A Feast of Ice and Fire: The Official Game of Thrones Companion Cookbook (A Song of Ice and Fire) (22 page)

Read A Feast of Ice and Fire: The Official Game of Thrones Companion Cookbook (A Song of Ice and Fire) Online

Authors: Chelsea Monroe-Cassel,Sariann Lehrer

Poached Pears

The war had not touched the fabled bounty of Highgarden. While singers sang and tumblers tumbled, they began with pears poached in wine.…

—A CLASH OF KINGS

Medieval Poached Pears

Wardonys in syryp.—Take wardonys, an caste on a potte, and boyle hem till þey ben tender; þan take hem vp and pare hem, and kytte hem in to pecys; take y-now of powder of canel, a good quantyte, an caste it on red wyne, an draw it þorw a straynour; caste sugre þer-to, an put it [in] an erþen pot, an let it boyle: an þanne caste þe perys þer-to, an let boyle to-gederys, an whan þey have boyle a whyle, take pouder of gyngere an caste þer-to, an a lytil venegre, an a lytil safron …
—TWO FIFTEENTH-CENTURY COOKERY-BOOKS

Serves 2 to 4
Prep: 10 minutes
Cooking: 10 minutes
Sauce: 20 minutes
Pairs well with
Oatbread
,
Modern Stewed Rabbit
, red wine
Imbued with a vibrant pink color from the wine, these pears have a soft, warm texture and aren’t overly sweet. The taste is reminiscent of mulled wine redolent with spices—an authentically medieval dessert, but every bit as delicious and satisfying as a modern dish.
2 to 4 firm, ripe, unblemished pears
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups red wine
½ cup sugar or honey
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Pinch of saffron (optional)
Pinch of ground cloves (optional)
Parboil the pears in a large pot of water for about 5 minutes, then remove and peel. The pears look better presented whole, but can also be cut lengthwise, with their cores removed, if desired.
Heat the cinnamon, wine, and sugar in a pan over low heat until the mixture forms a smooth syrup.
Add the pears to the syrup and poach gently for about 10 minutes, keeping the syrup just below the simmering point to prevent the pears from falling apart. Near the end of the cooking period, add the ginger and vinegar, and, if you’re using them, the saffron and cloves.
Let the pears cool in the syrup. If you have a lot of syrup left over, boil it down until it reduces somewhat, then pour it over the pears.

Modern Poached Pears
Serves 6
Prep: 10 minutes
Cooking: 15 to 20 minutes
Sauce: 15 minutes
Pairs well with
Duck with Lemons
,
Honey Biscuits
,
Tyroshi Pear Brandy
, vanilla ice cream
This is an exquisite dessert. The caramel sauce is warm and gooey, with a subtle citrus flavor. It tastes of autumn—of crisp days spent in an orchard and evenings by the fire.
2 oranges
3 cups sugar
1⅔ cups water
6 large firm pears, peeled and cut flat on the base so that they stand upright
1 cup heavy cream
2 to 3 tablespoons Calvados
2 tablespoons honey
Vanilla ice cream or additional heavy cream For serving
Peel the oranges with a vegetable peeler; set aside the strips of zest, then juice the oranges.
Place the sugar in the center of a saucepan large enough to hold all the pears snugly. Add the honey and pour ⅔ cup of the water around the outside of the sugar. Heat slowly until the sugar has dissolved, gently stirring with a wooden spoon. Once the mixture starts to simmer, do not stir again. Watch for sugar crystals on the side of the pan and, if you see some, wash them down with a wet pastry brush. While you cook the syrup, heat the remaining 1 cup water until it boils.
Once the sugar mixture is a rich amber color (10 to 15 minutes), add the hot water, orange juice, orange peel, and pears. Do this
very
carefully, as the caramel will spatter. Cover the pot and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes until the pears are tender. Remove the pears and set them aside.
Remove the lid and add the cream and Calvados, then continue to simmer without the lid until the caramel has reduced by about a third. Serve with vanilla ice cream or more cream drizzled on top.
Cook’s Note:
For an even more autumnal taste, try adding a pinch of cinnamon and ginger to the caramel along with the orange juice and pears.

Cream Swans

For the sweet, Lord Caswell’s servants brought down trays of pastries from his castle kitchens, cream swans and spun-sugar unicorns, lemon cakes in the shape of roses, spiced honey biscuits and blackberry tarts, apple crisps and wheels of buttery cheese
.
—A CLASH OF KINGS

Makes 6 to 8 swans
Prep: 30 minutes
Baking: 1 hour 20 minutes
Pairs well with
Trout Wrapped in Bacon
,
Traditional Buttered Beets
, any after-dinner liqueur
Absolutely delicious and beautiful in presentation, these swans involve a bit of preparation and assembly, but the oohs and aahs they produce from guests make the
effort well worth it. The crispiness of the meringue combines with the frozen yogurt for a meltingly good partnership of texture and taste.
6 egg whites
½ teaspoon flour
1½ cups sugar (superfine is best)
Slivered almonds
High-quality vanilla ice cream,
frozen yogurt, gelato, or sorbet
Preheat the oven to 225°F.
Using a hand mixer, beat the egg whites and flour until soft peaks form. Gradually add in the sugar and beat on medium high until stiff peaks form (about 5 minutes—hang in there!). Load the mixture into a pastry bag (a large Ziploc with a corner snipped off works in a pinch). For beginning sculptors, select a basic round tip; the more adventurous can experiment with a variety of tips to get the look of feathers.
Place the template (see
this page
) under a sheet of wax paper or parchment paper and pipe out the shapes for the base, wings, and neck with the head at one end. Place a slivered almond in each head for a beak. Keep in mind that meringue is fragile, and you will probably break a few elements, so make a few extra wings and necks.

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