Wizard’s Cookbook
Page 5
Peel the beets and cut into cylinders using your special powers, a cylindrical cookie cutter, or a cutter for modeling dough. If you own none of these, cut a wide strip of stiff card, roll it into a cylinder 2 inches in diameter, and use it to make cylinders of beet.
Hollow out the cylinders using a small spoon (or a melon baller) and set aside.
Mash the goat cheese, chop the walnuts, and mix together. Add a little orange juice to loosen the mixture, and season with salt and pepper.
Fill the beet tubes with this mixture, then cut them into slices 1/8–1/4-inch thick. Insert lollipop sticks and serve before Mrs. Kravitz falls off her ladder.
CANAPÉS ENDORA
Who hasn’t dreamed of a Polynesian paradise? In the 1960s, canned pineapple was the key ingredient to give festive dinners a little Hawaiian flavor. The Stephens family joined in the trend: Endora, Samantha’s mother, adored these canapés, Uncle Arthur and Aunt Clara took to them in a flash, and Tabitha couldn’t get enough of them. Don’t lose this recipe—it is still enjoyed by witches of all generations!
INGREDIENTS • serves 6
1 can pineapple in water
(or syrup)
3 slices smoked ham
6 slices whole wheat bread
6 thin slices emmental cheese
1 jar maraschino cherries
PREPARATION TIME • 5 mins COOKING TIME • 2 mins
If your companions are exclusively witches and wizards, there’s no need to use your hands: twitch the tip of your nose, and voila!
Drain the pineapple; remove the rind of the ham.
Place the ingredients on each slice of bread in this order: cheese, ham, and pineapple.
Cut each canapé into quarters and place them briefly under the broiler, just until the cheese melts and the pineapple caramelizes.
Place a maraschino cherry on top of each and serve.
BEWITCHING SCEPTERS
While Mandrake and other modern magicians rarely use a scepter, it is nonetheless a powerful magical object and, as such, highly respected within the magical community. Make these edible scepters to accompany drinks at your next cocktail party for informed wizards.
INGREDIENTS • serves 4
1 lb 2 oz cherry tomatoes, different colors
1 ball (4 1/2 oz) mozzarella cheese
1 T fresh thyme leaves (lemon thyme, if possible)
Pepper from the mill (or somewhere else)
1 packet thin breadsticks
PREPARATION TIME • 10 mins COOKING TIME • 5 mins
Rinse the tomatoes under a clear stream of water, then dry them with care (and a clean cloth).
Cut the mozzarella into cubes and place in a small cauldron, gently stirring over low heat until the cheese is completely melted.
Add the thyme leaves, season with pepper (don’t add salt; the cheese is already salty). Skewer a tomato on a breadstick, then dip the tomatoes in the melted mozzarella and lift gently.
Wrap the stretchy cheese around the breadstick and let the scepters cool, placed stems-down in an (empty) glass. Serve with caution and be on your guard—these scepters are very powerful!
VICE VERSA APPLES
Never trust appearances; the least of things can conceal a surprise or even a trap, as Bartimaeus knows well. These sandwiches will remind you that all may not be as it seems. That strange creature over there, is it human or is it actually a golem ready to do its master’s bidding? And that curious amulet hanging from a chain on the chest of the new Minister? And these apples, at first glance so sweet and inoffensive, what are they concealing?
INGREDIENTS
• makes about 20 sandwiches
4 Granny Smith apples
Juice of 2 lemons
9 oz Brie-type cheese
4 slices York (smoked) ham
4 T whole-grain mustard
PREPARATION TIME • 10 mins
Peel the apples, remove the cores, and cut them into slices about 1/8-inch thick. Place the slices in lemon juice as you go so they don’t oxidize.
Cut the brie into very thin slices. Remove the rind of the ham, then cut out circles from it using a glass as a cookie cutter.
Drain the apples, dry them with paper towels (or a suitable spell), and cut out circles from them using the glass cookie cutter.
Spread ¼ teaspoon of mustard on half of the apple circles, place a slice of brie and a slice of smoked ham on top, and then top with a second apple circle and press down gently. If you’re worried about keeping everything in place and don’t have a suitable spell to hand, feel free to insert toothpicks through the center.
HIPPOGRIFF EN PAPILLOTE
Hippogriffs are powerful and very intelligent creatures who are half-eagle, half-horse. Immensely proud, they cannot be enslaved and choose whether to tolerate the company of wizards or not. This earns them the fierce hatred of black magicians, who have no qualms about turning them into a festive dish…. That is, if they can manage to catch them!
INGREDIENTS • serves 4
2 3/4 oz butter
14 1/2 oz freshly executed hippogriff
(or 14 oz ostrich meat, cut in pieces)
10 1/2 oz black trumpet mushrooms
1 onion
Salt and pepper
2 1/4 oz red currant jelly
14 oz Vitelotte (purple) potatoes
3 1/2 oz crème fraîche or sour cream
PREPARATION TIME • 30 mins COOKING TIME • 45 mins
On a very dark night, preheat the oven to 350°F, then add a little of the butter to a pot and quickly sauté the pieces of hippogriff over very high heat so they are browned on all sides. Note: Save a little butter for step 4.
Brush the black trumpet mushrooms to remove any traces of soil, then wipe with a damp cloth.
Peel the onion without crying or whining, and cut it into strips.
When shreds of dark mist start to wrap themselves around your feet, lay out several large sheets of parchment paper and arrange a few pieces of hippogriff on each of them with some mushrooms and onions. Season with salt and pepper, add a knob of butter, and don’t forget the red currant jelly.
Ignore the screams that are beginning to rise on this Samhain night, and seal the parcels by folding them on themselves like an accordion, so that all of the lovely aromas are locked in. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes.
While the hippogriff is cooking, wash, peel, and cut up the potatoes. Cook for 40 minutes in a large pot of boiling water until a knife easily pierces their flesh. Mash the potatoes and add the crème fraîche or sour cream.
Serve the hippogriff with the black trumpet mushrooms, the purple mash, and the blood-red sauce.
LITTLE STEAK AND KIDNEY PIES
Throughout all of his adventures and years at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Harry particularly relished these pies made with care by the house-elves in the Hogwarts kitchens.
INGREDIENTS • serves 6
1 beef kidney (or diced or ground beef)
1 lb 10 oz steak
1 oz flour (or cornstarch)
4 1/2 oz forbidden forest
mushrooms
Juice of 1 lemon
2 T oil
1 oz butter
1 onion
2 T Worcestershire sauce
1 T tomato paste
4 fl oz (1/2 cup) dark beer (alcohol-free)
8 fl oz (1 cup) beef broth
1 t thyme leaves
1 bay leaf
6 oz puff pastry
7 oz shortcrust pastry
1 egg yolk
PREPARATION TIME • 30 mins COOKING TIME • 1 hr 45 mins
Remove the kidney membrane with a Disrobing spell, cut the kidney into 8 pieces, and remove any sinew and fat.
Cut the steak into small cubes. Put the flour in a freezer bag, add the steak and kidney, close the bag, and shake to coat the pieces.
After checking that your mushrooms are safe to eat (and that none of them will bite back), clean and trim them, slice them thinly, and
pour the lemon juice over them so they don’t discolor.
Heat the oil and butter in a heavy-based cauldron or pan. Protect yourself from any tears with a Dry-eye spell, then peel and chop the onion. Soften it in the cauldron for 5 minutes on high heat. Remove the onion and place to one side momentarily. Add the beef and kidney to the pan and cook over high heat for a few minutes until browned on all sides. Replace the onion, and add the Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, beer, broth, mushrooms, thyme, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil then simmer for 1 hour. Remove the bay leaf.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Roll out the two pastries. Line 6 small pie pans with the shortcrust pastry to the edge, then add the filling. Cut out lids in the puff pastry, making sure they are 1/2-inch wider than the diameter of the pie pans.
Make a hole in the center of the lids so that the steam can escape. Place them over the filling and seal the edges by pressing them together lightly (or casting a Stick-all spell). Brush with beaten egg yolk and bake in the oven for 45 minutes.
SOUP WITH THE GAZE OF LORD VOLDEMORT’S BASILISK
The Basilisk, a gigantic serpent with sharp and venomous fangs, has a murderous gaze that petrifies whoever meets its eyes. During Harry’s second year at Hogwarts, it is a Basilisk introduced by Lord Voldemort that spreads terror throughout the school.
INGREDIENTS • serves 4
1 large bunch watercress (or, if out of season, a mixture of lettuces)
2 medium potatoes
2 pt (4 cups) water
4 eggs
1 black olive
PREPARATION TIME • 10 mins COOKING TIME • 45 mins
We, obedient Servants of the Master, rinse the watercress and break its stems.
We then wash, peel, and slice the potatoes.
Next, we draw 2 pints (4 cups) of water and heat it over very high heat in a large cauldron. When large bubbles appear, we add the potato slices and let them cook for 35 to 40 minutes, until the tip of a large knife easily penetrates their flesh.
We add the watercress and continue cooking for 5 minutes, before blending in a food processor. We, Servants of the Master, know that the soup with the gaze of the Basilisk should be as green as the scales of the King of Serpents.
Meanwhile, we shall cook the eggs for precisely 9 minutes in boiling water. We will plunge them immediately into iced water to crack their shell and we will cut them carefully to take out the nice round whole yolks. We know that the Master pays particular attention to this detail!
We then cut a slice off one side of each egg yolk so it stays still when it is placed on the plate, and slice the olive into thin narrow strips.
Once the egg yolk has been placed in the middle of a deep plate, we pour in the soup to reach halfway up the side of the plate and place a strip of olive on top of each yolk to form the pupil of the basilisk’s terrible yellow eye. We, your Servants, then hasten to serve.
DUFFLEPUD ISLAND CROQUETTES
Never risk provoking the wrath of a magician or you could find yourself under a spell and having to wait quite some time before someone comes along to break it. This is what happened to the Dufflepuds (the inhabitants of one of the islands of Narnia): tired of hearing their perpetual whining, a resident magician allowed them to use his magic. They turned into … I dare not say…. Anyhow, it is better to make friends with sorcerers, and they will turn your meals into feasts. Like the one that was served on this distant island set in warm seas to Caspian, Edmund, Lucy, and Eustace, and which inspired this recipe.
INGREDIENTS • serves 4
1 lb 2 oz crab
3 1/2 oz breadcrumbs
1 egg
2 T fromage blanc
1 T whole-grain mustard
1 t Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper
1 avocado
1 lemon
Neutral-flavored oil (grapeseed, sunflower …)
PREPARATION TIME • 10 mins COOKING TIME • 10 mins
RESTING TIME • 1 hr
Shell the crab, making sure to remove any pieces of shell and cartilage, drain it if necessary, and set aside in a covered bowl.
In a bowl, mix the breadcrumbs with the egg, fromage blanc, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
Add the crabmeat, mix together, and shape the mixture into 8 croquettes. Cover with plastic wrap, and let them rest them for 1 hour in the refrigerator.
Peel the avocado and remove the seed. Halve the lemon, slice the avocado, and squeeze over the lemon juice so the avocado doesn’t discolor.
Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a nonstick frying pan, then fry the croquettes for about 3 to 5 minutes on each side, depending on their size. Serve with the avocado and a squeeze of lemon juice.
CHILDREN EN CROÛTE
In The Silver Chair, the fourth of the Narnia novels, the giants of Harfang Castle particularly enjoy children en croûte, a dish traditionally served during the Fall Feast. In the absence of any obliging infants, however, you can use veal.
INGREDIENTS • serves 6 to 9 giants
1 veal roast, 1 lb 10 oz
Olive oil
6 basil leaves
3 1/2 oz buffalo mozzarella
9 oz puff pastry (from your bakery/
cake shop)
6 slices Parma ham
6 sun-dried tomatoes
Pepper
1 glass milk
PREPARATION TIME • 15 mins COOKING TIME • 45 mins
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Sear the veal roast in oil on all sides in a very hot frying pan, then let it rest.
Rinse the basil leaves, dry them with a clean dish towel and, while you’re at it, you might like to dry last night’s crockery as well.
Using a sharp knife, cut the mozzarella—not your fingers!—into 1/4-inch slices.
Grab a large rolling pin, flatten the puff pastry on your work surface as you would an enemy, and roll it out to a large circle 1/8-inch thick.
The next step is crucial—focus! Three-quarters of an inch inside one edge of the pastry, place a row of Parma ham slices across the middle of the pastry to 3/4 inch inside the opposite edge. Place the slices of mozzarella on top, then the dried tomatoes and basil. It all needs to form a neat, regular row—not be higgledy-piggledy like a bunch of slovenly mountain giants.
Season with pepper—atchoo!—but do not add salt. Lay the roast on your beautiful neat row. Lightly moisten the edges of the pastry and fold the bottom and top over the veal, then fold over the sides. Press down gently on the pastry so the roast is snugly wrapped. Turn it over, dip a brush in the milk and brush all over.
Make two holes in the pastry on top and at each end so that the steam can escape. Bake for 45 minutes before the king and queen of the mountain giants are ready to dine.
DAWN TREADER SOUP
When Caspian, King of Narnia, in the company of Reepicheep the mouse knight, Lucy, Edmund, and Eustace, decides to go in search of the lost Lords of Narnia, he sets sail on a ship called the Dawn Treader. The crew experiences many adventures at sea and on land, and have to live off the food on board and what they can find around them. This soup was a particular favorite of Eustace…. At least, until he turned into a dragon! This recipe can easily be made on board a ship, using produce from the sea and supplies from the hold.
INGREDIENTS • serves 4
1 lb 2 oz clams
2 3/4 oz smoked bacon
1 shallot
1 1/2 oz butter
3 sprigs thyme
1 bay leaf
1 T flour
2 cooked potatoes, chopped into chunks
1 3/4 oz crème fraîche or sour cream
Salt and pepper
PREPARATION TIME • 15 mins COOKING TIME • 25 mins
Collect the clams on the island of Felimath, rinse them carefully, and place in a cauldron with about 4 oz of water. Boil them for 2 minutes, until the clams open, and discard any that remain closed. Drain the clams, saving the juices, and remove them from their
shells. Strain and reserve the juices through a piece of cheesecloth.
Chop the bacon and let it brown for a few minutes in a nonstick frying pan. Drain off the excess fat and set the bacon aside on paper towels. Peel the shallot, sauté it for 5 minutes in the butter without browning, then add the bacon, thyme, and bay leaf before the ship reaches the Dark Island.
Sprinkle with the flour and let the shallot and bacon cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Slowly add the clam juice, stirring at the same time to prevent lumps forming, then add the potato chunks and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove bay leaf and purée with a blender until the soup is quite smooth. Add the clams and the crème fraîche or sour cream, reheat for 2 minutes, season with salt and pepper, and serve.
Note: Reepicheep likes to add a handful of samphire to nibble with this soup.
SWAMP BLOB
The swamps. … Those dark, damp places that murmur with mysterious sounds and strange animals, giving us … goosebumps! Will you have the stomach to sample some Swamp Blob? Who knows what is hiding inside—or what it might have swallowed—before ending up on your plate.
INGREDIENTS • serves 4
1 3/4 oz butter
5 sheets brik pastry
8 fl oz (1 cup) pouring cream, chilled
½ sheet gelatin
9 oz cooked red beets
1 bunch radishes
Salt and pepper
3 1/2 oz lumpfish roe
PREPARATION TIME • 30 mins COOKING TIME • 1 hr 30 mins
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place a bowl (to whip the cream) in the refrigerator or freezer to chill.
Melt the butter. Make 20 cones out of aluminum foil. Lay out the sheets of brik pastry, brush them with the melted butter, then cut each one into four and roll the pieces into horns around the aluminum foil cones, buttered-side inside.
Bake the cones, seam-side down, for 10 minutes, keeping an eye on them as they cook: the horns should be golden and crispy. Take them out of the oven, carefully remove the aluminum foil, and let them cool completely.
Meanwhile, beat the cream in the chilled bowl until it forms soft peaks.