Lightly oil a large bowl. Transfer the dough to the bowl, turning the ball to coat it with the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, then a kitchen towel, and let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free area until it is doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, mix the apple, raisins, and nuts with the brown sugar and cinnamon.
When the dough has risen, punch it down. Transfer it to a floured work surface and roll it into a 22-by-11-inch rectangle. Spread the softened butter over the dough, leaving a ½-inch border. Sprinkle the apple mixture evenly over the butter. Starting on the long side, roll the dough into a log, pinching gently to keep it rolled up. With the seam side down and using a thin, sharp knife, cut the dough crosswise into slices about ¾ inch wide.
Grease a large baking sheet. Arrange the rolls on the sheet, almost touching one another. Cover the rolls loosely with a dishcloth and let rise for 40 to 45 minutes.
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat it to 350°F. Bake the rolls until the tops are golden, about 20 minutes, then invert them immediately onto a rack. Cool for 10 minutes. If making icing, mix confectioners’ sugar with milk, adding one tablespoon of milk at a time, until a thick, pourable consistency is achieved. Drizzle over cooled rolls.
Crusty White Bread
The Great Hall of Winterfell was hazy with smoke and heavy with the smell of roasted meat and fresh-baked bread
.
—A GAME OF THRONES
Makes 3 small loaves
Prep: 15 minutes
Dough rising: 3 hours to 2 days
Baking: 30 minutes
This artisanal bread pairs well with just about any dish. The outside is crusty, the insides soft and moist. This is the ideal bread accompaniment to soups, stews, or even just a large pot of honey.
1½ tablespoons dry yeast (2 packets)
1 to 2 tablespoons honey
3 cups warm water
6½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
1 tablespoon coarse salt
⅓ cup cornmeal
Add the yeast and honey to the water and mix it up. Don’t worry if all the yeast does not dissolve; it will finish mixing in the flour. Add the flour and salt and begin working them into the mixture.
Dump the dough onto a clean, floured countertop or board and knead for around 5 minutes, pushing with the heel of your hand, then gathering the dough back into a lump. Knead until the dough becomes one big mass. You will know when it is ready by poking it. When the dough bounces back, you’re all set. If it’s still too sticky, add a little extra flour.
Now place the dough into a large greased bowl, cover it with a towel, and let it sit in a warm place for about 2 hours. You can also put it in the refrigerator overnight; it will rise more slowly. You can even let the dough sit in the fridge for a couple of days, at which point it will begin to take on a slight sourdough taste.
Once the dough has at least doubled in size, divide it into thirds. Pull on each piece to form a ball, tucking all the ends in at the bottom. The balls should be semi-smooth. Dust the top of each round loaf with a bit of flour and make some light slices in the dough with a very sharp knife. Place the balls at least 4 inches apart on a baking sheet dusted with cornmeal and allow them to rise, uncovered, for about 40 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 450°F. Fill a baking dish or broiler pan with 2 cups of water and place it under the rack where your bread will go. (This is the trick to making a nice, crusty loaf of rustic bread. The steam from the water adds a nice crunch to the surface of the loaf.) Bake the loaves for around 30 minutes, until the crusts are a dark golden color and the loaves sound hollow when you tap them.
Salad at Castle Black
“From the Lord Commander’s own table,” Bowen Marsh told them. There were salads of spinach and chickpeas and turnip greens, and afterward bowls of iced blueberries and sweet cream
.
—A GAME OF THRONES
Salat. Take persel, sawge, grene garlec, chibolles, letys, leek, spinoches, borage, myntes, prymos, violettes, porrettes, fenel, and toun cressis, rosemarye, purslarye; laue and waishe hem clene. Pike hem. Pluk hem small wiþ þyn honde, and myng hem wel with rawe oile; lay on vyneger and salt, and serue it forth
.
—THE FORME OF CURY, 14TH CENTURY
Serves 6 to 8
Prep: 10 minutes
The original recipe for salad comes from the 14th-century
Forme of Cury
. We took a few of the suggested greens and added turnip greens, raisins, and roasted chickpeas
intended for snacking. We urge you to experiment with other combinations of greens as available, and we especially recommend adding sorrel and borage.
5 cups baby spinach
3 cups turnip greens
1 cup raisins
1 cup roasted chickpeas
Oil and vinegar to taste
Pinch of salt
In a large bowl, combine the greens, raisins, and chickpeas. Drizzle with oil and vinegar to taste, sprinkle with salt, and toss well.
Cook’s Note:
The ingredients in the medieval recipe are parsley, sage, green garlic, scallions, lettuce, leek, spinach, borage, mints, primroses, violets, “porrettes” (green onions, scallions, and young leeks), fennel, garden cress, rosemary, and purs-lane.
Mutton in Onion-Ale Broth
The Wall wept and the sun crept across a hard blue sky. Near evenfall, Owen the Oaf returned with a loaf of black bread and a pail of Hobb’s best mutton, cooked in a thick broth of ale and onions
.
—A STORM OF SWORDS
Oyle soppes. Take a good quantite of onyons, and myce hem, noyt to smale, & seth hem in faire water, And take hem vppe; and then take a good quantite of stale ale, as .iij. galons, And there-to take a pynte of goode oyle that is fraied, and cast the oynons there-to, And lete al boyle togidre a grete [while]; and caste there-to Saffron and salt, And þen put brede, in maner of brewes, and cast the licour there-on, and serue hit forth hote
.
—TWO FIFTEENTH-CENTURY COOKERY-BOOKS
Serves 3 to 4
Soaking wheat berries: 6 hours to overnight
Broth: 1 to 2 hours
Prep: 10 minutes
Cooking: 30 minutes