The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook (27 page)
Naturally Ron is the one to discover that food is served at the ghostly death day party of Nearly Headless Nick. But the three friends quickly realize that this food is not fit for humans. Among the “delicacies” laid out for the ghosts to view is a rotten haggis covered with crawling maggots (see
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
, Chapter 8).
Haggis is the national dish of Scotland. Most Americans are not used to the concept of eating the offal (the parts that “fall off” or “off fall” the animal during butchering), which haggis is made of, so you may find this recipe a bit, well, repulsive. The following recipe has not been tested, so proceed at your peril (if you can even find all the ingredients).
1 sheep's heart
1 sheep's lung
1 sheep's liver
2 cups chopped suet
1 cup oatmeal
1 cup chicken broth
1 onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
Artificial casings
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Finely chop the heart, lung, and liver.
Combine the chopped offal with the suet, oatmeal, broth, onion, salt, and pepper, and mix well. Stuff the casings with the mixture, leaving room for the mixture to expand. Tie the casings well with a bit of kitchen twine so water can't get in.
Add the haggis to the pot and reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 3 hours, but keep an eye on the haggis. If they look like they're going to burst, prick them with a needle.
Serves 6
The Gryffindors are celebrating. Harry has just successfully completed the first task in the Triwizard Tournament, and Fred and George have snuck food into the common room from the kitchens for what promises to be a great party. But when Harry opens the golden egg at the urging of his curious friends, Neville drops his sausage rolls in fright. He is sure the unearthly wailing coming from the egg is the sound of someone being tortured (see
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
, Chapter 21).
There's not much to be said about the sausage roll, a modern innovation. You might find it at parties or fast-food places, but it greatly resembles the French
rissole
, which is a ground meat mixture baked in puff pastry.
Approximately 1 pound store-bought pre-rolled puff pastry sheets, thawed
Spicy brown mustard, optional
1 pound of your favorite sausages or frankfurters
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Grease and flour a cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper.
Unroll the puff pastry sheets and cut out eight to ten 4½-inch squares (depending on how many sausages you have). Spread the mustard on each square, if using. Place a sausage at the edge of each square and roll the pastry around each sausage. If the sausages are longer than the squares, the ends will poke out; this rather adds to the appeal.
Lay the rolls on the cookie sheet seam-side down and brush with the beaten egg. Cut three slits on top of each sausage roll. Bake for 10 minutes, rotate the pan, then reduce the heat to 375°F and bake another 15 minutes until puffed and golden.
Makes 8–10 rolls
For the filling, you can use the ground beef mixture from the Herbed and Spiced Fried Sausage Patties (Chapter 6) instead of using store-bought sausages.
Fleur Delacour takes Ron's breath away when she asks for the bouillabaisse. He tells her it's very good, but has to ask Hermione what that “bless-you” stuff is. No thanks, he'll stick to black pudding (see
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
, Chapter 16).
Black pudding, also called blood sausage, is made of blood mixed with animal fat such as suet as well as oats, onion, salt, and seasonings. The mixture is stuffed into casings and boiled in water. You can't make your own, because you can't legally purchase animal blood in the United States, but a recipe for black pudding follows. Since you are more likely to buy a premade pudding, be sure to slice the sausage thickly and reheat it gently, as it's crumbly.
3½ cups blood (pig's or sheep's)
1½ cups shredded suet
1 cup whole milk
2/3 cup oatmeal
3 onions, finely chopped
1 tablespoon salt
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon basil
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
Sausage casings
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Mix all the ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Stuff the casings with the mixture and drop them into the pot. Bring it back to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer gently for 3 hours.
Remove the sausages from the pot and cool. To use, slice thickly and fry on both sides.
Serves 6
The following recipe is based on Black Pudding from The
Foody.com.
This recipe has not been tested, so proceed at your own risk! Assuming you can get hold of the blood, of course.
Professor Umbridge is so evil, she must be defied. Right under her nose, Harry secretly trains a group of friends in Defense Against the Dark Arts, but he rebels openly by giving an interview that will be read by the whole school. Seamus Finnigan gobbles up a delicious chicken and ham pie while listening to Harry talk about his interview with Rita Skeeter, and he will finally be convinced Harry's not a “nutter” when he reads the interview in
The Quibbler
(see
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
, Chapter 26).
There are so many wonderful things you can do with chicken, not least of which is to bake it into a pie. This recipe is easy to prepare and tastes delicious.
1 3-pound store-bought rotisserie chicken
2 pounds ham, in one piece or steaks
3 cups prepared or store-bought chicken gravy
1 large onion, chopped
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 cup frozen peas
1 box refrigerated pie crust, 2 circles in a box
Remove the meat from the chicken and discard the skin and bones. Cut the ham into ½-inch strips.
Place the chicken gravy in a saucepan and add the chopped onion and thyme. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.
Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 375°F. Place the peas in a bowl. Using a slotted spoon, remove the cooked onions from the chicken gravy and add them to the peas.
Place one of the dough circles into an 8- or 9-inch deep-dish pie plate and press it into the bottom and the sides. Place the chicken in the pie pan and top with the peas and cooked onions. Add the ham. Place the other dough circle on top and crimp the edges to seal. Cut two or three 1-inch slits in the top crust to form vents. Place the pie on a baking sheet and place in the oven. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes until brown and bubbly.
Serves 6
1 3-pound chicken, cut into quarters or eighths
2 pounds ham, in one piece or steaks
1 large onion, chopped
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon dried thyme
3 tablespoons cornstarch
½ cup cold water
1 cup frozen peas
1 box refrigerated pie crust, 2 circles in a box
Place the chicken in a heavy pot with the ham, onion, bay leaves, and thyme. Cover with water, bring to a boil, cover, and reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 1½ hours.
Remove the chicken and ham from the pot. Remove the bay leaves and discard. Strain the liquid and reserve. Transfer the cooked onions to a small bowl.
When the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the bones and cut into bite-size pieces. Slice the ham into ½-inch-thick strips.
You will need 3 cups of the chicken broth. If you have too much liquid, return it to the pot and boil to reduce the volume to 3 cups. Bring the 3 cups of chicken broth to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Dissolve the cornstarch in the cold water and whisk into the hot chicken broth until thickened.
Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 375°F. Place one of the dough circles into an 8- or 9-inch deep-dish pie plate and press into the bottom and sides. Place the chicken in the pie plate and top with the peas and cooked onions. Add the ham. Place the other dough circle on top and crimp the edges to seal. Cut two or three 1-inch slits in the top crust to form vents. Place the pie on the baking sheet and place in the oven. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes until brown and bubbly.
Serves 6
Desserts and Snacks at School
The British are a nation of sugar fiends. (So are the Americans, but that's another story.) So much so that in early times, without dental care like we have today, their teeth rotted and fell out. You really would not have wanted to see them smile. The peasants, ironically, had healthier teeth because sugar was too expensive for them.
“Pudding” is the English word for dessert, and the Pudding King was George I. (“Georgey-Porgey pudding and pie” refers to him.) He insisted he be served Christmas pudding although Oliver Cromwell had banned it because one, it was too sinfully rich (true, especially if you're trying to lose weight) and two, it echoed pagan Celtic customs (also true, the flaming pudding represented the fires the druids and Celts lit at the winter solstice to strengthen the sun).
Here are some of the quaintly named sweets they ate:
Frumenty, a pudding of wheat kernels cooked in milk and sweetened (it was served at King Henry IV's wedding feast — not the Henry with the six wives; that's Henry VIII).
Flummery, an oatmeal dish that evolved into a blancmange-type of jelly made with cream or ground almonds.
Junket, a sweetened curd cheese.
None of these dishes appear in the Harry Potter books; it's just an interesting bit of info.
cont'd
Of course, the British have also been eating apple pies and custards for eons. So it's no surprise that the desserts at Hogwarts follow the fine English tradition of being sweet, yummy, and unwholesome. The lucky students get fancy desserts on golden platters with each meal. These recipes are fun to make, even more fun to eat, and are okay to have as long as you save them for special occasions.
With Harry, it's often a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but when another student is attacked and Harry is yet again found at the scene of the crime, Professor McGonagall decides enough is enough: this is something for Pro-fessor Dumbledore to handle. The password to his quarters is “lemon drop”; no surprise there, as he confessed to Professor McGonagall that he was fond of this Muggle sweet (see
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
, Chapter 11).
Lemon drops, as you might expect, are lemon-flavored candies. They are basically the same as acid drops, a more sour candy, just prepared with lemon extract instead of citric acid. In England there's a popular sweet called a sherbet lemon, which is a lemon-flavored sucking candy with sherbet powder in the center, but specialized equipment is needed to produce it.
¼ cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup light corn syrup
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon lemon extract
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Combine the water, sugar, corn syrup, and cream of tartar in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture begins to bubble. Wash down the sides of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in hot water if sugar crystals have formed on the sides. Clip a candy thermometer to the pan and continue cooking over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture reaches 300°F.
Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the lemon extract. When the bubbling has subsided, use an oiled teaspoon to drop teaspoonfuls of the sugar syrup onto the prepared sheets.
To store the candies, wrap them in sheets of parchment paper, making sure the candies don't touch, as they will stick to each other.
Makes about 40 candies
Harry doesn't understand why peppermint humbugs are served along with the roasts and chops and potatoes at his first Hogwarts feast. But it makes sense if you think about it. Maybe the candies were supposed to be like after-dinner mints to freshen your breath (see
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
, Chapter 7).
Scrooge's famous “Bah, humbug!” exclamation and peppermint humbugs are unrelated, though some people in England give out humbugs on Christmas as a joke. The only other thing you need to know about a humbug is that it's a type of pulled candy, literally pulled, as you will see in the instructions. Traditional humbugs are striped white and black, but it's for home cooks to tint the candy one color. If you make the candy with a friend, double the recipe, divide the hot candy, and tint it two different colors. When the candy is stiff enough, you can twist and pull the two colors together.
1/3 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
¼ teaspoon peppermint extract
Few drops green food coloring or other desired color
Spray an 8-inch pan with cooking spray and set aside. In a medium saucepan, combine the water, sugar, and cream of tartar and cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture begins to boil. If sugar crystals form on the sides of the pan, wash down the sides with a pastry brush dipped in hot water.
Clip a candy thermometer to the side of the pot. Reduce the heat to medium and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the temperature reaches 260°F. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the peppermint extract and food coloring and mix well.
Pour the syrup into the prepared pan. Let the syrup cool for a few minutes. Put on a pair of clean heavy rubber gloves and spray the gloves with cooking spray. Rub your hands together to evenly distribute the oil. If you can tolerate the heat, you can skip the gloves and just oil your hands.
Pick up the hot candy and begin pulling it, twisting along the rope as you pull. This will be difficult at first, as the candy will be a mushy glob and will seem to just gloop and droop. Gradually it will stiffen and be easier to pull. Fold the rope in half and then half again and twist and pull again. Repeat and repeat and repeat. As you pull and twist, the candy will begin to look more opaque and will take on a pearlescent sheen, very pretty to behold. When the candy is too stiff to pull, snip the rope at ¾-inch intervals onto a sheet of parchment paper. The candies will look like teeny-weeny pillows. Do not let the humbugs touch each other; instead wrap each piece individually in parchment paper or plastic wrap to prevent sticking. Store in an airtight container. The humbugs will begin to recrystallize after two or three days.
Makes about 20 ¾-inch pieces
Eat these candies with caution. They can really cement your teeth together!
The dessert course at Harry's first Hogwarts feast is a kid's fantasy (or an adult's, if the adult has a sweet tooth). Pies, cakes, tarts — and ice cream in every imaginable flavor — it doesn't get better than that. A separate cookbook would be needed to cover that many ice cream flavors, so this book includes just a small sample of unique or popular British flavors (see
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
, Chapter 7).
The Europeans used vanilla to flavor chocolate and tobacco at first, but as everyone knows, it's used today to flavor lots of other things. The most basic ice cream is vanilla, and it can be used as a base for other flavors. See the note for great variations, or use your imagination and come up with your own flavors.
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups whole milk
1 cup granulated sugar extrac
5 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extrac
Combine the cream, milk, and sugar in a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until hot but not bubbling. Temper the egg yolks by slowly pouring 1 cup of the hot mixture into the egg yolks while whisking constantly. Pour the egg yolk mixture into the pot while stirring and cook until slightly thickened and steaming, but not bubbling. Remove from the heat.
Pour the mixture through a sieve and stir in the vanilla extract. Cover the surface directly with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming, and cool to room temperature. Chill until very cold, about 6 hours or overnight. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.
Makes about 5 cups
The fun thing about this basic recipe is that you can add to it whatever you want. Two minutes before it finishes churning, throw in 1 cup of chocolate chips, chopped toffee bits, chopped milk chocolate, chopped toasted nuts, a combination of nuts and chocolate, and so on. You can replace the vanilla extract with ½ teaspoon mint extract and add 1 cup chocolate chips for mint chocolate chip ice cream, or add 1 tablespoon instant coffee to the pot in step 1 for coffee ice cream. The variations are limited only by your imagination.
People often think of tea ice cream as using green tea and hailing from Asia, but the truth is that traditional British cookbooks with an ice cream section invariably include a tea flavor.
2 cups whole milk
10 bags black tea
2 tablespoons pure instant tea, unsweetened
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup granulated sugar
5 large egg yolks
Heat the milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat until it's hot but not bubbling. Remove from the heat, add the tea bags and instant tea, and steep for 10 minutes. Remove the tea bags and discard. Add the cream and sugar and return to the heat.
Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until hot but not bubbling. Temper the egg yolks by slowly pouring 1 cup of the hot mixture into the egg yolks while whisking constantly. Pour the egg yolk mixture into the pot while stirring and cook until slightly thickened and steaming, but not bubbling. Remove from the heat.
Pour the mixture through a sieve. Cover the surface directly with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming, and cool to room temperature. Chill until very cold, about 6 hours or overnight. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.
Makes about 5 cups