Sam's Coney Stew

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I'm back with another recipe from the world of Tolkien, this time it's Sam's infamous Coney stew, from Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and the only side dish required of course was taters.

Let's get cooking!

Ingredients:

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 tsp ground allspice

2 tsp thyme

3 tbsp olive oil

750g rabbit pieces or skinless chicken thighs

3 large onions, sliced

2 tsp caster sugar

3 garlic cloves, crushed

75ml red wine vinegar

300ml red wine

50g tomato puree

Salt

2 bay leaves

Flat-leaf parsley to garnish.

Mix together the pepper, allspice and thyme and rub over the rabbit or chicken pieces.

Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the meat in batches on all sides until thoroughly browned. Transfer each batch to a plate.

Add the onions to the pan with the sugar and fry, stirring frequently, for about 15 minutes until caramelised.

Stir in the garlic and cook for a further minute.

Add the vinegar and wine to the pan. Bring to the boil and continue to boil until the mixture has reduced by about a third.

Stir in the tomato puree and a little salt, return the meat to the pan and add the bay leaves.

Pre-heat your oven to 150C/Gas Mark 2.

Transfer from the pan to an oven proof dish and cover with a lid or tinfoil. Place in the preheated oven, for about 2 hours for the rabbit and 1 1/2 hours for the chicken thighs, until the meat is tender and the juices thick and glossy.

Check the seasoning and sprinkle with the parsley. Serve with anything you like. I served ours with mash potatoes.

The recipe calls for the use of a flameproof casserole dish, but I don't have one so cooked it all in a pan and then transferred to an ovenproof dish. I also couldn't find any rabbit locally to me so had to go with chicken thighs. I would love to be able to make it more authentic and make it with rabbit eventually. Overall this dish is delicious, we've had it a few times and each time it's cooked perfectly. It works perfectly with mash taters and is full of flavour. I feel this dish is perfect all year round but it's definitely the perfect winter warmer.

If you would like to make any of the recipes from the Recipes From The World of Tolkien book, you can find it available to order on Amazon and Waterstones.

See you soon!

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Simply Cook

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Cook restaurant quality meals!

Each box comes with 4 recipe kits and 4 step-by-step recipe cards.

Following the recipes, you combine the kits with 4-6 items from your fridge or cupboard.

Then in just 20 minutes  you'll be enjoying a delicious meal for 2-4 people.

First from this box I cooked the Bibimbap. In this kit you get Gochujang Paste, Miso Stock and Soy & Red Miso Sauce.

We always love this dish, it's always full of flavour and cooks perfectly. This is one of the recipes we love to pick to have in our box, as well as one of the reasons I started getting us these boxes.

Next from this box I cooked the Penne Alla Rustica. In this kit you get Garlic & Rosemary Mix, Rustica Paste and Red Pepper Sprinkle

This is another favourite of ours. I love all the flavours, as well as all the different textures with the pasta, chorizo and tomatoes.

Next from this box I cooked the Scandi Style Salmon. In this kit you get Hasselback Potato Seasoning, Dill Pickle Mix and Scandi Salmon Rub.

Skye still hasn't gotten a taste for salmon, so I always cook a chicken breast for her when I cook this dish. She's never left it so the flavours must really work with chicken too. I love this dish, it's full of flavour and the salmon cooks perfectly, it just flakes apart. I really love all the flavours, it all works together perfectly.

Last from this box I cooked the Pad Thai. In this kit you get Pad Thai Paste, Tamarind and Thai Tomato Paste.

Prawns go down a treat in this house with Skye. She's also a big fan of this dish and so am I. It's full of flavour and always cooks perfectly.

Each box is £11.78 or £9.99 if you click ship now, with your first box being a trial price of £3.

If you are interested in making your own Simply Cook subscription, then head over to the Simply Cook website, to check out more details as well as their big catalogue of dishes to make.

Here is a code to help you on your way and to get you your first box free:

Free box invitation code.

See you soon!

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Bye

White Chocolate Berry Tart

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I've only really ever made small tarts like jam tarts, coconut tarts and cherry Bakewell's. So making a larger tart was something new to me. I'm not even sure why I decided to bake this tart, but I'm glad I did. This is a recipe from Jane's Patisserie, so I knew it would be a good recipe.

Let's get baking!

Ingredients:

Biscuit Base

300g digestive biscuits

150g unsalted butter

Berry Mix

300g frozen berry mix

100g caster sugar

1 tbsp cornflour

100ml water

White Chocolate Ganache

300g white chocolate

100ml double cream

50g unsalted butter

Decoration

pomegranate seeds

grated chocolate

Put your biscuits in a blender and blitz to make a fine crumb, or bash them in a bowl into a fine crumb.

On a low heat, melt the butter in a separate bowl, I just melt in in a small pan.

Add the butter to the biscuits and combine together.

Once combined, press into the base and sides of  a 9" tart tin. I use a loose bottom tin.

Next, add the berry mix, sugar, cornflour and water to a pan.

Heat on a low-medium heat for about 5-10 minutes to soften the fruit and mash it down and mix together.

Pour the mixture onto the biscuit base and leave to cool for 15 minutes, before putting into the fridge for an hour to set, before adding the ganache.

For the white chocolate ganache, add the chocolate, cream and butter to another bowl and melt together on a low heat until smooth.

Once smooth, pour over the cooled berries, and leave the tart to set for a couple of hours.

Once set, decorate as you wish, and serve. I used grated white chocolate and pomegranate seeds.

I wish I'd let this set a little longer as both the fruit and chocolate drooped slightly once cut.

Apart from being slightly under-set, the flavour was really nice and very moreish. I thought the pomegranate seeds worked perfectly, giving a bit of extra texture.

I'd happily make this again and leave it a lot longer to set.

While a recipe like this can be daunting to some, it's actually really easy to make and doesn't require a lot of time and skill to make.

If you would like to follow the original recipe for this berry tart, then head over to the White Chocolate Berry Tart recipe page on the Jane's Patisseries website.

See you soon!

안녕

(Annyeong)

さようなら

(Sayonara)

再见

(ZaiJian)

Bye