Month: August 2017

So this evening was the finale.  So hard to say good bye to the series and to the cookbook but it was SO MUCH FUN!  Above is me in my best royal clothing watching the prior episode to catch the nuances of it.  I chilled a bottle of GOT Chardonnay for the episode.

And I prepared my last GOT meal.  So sad.  But it was great!!! I made Almond Crusted Trout and Medieval Leek Soup.  The trout recipe was one of the best things I have every eaten.  Insanely good.  It is based on a wedding dish in A Storm of Swords.  The leek soup was OK but not nearly as amazing as the trout.  It tasted more of the mushrooms than the leeks.  It is based on The Forme of Cury from the 14th century.  Here is the dinner at the beginning of the episode:

For dessert there was Roman Peaches in Honey-Cumin Sauce.  It is based in Apicius from the 4th century!  It is good with the combination of cumin and peaches.

For tonight’s dinner, only the chicken stock, mint and parsley were from our farm.  We have peaches but since I did not know for sure they would be ready, Tom bought some peaches earlier in the week from the store.  The trout and peaches were from King’s Landing which I correctly figured would be featured in tonight’s episode.  Here is Jaime and Bronn with the Lannister flag looking at the Unsullied from King’s Landing wall.

No spoilers here, but it was an unpredictable, amazing and incredibly heart-breaking episode.  Now the cookbook’s recipes have all been made (except the modern version of the medieval versions which I did not see the point in making).  Unless I unexpectedly find another GOT blessed medieval cookbook, this blog is over with the season.  I wish you all well in the days and cooking to come.

So last Sunday we were traveling to Idaho to view the total solar eclipse so we missed the GOT episode. Today I planned to watch it on HBO GO.  It took a bit to get the meal ready though.  I sipped on Hoppy Bitch IPA while I got things ready.  I started with making the cream swans.  These are from A Clash Of Kings.  Here are the meringue parts for it after baking.

Next I made Medieval Blueberry Tarts.  I used very freshly picked blueberries from our bushes.  Plus a lot of our eggs for this as well as the swans.  Sam loved blueberries tarts in A Game Of Thrones.  The recipes are from two fifteenth century cookery books.

Next I made Broth of Seaweed and Clams.  Despite our location, it was challenging to find fresh clams.  Tom finally purchased some from our local Haggen’s grocery store though.  This is from A Feast Of Crows dish that Aeron ate for breakfast.  Here are the clams boiling.

Then I made the Trout Wrapped in Bacon.  Getting trout was also a challenge.  Tom tried to fish for some after the eclipse in Idaho but had no luck.  So today he found some for sale at Skagit’s Own Fish Market.  This is from A Clash Of Kings.  Here is the trout ready to go under the broiler.

For the dinner I had the Valar Dohaeris ale my cousins Keith and Christina bought for me for Christmas.

Here is the dinner all assembled and ready for the episode.

And here is the dessert which was served with Tyroshi Pear Brandy.

The meal was largely based on the South.  As I figured, this region did not play a huge role in this episode.  The best I could do was Tyrion in Dragonstone.

There is only one more meal and one more episode left.  It will be the end of an exhilarating journey on Sunday.

 

PS.  I forgot to mention that the bacon came from our last year’s pig.  We are nearing the end of our supply until we butcher again this fall so it was a precious contribution to the meal.  I am 59 minutes away from the last episode and so excited!  Dinner is cooking and I am ready!!!

 

So last evening, I predicted correctly that The Wall would figure heavily into this week’s episode.  I started by making Elizabethan Wintercakes.  Now this dish is supposed to be from Across the Narrow Sea, but it is from dried fruits so I think it would be in the North as well.  The recipe is from The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby Knight Opened from 1669.  Although the dried cherries, candied ginger, Marsala and pine nuts are not from our place, I should mention that the nearly ubiquitous egg yolks in all of these recipes are from our hens.

Next I prepared the Salad at Castle Black.  This was the Lord Commander’s favorite.  The recipe comes from the 14th century Forme of Cury.  It was a challenge finding roasted chickpeas, but the turnip greens are finally available in our garden.

I opened a bottle of GOT wine that I was finally able to purchase.

Next I made the Medieval Pork Pie.  Sam said “If I could fly, I’d be back at Castle Black eating a pork pie.” from A Clash Of Kings.  The recipe is from A Noble Boke Off Cookry from the 16th century.  The honey, dried currants and dates were purchased, but I used our own pork sausage.

Last but not least, I prepared a Rack of Lamb.  We do not have any lamb meat available now so had to purchase it, and it was not cheap.  So I did not want to mess this up.

And here is the meal assembled just in time for the west coast airing.  The salad was good.  The pork pie and lamb were yummy.  The wintercakes are amazing with interesting flavors.  The wine was not very good though.  Overall the meal was great and paired well with the events of the show.

Only two more meals/episodes left!

So this is what it look like to buy a rabbit from a butcher (in our case Silvana, our favorite).  I still could into bring myself to kill our last rabbit.

We were at the Mount Baker Blues Festival on Sunday so missed GOT.  Then I had to work so it had to wait until tonight.  I managed to avoid all facebook contact with GOT sites so I could go into it pristine.  I started cooking at 2 PM with the Cold Fruit Soup.  This recipe is from The North and is based two fifteenth century cookery books.  The only fruit is apple so I grabbed William’s Pride apples from our orchard.

The next project was starting the broth for 16th Century Stewed Rabbit.  This recipe is supposedly for the South but seems like it should be for the North.  It its what Arya ate in A Storm of Swords though.  It is based on A Noble Boke Of Cookery from the 16th Century. I did not use our rabbit but did use our carrots.

Then I made Oatcakes.  This is from the North and loosely based on a traditional Scottish bannock.  Half of them have pine nuts and half have blueberries from our yard.

I finally got to use one of the ales my cousins Keith and Christina gave to me for Christmas.

I used the Dubbel Ale for the stew and to drink with the meal.

Next I made the Apricot Tart.  I realized last week that I had 6 meals and 4 episodes left so I started increasing the number of dishes per meal and mixing up the regions some. This is a King’s Landing dish but since it is mostly made of dried fruit, I thought it seemed appropriate for a north meal. It is from a 14th century recipe from The Forme Of Cury.  I had to buy apricots as ours are not quite ripe.

Finally the meal is assembled.  There is also Medieval Armored Turnips.  I had purchased turnips last month but they went bad.  I decided to substitute our golden beets instead.  This is also from the North and is based on a recipe from Platina from 1517.

This meal from the North was good.  The soup was  little grainy, I think from the Sandalwood powder.  The rabbit does, in fact, taste like chicken.  The beets were good as were the oatcakes.

For dessert I had the Apricot Tart.  I was quite good.

Here is Cersei in King’s Landing.

The episode was amazing as always with a mysterious ending.  I cannot wait until Sunday.  Then there will be Rack of Lamb plus the mystery solved.