Lord of the Rings - Foraged Herb & Rabbit Stew

Sam busied himself with his pans. “What a hobbit needs with coney,” he said to himself, “is some herbs and roots, especially taters. Herbs we can manage, seemingly.”

“Gollum!” he called softly. “I want some herbs." Gollum’s head peeped out of the fern, but his looks were neither helpful nor friendly. “A few bay-leaves, some thyme and sage, will do -- before the water boils,” said Sam.

“No!” said Gollum. “Sméagol is not please. And Sméagol doesn’t like smelly leaves. He doesn’t eat grasses or roots, no precious, not till he’s starving or very sick, poor Sméagol.”

“Smjagol’ll get into real true hot water, when this water boils, if he don’t do as he’s asked,” growled Sam. “Sam’ll put his head in it, yes precious. And I’d make him look for turnips and carrots, and taters too, if it was the time o’ the year.”

- "Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit," The Two Towers

Finally back around forest greenery, Sam and Gollum foraging for ingredients and cooking this stew takes up about half of this chapter from The Two Towers, appropriately named "Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit." It makes for a fun cooking challenge: can we develop a tasty recipe with only the ingredients the hobbits would have had on their journey to Mordor?

I did take a couple of liberties - since it is indeed the time of year here, I included the turnips, carrots and "taters" that Sam longed for. I also assumed that the hobbits might be carrying a few cooking supplies, like cooking oil, salt, pepper, and - perhaps most optimistically - chicken bouillon cubes. Finally, I thickened the stew with flour. Wandering hobbits would have had access to lembas bread, however I had to make do with what I had.

While the origins of this recipe are fantastical, this main course wouldn't be out of place at a Sunday night dinner. The root vegetables and woodsy herb flavors are perfect for a fall night.

Ingredients

House Martell Butternut Squash Soup

In centuries past, many a host had come down from the Prince's Pass with banners streaming, only to wither and broil on the hot red Dornish sands. "The arms of House Martell display the sun and spear, the Dornishman's two favored weapons," the Young Dragon had once written in his boastful Conquest of Dorne, "but of the two, the sun is the more deadly."

- The Queenmaker, A Feast for Crows

This roasted root soup served as the second course in my Season 7 Game of Thrones party. For this event, each course was inspired by the banners of one of the Great Houses of Westeros. While many of the Great Houses chose commonly eaten animals as their heraldry, the Martells did not. Early on in my menu development, I recognized I would either need to reject the nutritional needs of my dinner guests, or make the Martell course a vegetable course. (Westerosi lords ought to follow the lead of the Onion Knight and pick a vegetable for their banners!) The Tyrell green and gold seemed like a natural fit for the salad course, so the Martells became a soup course.

I selected butternut squash for its appropriately orangey-yellow hue. I stirred in some chipotle peppers as a nod to the deadly hot sun and the fiery nature of the Dornish people. I tried a few different red garnishes, including sun dried tomatoes and pickled beets, eventually selecting roasted beets for their more sun-like appearance. Skewers both provide a convenient way of perching the beet "suns" over the soup while also representing the spears shown on the house banner.

Roasting the squash before blending it into the soup adds a wonderful complex sweetness which pairs amazingly with the smokiness of the peppers. I think this course ended up being one of the favorites of the night!

Ingredients

Marsh-wiggle Eel Stew

“I’m trying to catch a few eels to make an eel stew for our dinner,” said Puddleglum. “Though I shouldn’t wonder if I didn’t get anything. And you won’t like them much if I do.”

- The Silver Chair, by C.S. Lewis

The Chronicles of Narnia were the first chapter books my father read to me as bed-time stories. The Silver Chair was my favorite as a kid - due entirely, I think, to my father's excellent voice impressions of Puddleglum the Marsh-wiggle. When Fandom Foodies announced their  December theme would be Aslan's Feast, Puddleglum's freshly-caught fishy fare was the first thing that came to my mind!

When developing the recipe for Marsh-wiggle Eel Stew, I drew inspiration from the Flemish stew-like eel entree Paling in 't Groen, which is essentially eel simmered in a white wine sauce flavored with an assortment of fresh herbs. However, eels stewed in fresh herbs is a tradition reaching far back; it appears in the 14th century recipe book Forme of Cury as well as in the 1861 cookbook The Housekeeper's Encyclopedia. This recipe captures the feel of Eustace and Jill's meal with the marsh-wiggle well - the herbs and shallot could all be gathered from along the river bank where Puddleglum catches the eels.

Game of Thrones Venison, Beer & Barley Stew

“The war had not touched the fabled bounty of Highgarden. While singers sang & tumblers tumbled, they began with pears poached in wine, and went onto tiny savory fish rolled in salt and cooked crisp, and capons stuffed with onions and mushrooms. There were great loaves of brown bread, mounds of turnips and sweetcorn and pease, immense hams and roast geese and trenchers dripping full of venison stewed with beer and barley.”

– A Clash of Kings

The venison stew was one of the dishes I was most looking forward to making for my Highgarden-themed Game of Thrones season 6 finale dinner, which was based on the above passage from A Clash of Kings. I haven’t had a good excuse to cook venison before, and incorporating trenchers seemed fun and memorable.