mulled Wine ♦ Mead

Fake It!

For this category, we have listed all the easy food stuffs you can get at most stores, and put together for your guests to nibble on. Think of it as a tasty wayfarer’s meal, eaten on The King’s Road, between Winterfell and King’s Landing.

Loaf of Rustic Bread ♦ Variety of cheeses (cheddar, brie, chevre, etc.) ♦ Pickles

Big Bunch of Grapes ♦ Slices of Blood Oranges, Pears, and Apples in Lemon Juice

Pita and Hummus ♦ Variety of Olives ♦ Packaged Stuffed Grape Leaves

Store-bought Rotisserie Chicken ♦ Pre-marinated Shish Kebab Skewers

Mead ♦ Wine ♦ Cider ♦ Ale

NOTE: The trick to faking it effectively is purchasing high quality ingredients and presenting them well. Consider visiting Whole Foods. If you want to feel like you are at Winterfell, the bread needs to be crusty and authentic and the cheese should come from some small farm in Vermont. Serve on your largest wooden cutting board, with your most rustic looking knife.

Breakfast at Winterfell

“There was much more than she’d asked for: hot bread, butter and honey and blackberry preserves, a rasher of bacon and a soft-boiled egg, a wedge of cheese, a pot of mint tea. And with came Maester Luwin.” -A Game of Thrones

Breakfast at Winterfell

Thoughts:

The continental elegance of the soft boiled egg was a wonderful counterpart to the salty heartiness of the bacon. Likewise, the sweetness of the preserves and honey paired well with the other elements of the meal. It was an interesting textural experience, too. The almost creaminess of the perfectly done soft-boiled egg, the crispiness of the bacon, and the pop of berry seeds all added something to the meal. While it is a fairly hefty meal, the mint tea lightens it more than one would expect, and is the perfect finish to what might be the perfect breakfast.

Bottom line? It’s cold in The North, but this is a great breakfast for any time of year, anywhere.

Make it at Home

Pork Pie

“‘If I could fly, I’d be back at Castle Black eating a pork pie,’ said Sam.” -A Clash of Kings

Medieval Pork Pie with Currants

Thoughts:

When we began to make these, we naively thought, “Two meat pies? We’ll surely have leftovers for days!” They were gone within hours. Like many of our modern and medieval comparisons, the resulting dishes were quite different from one another. Here’s the breakdown:

The medieval pork pie is definitely in the sweet category. The amount of eggs in it makes it fluffier than the modern version, and the currants and ginger only add to the sweetness. However, it is a sweetness that really suits the pork. We might leave out an egg or two in the future, just so the meat holds together a bit better.

The modern pork pie is dense, and is very serious about being pork. It could have used a little more salt, but when dipped in either ketchup or BBQ sauce it is rendered delicious. If you do have leftovers, this pie is wonderful for a quick, cold breakfast straight from the fridge.

Bottom line? Modern is savory, medieval is sweet, but both are delicious, and will be a hit with anyone who can get their fork into one.

**NB: The cookbook contains a tweaked version of the Medieval Pie, and a much more dynamic version of the Modern Pie.**

Medieval Pork Pie

A-nother manere. Tak fayre porke y-broylid, & grynd it smal with yolkys of Eyroun; than take Pepir, Gyngere, & grynd it smal, & melle it with-al, & a lytel hony, & floryssche thin cofyns with-ynne & with-owte, & hele hem with thin ledys, & late hem bake, & serue forth. – Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books

Our changes: Instead of boiling down our own pork roast and grinding it up, we used pre-ground pork. Much easier! ALSO! This makes a great pairing with the Cream Swans, because you will be able to use the egg yolks for this, and the whites for that. Win!

Ingredients:

1 9″ pie shell with lid
1 1/2 lb. ground pork
1/2 tsp. salt
6 egg yolks
2 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/3 cup honey
1/2 cup currants
1/2 cup chopped dates

Brown the pork over medium heat. Let cool slightly, and mix well with all the other ingredients – The filling should be very moist. Place mixture in pie shell & add lid. Fold top dough under and pinch edges shut. Cut decorative steam holes in the top of the pastry, and bake at 375° F for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until a golden brown.

Modern Pork Pie

The new, updated, and totally delicious modern recipe is available in The Cookbook!

The Old Bear’s Hot Spiced Wine

“The Old Bear was particular about his hot spiced wine. So much cinnamon and so much nutmeg and so much honey, not a drop more. Raisins and nuts and dried berries, but no lemon, that was the rankest sort of southron heresy…” -A Clash of Kings

Thoughts:

The medieval recipe produces a hearty mulled wine, rich in spices. It is heavy and strong, without the sweetness of modern mulled wine, and might not be quite as universally palatable. That said, if you are making wine to serve out of doors on a cold winter night, this is the more warming of the two recipes.

The modern recipe produces a delicious hot wine that, while spicy and rich, is medium bodied and easy to drink. The sweetness of the honey and cane sugar combines brilliantly with spice of the fresh ginger; the result is an arresting tingle that floods the palate, without compromising the other flavors.

Bottom line? Modern if you are throwing a party, medieval if you are planning to walk The Wall at night.

(Guest review written by Firepony)

Medieval Mulled Wine Recipe

Cook’s notes: Don’t be afraid to meddle with the proportions to suit your taste. The amounts of honey, and ginger are negotiable. If you find that you’ve added too much ginger, you can add a fruit juice (“rankest of southron heresy” that it is), to balance out the flavor. The best method for adding fresh ginger is to crush it in a garlic press to release the juices. Sugar can also be added, to make the wine more drinkable for those who are not enduring freezing temperatures. Adding sugar and fruit juice make the wine more similar to the modern recipe, but are great for salvaging a batch of wine that is just a little too authentic.

ORIGINAL RECEIPT:

5. Potus ypocras. Take a half lb. of canel tried; of gyngyuer tried, a half lb.; of greynes, iii unce; of longe peper, iii unce; of clowis, ii unce; of notemugges, ii unce & a half; of carewey, ii unce; of spikenard, a half unce; of galyngale, ii unce; of sugir, ii lb. Si deficiat sugir, take a potel of honey. – Curye on Inglish: English Culinary Manuscripts of the Fourteenth-Century

Our Changes: This is a medieval recipe for hippocras, which is also mentioned in the books. Since both are a hot spiced wine, we decided to bundle them into one post. To match the Old Bear’s hot spiced wine description, we dropped the white pepper, and added raisins, cranberries, and almonds. This made it more like the Scandinavian hot wine concoction “Glogg”.

Ingredients:

1 bottle of an inexpensive red wine- sweet works better than dry. (Cabernet is good.)
1/2 cup honey
1 Tbs. each of ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, clove, nutmeg
Handful each of dried cherries, raisins, and almonds (slivered or sliced is best)

Bring the wine and honey to a simmer. Taste for sweetness and add honey as necessary. Remove from heat, stir in spices, and continue to stir occasionally. After sitting, the spices will create a thick residue which will settle to the bottom. Using a ladle, serve into individual mugs or other heat-safe vessels. Consider putting the cloves in a mesh tea ball, or cheese cloth, to avoid picking cloves out of your goblet.

Fun Fact: Ypocras was a very popular Medieval beverage, and many different directions for preparation still exist. Also called Hipocras, the drink is named after the famous physician Hippocrates.

Southron Mulled Wine

Our modern recipe is only really modern in the sense that it is still made today. The recipe comes from the chaplain’s wife at a top British University, and while the specifics are a closely guarded secret, the basic ingredients are roughly the same as the medieval recipe above. However, this recipe has no nuts and berries, and calls for one part orange juice per two parts wine. The juice helps cut the acidity of the wine, and lends the mulled wine a sweetness not solely derived from honey. The citrus juice, coincidentally, makes the wine in keeping with the “southron” recipes alluded to by the Old Bear. This is much less trouble to make than it appears to be:

2 bottles of red wine (Shiraz and Cabernet work well)
750ml pulp-free orange juice (1/2 as much orange juice as wine)
1 Tbs. cinnamon and 2 cinnamon sticks
1 Tbs. nutmeg
~3 1″ cubes of fresh ginger. Crush these into the wine using a garlic press.
~3 tablespoons of honey
3-6 heaping tablespoons of cane sugar (or white sugar)
2 clementines, halved. (or 1 small orange)
1/4 of a fresh lemon, squeezed over the pot. (Optional, but don’t substitute lemon juice from a bottle.)
12-20 cloves. These should be inserted stem first into the rind of the clementine so that only the buds protrude. (You may need to pierce to flesh of the clementines with a small knife in order to insert the cloves.) Float the clementines in the wine, rind down, so that the cloves are in the wine.
1/2 shot of brandy, cognac, or armagnac (optional, but adds a pleasant kick)

Add all of the ingredients and bring the mixture to a simmer, but DO NOT BOIL. Stir it with a whisk often. Once it simmers for 5 minutes or so, reduce the heat such that the wine is kept just below a simmer. Heat for 45 minutes and serve with a ladle.

NOTE: The clementines make delicious boozy treats for the lucky guests still around when the wine runs out.

Lemoncakes, part 2

Elizabethan Lemoncakes, version 1

*UPDATE: If you dip the tops of the Elizabethan cakes in Lemon Curd, they become exquisitely delicious. I can’t keep them in the house for more than a few hours!*

Thoughts:

First of all, I’d like to thank the author over at Phantasmagorical Musings for her wonderful breakdown of the essential qualities of a Game of Thrones lemon cake. With such clear, concise standards, I were inspired to give the lemon cakes another go.

Round 2 of Battle Lemon Cakes was highly successful. Both the modern and period recipes yielded baked goods that would make top quality additions to any afternoon tea, whether in London, or King’s Landing. For a truly Game-of-Thronsian culinary experience, however, the period recipe can’t be beat.

The period recipe is Elizabethan; it results in deliciously dense lemon poppy-seed cakes with sweet lemony glaze. Although these cakes have a heavier consistency than the modern ones, they go down easily. Too easily. Don’t be shy with the lemon glaze, however, since most of the lemon flavor seems to bake out of the cakes.

The modern recipe, courtesy of Martha Stewart, produces soft sweet cakes with a consistency between pound cake and corn muffins. Mine puffed up a little more than they ought to have, so we might decrease the leavening just a bit next time.

Bottom Line: Tea drinker? Make both. Planing a premier party? The Elizabethan lemon cakes are a must.

Am I happy? Yes. Are they perfect? So very nearly. But I believed the third time would be the charm, and I was right. The winningest two lemoncake recipes are in the cookbook!

Elizabethan Lemon Cakes II

This is an original recipe, based on cake receipts from A.W.’s Book of Cookrye (1591) and The English Huswife by Gervase Markham, 1615. A round cake such as this is described in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, where it is compared to the shape of the medieval round shield, the Buckler.

Our changes: The original recipe didn’t call for lemon, which I added in. It also didn’t specify a type of seed, so I opted for the classic pairing of lemon and poppyseed. Makes ~9 lemoncakes.

Ingredients:

3 Tbs. warm ale
2 1/2 tsp. instant yeast
1/2 stick unsalted butter (4 Tbs.)
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 tbs. poppy seeds
juice and zest of 1 lemon
~2 cups unbleached flour
1/8 tsp. salt

Dissolve yeast in warm ale, along with 1Tbs. of the flour mixture. Your yeast should bubble up after a few minutes, indicating that the yeast is active.

In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in eggs and seeds, followed by the lemon zest and juice. Gently add the yeast to this mixture, then begin to fold in the flour and salt. Use as much flour as is needed to make a smooth, thick batter. Grease your cupcake pan, and fill the cups 2/3 full. Bake in middle of oven at 350° F for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool slightly before turning onto a cake rack.

For an extra lemony kick, try topping your cakes with lemon curd!

Modern Lemon Cakes II

Compliments of kitchen maven Martha Stewart, but I wasn’t that big a fan of the finished cakes. :)

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pan
3 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for pan
3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
Zest of 2 lemons, finely grated
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups sugar
5 large eggs

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with rack in lowest position, and grease your cupcake pans.
In a small bowl (or liquid measuring cup), combine buttermilk with lemon zest and juice. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
With mixer on low, add flour mixture in three parts alternately with the buttermilk mixture in two, beginning and ending with flour; beat just until smooth (do not overmix).
Divide batter evenly between pans; smooth tops. Bake until a toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean, ~15 minutes (tent with foil if browning too quickly). Cool 15 minutes in pan. Turn out cakes onto a rack; cool completely before glazing.

Goat with Sweetgrass, Firepods, and Honey

Medieval Goat

“She brought back a haunch of goat and a basket of fruits and vegetables. Jhiqui roasted the meat with sweetgrass and firepods, basting it with honey as it cooked…” -A Storm of Swords

Modern Goat

Thoughts:

The argument was fierce over which of these dishes was better. Although different, both were very good. The metal skewers allowed the meat to cook perfectly so it was very tender, leaving all judgment hanging on the marinade.

The medieval goat dish was succulent and flavorful. The garlic, salt, and pepper are a tried and true combination, and one that in this case really complimented the slight gaminess of the goat. While it was tasty, it struck several of us as generically medieval (if such a thing is even possible). This dish seemed more appropriate to the clansmen in the Mountains of the Moon than the nomadic Dothraki.

In contrast, the modern dish made me feel like a princess on the plains of Vaes Dothrak. I could practically smell the sweat of horses and feel the wind blowing through grass tents. This dish had an exotic feel that was lacking in the medieval version, and that, for me, made the difference. The complexity of the ingredients, and the interplay of sweet, tart, savory and spicy is lovely, and I found myself tempted to lick the plate at the end of the meal.

Bottom line? Medieval if you want medieval, Modern if you want Dothraki.

Get the Recipes!

Honeyed Chicken

“‘Hungry again?’ he asked. There was still half a honeyed chicken in the center of the table. Jon reached out to tear off a leg, then had a better idea. He knifed the bird whole and let the carcass slide to the floor between his legs. Ghost ripped into it in savage silence.” -A Game of Thrones

Thoughts:

Yum. The sauce reduces down to a thick, syrupy consistency, which melts ever so slightly when drizzled over the hot chicken. The raisins soak up the sauce, and become absolutely delicious little morsels. Combine a bite of the chicken, dripping with the juice from the plate, with a plump raisin, and you’re golden.

Bottom line? Omnomnom!

Medieval Roast Chicken Recipe

This was a recipe that gave us some difficulty; Absurd, when it seems so straightforward. However, there appear to be no recipes for “honeyed chicken” from a surviving period cookbook. At last, we found a recipe that we could work with. Thank you Ancient Romans! Now, you say that ancient Rome is not the Middle Ages, and you are correct. However, we use what we can. And really, it’s honeyed chicken. Are you really going to hold that against us?

Our changes: Since this dish is mentioned in The North, we took out a few things that were more Roman than Stark. We started with Apicius’ recipe for Chicken in Honey and Dill Glaze (Apicius, 6.8.2). Instead of white wine vinegar, we substituted apple cider vinegar, and added raisins, assuming that raisins are easier to come by in The North than are grapes. We eliminated the dill and date syrup for the same reason. Also, absolutely no fish sauce with our chicken. This left us with ingredients as follows:

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken for roasting
olive oil/butter (~1 Tbs)
salt

Sauce:

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup honey
Dash of mint, dried or fresh (abt. 1 tsp.)
Small handful of raisins
~1 Tbs. butter

Rub the chicken down with olive oil/butter and salt. This makes the skin crispy and delicious. Cook in an oven at 450 degrees F for approximately an hour, or until the juices run clear, and the thick meat of the breast is no longer pink.

While your chicken is roasting away in the oven, combine all ingredients in saucepan and allow to simmer until the raisins plump and the sauce reduces slightly. Remove from heat, and when the chicken is done, spread the sauce and raisins over the bird.

Enjoy!

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