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Boiled Beans

Beans Yfryed

Beans Yfryed

“‘You want eat?’ Mord asked, glowering. He had a plate of boiled beans in one thick, stub-fingered hand. Tyrion Lannister was starved, but he refused to let this brute see him cringe. ‘A leg of lamb would be pleasant,’ he said, from the heap of soiled straw in the corner of his cell. ‘Perhaps a dish of peas and onions, some fresh baked bread with butter, and a flagon of mulled wine to wash it down. Or beer, if that’s easier. I try not to be overly particular.'” -A Game of Thrones

Modern Boiled Beans

Modern Boiled Beans

Thoughts:

Yes, I know. It’s been MONTHS since my last recipes, and now I show up with… beans? I’ve felt my own absence from the blogs keenly, and was delighted to get back into the kitchen this week. With a working oven, and a fully charged camera, I feel suddenly like I can make ALL of the things; As I type this, I have two new recipes in the oven. In the meantime…

The medieval beans are appropriately bland, and a good fit for the scene from the book. The onion flavor is there, and hugely amped up because the beans absorbed the oniony goodness during the boiling process. The garlic, while wonderful, isn’t quite enough to combat the almost overpowering onion. I soaked my beans overnight, but wait as I might, they never “bersten”, so I boiled them. The boiling wasn’t in the historical recipe, but because that’s what they’re supposed to be in the book, I felt this was a good compromise. I sprinkled a little salt over top; the poudre douce was interesting, but didn’t do the dish any favors. I had hoped to make a kind of bean mash out of the ingredients, then sort of fry them like patties, but the mixture was too wet to hold together. Still, with some binder ingredients, that might be a neat way to try it in the future.

The modern beans are universally much easier to like. Boiling them in soda makes them sweet, since they soak up all the flavor and sugars of the rootbeer. That sweetness contrasts really nicely with the smoky, saltiness of the bacon. The parsley is just there for show, but adds little pops of green color to the bowl. It’s an earthy, dense side dish, ideal alongside a big piece of meat. I’d probably like a little more sauce with this version- not quite like Boston baked beans, but it’s a tad dry as is. Next time, I’d add some crushed tomatoes, a little molasses, and stir until I was happy with it.

Overall, I found the medieval recipe more authentic to the scene in the book, but the modern version definitely tastier.

Medieval Boiled (and Fried!) Beans

Benes yfryed. Take benes and seeþ hem almost til þey bersten. Take and wryng out þe water clene. Do þerto oynouns ysode and ymynced, and garlec þerwith; frye hem in oile oþer in grece, & do þereto powdour douce, & serue it forth. –The Form of Curye, 14th century Cook’s note: I used a type of locally grown dry bean for this, but can’t for the life of me remember what variety it was. I’d wager that pretty much any kind of dry bean would work for this recipe. I love using roasted garlic, but regular garlic is fine. INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 1/2 cups dry beans
  • 1/2 onion, peeled and minced
  • 3 cloves roasted garlic (see below)
  • olive oil
  • Powder douce or salt

Soak the beans overnight, or at least 8 hours, until they look like they are starting to burst. Boil the beans and the minced onion in a medium saucepot. Add garlic, then fry them in oil or grease. Sprinkle with a little poudre douce, and serve! To roast Garlic: Preheat oven to 400F. Slice the tops off an entire head of garlic, and drizzle with olive oil. Wrap in tin foil and roast for around 35 minutes, or until the garlic starts to feel soft. Remove and allow to cool. You should be able to squeeze the cloves out of their papery shell, or fish them out with a fork. Nibble on a few, savor them over toast, and store the rest in the fridge, covered with olive oil. You’re welcome. :)

Modern Boiled Beans

  • 3 cups root beer (approximately 20 oz.)
  • 1 1/2 cups dry white beans
  • 3 cups water, plus more as needed
  • 3+ strips bacon, fried and crumbled/chopped
  • 2 Tbs. chopped parsley

Soak beans overnight in water or 8 hours, until they look softer and are starting to burst open. Rinse them and put in a pot along with the rootbeer and water. Rinse well and put in a stock pot together with rootbeer and water. Boil for 1 hour, then turn down to a simmer for another 30 minutes. If at any point during this process, it seems like there’s not enough liquid, add more water. After the time is up, the beans are soft, and the level of water is mostly depleted, turn down the temperature further and add the bacon and parsley. Stir to combine, then remove from heat and serve hot.

Venison Stew

“‘You can stand by the fire as long as you like. You’ll have food and drink, too. Hot mulled wine and a bowl of venison stewed with onions, and Hobb’s bread right out of the oven, so hot it will burn your fingers.’ Sam peeled off a glove to wriggle his own fingers near the flames…” -A Storm of Swords

Venison Stew

After episode 3.6, where Sam longingly describes this stew, I decided to finally get the venison and have a go at it. Fortunately, it coincided with a bit of a cooler spell here in Boston, which suited the heartiness of this stew perfectly.

While this particular description of the stew is fairly limited, there are others throughout the books that contain other tidbits. In other passages, descriptions of Hobb’s venison stew includes carrots and barley, and in the south, it’s stewed with beer. So, everything went into the pot, along with a few more additions of my own.

I used spent grain from brewing (see link below) for the barley component, because I can’t imagine the Night’s Watch letting anything go to waste. It gave the stew a unique texture, and was the source of some of those black flecks you see in the photo. The bacon, I’ll admit, was also my addition, but I don’t think anyone who has read the books can fault me for that. Everything tastes better with bacon. :)

The resulting stew is thick, hearty, and filling- just the thing for a cool night in the North. It’s wonderful with a hunk of rustic bread and a sharp cheese, and a flagon of the same beer that went into the recipe.

Venison Stew Recipe

Ingredients:

  • 3 strips bacon
  • 1 lb. venison (I used ground, but use any small cut you like)
  • 2 Tbs. butter, divided
  • 2 cloves garlic, diced
  • 2 carrots, chopped
  • 1/2 cup peas
  • 3 cups broth
  • 1 bottle dark beer (12 oz/335 ml)
  • 1 cup spent grain, or other barley of your choice, cooked according to its own directions
  • 1 cup small boiler onions, peeled
  • 1/2 tsp. smoked salt
  • 1/2 tsp. savory, or thyme
  • 1 Tbs. flour

Cook the bacon in a medium frying pan. Take out the cooked bacon, reserving the grease, and chop the bacon into small pieces. Brown the venison meat in the bacon grease, then pour it all into a medium pot, along with the bacon bits. In the same frying pan, melt 1 Tbs. butter. Add the garlic and cook for a couple of minutes, until it’s not quite browned. Add the carrots and peas, stir to coat with butter, then pour in 1 cup of broth. Cover, and simmer for a few minutes, until the carrots are tender. Add this mixture, along with the rest of the broth, the beer, barley, onions, and seasoning.

If you’d like the stew to be a little thicker, make a roux: melt the remaining 1 Tbs. butter and add to it the 1 Tbs. flour. Stir to combine over medium heat. When the butter-flour looks bubbly and golden (under a minute), begin to add ladlesful of broth, whisking to combine. This should create a thick mixture that can be poured back into your stew. Cook the stew for at least 1 1/2 hours on medium-low heat. Enjoy with some sharp cheese and rustic bread. If you’re using spent grains in the stew, consider also using them in the bread!

Root Soup

 “He found Dolorous Edd at the fire, complaining about how difficult it was for him to sleep when people insisted on blowing horns in the woods. Jon gave him something new to complain about. Together they woke Hake, who received the Lord Commander’s orders with a stream of curses, but got up all the same and soon had a dozen brothers cutting roots for a soup.”

Root Soup

Thoughts:

This is a basic soup, meant for sustenance rather than to showcase one’s culinary prowess. 

When constructing this recipe, I carefully took several things into consideration. First, that most of these roots would have to be foraged. The Brothers of the Night’s Watch are north of the Wall, which dramatically changes their supplies. They don’t have access to a pantry, and could only cook what they found or had brought with them.

I considered the roots to be foraged, a task I would have loved to experience firsthand, although I foraged mine from a variety of grocery stores instead of a forest. Salt pork is an easy enough thing to travel with, as is a bit of grain, such as barley. I happened to have cracked barley, and used that, figuring it would approximate the condition of barley after traveling in a saddlebag for a long while. 

The fun of a recipe like this is that you get to construct it much the same way that the Brothers would. The ingredients list is flexible, so you needn’t stress about finding obscure roots in order to make a perfect copy of my version. Forage among your local markets, in your pantry, or if you’re lucky enough, your own backyard. Or your neighbor’s: I won’t judge.

My finished soup was certainly not a new favorite that I would serve to guests, or even necessarily make again (barring a zompocalypse). It was mild, but flavorful, and very filling, especially when paired with a hunk of bread and a bit of cheese. I liked the adventure of seeing what new combination of roots came up with each spoonful

But it’s all about the experience and mindset. Sipping the mild broth from the comfort of your couch is a vastly different experience than coming inside from the icy winter wind to a steaming bowl of broth and carbs. Make some arctic wind noices. Sit in front of your AC unit. Or wait until winter proper (it’s coming, you know…), and try the soup after shoveling the drive or helping with snow fort construction. I promise that it will dramatically change the way you experience this meal!

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