The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook Presents: A Magical Christmas Menu
Copyright © 2010 by Dinah Bucholz
All rights reserved.
This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher; exceptions are made for brief excerpts used in published reviews.
Published by Adams Media,
a division of F+W Media, Inc.
57 Littlefield Street, Avon, MA 02322. U.S.A.
www.adamsmedia.com
All recipes were previously published in The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook, Copyright © 2010 by Dina Bucholz, All rights reserved.
eISBN 10: 1-4405-2722-9
eISBN 13: 978-1-4405-2722-7
Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their product are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book and Adams Media was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed with initial capital letters.
This book is unofficial and unauthorized. It is not authorized, approved, licensed, or endorsed by J. K. Rowling, her publishers, or Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
Contents
Appetizers
Cornish Pasties
Creamy Onion Soup
Entrée
Classic Roast Turkey
Side Dishes
Fluffy Mashed Potatoes
Classic Gravy
Brussels Sprouts with Chestnuts
Glazed Carrots
Easiest Cranberry Sauce
Irish Soda Bread
Desserts
Christmas Pudding for Kids
Rhubarb Crumble with Custard Sauce
Christmas Trifle
Pumpkin Pie
Peppermint Humbugs
Hot Chocolate
Available for purchase now
Appetizers
Cornish Pasties
Not quailing under his mother's stern look as he explains how he bluffed his way through his History of Magic exam, Ron reaches for a Cornish pasty on the day Harry is to perform the final task in the Triwizard Tournament (see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 31).
Also called “tiddy oggies,” these pasties were taken by the Cornwall tin miners to work. The mines were a scary place, full of evil, hungry spirits called “knockers.” To appease these terrifying beings, the miners threw their crusts (now full of arsenic from their fingers anyway) down the mine shafts. The pasties were a meal in one. Literally. Some women put vegetables in one end, meat in the middle, and fruit in the other end. They also stamped their husband's initials in the corner so each miner could find his pasty on the big oven where the pasties were kept warm until lunchtime.
Pasty Dough
2½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2½ sticks cold butter or margarine, cut into chunks
½ to ¾ cup ice water
Filling
8 ounces chuck steak, finely chopped (not ground)
1 potato, finely diced
1 carrot, finely diced
1 small onion, finely chopped
Salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Place the flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine. Scatter the pieces of butter or margarine over the flour mixture. Pulse until the mixture resembles coarse yellow meal without any white powdery bits remaining, about 20 pulses. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle ½ cup of the water over the mixture and toss with a rubber spatula until the dough sticks together. Add more water 1 tablespoon at a time if the dough is dry (better too wet than too dry). Divide the dough in half, form into disks, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill at least 2 hours or up to 3 days.
Just before you are ready to roll out the dough, combine the steak, potatoes, carrots, onion, salt, and pepper in a mixing bowl.
Preheat the oven to 425°F. On a floured surface, roll out each circle of dough 1/8 inch thick. Use a saucer to cut out 6-inch circles. Place about 1/3 cup filling in the center of each circle. Moisten the edges of the circles with water. Fold the dough over and crimp the edges with a fork to seal them. Cut slits in the top to make vents.
Move the pasties to an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Lower the heat to 375°F and bake for 1 hour until golden brown.
Makes 8 pasties
Creamy Onion Soup
Before the start of the school term, Dumbledore brings Harry to the Burrow in the middle of the night, where Mrs. Weasley serves the hungry boy a bowl of hot onion soup (see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 5). This thick and creamy soup, warm and comforting, is the perfect dish to serve the weary traveler who bursts in on you at one in the morning. Serve with thick wedges of Irish Soda Bread (Chapter 5).
The Romans brought onions to Britain — although the Romans didn't mention them much in their own cookbooks. The one Roman cookbook we have today, called Apicius, barely mentions onions because the Romans didn't like that they make your breath smelly. But today we have breath mints, so bring on the onions!
¼ stick (2 tablespoons) butter
2 large onions, cut lengthwise and then sliced 1/8-inch thick
4 cups chicken broth or 4 cups water and 4 teaspoons chicken-flavored soup and seasoning mix
Freshly ground black pepper
Salt
2 cups whole milk, divided
1/3 cup flour
Heat the butter in a 4-quart pot. Add the onions to the pot, and cook over low heat until the onions are golden, about 30 minutes.
Add the chicken broth or the water and soup mix, and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and let it simmer until the onions are very soft, about 30 minutes.
Combine 1/3 cup of the milk with the flour in a bowl and mix well, beating out the lumps with a whisk. Add this mixture slowly to the soup while stirring constantly. Cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens. Add the rest of the milk and just heat through; do not boil.
Serves 6
Entrée
Classic Roast Turkey
At his first Christmas dinner at Hogwarts, Harry has never seen so many roast turkeys — a hundred of them, served with gravy and cranberry sauce (see Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Chapter 12).
Peacocks and swans appeared regularly on the royal table in merry old England. They looked impressive, but tasted awful because of their tough, stringy meat. That's why, when the turkey was introduced to Europe in the 1500s, it quickly replaced the peacocks and swans. King Henry VIII (that's the one with the six wives) was the first to eat turkey as part of the Christmas feast.
3 onions, peeled and cut into quarters
1 head of garlic, separated into cloves and peeled
6 carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks
6 celery ribs, cut into 2-inch chunks
Several sprigs thyme
1 cup water
1 turkey, 12–14 pounds, giblets and neck removed (can be used to make turkey stock for gravy)
Olive oil or melted butter or margarine
Salt and pepper
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Scatter the onions, garlic, carrots, celery, and thyme in the bottom of a large roasting pan. Pour in the water. If you have a roasting rack, grease it and place it in the roasting pan.
Rinse the turkey and pat it dry with paper towels. Place it on top of the vegetables in the roasting pan breast-side down, or on the rack, if using. Brush the back with the olive oil or melted butter and sprinkle it with the salt and pepper
.
Roast the turkey for 45 minutes. Using oven mitts or towels, flip the turkey breast-side up. Pat the breast dry; then brush more oil or butter over the breast and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for another 1 to 1½ hours, until the thickest part of the thigh registers 170°F on a meat thermometer. Transfer the turkey to a carving board and let it rest 20 to 30 minutes before carving.
Serves 10–12
To make turkey stock for gravy, place the turkey giblets and neck in a small saucepan along with 1 carrot, 1 celery, ½ onion cut into chunks, 1 peeled garlic clove, and a few sprigs of dill. Cover with water and bring to a boil, then simmer for 1 hour. Strain the stock through a sieve and use a fat separator to remove the fat.
Side Dishes
Fluffy Mashed Potatoes
Ron is starving — as usual — at the start-of-term feast, where the Triwizard Tournament will be announced. He loads up on mashed potatoes, observed by a wistful Nearly Headless Nick (see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 12).
There are a zillion and one ways to prepare potatoes, and it seems as though at least half of them are mentioned in the Harry Potter books. But this is one of the best ways to eat them. For mashing, use starchy potatoes, such as russet. Waxy potatoes like the red-skin variety don't lose their shape after a long cooking time and are best reserved for roasting and stewing. They don't make good mashed potatoes.
6 Idaho or russet potatoes (about 2½ pounds), peeled and quartered
1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter
1 cup whole milk
2 teaspoons salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Place the potatoes in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer about 25 minutes or until the potatoes break apart when pierced with a fork.
Drain the potatoes. Add the butter, milk, salt, and black pepper. Mash with a potato masher until the potatoes are light and fluffy.
Serves 4
You can have a lot of fun with mashed potatoes. Boil 2 peeled cloves of garlic along with the potatoes and mash them together with the potatoes, along with a dash of garlic powder, for garlicky mashed potatoes. Add a sautéed onion and 1 tablespoon onion powder for onion mashed potatoes. Sprinkle shredded cheese on top for cheesy mashed potatoes. Or mash in your favorite herbs, minced. And serve with lots of gravy.
Classic Gravy
Gravy is not really a food; it's something you put on your food. It's served at Harry's first Hogwarts feast and first Hogwarts Christmas dinner, probably to pour over all the many potato dishes (see Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Chapters 7 and 12).
It's amazing how sophisticated British cooks were in the 1200s and 1300s. They made gravy from a purée of ground almonds, broth, ginger, and sugar, to be poured over rabbit, chicken, eel, or oysters. The expression “fit for a king” certainly had great significance in those days. The peasants didn't get to dine on this kind of fare, to be sure!
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups chicken, turkey, or beef stock
½ cup chicken, turkey, or beef drippings, after fat has been skimmed off the top (see note)
Salt to taste
Heat the oil in a small saucepan. Add the flour and stir until the flour turns brown and foams. Slowly pour in the stock, stirring constantly. Add the drippings.
Cook, stirring occasionally, until the gravy is thickened and bubbling.
Taste, and adjust salt accordingly.
Makes about 2½ cups
This gravy is not truly classic. Technically, gravy contains no thick-eners, so the following recipe is really a sauce. This type of thick sauce, however, is associated with classic gravy by many.
If drippings are not available, you can use all stock.
Brussels Sprouts with Chestnuts
While they prepare piles of sprouts to be used in a dish by Mrs. Weasley, Harry and Ron have a breathless discussion about Professor Snape and his sinister offer to help Draco Malfoy. To Ron's grumpy annoyance, he and Harry have to painstakingly prepare each sprout without using magic (see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 16).
The Romans — no surprise there — brought the chestnut tree to Britain. Over the years and in many countries, chestnuts were ground up and mixed with flour, but these days we eat them roasted. They're also popular with Brussels sprouts at Christmas time.
1 pound frozen Brussels sprouts
1 cup water
½ teaspoon salt
¼ stick (2 tablespoons) butter
1 cup chopped canned chestnuts
2 tablespoons dark or light brown sugar
Pinch of nutmeg
Bring the sprouts, water, and salt to a boil in a medium saucepan. Reduce to a simmer and cook about 7 minutes, until sprouts are tender. Drain the sprouts and cut into quarters.
Heat the butter in a skillet until foaming. Add the sprouts, chestnuts, brown sugar, and nutmeg. Cook, stirring constantly, just until heated through. Serve immediately.
Serves 4 to 6
Glazed Carrots
Carrots are yet another of the myriad dishes served at the feast in the Great Hall following Harry's sorting ceremony into Gryffindor House (see Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Chapter 7).
British fighter pilots, in an effort to keep radar technology from the Germans, claimed that their super night vision came from eating a lot of carrots. The Germans actually bought the story, hard though that may be to believe. Carrots really do improve your night vision, but you can't use them instead of radar. And you will still have to wear your glasses.
6 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into ¼-inch-thick slices on the bias
½ cup water
2 tablespoons golden syrup or maple syrup or corn syrup
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Combine the carrots, water, golden syrup or maple or corn syrup, salt, and cinnamon in a skillet and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. Reduce the heat and simmer the carrots, uncovered, for about 5 minutes, until the carrots are somewhat softened but not yet tender.
Raise the heat and boil until all the liquid evaporates. As the liquid starts to reduce, begin stirring more frequently. Keep cooking until the glaze starts to turn brown, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan. Turn off the heat and serve immediately.
Serves 4
Easiest Cranberry Sauce
Along with the one hundred roast turkeys, cranberry sauce is served at Harry's first Christmas dinner at Hogwarts (see Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Chapter 12).
Fenwort, marshwort, moss berries … they sound like they belong in a witch's brew, but in fact, those are all medieval words for cranberries. When cranberries are fresh, they bounce, so in the olden days people sorted cranberries by rolling them down the stairs: whatever bounced to the bottom got sold; whatever stayed on the stairs was discarded.
1 12-ounce package of cranberries, fresh or frozen
1 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
Generous pinch salt
Combine the cranberries, water, sugar, and salt in a small sauce-pan. Bring to a boil.
Reduce the heat and simmer until the cranberries burst open, about 10 minutes.
Cool the sauce completely before refrigerating.
Makes about 2 cups
Irish Soda Bread
Mrs. Weasley always seems prepared when it comes to food. Harry can burst in on her in the middle of the night and she'll still be able to serve him a nice meal. Fresh bread is part of it when Dumbledore brings Harry to the Burrow after taking him to Professor Slughorn's (see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 5).
The Irish weren't very much into yeast breads (inadequate cooking utensils were the culprit), so they must have been very happy when baking soda arrived on the scene; they could quickly and easily make bread with it. And that's what they've been doing since the late 1800s. Th
is is the bread to serve with soups and stews, and it makes awesome toast.
4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
1½ teaspoons baking soda
1½ teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
½ stick (4 tablespoons) butter
1 large egg, beaten
1½ cups buttermilk
Preheat the oven to 425°F and grease and flour a 9-inch round baking dish.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt, and sugar. Rub in the butter with your fingertips until it is completely rubbed in. The mixture will still be floury because of the much higher proportion of flour. With a wooden spoon stir or fold in the egg and buttermilk until a dough begins to form. Turn the dough onto a flour-dusted work surface and knead briefly just until the dough comes together. Form the dough into a round and dust the top with the extra flour. Place the dough into the prepared pan and score an X about ½-inch deep on the top of the dough.
Bake for 15 minutes; reduce heat to 350°F and bake another 40 minutes until the bottom is dark golden brown.
Cool completely on a wire rack before serving. Irish soda bread tastes best the day it is made but makes the best toast ever after the first day. Serve with soup or stew.
The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook Presents: A Magical Christmas Menu Page 1
