It’s hard to believe something so delicious only has four ingredients. The key to this simple recipe is to embrace your inner love of butter. If you use enough natural dairy goodness, the shortbreads will practically leap off the pan instead of clinging to it like a desperate lover. Save yourself some heartbreak by being generous with the fat. Shortbread
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Stewed Hare with Root Vegetables and Herb Dumplings Until very recently, rabbits were a common source of protein. Before refrigeration, their small size made one rabbit the perfect amount of meat for a single family’s meal with no worry about waste or spoilage. It wasn’t uncommon for country families to keep chickens and rabbits as both pets and food. Their
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While second breakfast was all about hearty, durable foods you could tuck in a pack and use as adventure fuel, Elevenses is full of more delicate breads, best served fresh and hot from the oven with a dab of butter and fresh country jam. Think of it as a chance to relax with an assortment of light treats, maybe interspersed
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In honor of our last cinematic trip to Middle Earth, this week Kitchen Overlord is treating you to one recipe per day from each chapter of An Unexpected Cookbook: The Unofficial Book of Hobbit Cookery. Second Breakfast is the perfect time for adventuring. Make these sturdy hand pies at night and they’ll hold up great when you sneak over the
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In honor of our last cinematic trip to Middle Earth, this week Kitchen Overlord is treating you to one recipe per day from each chapter of An Unexpected Cookbook: The Unofficial Book of Hobbit Cookery. While there’s nothing wrong with some cold chicken and pickles for a quick bite on a busy morning, if you want to impress visiting wizards,
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Don’t be intimidated by the list of ingredients. This isn’t fancy Elven baking chemistry. Like most Shire foods, this is good, solid stuff that can handle a lot of improvisation depending on what you happen to have in your pantry. All you really need is some butter, sugar, flour, eggs, a cup of whatever fruits you like best, a couple
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Wine Braised Oxtails A lot of people shy away from cuts of meat full of bone and fat. It’s a shame, because that’s where the best flavor hides. In Tolkien’s day, nose to tail eating was the norm. A nice segmented oxtail was a great way to get a few bites of rich meat for the whole family with the
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Chocolate and vanilla may seem ubiquitous today, but they’re actually both new world beans. That means Tolkien explicitly excluded them from the Shire, even though both flavors were quite popular in Victorian England. Plum Heavies were the cheap, kids cookies of their day. Victorian country cooks would knead in a handful of diced plums plus a little extra sugar into
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These petite apple pies can be enjoyed either as a hearty vegetarian breakfast when visiting Beorn or as a durable teatime treat capable of keeping their shape after bumping around in your pack for a few days. Apple Hand Pies Two Ways Filling: 8 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and diced small 1 cup sugar 2 tbsp melted butter 2
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Forget those crunchy triangles you find at Starbucks. The Victorian scones of Tolkien’s day were far more like southern style American biscuits. Like American biscuits, these are best served hot and buttered. Unlike their modern counterparts, they’re served at teatime, around 4 p.m., with clotted cream or home made raspberry jam. The creamy interior bears little resemblance to the brick-like
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