An Arda Recipe Book

[mark12_30]

Baked Apples

Peel & Core apple. Place in baking bowl.
Fill applecore with
-some butter (1 or 2 tsp)
-some sugar (brown or white, a tablespoon or two or three)
-cinnamon
-a drizzle of water, just enough to dampen sugar a bit

In The Shire:
Bake in oven until the apple is soft.
At The Scotts:
Nuke for 4 or 5 minutes or until soft.

Other interesting fillings:
Nuts
Honey
Molasses
(Some say raisins, but not this hobbit.)


Cabbage and Roots:
Whatever you are adding, add the ones that will take longest to cook, first.
Chop a large onion, put into an iron pot with butter or oil, and brown quite well.
Add some garlic if you have some, and turn it golden.***
Chop and add: turnips, carrots, potatoes, beets if you like, and half a head of cabbage.
Cook til everything is tender.

***Original post said regarding the garlic: "brown it just a little." Wrong implication. Fordie recommends the word Golden; true! Dark-brown is a bad thing to do to garlic.

Bacon and Mushrooms:

Overly Simple Version:
Just like it says. In a cast Iron skillet, fry your bacon, and set aside.
Follow that with mushrooms
perhaps a bit of Old Wineyards and butter for flavor.
Defend from marauding hobbits with large spoon 'til dinner is served.

(Pepperoni and mushrooms isn't nearly as good but can be made to do in desperate straits.)

Here's Gilthalion's recipe athough I had to resort to Google to find it since the Downs was upgraded. Much that once was, has been lost, for none now live who remember it. (Anybody seen Gilthalion lately?)

Directly inspired by the account, I have melted butter in a skillet, fried bacon just a little, tossed in some chopped onion, fresh crushed garlic, a little red wine, and giant portabello mushrooms over the top.
All of this gets stirred around frequently and the mushrooms turned a couple of times, with a lid to keep the moisture in most of the time.

Another poster added:

Yep good stuff, and remeber that fresh Thyme leaves are a wonderous match with mushrooms.

[Hilde Bracegirdle]

Helen you read my mind! I was looking to do up some apples over the weekend, but didn't get around to it. Now I have some new recipes to try!

[Fordim Hedgethistle]

Egad! I could not let this go by without comment!!

Add some garlic if you have some, and brown that just a little

Never cook garlic until it is brown -- that just turns it bitter. Sautee until golden if you like but if it ever turns even a bit darker than that, best to throw away the recipe and start again.

Love the recipes on this thread. I should dig about the kitchen in the Hedgethistle household and see if I can find anything appropriate.

[Lindolirian]

Seeing how we are coming into the Season of Good Eats (AKA American Thanksgiving and Christmas), let's see some holiday recipes! I regrettably do not have my recipe book with me as my mother took it with her on a weeklong visit to relatives, but as soon as I get it back, I'll be putting some of my favorites up with a Tolkienic twist.

[mark12_30]

Hilde-- enjoy! Delighted to have inspired apple-artistry. (Now That's Good Art.)

Originally Posted by Fordim Hedgethistle

Never cook garlic until it is brown -- that just turns it bitter. Sautee until golden if you like but if it ever turns even a bit darker than that, best to throw away the recipe and start again.

You are right, Fordie. When I said "just a little" I was thinking only a little brown, as in tan or golden-- but it doesn't come across, so I will edit.

[Lostgaeriel]

Goldberry’s White Loaves

Makes 4 loaves. Serve warm with butter and honey (or Laura Grubb’s Raspberry Jam).

• 2 cups milk
• 4 tsp. salt
• 6 Tbsp. granulated sugar
• ¼ cup soft shortening
• 1 cup cold water
• 1 cup lukewarm water
• 2 tsp. granulated sugar
• 2 pkgs. fast-rising dry yeast
• 10 cups all-purpose flour

1. Scald milk. Stir in salt, sugar, shortening and cool with cold water to lukewarm.
2. Measure lukewarm water into a large warm bowl. Add sugar and yeast. Let stand 10 minutes, then stir until well blended.
3. Add milk mixture and 5 cups flour to yeast mixture and stir. Beat until smooth and elastic.
4. Work in sufficient additional flour to make a soft dough, about 5 cups more. As the dough thickens, mix it in the bowl with one hand, using a swinging rotary motion. If dough remains sticky after 5 minutes mixing, add a little more flour.
5. Turn dough out on a greased board or tabletop and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.
6. Put dough in a lightly greased, warm bowl. Grease top. Cover with greased waxed paper and a clean cloth. Let rise in a warm place (75-85°F), free from draft, until double in bulk, about 1 ½-2 hours.
7. Punch down dough. Turn out on a greased board or tabletop. Cut into 4 equal pieces with a greased sharp knife. Form each piece into a ball, turning cut surfaces under. Cover and let stand 15 minutes.
8. Grease 4 loaf pans (8”x5” top inside measure). Shape balls of dough into loaves; place in pans. Grease tops. Cover. Let rise in a warm place, free from draft, until dough fills pans and centres are well above tops of pans, about 1-½ hours.
9. About ½ hour before rising is finished, preheat oven to 425°F. Bake 15 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 375°F and continue to bake until bread is done, about 35 minutes longer.
10. Remove bread from pans onto wire racks. Brush with melted butter if a soft crust is desired. Cool uncovered.

If Goldberry does all this every day, Tom had better bring her water-lilies!

~~~~~~~~~~

Bilbo’s Fruit Scones

• 12 oz. or 2 ¼ cups flour
• ½ tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tsp. cream of tartar
• 4 oz. or ½ cup butter
• 4 oz. or ¾ cup currants or sultanas
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• ½ cup + ~1 tbsp. milk (enough to mix dough)
• egg to glaze top

Preheat oven to 400°F. Sift dry ingredients together. Rub in butter with fingers or cut in butter with pastry blender. Add fruit and sugar. Add enough milk to make a soft dough. Place dough on lightly floured board. Roll dough out to ¾-inch to 1-inch thickness. Cut scones with round cutter (or drinking glass or mug) and place on greased baking sheet, well spaced. Brush top of scones with some beaten egg. Bake in hot (400°F) oven on middle or bottom rack for approximately 15 minutes. Makes about 8 scones if cut 2 ½” in diameter. Serve with Shire Clotted Cream (still looking for an 'easy' recipe for that) and Laura Grubb’s Raspberry Jam.

~~~~~~~~~~

Laura Grubb’s Raspberry Jam

• 4 cups (1 quart) raspberries (fresh or frozen)
• 4 cups sugar
• 2 Tbsp. Vinegar

Mix together in a pot. Boil gently about 15 minutes. Pour into jars. Seal.

[Lalwendë]

Tater Cakes

1. Make large expansive Sunday dinner. Make sure you boil too many King Edwards taters.
2. Serve dinner. Eat. Sleep until Antiques Roadshow comes on. Retain the vast amount of leftover taters and allow to cool for 24 hours.
3. Monday teatime. Retrieve cooled taters and mash, dry, with a fork.
4. Add plain flour and mix until you have a dough, not sticky, but floury. Use hands to mix, so you can tell when the taters and flour have bound together. If you make the mixture too dry just add more taters or a bit of cold water.
5. Add flour to work surface and roll out mixture to half an inch thick.
6. Cut out small flat circular cakes using pie cutter; these are for little hobbits. Cut out pan sized monsters for big hobbits.
7. Heat up old frying pan, do not add any grease. Dry cook tater cakes until nicely browned on both sides.
8. Serve with butter. And bacon if greedy.
9. Eat. Hold stomach and groan contentedly.

[Snowdog]

Mashed Potato Casserole

• 4 Pounds Yukon Gold potatoes
• 1½ Cup Sour Cream
• 6 Tablespoons real butter, divided 5 & 1
• 1½ teaspoons salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• ¼ cup dried breadcrumbs

Peel potatoes and cut into quarters.
Boil in salted water until tender (easy to pierce with a fork).
Drain and put in large mixing bowl.
Add Sour cream, 5 tablespoons of butter, salt, & pepper.
Using a beater on low-speed, beat until light and fluffy.
Put into a buttered 2 quart casserole dish. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Next day, take dish out of refrigerator an hour before cooking.
Pre-Heat oven to 325° F.
Place covered dish in oven and bake for about an hour or until heated through.

Melt 1 Tablespoon of butter and mix the breadcrumbs into it.
Sprinkle buttered breadcrumbs over top of potatoes.
Return dish uncovered to oven for about 30 minutes.

Enjoy!