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My mom got me a great medieval cookbook for Christmas.

And we have been watching one season of Game of Thrones each month in anticipation of the new season starting in April. We are on season 5. So I decided to combine the two last Sunday.

I made two pottages for dinner. I made Buknade, a chicken, herb and egg one. And a pea pottage. Here they are cooking,

And here they are served

Tom did not try them. I thought they were good. Comforting but not spicy.

I also made a medieval custard.

There are saffron strands in it but no sweetener. I added our blueberries on top.

It was nice but again Tom was not a fan. But it felt medieval to me which was perfect for two episodes of GOT.

 

We have been rewatching the entire GOT series in anticipation of the new season starting in April.  For some of these episodes I have been making some medieval meals so I decided to add them to this blog.

As the new season gets closer I will get more serious about medieval cooking and with the last season, each episode will have a complete medieval meal.  So stay tuned!

For our last Halloween evening I made some Game of Thrones food.  Here is Honeyed Chicken

and here is Turnips in Butter.

Here is my GOT dinner.  I used our chicken, thyme, mint, turnips and peas.  I accompanied dinner with season 3 episodes.

We had a great Halloween.

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.

So tonight was an epic GOT and an epic meal.  I had to start a while ago finding a rattlesnake to cook.  I was able to get one shipped frozen to me.  Here is what it looks like frozen.

Two days ago I made the dough for the Traditional Flatbread, and I made the Stuffed Grape Leaves.  The leaf dish is based on  A Feast For Crows, “The kid had been roasted with lemon and honey.  With it were grape leaves stuffed with a melange of raisins, onions, mushrooms, and fiery dragon peppers.”  The recipe called for a jalapeños pepper instead of dragon ones, and I replaced the ground lamb with our goat sausage.

This afternoon I baked the flat bread.  I then made the Chickpea Paste.  We love hummus, but this is my first time making it at home.  Per the cookbook, it has been a staple in the Arabic world since ancient times.  Here it is:

Tom grilled the rattlesnake (with a steak and potatoes for him to eat) while I assembled the rest of the ingredients.

While he was grilling I made Honey-Spiced Locusts.  This are, of course, featured in The Fighting Pits of Meereen.  I also gathered feta cheese and olives.

This was supposed to be served with a sweet red wine.  I chose this one from Bevmo.

I made the Fiery Sauce to go on the Dornish Snake.  The sauce is from A Feast For Crows, “The best snake sauce had a drop of venom in it, he had heard, along with mustard seeds and dragon peppers. ” The recipe though had no venom mentioned.  Ancho peppers were used instead of dragon ones.  Finally all the parts of this meal were ready.

The sauce was placed on the snake, and dinner was ready in time for the show.  The snake was fairly tough and stringy and had little meat and lots of bones.  The sauce was great though.  I love the stuffed grape leaves, chickpea paste, olives and feta, like always. The locust tasted burnt and were not tasty.  The wine tasted like grape Koolaid.

So now I can say I have eaten rattlesnake and locusts and never need to again.  The rest was like a good Greek restaurant meal so I am happy.  And I moved on to a favorite dry red wine instead.  And I got to watch Ellaria Sand get punished.

Although I like most of the food, I will not miss Dorne.

So today I decided to have the Breaktfast of Drone.  I am thinking that Dorne is not going to be featured in the future of this series after the events of last week.  This dish was featured in A Storm Of Swords, “a Dornish dish of onions, cheese, and chopped eggs cooked up with fiery peppers.”  Above are the peppers chopped up which are bell, jalapeño and poblano peppers.  I could not find cubanelle peppers for this dish.  Below is the egg dish with more peppers on the side and traditional flatbread.

The eggs dish was quite good.  It was not spicy, and it was kind of creamy with the cheddar cheese mixed in.  I like it.  I ate this while rewatching last week’s episode.    I want to see if that is Yara Greyjoy at the end.  Here is Ellaria Sand earlier in the episode.

 

So we were in Winthrop Sunday so I had to wait until Monday to watch GOT and prepared my medieval meal.  I had to pick something relatively quick as we did not get home until the afternoon.  So I bravely chose the Snail Soup.  This was served to Tyrion in King’s Landing in A Storm of Swords.  The recipe is based on 2 fifteenth century cookery books.  I could not find fresh escargot so went with canned.  The spices of ginger, cloves and mace were intriguing.  I was not sure I could eat a snail, but when the soup was ready it was hard to tell the mushrooms from the snails and since I like mushrooms it made it easier to eat.  And it was actually good although I probably will not make it again.  Needless to say, Tom did not try it.

I accompanied this with Crusty White Bread and Elizabethan Lemon Cakes.   I tried to make the bread dough in my machine, but it ended up overriding an making a big mess.  The Lemon Cakes are, of course, Sansa’s favorite.  The recipe is based on Lucayos Cookbook from 1690.  The only lemon in them is zest, but they are quite tasty.  And I like that they are not quite cookies and not quite cake but in between,  I was supposed to have white wine with the meal, but was out (and forgot about my quince wine aging in the cellar) so I had Alameda Yellow Wolf IPA instead.  It actually accompanied the soup quite well.    So all in all a great meal to watch these scenes in King’s Landing.

So the premier is finally here!!!  I have longed plan to have pigeon pie for this day.

I decided to have Sansa Salad with it.  The recipe is loosely based on a salad from the 14th century Forme of Cury.  The mint and rose petals are ours.  Unfortunate our spinach has bolted in the heat so I had to buy it as well as the other ingredients (prunes, candied walnuts, lemongrass and pomegranate vinaigrette).

The pigeon pie was a little more challenging. I had trouble finding the pigeon (squab).  I bought quail as a substitute but then thought, if you are going to have pigeon pie you need to have pigeon meat. So I finally purchased pigeon from Marx Meats and had it shipped.  (If you want some of the extra pigeon let me know.)  The chicken stock and egg are ours but the rest of the ingredients are purchased.  The recipe is based on A Proper New Booke Of Cokery from 1545.  It, of course, was served at Joffrey’s wedding just before  he died.

The meal called for red wine. So unfortunately I could not break out the GOT beer my cousin bought for me for the premier.  But I will break it out soon.  This is the wine I chose.

Here is the meal all assembled.  I had “Pumpkin” Soup as well.  I could not find any pumpkin this time of year and our Neon pumpkins are not ready.  So I settled for using butternut and acorn squash with sweet potato.

The meal was excellent.  The salad is flavorful and refreshing.  The soup tastes somewhat like a pumpkin pie filling but not as sweet.  The pigeon pie is rich and unique.  An excellent accompaniment to the new season.

Here’s to a new and exciting season!