Wednesday 25 February 2015

Game of Thrones Feast Part 2: Easy Honeyed Chicken

It was hard come up with a main dish for out GOT feast (here's Part 1). Partly because we didn't want to hunt for venison and love dragons too much to eat them for dinner. So we ventured into the darkness called the internet to see what other GOT fans were cooking up in the kitchen. Luckily, there is such a thing as a Game of Thrones Food Blog so we got to work and decided to make their version of Honeyed Chicken 

Closely adapted from the original recipe found here

Ingredients: 
  • 1 chicken 
  • Butter (we used a little more than 1 tbs ~1/4 to 1/2 stick just enough to get the skin buttery, especially in crevices) 
  • garlic salt (instead of just salt)
  • 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar (sweeter than white or malt)
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • Dried or fresh mint (optional)
  • Craisins or raisins (1/4 cup)
  • ~1tbs butter

How to (serves 4):
  • Preheat oven to 450F. Place some foil on top of a roasting pan with the chicken at the center. Cover the chicken skin with butter and salt (crispy skin so work that butter!). 
  • Roast the chicken for an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes, until skin is crispy and center is not pink (typically 180 celsius inside if you have a thermometer)
  • To make the sauce, combine apple cider vinegar, honey and raisins in medium heat until the reduced (aka the sauce becomes a little thicker and less watery) 
  • Pour sauce over chicken and season with mint as desired 

Easy! 


Winter can come now. We're ready to hibernate. 




Thursday 19 February 2015

Game of Thrones Feast Part 1: Freshly Baked Bread

We're a little bit excited about the upcoming premiere of the new season of GAME OF THRONES (cue music). As hammer and potato tradition, we prepare for this glorious day by feasting the way lords and ladies do- except we don't really have servants so we kind of have to do the hunting and cooking and cleaning up. Safe to say, at least we know we won't be re-enacting a purple wedding fiasco in front of the tv our dining hall. 

First course - freshly baked bread! 

Ingredients (for 3 giant loaves): 

  • 1.5 tbsp salt
  • 1.5 tbsp honey 
  • 1.5 tbsp fast rising yeast 
  • 6.5 cups flour
  • 3 cups water + 3-6 tbsp

How to: 

  1. Place the yeast in a small bowl and add 3-6 tbsp luke warm water and honey. Quickly stir to dissolve most of the yeast
  2. Add flour and salt into the mixture
  3. On a clean flat surface, sprinkle some flour so that the dough doesn't stick. Start kneading the dough until it becomes one giant mass. (Add flour as needed to not make it stick to the surface). You're ready when you poke it and the mass bounces back.
  4. dough ball - pre rising! 
  5. Place in a large (we used the largest mixing bowl we had) bowl and cover with cloth (any towel will do). 
  6. Sit back and let the dough rise uncontrollably. (2-3 hours) until it becomes one giant ball that is the size of Westeros (not really, but you know what we mean!) 
  7. Use your Dothraki-like muscles to work and divide the dough into desirable size (bigger ball = longer bake time). We made three loaves the size of our heads with these ingredient amounts
  8. Form smooth balls. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and let the dough rise for another 30 minutes. Shape and decorate as needed. We use the standard three stripes along the top the way we would draw bread in cartoons :D  
  9. Preheat oven to 450 F
  10. Place a small roasting pan filled with water at the bottom of the oven and the would-be bread in the middle/top racks (this is an added step for a nice and crispy crust) 
  11. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the top crust browns 
  12. Let cool for at least 15 minutes and enjoy!



One of three loaves the size of our heads.

A feast fit for a king - or seven. Or two really awesome queens