Trout with Butter

Trout is huge part of my childhood memories, the fish that makes bones when it sees me, no matter how well my mum deboned it for me…

We had trout every Friday for years, as you do when you grow up Catholic and I used to hate that darn amphibian. Don’t get me wrong, I love the taste of it, but by the time it had to be deboned and dissected in my case, the pest just manifested more bones no matter what we did to trick it. My mum even swapped plates with me when her fish was deboned and tested, but to no avail. I ended eating the remains stone cold and frustrated and so eventually we chopped it from the menu in favor of sole, the wonderfully boneless fish.

So you can imagine how I felt when I came across this recipe. I was dreading it, I even debated whether to skip it or use another fish. But in the end I pulled myself together and stuck with it. I came across it at Costco, there where four in a pack and I decided to take it. If I had to suffer thru it, I reasoned, then I needed my friends to stand by me. So I invited them for dinner and served this wonderfully easy and tasty trout. I had made that herbed butter a day early and I decided to add it to my potatoes for the side dish as well. Here we where, the four of us, deboning… and to my absolute astonishment it was easy and quick and the trout was so delicate and delicious AND there was not one bone in my mouth…One of my friends just stared at us, I found out he never ate a whole fish before. Lucky his girl helped with the deboning and he thoroughly enjoyed the meal, we all did.

I think I finally beat the trout fear for good as I found myself thinking; “next time I’ll add more lemon and lemon peel in the cooking process” , hang on, what? Next time??? I think I had too much wine, there was wine in the recipe, and we had quite a lot more for dinner. Good times…

Gaffer’s Blackberry Tart

Gaffer Gamgee himself could not have been more pleased with this Blackberry Tart.

A lovely tribute to summer berries, light and fresh, no muss no fuss but full of sweetness and fruitiness. I did not even make any whipped cream for it, as I had planned, and it sure did not need any. My only addition was a garnish of lemon balm and as my friend dished out this one to us all she added a few leafs of the lemon balm to each slice of tart. It was the perfect finish and added a bit of extra oomph to the dessert.

I know you are going to get bored of me telling you how easy this recipe was, as I keep saying so every time, but what is true is true and for all those who need a leg up to try new things, this is the book to start with for sure.

I can’t believe I’m almost thru the book already. Only a few recipes left and then some miscellaneous and very interesting concoctions I can’t wait to experiment with. Thank goodness Chelsea also wrote the Game of Thrones official cookbook and that will be waiting for me after my adventures in Middle-Earth.

For now though I am off to another voyage of my own, back to my hometown to see family and friends. Namarie

 

Beer marinated Chicken

This recipe is my own invention and contribution to Hobbit cuisine.

The need arose when I had to remake my roast ‘taters that I had not taken pictures of last time. So I needed a dish to go with the ‘taters and I had an inspiration for the chicken breast sitting in my fridge. I marinated the chicken with herbs and covered it in beer overnight. The next day I sauteed some onion and added the chicken and beer into the pan and slow cooked everything while the ‘taters where roasting in the oven. I added some mushrooms, because Hobbits love mushrooms, especially Hobbits that sometimes go off on unexpected adventures, and also some fresh asparagus that Sam most likely would have found down near the river in Hobbiton.

Ingredients:

1 chicken breast                                                                      1 Tbs. bacon grease or butter

salt and pepper                                                                      1/2 onion chopped

1tsp rosemary and thyme each                                           3-4oz. mushrooms

12oz. beer ( IPA gives more flavor, but any works)         3oz. asparagus

Season the chicken breast with salt, pepper and herbs on both sides and put into a deep dish, pour the beer over it and let marinade for at least one hour, best if left overnight to soak up flavors.

Melt the bacon grease in a large saucepan, add the onion and saute until onion is soft and golden brown. Add the chicken and beer marinade, cover and let simmer on low heat for 20 min. turn the chicken breast a few times to soak up the beer evenly.

Chop the mushrooms and asparagus and add to simmer in the beer marinade, season to taste with more pepper and salt if needed. Simmer covered for 10 min then uncover and continue to simmer for 15 min, until the beer is mostly absorbed. There should be just enough sauce left to coat the chicken and veggies without it being a soup.

Serves 2                                               Prep: 1 hour                                        Cooking: 45 min

If you decide to serve this dish as I have with roast ‘taters, the chicken should be ready to dish up when the ‘taters come out of the oven.

Go and enjoy a Hobbit dinner with a friend or two…

Beer marinated Chicken and Roast ‘Taters

 

Roast ‘Taters

Roasted ‘Taters, the gaffer’s delight and sure true.

Last time I made the ‘taters with the roast chicken, I did not take pictures of the ‘taters by themselves. So I had to remake the dish to be presented in its own right. This time they came out even better than before, just perfectly crisp and tasty.

I chose a different kind of potatoes this time and they held up the boiling much better. I added some thyme and rosemary for extra flavor. The only thing I might try next time is to use lard instead of olive oil to shake and roast the ‘taters in. I think that would be much closer to Hobbit cooking than olive oil.

All in all a super easy recipe and enormous return in yummy-ness.

To complete the meal I invented my own version of Hobbit food this time, the Beer marinated Chicken. I will accord it its own blog post as it came out really nice and deserves to be added in it’s own category ; ” Inspired by Hobbit Cuisine”.

So stay tuned…

 

Roast Chicken

This was my first ever roast chicken made by me; and it was delicious.

What a simple and easy recipe with lots of flavor and taste… I keep getting surprised by all these recipes turning out so satisfying to make and eat. You’d think I should have gotten used to it now.

Anyhow, I decided to use this recipe to have a little dinner party for a friend I had not seen in ages.  So I basically cooked for two chef’s, both enjoyed the food. Phew… My friend really liked the stuffing and kept asking for more. It was very tasty, I have to admit.

As you can see from the picture I did add roast ‘taters using the next recipe, but in the excitement of getting the food to the table and not taking forever to take pictures and then cut the chicken and letting it all go cold; I forgot to picture the ‘taters on their own.

So I guess its back to the kitchen for another batch soon…

prepped chicken

half way thru roasting

Mushroom Soup

This mushroom soup was the perfect start for my Christmas Day Dinner with friends.

I am so loving the chance to show off these wonderful recipes to friends and share the goodness. This soup was everything it promised to be; creamy, mushroomy and delicious.

A very easy and no fuss recipe and I used Himalayan salt instead of the smoked salt because I messed up and forgot to buy the smoked salt. As I was cooking this for my  party I had no choice, but I will very likely make this one again, cause it is so yummilishious.

It was a success and on a cool California winter night, this rich, creamy soup was just the ticket to get us all into the winter Christmas spirit, even without the snow at the door.

It is so interesting that more and more I notice how much mushrooms remind me of my childhood and hometown. There is something magical and wholesome in them. I can relate very well to Hobbits collecting them in the fields and woods around the Shire. My dad goes even to this day thru the woods at home in late summer and autumn to collect them and dry them to keep for the season. I better send him this recipe too…

Country Loaf

My first ever venture into making my own bread and it was awesome.

Yes I know, I am veering off the path of following recipes as they are listed in the book.  The country loaf appears under dinner not luncheon, but I needed some bread and I thought why not? I am going to go offline with the recipes anyway as I am planning for Christmas. I have decided that as I am having so much fun cooking from this book I will use it to prepare our Yule afternoon dinner.

But, before I will reveal any more, lets get back to the bread… This loaf is so fluffy and crumbly, it goes with everything. I made sandwiches and had it plain, with home made marmalade and we toasted it cut into croutons for our salad.

It has a little sweetness to it, that reminds me of our Easter bread back home. I was glad my boyfriend helped me rolling the dough, it came out perfect. Again a great recipe, simple, easy and to die for…