Black Pudding

On the coattails of bouillabaisse, we reach another food I sadly cannot prepare. But this food does not hail from France, it is British to the core:

"'I'll take your word for it,' said Ron, helping himself to black pudding" 

(Goblet of Fire 251).

You may, like me, not blame Ron for passing up the bouillabaisse for something more familiar to him. But knowing the ingredients of black pudding makes me wonder which carnivorous "casserole" is more... well... icky.

In The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook, Dinah Bucholz includes a recipe for black pudding, but includes the caveat that it is almost impossible to prepare in the United States because of laws regarding certain ingredients. 

The recipe requires 3.5 cups of blood (sheep's or pig's is recommended). And unless you happen to be connected in some way to a slaughterhouse, you probably have no way to legally obtain animal blood while residing in the U.S. And there is NO WAY that I'm going to attempt to create a vegetarian version of black pudding, as I have no desire of tasting ingredients to find a substitution for the flavor of blood. 

Sorry folks, this is one you'll have to imagine on your own. Or take a trip to Britain.

Bouillabaisse

Today we reach Ron and Harry's first exposure to some decidedly foreign dishes:

"'What's that?' said Ron, pointing at a large dish of some sort of shellfish stew that stood beside a large steak-and-kidney pudding. 'Bouillabaisse,' said Hermione" 

(Goblet of Fire 251).

Bouillabaisse is, as Hermione goes on to say, a French dish which many find quite tasty. As a vegetarian (even before I was a vegetarian), I do not care to eat fish of any kind. While it is likely possible to create a vegetarian version of bouillabaisse, it would require creating so many subtly different flavors of seitan that I would be cooking for days.

However, if you do enjoy the flavors of seafood, I recommend that you give bouillabaisse a try. There is a promising looking recipe in The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook.

Beef Casserole

Today's food item follows Malfoy's appearance as the amazing bouncing ferret (though it has nothing to do with that delightful scene):

"Harry and Hermione both laughed, and Hermione began doling beef casserole into each of their plates" (Goblet of Fire 207).

Beef cassrole is of course mentioned again in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Hagrid serves it to our trio... and in it they discover a suspicious talon! Casserole is, in my mind, an amalgam of veggies and protein and usually noodles. The recipe we're making today is from The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook, and has no talons. It reminds me more of a stew than a casserole, but it is tasty nonetheless. I'll be tweaking the recipe a bit for the vegetarian factor, so here we go!

You Will Need:

1 Tbs vegetable oil

1.5 pounds vegetarian steak substitute (I used Gardein Beefless Tips)

1 onion, finely chopped (my onions were really teeny, so I used two)

1 celery rib, finely chopped

3 Tbs all-purpose flour

3 cups No-Chicken broth

1 Tbs tomato paste

10 oz mushrooms, sliced (I only used 8oz)

salt and pepper, to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat the oil in a large oven-safe skillet on the stovetop.

2. Add the onion and celery. Cook over medium heat until the onion turns brown, scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan, 10-15 minutes.

3. Sprinkle the flour over the onion and celery and stir until absorbed/dissolved.

4. Add the broth while stirring.

5. Add the tomato paste, mushrooms, beefless tips, salt, and pepper. Mix thoroughly and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat.

6. Cover the skillet and transfer it to the oven. Bake the casserole for two hours. Stir at least every 30 minutes so the bottom doesn't burn.

7. Serve over mashed potatoes, rice, or pasta.

Even though this doesn't meet my personal qualifications as a "casserole" (definitely more of a stew, I think), it's still quite delicious, and an excellent protein source. It's also a super easy meal you can prep, go live your life for two hours, come back and it's ready to eat! Enjoy!

Sprouts

It seems recently all our food items appear with a reference to Hermione's stand on Elf rights. Today's food is no exception:

"'Er-- is this the new stand on Elf rights?' said Ron. 'You're going to make yourself puke instead?' 'No,' said Hermione, with as much dignity as she could muster with her mouth bulging with sprouts" (Goblet of Fire 198).

I adore Brussels sprouts. My carnivore brother thinks this is because as a vegetarian, I'm required to eat anything green. Usually I just steam sprouts and sprinkle them with some garlic salt. But today, we shall prepare one of the two Brussels sprouts recipes from The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook. I've made the "Brussels Sprouts with Chestnuts" before, and it's quite delicious. However, since I've already made it (and since chestnuts are absurdly expensive), today we shall make Brussels Sprouts with Bechamel Sauce.

You Will Need:

1 pound Brussels sprouts (the cookbook calls for frozen, but why would you ever choose frozen over fresh? ew.)

water

1 Tbs butter

1 Tbs flour

1 cup whole milk (I used half and half, 'cause that's what was in the fridge)

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

pepper, to taste

1. I always opt to steam vegetables instead of boiling them, like this recipe suggests. Steaming them leaves less chance of smooshy veggies, and retains more nutrients. Steam your Brussels sprouts until tender.

2. Heat the butter in a skillet until foaming.

3. Add the flour and stir to combine.

4. Pour in the milk while stirring.

5. Add the salt, nutmeg, and pepper, and continue to cook, stirring constantly, until thick and bubbling.

6. Pop your sprouts in a serving dish and pour the bechamel sauce over them. Serve immediately.

Definitely be generous with your peppering "to taste,"and I would recommend adding a bit more salt. While not my favorite, this is definitely a good option for Brussels sprouts, especially for someone, perhaps someone young, who doesn't like to eat their green veggies. Creamy sauce is a good way to hide the nutrition! This would also be a good option for serving over asparagus. Enjoy!

Jam

Our next food item appears the morning after Hermione's short food strike for House Elf rights, which according to Ron, ended because she was hungry:

"'You're eating again, I notice,' said Ron, watching Hermione adding liberal amounts of jam to her toast too" (Goblet of Fire 194).

I have always been interested in making my own jam, and according to all the recipes I've found, it is quite easy to make. Alas, I could not find the necessary jar tongs for removing the boiled jars from the scalding water. 

Someday I will attempt to make my own raspberry jam, and I will probably use this simple recipe from Food.com. I recommend that if you have the right equipment that you try it as well!

Gingerbread House

Happy Christmas to all!!! I hope you've had a lovely holiday; to celebrate, today we're going to jump ahead several food items so we can make something a bit more festive!

"Snow was falling thickly upon the castle and its grounds now. The pale blue Beauxbatons carriage looked like a large, chilly, frosted pumpkin next to the iced gingerbread house that was Hagrid's cabin, while the Durmstrang ship's portholes were glazed with ice, the rigging white with frost" (Goblet of Fire 404).

Until today, I had never made a real gingerbread house. The closest I came was sticking graham crackers to milk cartons in preschool and covering them with gumdrops. But since I'm a former Disney cast member, I had it it my head that my gingerbread house skills must be formidable. What did I learn? I learned that gravity works. And patience is a virtue which I do not possess.

Anyway, I found this gingerbread recipe at the Food Network. Their royal icing recipe is dreadful, so I recommend you find a different source for your icing cement/snow. Here we go!

You Will Need:
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup light molasses or dark corn syrup
1 Tbs cinnamon
1 Tbs ground ginger
1.5 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tbs water
plus royal icing and candy decorations

To yield enough gingerbread to make Hagrid's house, I doubled the recipe.

1. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, brown sugar, molasses, cinnamon, and baking soda until smooth.

2. Blend in the flour and water until smooth, making a stiff dough. Chill a least 30 minutes or until firm.

3. While chilling, make a paper template of all the pieces you will need to build your gingerbread house.
4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
5. Roll out the gingerbread dough on a large, rimless cookie sheet. Place the paper patterns on the dough, and cut around them with a sharp, straight knife, but leave the pieces in place.

6. Bake for around 15 minutes, until firm (15 minutes was probably a little too long, the bread was a bit too brittle when finished).
7. Once baked, cut around the shapes again and allow them to cool completely. This is the time to make your royal icing. Again, don't use the recipe included with the gingerbread one we're using; it's wretched.

8. Once cool, use your royal icing to glue on any candy decorations (you can, of course, do this once the house is assembled, but gravity works after all, so sometimes it's better to embellish while the walls are still flat!). I used Necco wafers to imitate the stones on Hagrid's house... while still being gingerbread house-y.

9. Use the royal icing as cement, and glue your walls both to the "ground" (a piece of cardboard works well) and too each other. Allow the walls to set fully together before adding the roof or pressing on any additional decorations.

10. Once the walls are set, slather "snow" on your roof pieces and place them atop the walls. Hold them in place until the icing sets, or you'll have the same dilemma I did!

And now your gingerbread house is ready to display and/or eat! Unfortunately, I was not very timely with my construction, and had to rush at the end, as guests were arriving for Christmas, and as you can see.... well, my "iced gingerbread house that was Hagrid's cabin" looks rather more like Hagrid's cabin after Bellatrix blew it up at the end of The Half-Blood Prince. So give yourself LOTS of time! Regardless, it was fun to make! I will say that this gingerbread isn't quite spicy enough for my taste, but it is very strong and suitable for making houses! Happy Holidays to you all!

Chocolate Gateau

Our next food item is one of the many decadent desserts served in the Hogwarts Great Hall. And like our last item, it also appears at Hermione's first stand against the slavery of House Elves:

"Treacle tart, Hermione!" said Ron, deliberately wafting its smell toward her. "Spotted dick, look! Chocolate gateau!" (Goblet of Fire 183).

You may know that "gateau" is the French word for "cake." But according to Dinah Bucholz, gateau is quite different from a normal cake. Gateau is all about the filling. The cake part of gateau is simply a delivery method for the rich and delicious filling. And so, today we shall use Ms. Bucholz' recipe for "Creamy Dreamy Chocolate Gateau from The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook.

For the Rich Chocolate Cake, You Will Need:

1 cup boiling water

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1.5 tsp instant coffee

1.25 cups flour

1.5 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1.5 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

1.5 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

3 large eggs, at room temperature

1.5 tsp vanilla

For the Chocolate Whipped Cream, You Will Need:

1 cup heavy cream

1/3 cup confectioner's sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted

1/2 cup chopped, toasted pecans, for topping (I didn't use them)

For the Chocolate Pastry Cream, You Will Need:

1 cup whole milk

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 Tbs cornstarch

1 Tbs unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup granulated sugar

pinch salt

3 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped

For the Chocolate Glaze, You Will Need:

6 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1/2 cup heavy cream

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9" round cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. I used 3 pans so I wouldn't have to deal with slicing the cake into 3 pieces.

2. Whisk together the boiling water, cocoa powder, and instant coffee in a small bowl until smooth. Set aside.

3. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt, and set aside.

4. Using an electric mixer, beat together the butter (be sure it really is room temperature!), granulated sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

5. Add the eggs on at a time, beating after each until incorporated, scraping down the sides as needed.

6. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined (oops, I forgot the vanilla).

7. Add the hot cocoa mixture and beat until combined, scraping the sides as needed.

8. Add the flour mixture and stir on the lowest speed until combined. Finish by scraping the bottom of the bowl with a spatula and folding the batter together.

9. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 45 minutes. I baked mine for 37 minutes, and it was almost too long. Maybe 45 is good if you have all the batter in one pan. When finished, let the cake cool for ten minutes in the pan, then invert onto a rack (or plates...) to cool completely.

10. To make the Chocolate Whipped Cream, combine the heavy cream, confectioner's sugar, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl and beat until stiff peaks form.

11. Whisk some of the whipped cream into the melted chocolate to lighten it, then fold the rest of the whipped cream into the chocolate. Refrigerate covered until you're ready to assemble the cake.

12. To make the chocolate pastry cream and the chocolate glaze, you should look at my Chocolate Eclairs entry, as they are the same and this is getting rather long!

13. To assemble the gateau, place your first layer of cake on your serving plate or cake round, and spread with half the chocolate whipped cream.

14. Spread half the chocolate pastry cream on top of the chocolate whipped cream (don't spread this quite to the edges, gravity will do it for you!).

15. Add the next cake layer and repeat steps 13 and 14. Add the final cake layer and pour the chocolate glaze on top. Pour it pretty much in the center, and spread toward the edges. It will drip artistically on its own.

Once the glaze is set, it's ready to eat! This is one that you need to keep in the fridge when you're not serving it, as it will melt. And let me tell you, you'll be serving it  A LOT! This is one decadent dessert, my friends! If you are a chocolate fan, you have just found your new favorite dessert. Super rich, positively sinful, you are going to need a tall glass of milk to go with each and every slice. House Elves or not, Hermione was crazy to pass up this one!