Braised Apples with Cheese

“The last course was goat cheese served with baked apples. The scent of cinnamon filled the hall as Osney Kettleblack slipped in to kneel once more between them.” – A Clash of Kings

Thoughts:

This dish comes via reader Vinz, who suggested this recipe for the snippet from the book almost a year ago. I had always imagined them as whole baked apples, like the two recipes that went into the cookbook, and had pretty much written off the quote.

I am so glad to have tried this new version.

The apples cook until just tender, while the juices and butter combine to make that gooey, drippy, awesome sauce you see in the photo. Crunch of nuts, tang of goat cheese, bite of spices. I used walnuts, and some long pepper, which has a sharper but faster taste than ordinary black pepper.

The recipe technically makes enough for two, but I will admit to eating it all myself in a single sitting. It was awesome. I have no regrets.

Braised Apples with Goat Cheese

Time: ~20 minutes Serves: 1+

Ingredients:

2 apples, cored and sliced into eighths
2 Tbs. salted butter
1 1/2 cup cider
4 oz. goat cheese
2 Tbs. honey
currants, nuts, etc. for topping
pinch each cinnamon, ground pepper

Preheat the oven to 375F.

Melt the butter in a skillet or frying pan and saute the apple slices, flipping them so they are coated with butter. Do this for 2-3 minutes, then pour over 1 cup of the cider. Simmer gently, stopping just shy of the apples going mushy. When they still have some body to them, scoop out the slices and place on a baking sheet, preferably lined with a silicone pad or parchment paper.

Sprinkle goat cheese over top, and place in the oven until the cheese starts to melt. While the apples are cooking, add the honey, remaining cider, nuts/dried fruits, and spices to the pan. Reduce down until the sauce starts to thicken, then remove from heat. When the apples come out, arrange them in serving dishes and spoon the sauce over. Sprinkle with a dash of extra cinnamon, and devour.

February Brewing Update

This was a fun month over at the brewhaus. I got Game of Brews up and running smoothly, and have ironed out most of the problems with the forums. With the actual brews, I’m trying to strike a good balance between meads (which take a great deal of time to ferment and age), beer (with which I’m not very familiar, but still enthusiastic), and cordials/infusions. There’s something of an art to keeping the brews cycling through the carboys- too many long term brews, and the carboys are tied up for overlong; too many short term brews, and there won’t be anything awesome to drink in 6 months.

Even with the right balance, things can go awry. My first round of Gose was much too salty, although it had some great flavors apart from that. The Yorkshire Oat Ale seemed like something you’d only give to horses when I bottled it, so we’ll see how that shapes up. I cracked open the first bottle of naturally fermented Maple-Cider, though, and it is a powerhouse of amazing flavors. I win some, I lose some, and I spend a lot of time at the homebrew store. I also have to occasionally combat the chill of the apartment by incubating my brews near the warmth of the oven. The housemates are not amused…

So here are the posts that went up in February. I’ve been working on a ton of other recipes behind the scenes, but you’ll have to stay tuned for those later! :)

New Posts:

Started:

Raspberry Cordial
Yorkshire Oat Ale
Elderberry Cordial
Blackberry Mead
Blood Orange Cordial
Breakfast Stout

Wildling Cider

“Before Mance, Varamyr Sixskins had been a lord of sorts. He lived alone in a hall of moss and mud and hewn logs that had once been Haggon’s, attended by his beasts. A dozen villages did him homage in bread and salt and cider, offering him fruit from their orchards and vegetables from their gardens.” -A Dance with Dragons

Thoughts:

This is an awesome, no hassle cider. Because it naturally ferments, there’s no need to judge what yeast to use, or watch for blow-offs. There is no lingering yeast taste at the outset, which means it’s great to drink immediately after it’s done fermenting, or at any point during the fermenting process if you’d prefer a lower % alcohol with greater fizz. In fact, many of you have probably enjoyed cider that has gone slightly hard: the giveaway is the puffed up plastic jug, and the pfffft! of air when you take off the cap.

The fully fermented cider, when first tried, is dry, but with a nice round feel to it. The apple flavor is there, but not the sweetness. Instead, it has a sour apple element that I found quite pleasant, if a tad rough.

Although the wildlings would probably drink their cider as soon as it was alcoholic, I set a couple bottles aside to see how the flavors changed over time; It’s also a colonial American method of making cider, and I’m curious to see how it ages!

Get the recipe and updates on the brew blog, Game of Brews!

Brewing!

Brewing Projects from April

Having mostly settled into the new apartment, I’m ready to get back to brewing!

As with many such projects, it’s a lot more fun in a group. I’ve got a long list of various brews I’m planning to try sooner or later, and these are at the top of my list. Pick up to three of your favorites in the next week, and I’ll get to work!

And while the new brew is aging, I’ll be cracking open a few of my previous bottles. If they’re as delicious as I’m expecting, then you’ll have the recipes in no time.

Update: As of Feb. 2013, all brewing recipes will be posted on IatC’s sister blog, Game of Brews.

And if that’s not enough for you, check out the other fictional brew options over at Food Through the Pages! Ent-draught, anyone? :)

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It’s good to be the King… Robert Baratheon’s Ideal Meal

No wonder King Robert is so large, and there’s little question why the crown was six million gold dragons in debt.

Cheese.

And ale. And venison, mead, bacon, wine, tarts, and a plethora of other tasty, tasty foodstuffs. This meal left two of us utterly stuffed. The roasted veg were all soft and delicious, slightly caramelized from cooking in duck fat and cider. The venison was simply mindblowing. I have no words. The desserts were a wonderful conclusion, and proof of my theory that dessert occupies a different space in the stomach than does dinner. Sweet and delicious, we managed several of each before succumbing to a sensory overload. The honeycakes (forthcoming!) were absolutely divine, though. The Menu