Honey Spiced Locusts

“Hizdahr had stocked their box with flagons of chilled wine and sweetwater, with figs, dates, melons, and pomegranates, with pecans and peppers and a big bowl of honeyed locusts. Strong Belwas bellowed, “Locusts!” as he seized the bowl and began to crunch them by the handful.” (Dance with Dragons)

Our Thoughts:

The things we do for food…

As soon as we read the description of honey-spiced locusts in Dance, we knew we had to rise to the challenge.

This Volantene recipe results in a sweet & spicy, super crunchy snack that is surprisingly good. It takes a bit of psychological adjustment to get over the idea of eating bugs, but the novelty and brag-factor makes it well worth the effort. Underlying the more familiar tastes of honey and spice is the real flavor of the crickets- a sort of smoky nuttiness that takes several bites to savor.

We dared to try it. Do you?

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Melon and Hard Cooked Eggs

“But the only sound was the wind in the fruit trees, and the only creatures in the gardens were a few pale moths. Missandei returned with a melon and a bowl of hard-cooked eggs, but Dany found she had no appetite.” (Dance with Dragons)

Roman Melon and Boiled Tea Eggs

Our Thoughts:

We paired a Roman recipe for melons with a previously successful recipe for tea eggs. The result is a very quirky, flavorful light breakfast, full of unexpected tastes. The sweetness of the melon competes with the spicy, peppery sauce, finishing with just the slightest tang of vinegar and mint. The eggs are a subtle experience, dark and smoky with a great spiced flavor. If you can come by duck eggs, they up the ante on this dish, but it’s also wonderful made with chicken eggs.

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Black Cherries in Sweet Cream

“Illyrio smiled as his serving men spooned out bowls of black cherries in sweet cream for them both.” (Dance with Dragons)

Black Cherries in Sweet Cream

Our Thoughts:

This is an easy dessert with a serious wow factor. I mean, have you seen that photo?

I would totally eat this dessert.

In fact, I did.

The cream isn’t too sweet, allowing the slight tartness of the cherries to come through. The pop of the cherries melts into the texture of the cream, leaving just a hint of purple swirl in the bottom of the bowl. It’s so good you may have to lick your bowl…

For an even more decadent dining experience, leave the stems on the cherries. Dip them into a dish of sweet cream, and gently eat them one at a time like a Roman Emperor. Magister Illyrio would be proud.

Get the recipes for the Sweet Cream in the Cookbook, and make it at home!

Fig Tarts, basted with Honey

Medieval Fig Tarts

Thoughts:

These are slightly addictive little morsels, and with good reason. Take a fruit as tasty and decadent as figs, dice them, spice them, put them in buttery pastry, then fry them? Yes. The unique spice forte mix gives the tarts a really unexpected bite without interfering with the innate sweetness of the figs. I used a Killer Bee honey to baste mine, which upped the flavor to a wonderful new level.

Why it should be in the Next Book:

It’s figs! It’s fried! All it’s really missing to be the ideal GRRM dish is bacon. Which isn’t that bad an idea… Overall, though, this is a great medieval recipe, and well worth a try at home!

Medieval Fig Tart Recipe

Take figus & grynde hem smal; do þerin saffron & powdur fort. Close hem in foyles of dowe, & frye hem in oyle. Claryfye hony & flamme hem þerwyt; ete hem hote or colde. –Curye on Inglish: English Culinary Manuscripts of the Fourteenth-Century

Ingredients:

8 oz. fresh Figs
pinch of Saffron
1 tsp. Powder forte – a Medieval blend of strong spices. For this recipe, use 2 parts cinnamon to one part each a combination of pepper, ginger, mace, and clove, to your taste.
1 Tbs. your favorite variety of honey, plus more for basting
Pastry dough- enough for 2 9″ shells (see this recipe)
Oil enough to coat the bottom of the pan

Finely dice the figs as small as possible by hand or purée with a processor; mix in the saffron, powder forte spice mixture, and the 1 Tbs. honey. Roll out the pastry dough and cut into medium-sized circles. On one pastry circle place a spoonful of figs, then cover with another circle of dough; seal the edges well. Fry the pies in hot oil until lightly browned & crispy; remove from heat and allow to drain. In a pot, heat the honey, skimming off any scum that rises. As soon as the pies have drained, brush on the honey. Eat hot or cold.

Rich Beet Soup

Modern Beet Soup

“Sweet beets were grown in profusion hereabouts, and were served with almost every meal. The Volantenes made a cold soup of them, as thick and rich as purple honey.” -A Dance with Dragons

Thoughts:

The Roman recipe is the stranger of the two, and more rustic. The vegetables, especially the leeks, don’t quite puree completely down, giving the soup a hearty texture with an earthy taste.

The modern version is more familiar to many, as it’s basically a borscht. It’s simple, wholesome, hearty, with a lovely smooth texture. This soup showcases all the best aspects of root vegetables. yum.

The winner? The beauty alone of these soups make them worth a try. However, the wonderful earthiness of the Roman recipe can’t quite beat out the overall winning qualities of the modern dish. Some things just improve over time!

Recipes available in the Cookbook.

Lemonsweet

“Arianne drew the child away. ‘You must be hungry. We have dates and cheese and olives, and lemonsweet to drink. You ought not eat or drink too much, though…” -A Feast for Crows

17th C. and Modern Lemonsweet

Thoughts:

These recipes produce two very different lemonades. The older recipe results in an intense, kick in the face sort of lemonade, with all the vibrancy of fresh lemons, and a sweet tang that goes on and on.

The modern recipe, ironically, makes a lemonade that tastes very old worldy. Using honey instead of sugar reduces the immediate sweetness prevalent in many modern lemonades, while the unexpected taste of the vanilla will make you stop and work the flavors over again in your mouth.

Both are excellent and refreshing on hot summer days. In the future, we might try infusing the modern version with just a sprig of fresh thyme or rosemary, while the older recipe could do with a bit of (non-traditional) carbonation.

Recipes available in the Cookbook.

Simple Dornish fare

When the sun set the air grew cool and the children went inside in search of supper, still the prince remained beneath his orange trees, looking out over the still pools and the sea beyond. A serving man brought him a bowl of purple olives with flatbread, cheese, and chickpea paste. He ate a bit of it, and drank a cup of the sweet, heavy strongwine that he loved. -A Feast for Crows

Simple Dornish Fare

Thoughts:

Mmmm…hummus. It’s really tough to go wrong with simple, basic, quality ingredients, and this spread is no exception. While you can certainly substitute pre-made pita or naan, nothing quite beats fresh flatbread, warm and straight from the oven. It’s so good that I have twice eaten it all before being able to photograph it.

Add to that some nice olives, a bit of tangy feta cheese, and a glass of strongwine, and this is a simple, easy, light meal perfect for the heat of Dorne, or the heat of summer.

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Book-signing Tour Recap

On July 12th, George RR Martin began his half-month book signing tour for A Dance with Dragons. Being the foodies that we are, we couldn’t help but start planning how to get him some of the food that he has inspired us to create. And since Chelsea takes projects a little too seriously, our plan soon expanded to include all of the stops on the tour.

However, since we are human, and cannot be in multiple places at once, and do not have dragons to take us hither and yon, we sent out a call to our fans, challenging them to take up our cause. Several adventurous souls willingly volunteered, and soon we were off.

The signing tour kicked off in Burlington MA, practically in our backyard. We loaded up a basket with lemoncakes, pork pies, cheese and olives, mulling spices, oatcakes, faux Tears of Lys, and a bottle of a local cognac, all wrapped up in linen and hand woven cords.

New York saw the efforts of Agent Oshidori well rewarded, as she was invited to the panel to present GRRM with the basket. He was very appreciative, and took the opportunity of outing our recent cookbook deal. Here’s the video: NYC Signing. Basket featured mini Beef & Bacon Pies, Salad from Castle Black, and Peaches in Honey.

Agent Kristin stepped up to the plate in Indianapolis, bringing to the table a delicious collection of mini Cheese & Onion Pies, apple-goat cheese-pecan tarts, spiced pecans, and a local beer. GRRM accused her a being a part of our “conspiracy”. :) Here she is presenting her Lannister-themed basket:

In San Diego, Agents Jason and Meegan wowed us with their assortment of Dornish goodies. Their beautiful selection included Flatbread and homemade Hummus with ingredients from their garden, Arbor Grapes, Olives Feta and Stuffed Peppers, Cheese & Onion pies, Lemoncakes, and a bottle of Arrogant Bastard beer in honor of the Red Viper’s daughters. Check it out:

In Seattle, Agents Adrienne and Kia stepped up to the challenge, packing their basket with biscuits and local honey, homemade PB & honey granola, local cheese and crackers, homemade winter cake, and homemade chocolate & fruit trifle. GRRM thanked them for the grub, and expressed his admiration for the country-wide planning.

Agents Amanda and Mystral teamed up in Denver to deliver unto The Martin two versions of lemoncakes, some Honeyed-chicken-in-a-hand-pies, some local beer, oatcakes, and pease pudding. GRRM was most pleased:

And that concludes the book tour! We had an absolute blast keeping up with the signings through tweets and FB posts, reading about GRRM’s reactions to the baskets as he moved across the country. Also, our field agents are ace. We could not have asked for better schemers and collaborators. You all rock, and we look forward to meeting you in person some day.

Many, many thanks to those who put much love and work into their baskets. Thank you also to the folks with Random House for putting up with our conspiracy, and thanks most of all to GRRM, without whom none of this would have been possible.

Happy Eating! :D

Summer Greens w/grapes and pecans

“This evening they had supped on oxtail soup, summer greens tossed with pecans, grapes, red fennel, and crumbled cheese, hot crab pie, spiced squash, and quails drowned in butter. Lord Janos allowed that he had never eaten half so well.” -A Clash of Kings

Summer Greens Salad w/grapes, pecans, and cheese

Our Thoughts:

There are so many flavors and textures in this salad that it takes one’s brain a while to sort through. The sweetness of grapes and apricot counters the tang of the arugula, while the bite of the fennel gives a flavor that lingers on the tongue. The texture combination of nuts, crunchy fennel, gooey jam, and the pop of grapes will give your palate a great deal to experience.

Recipe available in the Cookbook.

Buns with raisins, dried apple, and pine nuts

Elizabethan buns

“‘Eat,’ Jon told him. ‘There’s no knowing when you’ll have another chance.’ He took two buns himself. The nuts were pine nuts, and besides the raisins there were bits of dried apple.” -A Storm of Swords

Modern Buns

Our Thoughts:

The Elizabethan buns look cute, if a little strange, but they taste very good. The sherry gives them an innate sweetness that is only increased if you have a bite with a raisin in it. I was fairly unimpressed when I first tried them, but found that the more I ate, the fonder I became of these little buns. And if you imagine yourself to be on the Wall, facing down dangerous threats and overwhelming odds, they’re even better.

Check out this entry in The Cookbook for another historical recipe, as well as a delicious modern version!

Get the Recipe!

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