Walnut Pie

seriously, no photo could do justice to this pie…

Thoughts:

I’ve decided that I’m going to make an effort to put more information in my blog posts, starting now. I’ll include a little about my process for developing the recipe, potential kitchen mishaps, and where applicable, historical tidbits.

With all my recipes, I begin by examining where in Westeros the dish appears. I then search for historical counterparts from our own world that seem to jive with what I know of the the dish’s origin, taking into account trade, climate, and so on. This dish was mentioned casually in episode 4.5 of the HBO show, but my ears perked up when I heard it. In this case, there is no visual, actual pie, so some extrapolating was in order.

In the show, the character Locke is the one who mentions it, saying they will “carve them up like walnut pie”. Locke is a northerner, apparently loyal to the Boltons. He is somewhat a reimagining of the book character Vargo Hoat, who hails all the way from Qohor.

So I had a bit of a conundrum. To make a pie that would be comfortable in a Northern hall, or something more exotic? In the end, I think I toed the line. Most recipes I found for walnut pie, including the historic ones, seemed to be a variation on pecan pie, with a sort of gooey caramel filling. Which I’m sure is delicious, but not especially interesting.

This pie is more like an enormous baklava, down to the flaky crust and syrup. Sweet and heavy, with spices that hint at a foreign flavor, it’s wonderful on its own. But add the maple whipped cream, and it becomes near ethereal. The light fluffy clouds of cream counter the density of the nuts, while the maple, cinnamon, and vanilla meld together so neatly that you’ll find yourself eating bite after bite, just to see if the next bite tastes as amazing as the last.

One question I wanted to answer, given the quote from the show, was how easy was it to slice a walnut pie. Since it’s sliced before baking, the answer is: quite easy. But as the knife slides through, it occasionally catches on a walnut with a soft crunch, which is a tad sinister, give Locke’s comparison. I guess that’s appropriate!

In any case, this is one of the best desserts I’ve made in a long time. Everyone who had a slice was quick to assure me that they could help eat the next one, if need be. It’s a fast favorite, and something I look forward to making again!

Walnut Pie Recipe

Prep: 1 hour Baking: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

1 16 oz. package frozen phyllo dough, thawed
1/2 cup butter, melted (1 stick)
10 oz. finely chopped walnuts (about 3 cups)
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Ingredients for syrup:

1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup cane sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cinnamon stick
pinch of saffron

Heat oven to 350°F. In a medium bowl, combine the walnuts, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Set aside.

Brush the bottom of a pie dish with melted butter. Carefully unroll the phyllo dough and lift the top layer off. Place this in the buttered pie pan, smoothing it down and letting the excess flop over the sides. Butter the top of this piece, and lay another on top of that. Repeat this until you have 8 layers on the bottom. Spread 1/3 of the walnut mixture over this. Top with another 4 layers of dough, buttering in between each. Add another layer of walnuts, then another 4 layers of dough. Spread the last of the walnuts over these layers, then gradually fold the excess phyllo dough corners in over top of the pie, buttering as you go. Do this with several layers of excess, then carefully trim the rest off even with the edge of the pie dish. If you would like a neater look, add a single layer of phyllo over top of the folded-in corners, cut in a circle to match the pie’s shape, and buttered on top.

Using a sharp knife, cut the pie into 8 even slices. Bake for 40 minutes. While the pie is baking, make the syrup: Combine the honey, sugar, and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer for about 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat, then add the cinnamon stick and saffron, and let sit to cool.

When the pie is done, gently pour the cooled syrup over it, making sure most of it gets down into the cracks. Let the pie cool for at least 15 minutes, then serve with a dollop of the maple whipped cream. The pie can be kept for several days in the refrigerator, but don’t cover it, as that will make it soggy. Enjoy!

Maple Whipped Cream

Ingredients:

1 pint heavy cream
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon granulated sugar (optional)

Beat the cream with an electric mixer until it thickens. Add the maple syrup, and sugar, if using, and continue to beat for a few more minutes. The end result should be a nice thick whipped cream with a hint of maple flavor. Best served immediately.

Pop Biscuits – The Faraway Tree

Pop Biscuits, filled with honey-butter

Thoughts:

This whimsical snack, at first blush, seemed wonderfully simple to put together. I blithely made a batch of biscuits, filled them with honey, and baked. They were not a success.

In addition to my wandering away from the oven for a bit too long, leaving the biscuits to brown, the honey soaked into the dough, leaving sweetened little hollows on the inside of the biscuits. Not cool. So a few days later, I tried another approach. This time, I baked the biscuits, and filled them after they were cooled.

This produced the winningest of successes. The biscuits are filled with these wonderful blobs of honey-butter, and when you bite into them, it does, in fact, almost pop. Each bite is sweet, but not overpowering, wonderfully portable, stealable, and all around scoffable.

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Grisel’s Finger Foods

“Grisel reappeared before he could say more, balancing a large platter. She set it down between them. There were apples and pears and pomegranates, some sad-looking grapes, a huge blood orange. The old woman had brought a round of bread as well, and a crock of butter. Petyr cut a pomegranate in two with his dagger, offering half to Sansa.” -A Storm of Swords

Grisel’s Finger Foods

Our Thoughts:

I wasn’t sure at first if this meal warranted a post. Although the array of fruit sounds good, simple bread, butter, and fruit don’t generally stand out as memorable. But then I started to wonder what sort of bread one might find on the Fingers. The unnamed keep that serves as the paltry holdfast for House Baelish overlooks the Narrow Sea, so I though, Why not try a seaweed bread? Along with some homemade butter, of course.

I had my doubts initially, but was surprised by the bread! It has a nice texture, crumbly yet relatively dense. The seaweed is hardly noticeable, and if I didn’t know it was there, wouldn’t guess. In fact, next time, I might even add more. There is a very subtle salty sea flavor that compliments the more rustic flours. With a little homemade butter and a sprinkling of sea salt, it’s downright delicious. It’s also a good way to get a little more green veg in one’s daily diet, even when living in a meager hovel on The Fingers.

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Seed Cake with Emptins – 1798

Thoughts:

This recipe results in a somewhat quirky loaf that falls somewhere between a heavy cake and a very serious shortbread. One slice will go a long way, and is best spread with a bit of salted butter.

Ingredients:Full Batch Half Batch Quarter Batch

1 lb. sugar 1/2 lb. sugar (1 cup) 1/2 cup sugar
half ounce allspice 1/4 ounce allspice 1/2 Tbs. allspice
4 quarts flour (16 cups) 8 cups flour 4 cups flour
1 lb. butter 1/2 lb. butter 1 stick butter, melted into
1 pint milk 1 cup milk 1/2 cup milk
9 eggs 4 eggs 2 eggs
1 gill emptins 2 oz. emptins 1 oz. emptins
seed seeds 2 Tbs. seeds
currants currants 1/2 cup currants or chopped raisins

These instructions are for the quarter batch, Bake at 350 F for 1-1 1/2 hours, or until it’s slightly brown on top.

Hansel & Gretel – Crumbcake

Hansel and Gretel, by Arthur Rackham, 1909

You probably know the basics of the Hansel and Gretel story: the standard wicked stepmother, a fantastic candy house, a child-eating witch, and the happy ending.

This familiar tale was recorded by the Brothers Grimm in 1812. It may date back to the Great Famine of the early 14th century, when many poorer families gave in to desperate strategies for survival. It also has elements in common with many other more obscure fairy tales, such as following a trail through the woods, abandoned children, and witches who eat children.

The idea of an entire house made of gingerbread and candy, simultaneously enticing and forbidden, stayed with me as a child, and is similar to the 14th century account of the Land of Cockayne, a fantastic medieval utopia. That house will be revisited in a later post, but for now, I’ll stick with the breadcrumbs.

The first time Hansel and Gretel are banished into the woods, they leave behind them a trail of white pebbles that helps guide them back home. The second time, unable to get pebbles, they use breadcrumbs. Later, they lose their way after discovering that birds have eaten all of the crumbs.

You will devour this crumb cake just as readily:

Despite the fact that a little goes a long way, you may be tempted to overindulge, given the wonderful combination of crust and cake. The rich, buttery crumble top contains warm spices, with just enough sugar to give it a bit of crunch. The cake itself is moist and flavorful, the ideal companion to coffee or tea.

Try it with breakfast, or with afternoon tea, or even as an accompaniment to after-dinner coffee hour.

Crumb Cake Recipe

Makes 1 8×8″ cake

Prep: 30 min. * Topping: 20 min. * Baking: 35 min

Cake:

1 1/4 cups cake flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter, cut into 6 pieces
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup buttermilk
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting (optional)

Crumb Topping:

1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons butter, melted and still warm
1 3/4 cups cake flour

To make the topping, combine the sugars, cinnamon, and melted butter. Add the flour and stir until the mixture is smooth. Set aside to cool for about 15 minutes.

For the cake, preheat oven to 325° F. Grease an 8” square baking dish and line with parchment, allowing extra to hang over the sides. This extra will help lift the cake out of the pan once it is baked.

In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add the softened chunks of butter one piece at a time, incorporating thoroughly until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs, with no large chunks remaining. Add the eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk, then beat together until light and fluffy.

Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan, spreading it evenly. Break apart the crumb topping and sprinkle over the top of the batter in an even layer.

Bake until the crumbs are golden, and a toothpick comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Cool on a rack for at least 30 minutes more, then remove the cake from the pan by lifting out the parchment.

Serve warm or at room temperature. Ice cream makes a wonderful accompaniment.

Butter Biscuits – 1798

Thoughts:

True to their name, these are quite buttery. More what we might think of as modern rolls rather than biscuits, they are simple and wholesome, stopping just shy of fluffy. Because they are so simple, they are a perfect vehicle for your choice of condiments, including jam, clotted cream, or honey on the comb.

Colonial Butter Biscuits Recipe

Quarter Recipe Yield: 10 small biscuits

Sponge: overnight Prep: 10 minutes Baking: 25-30 minutes

Ingredients:

Full Batch Half Batch Quarter Batch

1 pint milk 1 cup milk 1/2 cup milk
1 pint emptins 1 cup emptins 1/2 cup emptins (or sourdough starter)
flour flour 1/2 cup flour
1 lb. butter 2 sticks butter 1 stick butter
another pint milk 1 cup milk 1/2 cup milk
more flour flour 2 cups flour, plus a bit more

Mix the half cup milk with the half cup emptins, along with a 1/2 cup flour to make a sponge. Cover loosely with a dish towel and let sit out overnight. In the morning, your sponge will be larger, bubbly, and, well… spongy.

Melt 1 stick of butter into another half cup of milk, and let cool until it’s just warm; if too hot, it will kill the yeast in the sponge. Add to the sponge, and gradually mix in 2 cups flour. At this point, you should have a thick batter. Gently knead in additional flour until the whole mixture comes together into one cohesive mass that is soft but not sticky.

Tear off 8 pieces of equal size, and gently form into small rounds. You may either place these directly onto a baking sheet, or into the cups of a muffin pan.

Bake at 350 F for 25-30 minutes, until the tops are just slightly golden, and the biscuits feel firm to the touch.

They are best served with jam, honey, or clotted cream.

Venison Pies

Medieval Venison Pies

“Such food Bran had never seen… venison pies chunky with carrots, bacon and mushrooms…” –A Clash of Kings

Modern Venison Pies

Thoughts:

In a slight break from our usual style, I’ve actually stayed true to the medieval recipe, not adding the extra ingredients detailed in the book; the medieval recipe is just so quirky and specific that I wanted to try it as it was meant to be eaten. In the modern version, however, I’ve added in the carrots, bacon, and mushrooms to match the description.

The medieval version is quite strange. However, take a delicious meat, and smother it with butter, and there’s only so much that time can alter. The spices are quite a bit sweeter than those in the modern version, and go well with the butter. The rye crust, we decided, is like many medieval crusts, and is meant more as a container than it is meant to be eaten. I’d be curious (and may try it at some point) just how long it would keep, as it is essentially potted venison in a pastry container.

In contrast, the modern version is savory, bursting at the seams with venison, veg, and bacon. With such a variety of ingredients, each bite is different from the last in composition. The crust is wonderfully delicate and flaky, making it as enjoyable to eat as the filling. To be fair, though, this isn’t the best way to showcase venison, as it is just an element of the pie instead of the star of the dish. Also, rather than make a whole venison pie, we opted for this recipe to make several smaller hand pies. They might not fit in as well at a feast in Winterfell, but they’re ideal for snacks and lunches.

The Winner? I’d give it to the modern pasties, but the old version is fun to try.

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Magister Illyrio’s Dubious Mushrooms

“Mushrooms,” the magister announced, as the smell wafted up. “Kissed with garlic and bathed in butter. I am told the taste is exquisite. Have one, my friend. Have two.” -A Dance with Dragons

Black Mushrooms, take 2

Our Thoughts:

This dish proved to be more of an adventure than we anticipated.

We looked in several markets for black mushrooms, without success. Then, brilliance. I went to our local Asian supermarket, and cast about until I found an entire aisle filled with dried mushrooms. This, surely, was the perfect place to obtain suitably sketchy mushrooms. The winning bag reads, “Superior Quality Dried Fungus”, and beat out both the “AAA Dried Fungus” and the merely “High Quality Dried Fungus”.

Having obtained my dubious black mushrooms, I returned home to experiment.

They were horrible. I tried to prepare them many different ways, only to be met with the incontrovertable fact that the texture is simply unbearable. The butter and garlic just slipped right off the rubbery mushrooms, leaving us with a wholly unappetizing dish.

The second take is what you see above, and is wholly delicious. They might not have the same dubious backstory to go with them, but the trade off for great flavor is well worth it. Plump mushrooms bursting with butter and garlic- does it get better?