Love Knots for Tea

Thoughts:

As the cookbook says, “little cakes folded over in the form of love knots are nice for tea”, and I couldn’t agree more. The finished knots are somewhere between shortbread, sugar cookies, and cake. Delicate and doughy, they are not especially sweet on their own, but make an ideal conduit for clotted cream and jam.

I struggled a bit with the obscure directions to “lap across in a true love knot”, but after a bit of experimentation, I think I found a great method. It results in 2-3 bite little cookie-cakes that fit snugly next to a cup of tea on a saucer.

Recipe for Love Knots

Prep: 30 minutes Baking: 10-12 minutes

Makes: 3-4 dozen knots

Cook’s Note: I’ve given instructions for the knot shape I used, but feel free to innovate!

Ingredients:

1/2 tsp. baking soda
5 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 cup butter
1/4 cup lard or shortening
2 eggs
3 Tbs. milk
grated nutmeg or cinnamon

Combine the soda, flour, and sugar, then rub in the butter and lard/shortening. When the mixture resembles small breadcrumbs, add the beaten eggs, milk, and any spices you’d like to include. You may need to tweak the proportions a bit in order to get a nice cohesive dough.

Roll the dough out on a floured surface to a thickness of about 1/4″. Slice into strips about 1″ wide and 5-6″ long. Take each of these strips, roll into an even rope about 8-10 inches long.

To arrange in the shape of a love knot, take a rope and tie it into a simple knot. Looking at the knot, you’ll see that one end seems to come out the bottom, and one out the top. Fold the top end over and under the knot, and take the bottom end and fold it up over the curve of the knot and into the hole in the center. It takes some practice, but in the end, you should have a knot with no visible ends, and five strands that all lie in the same direction. You’ll probably get better as you go, and since the dough is forgiving, you can redo some of the uglier knots. :)

Arrange the knots on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake at 35o F for 10-12 minutes, until bottoms are nice golden brown and the tops are just beginning to color. Remove to cooling rack.

Tying a Love Knot

Candied Ginger

Historical Candied Ginger

“’There is a gift for the boy in one of the chests. Some candied ginger. He was always fond of it.’ Illyrio sounded oddly sad.” -A Dance with Dragons

Modern Candied Ginger

Thoughts:

Rustic, simple, and quite sweet, the historical candied ginger is as wonderful straight as it is added to tea. The texture appears to be quite hard, but dissolves and crumbles nicely in the mouth. Despite the relatively small amount of ginger, the finished Georgian candies have a wonderful zip to them, without the same overpowering ginger as actual slices.

Quite their opposite, the modern recipe produces candied ginger that will set one’s mouth on fire. They are the more easily recognizable candied ginger that one can find in many stores, but I’ve never encountered any with this much bite.

Personally, I preferred the more mild gingeriness of the older recipe, although true ginger fans will love the modern.

Georgian Candied Ginger Recipe

Beat two pounds of fine loaf sugar, put one pound in a tossing pan with as much water as will dissolve it, with one ounce of race ginger grated fine. Stir them well together over a very slow fire till the sugar begins to boil, then stir in the other pound and keep stirring it till it grows thick, Then take it off the fire and drop it in cakes upon earthen dishes. Set them in a warm place to dry and they will look white and be very hard and brittle. -The Experienced English Housekeeper, 1769

Cook’s Note: I’ve halved the original recipe. It will still make a large batch of candies, approximately 30-40 candy discs.

Ingredients:

1 lb. sugar
water, about 1/4 cup
1/2 oz. grated ginger

Boil half the sugar in just a splash of water, with the grated ginger. When it comes to a boil, add the other half of the sugar. Stir until the whole mixture thickens. You may need to add the whole 1/4 cup of water to maintain a smooth, spoonable texture.

After about 3-4 minutes, remove from heat, and spoon the mixture into small rounds on your prepared baking sheet.

Modern Candied Ginger Recipe

Ingredients:

a large fresh ginger root, about 5″ long
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup granulated sugar, plus 1/2 cup more for dusting

Spray a cooling rack with nonstick spray and set it in a half sheet pan lined with parchment. Peel the ginger root and slice into rounds about 1/8″ thick. Put these and the water into a saucepan, and cook over medium-high heat for around 20-30 minutes, or until the ginger is tender. Keep an eye on the water level. To this same pan, add the sugar, turn the heat down to medium, and continue to cook. After about 5 minutes, turn off the heat. Fish out the ginger slices, allowing the excess syrup to drip off. Toss these with fresh sugar until they are coated, and place on the cooling rack to harden. Once completely cool, store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. Save the syrup, as it is a wonderful addition to cocktails and tea.

Welsh Rabbit – The Hobbit

Thoughts:

Although the dish can be sourced back to the early 1700s, the origin of the name is unclear. In any case, this is the ultimate Bag End variety of grilled cheese, this recipe is equally well suited to the savory spread of First Breakfast, or the mouthwatering array of Dinner.

The basic concept is that one combines cheddar, beer, and mustard, fluffs it up with some egg, then broils the whole thing on slices of toast. The resulting snack provides a wonderful array of textures, from the crunch of the toast to the rich, fluffy give of the topping. The taste is reminiscent of beer mustard on a pretzel, although the choice of a darker rye bread gives the whole dish a wonderful, rich earthiness that perfectly suits those agricultural savvy hobbits.

Welsh Rabbit Recipe

Ingredients:

2 Tbs. butter
1 shallot, sliced thin
1 cup grated cheddar
1/3 cup ale or lager
1 tsp. mustard
pinch of salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
4 slices of bread, your choice
black pepper

Melt the butter in a saucepan, then add the shallot until it has softened. Add the cheddar, ale, mustard, and salt. Stir over low heat until the cheese has just melted. Add the eggs and stir until the mixture has slightly thickened, around 2 minutes. Be sure to not overcook, or you’ll end up with scrambled eggs!

Toast the bread, then spoon the cheesy mixture over the top of the toast. Cook under a hot broiler until the top is puffy and golden. Sprinkle generously with black pepper, and serve.

Oatcakes

“When they woke the next morning, the fire had gone out and the Liddle was gone, but he’d left a sausage for them, and a dozen oatcakes folded up neatly in a green and white cloth. Some of the cakes had pinenuts baked in them and some had blackberries. Bran ate one of each, and still did not know which sort he liked the best.” -A Storm of Swords

Traditional Bannocks

Thoughts:

While we liked both of these recipes, the traditional version really matched what we imagined from the book. They are a unique combination of crisp and soft, dry and moist. Because of their texture, they are wonderful with tea, or on a hike. We also liked the contrasting colors that resulted from mixing the blackberries in with the dough. We’d like to nibble them while out in the countryside, followed by a drink from a cold mountain stream. However, we’re glad we aren’t relying on them during a mad survival dash for The Wall…

Both recipes are available in The Cookbook!