Tag Archives: Westeros

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

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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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!

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Sherbet

“The stew was fiery hot, Hotah knew, though he tasted none of it. Sherbet followed, to cool the tongue.” (aDwD)

Sherbet

Our Thoughts:

Unable to decide which recipes to use, we tried three of them. We’ll start with the modern and work our way back in time.

Modern is YUM. The tang of the Greek yogurt pairs deliciously with the sweetness of the pom juice. This version took the longest to freeze, but was lovely and scoopable once it was.

The Oldish recipe is the most pomegranatey, having the most unadulterated juice in it. We tried molding it, which worked reasonably well, although might do better with a silicone mold.

The Traditional Sharbat is the strangest of the three, but I have a feeling that is just due to the recipe we used. We’ve had sharbat that was delicious, but sadly, this one falls short of expectations. The almond milk would better suit a fruit (haha!) like apricots, I think, rather than the pomegranate.

Verdict? We liked the first two about the same, and the traditional version not so much. Sherbet in just about any form, and any flavor, though, is just perfect on a hot summer day.

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Sister’s Stew

“The beer was brown, the bread black, the stew a creamy white. She served it in a trencher hollowed out of a stale loaf. It was thick with leeks, carrots, barley, and turnips white and yellow, along with clams and chunks of cod and crabmeat, swimming in a stock of heavy cream and butter. It was the sort of stew that warmed a man right down to his bones, just the thing for a wet, cold night...”

-A Dance with Dragons

Sister’s Stew

Our Thoughts

Ohmygoodness. This stew is exactly as good as it sounds in the book. Where to even begin describing it?

The vegetables are wonderful, and add a welcome splash of color that is absent from many seafood chowders. Your brain will think the turnips are potatoes, and the sliced leeks separate in the mix such that every bite is bursting with both veg and fish. Despite the vast quantities of fish that went into the stew, it did not taste overly fishy. Instead, the seafood flavors melt into the creamy broth, mingling with the aromatic garlic and the very subtle hint of saffron.

We served ours in a loaf of black bread, which adds so many additional complex flavors that we found ourselves spooning up more and more to try and experience them all.

Definitely a keeper, and a must try recipe that’s now in the cookbook!!

 

Tyrion’s Breakfast at Winterfell

“A servant approached. “Bread,” Tyrion told him, “and two of those little fish, and a mug of that good dark beer to wash them down. Oh, and some bacon. Burn it until it turns black.” ” (Game of Thrones)

Tyrion’s Breakfast at Winterfell

Our thoughts:

Not a bad way to start a day.  This is the favorite breakfast of our sous chef, taster cat.  He would like it every day.

However, call me traditional, but I really missed the presence of eggs in this breakfast.  Bacon is always a sound choice, and the bread is yum, especially combined with butter and honey. The fish didn’t quite hit the mark, though. We would rather a darker, smokier fish that would suit the bacon, rather than such a light, flaky cod. Perhaps even a dried and salted fish? Next time, we might try pairing it with our Traditional Fingerfish…

 For a really decadent and true-to-the-books experience, try pairing the breakfast with a dark coffee porter or stout. The beer goes with the medieval setting, while the slight coffee taste appeals to one’s morning psychology.

Make it at Home!

Peaches in Honey

“When a serving girl brought her supper, she almost kissed her.  There was hot bread and fresh-churned butter, a thick beef soup, capon and carrots, and peaches in honey.  ‘Even the food tastes sweeter,’ she thought.” -A Clash of Kings

Modern Peaches in Honey

Thoughts:

The Roman recipe is very curious. The tastes are both familiar and strange, as we aren’t used to cumin being used in desserts.  The pepper lingers on the back of your palate, lengthening the slightly spicy sensation started by the cumin. We used a sweet wine, but the slight tartness of a vinegar would be lovely with the other flavor elements. The syrup is very sweet, such that a small portion goes a long way. In the end, we decided the flavor would work beautifully as a chutney, or a side dish to a meaty main course, rather than a dessert.

The modern recipe is pure decadence.  Grilling the peaches brings them to their absolute sweetness, and they half cook, making them reminiscent of peach pie filling. The thyme infused honey takes the sweetness and complexity to the next level. You will want to savor every single bite, and including a dollop of creme fraiche or vanilla ice cream will only add to the dish.

So? The Roman recipe is what your favorite meat dishes didn’t know they were missing, while the modern version is a brilliant dessert. Both recipes are available in the Cookbook.

Salt Beef

“The rain might have stopped, but the compound was still a morass of shallow lakes and slippery mud. Black brothers were folding their tents, feeding their horses, and chewing on strips of salt beef.”

Salt Beef

Our Thoughts:

We won’t lie. We bought a ten pound piece of meat to cure without even thinking of the blog. We’re that culinary crazy. When one of us realized that we were pretty much making salt beef, we were a) relieved that this meaty goodness could be shared with the world, and b) absolved of the crime of cooking food outside of the blog. We did, however, look like a house of psychopaths for three weeks while the muslin-wrapped bundles hung in our pantry. Which has a window, of course.

But once we unwrapped and sliced into the wondrous meat, the weeks of apparent insanity were completely worth it. The meat is, obviously, very salty, but when paired with a sharp cheese and a good loaf of bread, it is the perfect trail food. We brought a chunk of our salt beef when we went camping, and it became part of breakfast, lunch and dinner!

A long wait for the finished product, but well worth the wait!

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Modern Fruit Tarts

Blueberry, Apricot, Berry, Cherry
                                                                        

Our Thoughts

Once again, tart success! As a dessert to an HUGE meal, these tarts were perhaps not well enough appreciated at the time of initial consumption, but it has been determined from their timely disappearance form the left-over counter that they are, indeed, a household hit.

The apricot tart is beautiful in presentation, and has a delicate taste unlike tarts using dried apricots. The fresh fruit has a lighter taste, and is accented phenomenally by the lemon and pistachio combination. Chocolate and cherry is always a fab combination, and eating them with a spoon straight out of the baking tin while no one is looking is certainly the best way to enjoy! The blueberry was a favorite, with a low sugar content it tastes very fruity, almost bordering on savory. The heart warming mixed berry tarts, with their failed shape and lattice, were, as Chelsea pointed out, like most Sariann food is, very rustic. And we loved it.

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Pentoshi Honey Duck w/orange snap peppers

“‘My fellow magisters have doubled the size of the city guard,’ Illyrio told them over platter’s of honey duck and orange snap peppers one night at the manse that had been Drogo’s. The khal had joined his khalasar, his estate given over to Daenerys and her brother until the wedding.” -A Game of Thrones

Honey Duck w/orange snap peppers

Our Thoughts:

Like many meat dishes, the star of this dish was the incredible sauce. Made with honey, orange juice, butter, and a dash of warm pepper, it brought out the richness of the duck.  Dripping with this sauce, each bite of the duck is succulent, a delight to eat.  We sauteed orange bell peppers with a touch of salt, as well as some baby bok choy for additional color, then drizzled both with some fig infused balsamic vinegar.  Amazing.  Serve with some flatbread, honeyed wine, and a table set with the strangest fruits you can find, and you’re golden.

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