Cod Cakes

I tried several different recipes, but I found I liked the ones with the potatoes best.

1 lb of cod fillets

2 medium-sized russett potatoes

1 cup bread crumbs

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

2 Tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

2 eggs, lightly beaten

Grapeseed oil, or other high smoke point oil such as canola oil, for frying

Boil and mash the potatoes, set them aside.
Boil the codfish until it flakes easkly. Drain and flake the fish with a fork. Be sure to remove all bones.
Mix the flaked fish, the potatoes and the rest of the ingredients together well by hand. If the mixture is too crumbly, add another egg. If too sticky, add some more bread crumbs.
Form the mixture into cakes and fry them on medium high heat in a skillet coated with oil.

Makes about 12 cakes

The Wedding Feast of "Arya" and Ramsey

"The Lord of White Harbor had furnished the food and drink, black stout and yellow beer and wines red and gold and purple, brought up from the warm south on flat bottomed ships and aged in his cellars.  The wedding guests gorged on cod cakes and winter squash, hills of neeps and great rounds of cheese, on smoking slabs of mutton and beef ribs charred almost black, and lastly three great wedding pies, as wide across as wagon wheels, their flaky crusts stuffed to bursting with carrots, onions, turnips, parsnips, mushrooms and chunks of pork swimming in a savory brown gravy."

"'Wash it down with Arbor gold and savor every bite. I know I shall.'"

The best thing about this whole feast is the pies, of course.  A little later while a bit drunk, Lord Mandarly asks for the song about the Rat Cook.  This pretty much gives away that the pies are really "Frey Pies" and filled with the 3 missing Freys.  I, of course, will actually use pork, as there are not any Freys available for me. ;)

Cod Cakes
Winter Squash
Neeps
Lamb and beef ribs
Wedding Pies

Henne Dorre---Golden Cardamon Chicken

1 large roasting chicken, cut into serving size pieces
1/4 cup walnuts, courseley ground
1/4 cup filbrets, coursely ground
4 tablespoons butter, for sauteing
3 tart apples
2/3 cup golden raisins
1/2 cuo Currants
1/2 tsp cinnimon
6 egg yokes
1/4 tsp fresh rosemary
3/4 tsp crushed cardamon
1/8 tsp Saffron
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons honey

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a Dutch oven or shallow covered baking dish, saute the chicken and nuts in butter until the meat is white. Leave in dish and remove from heat.

Cut apples into thin slivers. Mix raisins and currants with apples.

Stir together all spices and salt, and mix with fruits.

Distribute the spiced fruit amongst the chicken and nuts.

Pour on mixed wine and chicken broth. Bake covered in slow oven for :45 to 55 minutes, until the chicken is tender. Remove from oven while preparing golden glaze. Turn oven to 400 degrees F.

Beat the egg yolks, saffron and honey thoroughly. Evenly pour over chicken so as to coat each piece. Or use a pastry brush to 'paint' each portion gold. Return to oven uncovered for 5 to 7 minutes to let endoring set. Serve warm.

From _Fabulous Feasts - Medieval Cookery and Ceremony_ by Madeleine Pelner Cosman George Braziller, Inc. 1976

Dornish Eggs with Hot Peppers

This recipe is adapted from a orth African dish called Ajja

1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 pound highly seasoned smoked sausage, cut into 1-inch rounds
1 tsp finely chopped garlic
1/2 tsp cummin
1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1/4  tsp ground caraway seeds
2 medium-sized firm ripe tomatoes, peeled and quartered
1/2 cup cold water
Freshly ground black pepper
Sea Salt
1 medium-sized green bell pepper, quartered, seeded, deribbed and cut lengthwise into 1/2-inch wide strips
1 medium-sized red bell pepper, quartered, seeded, deribbed and cut lengthwise into 1/2-inch wide strips
6 eggs

Braised Venison with Mushrooms

2 tablespoons bacon drippings

1 1/2 pounds venison, cut into 2 inch cubes

2 cups fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced

2 medium onions, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons cognac or brandy (optional)

2 cups dry red wine

1 cube beef bouillon

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

1 1/4 teaspoons dried rosemary

2 bay leaves

1 (8 ounce) package baby carrots

1 tablespoon flour

2 tablespoons water

Melt the bacon drippings in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sear the venison in two batches until nicely browned and remove. Stir in the shiitake, onions, and garlic; cook until softened, 1 to 2 minutes. Pour in the cognac, wine, and bouillon cube, simmer for 30 seconds to remove the alcohol flavor and dissolve the bouillon.
Stir in the venison, pepper, thyme, rosemary, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer gently until the venison is tender, about two hours or more; adding water as needed.
If using baby carrots, add them during the last half hour of cooking. When the venison is tender, you may wish to thicken the sauce by dissolving the flour in 2 tablespoons of water and stirring it into the sauce.

Fish Stew

1/2 large onion

1/4 cup butter ot margarine

2 cups water

3 cups diced, peeled potatoes

1 pound fresh or frozen cod fillets, cut into large pieces

1 1/2 tablespoon of lemon juice

1 cup milk

1 (12 fl oz) can of evaporated milk

1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

1 teaspoon pepper

In a Dutch oven or soup kettle, saute onion in butter. Add water and bring to a boil. Add potatoes; cook for 10 minutes. Add fish and lemon juice; reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add milk, evaporated milk, salt and pepper and cook an additional 10 minutes.  Serve in a bread trencher.

Trout baked in Clay

18	–21 dried cornhusks (the kind used to make tamales)
18	pounds nontoxic Terra Cotta Cone 04 to 5 clay (about 3 pounds per trout)
6	whole fresh trout, about 12 ounces each
1½	teaspoons kosher or sea salt
1½	teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
12	green onions, grilled
12	large sprigs thyme
12	sprigs whole fresh sage, or 18 sage leaves
12	strips applewood-smoked bacon

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.
Soak cornhusks in warm water about 10 minutes, until soft and pliable. Remove from water and set aside.
Divide clay in six equal portions and cut one portion in half. On flat work surface or cutting board, use rolling pin to roll out, as you would pastry dough, each of the two lumps of clay to about ¼ inch thick. Make sure clay is about 1 inch larger than trout on all sides.
Open each trout, and season inside with salt and pepper. Stuff 2 grilled green onions into cavity, then add 2 sprigs thyme and 2 sprigs sage (or 3 sage leaves). Fold trout halves together. Wrap two strips bacon around fish, one near the head, the other near the tail.
Arrange two cornhusk sections with tapered ends pointing outward, to form a sort of cornhusk canoe. Wrap trout in husks, placing a third section of cornhusk on top. Overlap cornhusks so that no part of trout is exposed. Using cornhusk ties (rip one husk into small strips), tie cornhusk securely around fish at nose and tail, making sure fish is completely covered by husks. (You’ll need 3 cornhusks for each trout; depending on size, some may require a fourth husk.) Cornhusks help fish bake evenly and keep it from sticking to clay.
Place both pieces of rolled-out clay lengthwise on work surface. Place cornhusk-wrapped trout on one piece of clay, cover with second piece, and pinch edges together to seal. With knife, make 3–5 slits in top layer of clay. Place on baking sheet and set aside.
Repeat above steps until all trout are stuffed, wrapped in bacon and cornhusks, and sealed in clay.
Place clay-covered trout on baking sheet and bake in oven 20 minutes. (I usually use both oven racks, with 2–3 trout on each sheet.)
Trout is completely baked when color of clay has changed from dark to light; remove from oven. When clay is cool enough to handle, crack open with kitchen mallet. Clay will easily peel away from cornhusks and can be saved for future use.
Serve trout whole in husks, or cut off head and tail, make an incision down backbone of each fish, and remove spine, resulting in two fillets.