Oatcakes - GoT Countdown

When they woke the next morning, the fire had gone out and the Liddle was gone, but he'd left a sausage for them, and a dozen oatcakes, folded up neatly in a green and white cloth. Some of the cakes had pine nuts baked in and some had blackberries. Bran ate one of each and still did not know what sort he liked best. - A Storm Of Swords

Good morning sweetlings!

The time is nearing, only 3 more weeks to go! I must say the excitment is building up rapidly, especially since I have been re watching season's 1 and 2 this week, and I forget how much I loved them. I feel like I have found a new found love for characters like Ser Jorah and Gendry.

On another note, this weekend I ventured to my favorite location from series 1-2. The North! And I made modern oatcakes with blackberry jam and pine nut puree, and like Bran, I don't know which I prefer!

Recipe:
Ingredients-

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp each of ground cinammon and ginger
• Pinch of salt
• 1/4 tsp of baking powder
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 1/2 cups plain flour
• 1/2 cup pine nuts
• 1-3 tsp olive oil
• 3 tbsp blackberry jelly (I used bramble)

Method-

• Mix together the butter and sugar until thoroughly combined. (I used an electric whisk)
• Add the egg, vanilla and spices.
• Add the remaining dry ingredients and whisk until a dough forms. 
• Divide the dough in two, and roll out into a flat disk. Cling film this and chill for 1 hour. 
• Repeat with the rest of the dough.
• Remove from the fridge and roll out further to a 1/4 inch thickness.
• Use a round cookie cutter to cut the cookies and place on a lined baking tray,
• Bake in a 180 degree celcius oven, for 20 minutes, 
• Remove and place on a cooling rack. Repeat with the 2nd disk,
• For the pine nut puree place them in a food processor and add the olive oil a teaspoon at a time until a smooth, thick paste forms.
• Once the biscuits are cooled, sandwich half of them with the blackberry jelly for a sweet variety and the others with the puree for a savory snack.

I really liked these biscuits, they resemble digestive biscuits and are great with a cuppa. The texture is also very short and crisp while the sweetness very mild and does not interfere with the savory variety too much. I think I would rate them a good 8/10. 

Since I have been re-watching seasons 1 and 2, I thought I would share with you one of my favorite scenes from two of my favorite characters. Enjoy!

Cheese and onion pie - King's Landing GoT countdown

Moon Boy mounted his stilts and strode around the tables in pursuit of Lord Tyrell's ludicrously fat fool Butterbumps, and the lord and ladies sampled roast herons and cheese-and-onion pies. - A Storm Of Swords

Hello little dove's,

Natalie Dormer

Kit Harrington at the premiere in London

Gwendoline Christie

This week was also the premiere of season 5 and for the first time it took place in London! Sky Atlantic are doing a short programme about the premiere this Monday night, which I am very excited to watch! On Tuesday night they will also be airing a 'Story so far' show. I think it could be interesting and I am hoping they will talk about some aspects of season 5.

The date is getting closer and closer and so I thought it may be a good idea to visit the Capitol.
This week I baked a cheese and onion pie from King's Landing. I actually stuck to the medieval version this time and it went very well. I served this dish with thyme and garlic roasted potatoes and a rocket and tomato salad. The recipe is as follows:
Cheese and onion pie - serves 6-8 people Time: 1 hr 35 minutes Skill Level: medium

For the Poudre Douce (sweet powder)

• 4 1/2 tsp cinnamon 
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp grains of paradise (I didn't use these as they aren't available in normal supermarkets)
• Pinch of nutmeg
• Pinch of galangal 
• 1 cup sugar 

For the pastry:

• Small pinch of saffron 
• 1/4 cup water + 2tbsp
• 1/4 cup cold butter
• 1 1/2 cups plain flour
• 1 egg yolk

For the filling:

• 4 medium white onions
• 1 sprig of thyme, basil, and sage 
• 1/4 cup currants
• 1 cup grated creamy cheese (I used Gouda)
• 8 eggs
• 1 tbsp melted butter
• 1/4 teaspoon saffron
• 1 tsp Poudre Douce

(Fresh herbs are expensive so I bought basil and sage and used dried thyme as I think it is the only dried herb that holds a lot of flavor)
Method-

1. For the pastry soak the saffron in the water and then either rub the butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs and slowly add the beaten egg yolk and the water until the dough comes together. Or use a food processor to combine the butter and flour, slowly adding the wet ingredients on a low speed. Chill in clingfilm until needed.
2. For the poudre douce, combine all ingredients and store in an airtight jar.
3. Parboil the onions and herbs for 5 minutes and drain them in a colander. Once drained thoroughly, put the onions in a very large bowl and chop the herbs finely and add them back together.
4. Combine the currants, cheese, eggs, butter, saffron, and poudre douce in the onion bowl and whisk thoroughly with a balloon whisk. Season to taste.
5. Roll out the pastry and press into a shallow tart tin. Pour the egg mix into the case and bake for 40 minutes. Serve warm.

Overall whilst the flavours of this dish were very tasty I found the texture very strange. Whilst quiche's usually have ingredients like sour cream, or milk, or cream to hold the mix together I found this was almost like an omelette in a pastry case. And the pastry while flaky, was not as crisp as I had hoped, It was a good 6/10 I'd say.

On another note, Sky Atlantic are airing GoT seasons 1-4 every weekend, this started on Friday, so if you feel the urge to watch re-runs before it returns, now you can!

 (sorry for the rubbish quality pictures this time, my phone is currently very broken so I had to use my little brother's)

Apple cakes from The Wall - 5 weeks until GoT

Jon was breaking his fast on applecakes and bloodsausage when Samwell Tarly plopped himself down to the bench. "I've been summoned to the sept." Sam said in an excited whisper. "They're passing me out of training. I'm to be made a brother with the rest of you. Can you believe it?" -A Game Of Thrones

Afternoon my sweelings.

Yesterday I chose the second recipe from my little project and baked some apple muffins from The Wall. Admittedly I once again chose the modern version because they just looked so golden and moist and mmmm!            

Though I really do think this recipe captures not only the passage of the book they were mentioned in but also the whole vibe of The Wall. Picture this:

You have just finished a long day or combat training with your brothers mercilessly beating you and putting up with witty and rude remarks from Ser Alliser Thorne. On your walk you realise you can't feel your toes because it's so cold. You have another day full of training and hiking and watching tomorrow.
You enter the dining hall and break into a warm apple cake. The gooey apple and Cinnamon aroma's hit you and it's tangy sweetness and buttery crunch fills your body with a cosy feeling.

Ahh, damn it, now I want another!              

They may not be the most beautiful or showstopping cakes but they sure are delicious on any cold windy night.

Recipe: yields 8-12 muffins
For the cake-

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (softened)
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp each of baking powder and baking soda
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2-3 apples (peeled, cored, diced)
• pinch of salt

For the topping-

• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tbsp butter (chilled)
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Method-

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Prepare your muffin tin with cases or if no cases then heavily grease the pan. 
2. In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
3. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. (TIP- if the mix starts to curdle add a few teaspoons of flour)
4. In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder and baking soda and salt. Add the dry mix slowly to the wet, alternating with sour cream.
5. Stir in the apples.
6. Fill each muffin case 2/3 full.
7. For the topping combine the sugar and cinnamon, rub in the cubed butter until crumbly and stir in the nuts.    
8. Sprinkle the topping evenly across the muffins and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
9. Allow to cool and enjoy!                                              
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
    I also just wanted to quickly mention the Hairy Bikers electric whisk i recently purchased. It is literally amazing. Never have I ever seen such fluffy butter and sugar or such stiff peaked egg whites, and it will whip cream in an instant! It was reduced from £29.99 to £15.00 after Christmas and I would seriously recommend it. It has multiple speed settings and a turbo setting.
   
    On another note, HBO released a second trailer this week for GoT ( which looks freaking amazing!!!) so, here you go and enjoy! See you next week sweetlings.
   

Tyroshi honey fingers (GoT countdown)

Hello sweetlings!
So with there being only 6 weeks to go until series 5 of my favourite TV show ever; Game Of Thrones, and given that I have a Game of Thrones cookbook (A Feast of Ice and Fire) and it containing recipes from the six regions of Westeros, I thought it would be only fitting to try and bake or cook a dish each week to mark the countdown to it's return.

I thought I'd start by making a treat from far away from the capitol, Tyrosh. From across the narrow I see, I made honey fingers. They are basically a very sweet sticky pastry type dish, they seem like they would be made by maybe Greek's or Turk's today due to the amount of lovely honey they contain.

This book is fantastic because for each recipe they have a medieval and a modern version to show variation. I must admit to making the modern version this time just because I thought they looked amazing. They also give you the passage of the A song of ice and fire where the dish is mentioned and pairings for other recipes in the book. For example these honey fingers supposedly go well with sweet pumpkin soup and iced milk with honey which can also be found in the book.

I love how they also link recipes with characters and places too, they have Sansa's favourite lemon cakes and  Arya's snitched tarts and things like 'Breakfast on the wall' you really feel part of the series as you can explore not only food but the lifestyles of the different regions.

The recipe is as follows:

For the syrup-

• 1 cup sugar (I used golden caster)
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup honey
• 1 tbsp. of fresh grated ginger
• pinch of salt
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 cinnamon stick

(I was slightly sceptical about the fact it contains honey and lemon, sounds slightly medicine like but trust be you will be ecstatic with the results!)

For the dough-
2 cups cake flour (I just used plain)
2 1/2 tsp of baking powder
pinch of salt
2 tbsp of cold butter
1/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup water
1 tsp lemon juice
oil for frying

(TIP- when combining the wet ingredients do not mix the lemon juice into the milk and water because it will curdle and separate)

The steps are pretty straight forward too

• combine all the syrup ingredients in a pan on a medium hear and bring to the boil, cover with a lid and cook for 1minute. Uncover and simmer for 5minutes.

• Let it cool down and pour into a bowl or jar to chill in the fridge overnight. It should be very cold when you use it.

• For the dough combine the dry ingredients in a bowl and rub the butter in until the mix looks like breadcrumbs. Make a well in the centre to pour the wet ingredients into and mix with a spoon or your hands.

• Pour onto a floured surface and knead for 5 minutes for a smooth elastic dough. Cover with cling film and leave to rest for 2 hours.

• Roll the dough out into a rectangle of about 1/4 inch thick and cut strips (not too thin as they become hard to work with) about 1/2 inch wide and then get three strips next to each other and braid the dough to make a 4-6inch plait. While doing this make sure the oil (1 inch in a pan) is heating up over medium heat.

• Have the syrup ready in a deep wide bowl and a cooling rack with some baking paper underneath to catch dripping syrup.

• Fry the little pastries for about a minute on each side until golden brown and then dunk into the sweet syrup until it stops sizzling. Carefully place on the rack.

• Serve fresh.

So there you have it, my take on tyroshi honey fingers and I must say they were super yummy. If you're in need of something very sweet and unique this is a winner. I was thinking of re-making them for my grandma next week as they are vegetarian and she loves spiced things like this, you could serve them warm with a cold vanilla ice cream or some crushed nuts like pistachio's on top to make them look ultra impressive.
See you next week for another GoT surprise!