The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook (26 page)
Serves 6–8
This is arguably one of the most delicious soups ever created, but don't follow the original recipe from the 1700s. It called for boiling a chicken with celery and marigolds. Even though the marigold would probably give it a nice color, it wouldn't suit the modern palate.
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 pound chuck eye roast, chuck steak, or lamb, cut into ½-inch cubes
1 large onion, finely chopped
4 14-ounce cans chicken broth
½ cup pearl barley
1 tablespoon salt, or more to taste
4 carrots, chopped into ¼-inch dice
1 large turnip, chopped into ¼-inch dice
1 leek, chopped
3 celery ribs, chopped into ¼-inch dice
4 cloves garlic, minced
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup shredded green cabbage
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a Dutch oven or wide pot and add the meat in batches, searing on both sides over high heat 4 to 5 minutes until crusty brown and transferring each batch to a large plate. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons oil to the skillet. Add the chopped onion and cook over medium-low heat until softened, scraping up the fond (the browned bits) from the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon.
Add the broth, barley, meat with its accumulated juices, and salt to the pot and stir to combine. The barley will absorb a lot of the salt, so it's a good idea to taste the soup again later and adjust the salt. Simmer for 1½ hours.
Add the carrots, turnip, leek, celery, garlic, and black pepper and simmer another hour. Then add the cabbage and parsley and simmer another 30 minutes.
Serves 8
Cock fighting is a cruel and abhorrent sport, but like it or not, it did take place in days of old (unfortunately also today in some parts of the world). After a fight, the Scots took the dead cock (another word for rooster) and served it up to the sports lovers in a soup made with leeks, barley, and most unusual, prunes. This version includes rice but leaves out the prunes to create a full meal in one dish. If you want a more authentic dish, leave out the rice and add 2 cups pitted prunes to the soup a ½ hour before it finishes cooking.
2 teaspoons plus 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
6 chicken thighs, rinsed and patted dry
1 medium onion, chopped
1 pound leeks, washed and cut into ½-inch pieces
6 cups water
½ cup long-grain white rice
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a wide pot. Add 3 of the chicken thighs, skin-side down, and cook on both sides until they are golden brown, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer to a large plate. Pour out the fat, wipe out the pot, and add another teaspoon of oil. Repeat for the remaining 3 pieces of chicken.
Pour out the rest of the fat, wipe out the pot, and heat the remaining tablespoon oil. Add the onions and cook until they are translucent, scraping up the fond (browned bits) from the bottom of the pot, about 5 minutes. Add the leeks and cook, stirring frequently, for another 5 minutes.
Add the water, rice, and chicken. Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 1 hour, until the chicken is tender. The rice will be completely soft and almost melted into the soup.
Remove the chicken from the soup. Using a wide spoon such as a serving spoon, skim the fat off the top of the soup. Remove the chicken meat from the skin and bones and chop into bite-size pieces; then return it to the soup. Season the soup with the salt and pepper.
Serves 8
The name says it all. This soup was one of Queen Victoria's favorites, and this recipe is derived from one used by Charles Elmé Francatelli, chief chef to Queen Victoria from 1841 to 1842.
1 cup water
¼ cup pearl barley
6 cups chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
Salt and white pepper to taste
Bring the water to a boil in a heavy 2-quart saucepan or soup pot. Add the barley and cook for 5 minutes. Drain the barley and rinse with cold water.
Wipe out the pan. Add the chicken stock and the drained barley and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Transfer 2/3 of the soup to a large bowl, leaving 1/3 of the soup in the pot. In batches, purée the soup removed to the bowl until very smooth, and then return it to the pot. Add the heavy cream, stir to combine, and season with salt and white pepper to taste.
Serves 6
Harry is happy to bring Sirius chicken legs to eat — poor Sirius has been subsisting on rats while hiding out — but he's not happy to see Sirius. He's worried Sirius will get caught by the Ministry, which believes Sirius is a vicious murderer (see
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
, Chapter 27).
Drumsticks are a popular take-along food because they're good cold and are easy to eat with your fingers. This is about the easiest way to prepare flavorful drumsticks.
1 pound drumsticks
¼ cup olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
2 cloves garlic, minced
Wash the drumsticks and pat them dry.
Whisk together the oil, salt, pepper, rosemary, and garlic.
Coat the drumsticks with the mixture and lay them in a 9-inch pan.
Broil for 10 minutes on each side, until crisp and golden.
Serves 3
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
