Witchy Kitchen

Tag: red wine

  • Violet Beauregarde-inspired Three Course Dinner

    #FFDahlicious is a month for tasty eats inspired by Roald Dahl hosted by Katarina @ Pretty Cake Machine. Check the hashtag or the link up for lots of Dahl-inspired dishes.

    Violet Beauregarde, the gum-smacking, slang-slinging, disobedient daughter of a car salesman, is the second child to meet her demise in Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, but not before enjoying a lovely three course meal in the form of gum. 

    Before she’s rolled away to be juiced, she enjoys tomato soup, roast beef with a baked potato, and then the cause of her downfall: blueberry pie. 

    Without Willy Wonka’s assistance, I was unable to create this gum exactly as it was described (probably a good thing), but I did create the meal that inspired it! This tomato soup was completely simple, yet fabulous thanks to the slow roasted tomatoes, it had become my go-to recipe. The roast beef was nicely cooked with a red wine gravy. And the blueberry pies were miniature with an almond crust, a sweet bite at the end of a lovely meal. Don’t feel bad for Violet, all in all it’s not a bad way to go.

    Violet Beauregarde’s Three Course Dinner


    Tomato Soup

    • 2 pounds roma tomatoes, cut into thick slices
    • 1 head garlic
    • 1/2 an onion, sliced
    • olive oil, salt & pepper
    • 5 cups chicken broth (homemade and flavorful if possible, I made mine from the bones of an Arabic style roast chicken)
    • cream to garnish
    Heat oven to 350°. Toss tomatoes with a good amount of olive oil, salt and pepper, and spread in a single layer on a baking sheet (or two if you don’t have a very large one). In another baking dish, toss the onions with olive oil, salt and pepper. Cut the top off a head of garlic and wrap it in foil, drizzled with a little olive oil. Put everything in the oven. Bake, flipping the tomatoes every half hour and stirring the onions once in awhile, until tomatoes are cooked and caramelizing and onion is golden (tomatoes will take about an hour and a half, onions probably only a half hour – check and make sure not to burn). Leave garlic in until roasted and soft, an hour to an hour and a half. Puree tomatoes, onions, and garlic in a blender with a little chicken broth, then pour into a pot. Stir in the rest of the chicken broth, adjusting seasoning if necessary, and gently heat, slowly simmering for 15 minutes or so. Serve hot with a little cream for garnish.

    Roast Beef

    I shall direct you to Simply Recipes, whose detailed method I followed pretty much exactly, including making the red wine gravy.

    (Mini) Blueberry Pie (with almond crust)

    For the crust
    • 2 cups almond flour
    • 2 tablespoons butter
    • 1 egg
    • good pinch salt
    Blitz together almond flour and butter in a food processor, then blitz in egg and salt. Press into a prepared mini muffin tin and bake (before filling) at 350° for 8 minutes. For the filling I made this lightly sweetened, still very tart. You can increase the amount of honey to 1/2 cup if you’d like.
    • 1 pint blueberries
    • 1/4 cup honey
    • pinch salt
    • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
    In a small saucepan, heat half the blueberries with honey and salt. Mix cornstarch in 1/4 cup of water and add to the saucepan, stirring until blueberries are broken down and mixture is thick. Remove from heat, and stir remaining blueberries into the mixture. Spoon into the crusts in the mini muffin tin and bake at 350° for 20 minutes. Cool in the muffin tin before removing.

    Recipe for Fiction Kitchen Episode 21: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in which Carrie and Diana talk the book and movies, including awful and/or bland children, mint sugar grass production techniques, wistful buttercup sipping, questionable treatment of animals and small humans, a little chocolate and a lot of vegetables.

  • Imperius Pears

    Imperius Pears

    These Imperius Pears, poached in red wine and bathed in chocolate, are one of the unforgivable dishes. They cast a pleasant thrall over those who eat them; there’s a darkness tinged with spices, especially the unusual black pepper, but the chocolately sweetness is so dreamy that the eater doesn’t mind losing their will.

    Only the wizard with exceptional strength is able to resist – but why would they want to?

    Harry Potter Imperius Pears

    • 4 Bosc pears, almost ripe
    • 2 1/2 cups red wine (such as cabernet)
    • 3/4 cups sugar
    • 1 vanilla bean, split
    • 12 black pepper pods
    • 1/2 inch ginger, sliced into coins
    • 1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa
    • pinch salt

    Peel the pears and scoop out the core at the bottom with a spoon.

    In a small saucepan, heat wine, sugar, vanilla bean, black pepper pods, and ginger to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and submerge the pears two face up, two face down.

    Simmer for approximately 20 minutes, then flip pears and simmer another 20 minutes. Check to see that they are easily pierced by a fork but not falling apart. Remove to a plate.

    Strain the remaining wine mixture and return to the saucepan, add cocoa and salt, and bring to a boil. Lower heat slightly and simmer until mixture thickens, coating a spoon. Remove from heat and cool.

    Arrange pears on a plate and drizzle with the wine and chocolate reduction. Service with more on the side.

    potter-week-gold

    Submitted for PotterPowers day of Common Room’s PotterWeek – check out #PotterWeek around social media for tons of fun Harry Potter-related goodness!

    Mischief managed.

  • Mawmenny

    Mawmenny

    As a lover of both medieval and desi food, I get excited when they collide, as in this dish which is basically a medieval curry. Thanks, Spice Route!

    There are lots of variations, some with chicken, beef, or mutton (or a mixture), some cooked in wine, some in almond milk, some sweetened with sugar and dates, all spiced with cinnamon and cloves. (See this recipe, which sources a few olde receipts). Some were colored red with sandalwood, most garnished with nuts.

    Because of the warm spices and the almonds, I made mine similar to a Mughlai korma, and it turned out rich, fragrant, and lovely.

    As Game of Thrones fare…

    This is the upscale version of bowls of brown – that is if better ingredients were available than stale bread, meat gristle and sewer water! When the hipster noble houses start gentrifying Flea Bottom, you can look for mawmenny establishments to start popping up for sure.

    Note: if you don’t have all the spices, or if you’d rather use beef or chicken than goat, go for it! Medieval chefs are resourceful. This recipe is very versatile, use whatever meat and at least the cinnamon and cloves and you should be good.

    Mawmenny

    • 2 pounds bone-in goat cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces (you can also use lamb, beef, or chicken)
    • 1 cup dry red wine
    • 6 cloves garlic, chopped, divided
    • salt & pepper
    • 2 1/2 medium onions
    • 2 inches ginger, peeled and chopped
    • ground spices: 1 teaspoon garam masala, 1 teaspoon paprika, 1/2 teaspoon turmeric, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
    • 4 tablespoons ghee, divided (or you can use half and half butter and oil)
    • whole spices: 1 stick cinnamon, 8 cloves, 2 black cardamoms
    • 1 teaspoon sugar
    • 1/4 cup almonds, ground
    • 1/4 cup almonds, slivered

    Marinate meat in wine, 2 cloves garlic, and generously seasoned with salt and pepper, for at least an hour and ideally over night.

    Grind together onions, 4 cloves garlic, ginger, and ground spices. On medium high, heat 3 tablespoons ghee, and cook the onion mixture, stirring frequently at first and constantly at the end, until liquid has evaporated and the mixture has darkened in color. Crank the heat up to high and add whole spices and the meat (along with the marinade), and cook, stirring, until liquid has mostly evaporated and meat is sealed, being careful not to burn. Add sugar, ground almonds and water to just cover, bring to a boil and lower to a simmer. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until meat is very soft, 2-2 1/2 hours (will be less for chicken, only 20-30 minutes).

    Meanwhile, in a small pan, heat a tablespoon of ghee and fry the slivered almonds, stirring gently, until golden. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate.

    When meat is ready, remove cover, raise heat and thicken up the sauce, stirring frequently. When it’s thick enough, garnish with almonds and serve hot with bread.

    From Game of Thrones menu Queen in the North