A Feast of Ice and Fire: The Official Game of Thrones Companion Cookbook (A Song of Ice and Fire) (18 page)

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Authors: Chelsea Monroe-Cassel,Sariann Lehrer

BOOK: A Feast of Ice and Fire: The Official Game of Thrones Companion Cookbook (A Song of Ice and Fire)
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Leek Soup

The wedding feast began with a thin leek soup, followed by a salad of green beans, onions, and beets.…
—A STORM OF SWORDS

Medieval Leek Soup

Take funges and pare hem clere and dyce hem. Take leke and shrede hym small and do hym to seeþ in gode broth. Colour it with safron and do þer inne powdour fort
.
—FORME OF CURY, 14TH CENTURY

Serves 2 to 3
Prep: 10 minutes
Cooking: 5 minutes
Pairs well with
White Beans and Bacon
,
Medieval
Cheese-and-Onion Pie
, dry white wine or cider
This recipe is quick to prepare, and the resulting broth has a bit of kick from the pepper and ginger. It’s wonderfully fresh-tasting; paired with a chunk of sourdough bread, it’s perfect for a spring evening’s dinner.
2 cups beef or chicken broth
6 threads saffron, or a pinch of ground saffron
1 leek (white and light green parts only), well washed and thinly sliced
1½ cups mushrooms, diced
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon salt
Pinch of
Poudre Forte
Place the broth in a medium saucepan. Add the saffron and bring the liquid to a boil. Add the leek, mushrooms, ginger, pepper, salt, and poudre forte to the broth, simmer for 3 to 4 minutes, then remove from the heat and serve.

Modern Leek Soup
Serves 4
Prep: 5 minutes
Cooking: 45 minutes
Pairs well with
Crusty White Bread
,
Almond Crusted Trout
, Traditional-style
Oatcakes
The addition of potatoes to this relatively modern recipe results in a creamy, rich texture that shows off the leeks to their best advantage. Thick and hearty, this soup is an ideal cold-weather comfort food.
4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter
2 leeks (white and light green parts only), well washed and chopped into thin rings
1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 large potatoes, peeled and chopped
4 cups chicken broth
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
Chopped fresh parsley for garnish
Heat 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the chopped leeks and onion and cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft but not brown.
Add the potatoes and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes, then add the chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover, and allow to simmer for 35 minutes.
Using either a potato masher or an immersion blender, puree the soup until all the chunks of potato break down. Add the remaining butter. Season with salt and pepper, garnish with parsley, and serve.

Sister’s Stew

The beer was brown, the bread black, the stew a creamy white. She served it in a trencher hollowed out of a stale loaf. It was thick with leeks, carrots, barley, and turnips white and yellow, along with clams and chunks of cod and crabmeat, swimming in a stock of heavy cream and butter. It was the sort of stew that warmed a man right down to his bones, just the thing for a wet, cold night
.
—A DANCE WITH DRAGONS

Serves 6
Soaking barley: 1 hour
Stock: 10 minutes
Cooking: 45 minutes
Pairs well with
Black Bread
,
Arya’s Snitched Tarts
, light beer such as a lager or pilsner
This stew is exactly as good as it sounds in the book. The vegetables add a welcome splash of color that is absent from many seafood chowders. Despite the vast quantities
of fish that go into the stew, it does not taste overly fishy. Instead, the seafood flavors melt into the creamy broth, mingling with the aromatic garlic and the subtle hint of saffron. Consider serving the stew in a hollowed loaf of black bread—this adds so many additional complex flavors that you will find yourself spooning up more and more to try to experience them all.
1½ pounds cod, cut into chunks
2 cups cold water
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 big leeks (white and light green parts only), well washed and chopped
2 large carrots, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup white wine
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
½ cup pearl barley, soaked for at least 1 hour in warm water
1 medium turnip, diced
1 cup heavy cream (do not try to go light and use half and-half)
½ teaspoon crumbled saffron threads
One 12-ounce can evaporated milk
¼ teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
½ cup crabmeat, real or imitation
½ cup clam meat
Place ½ pound of the cod in a pot with the water. Bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes. Then remove the fish with a slotted spoon and set it aside for later. Keep the water, as this is your fish stock.
In a large saucepan, melt the butter and sauté the leeks, carrots, and garlic over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender but not brown, about 5 minutes.
Add the wine and increase the heat, bringing it to a boil. Add the fish stock, thyme, salt, pepper, barley, and turnips; cook for about 20 minutes, or until the turnips are tender.
Warm the cream in a small saucepan—it should not even simmer—then rub the saffron threads into it until the cream turns a nice golden color. Stir the cream and evaporated milk into the broth and turnip mixture.
Add the remaining chunks of fish (both raw and cooked), the crab, and the clams. Cover and cook on medium low for 5 to 8 minutes, or until the fish is opaque. Serve hot.

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