Coney Stew – by Happy Hobbit
As winter nights are drawing in, it’s now that home cooking comes into its own. There’s nothing better in a Hobbit’s way of thinking than coming home to a warming stew on a cold winters evening. This wholesome meal is most often made using cheap cuts of meat, a few root vegetables and a good stock.
Ingredients
2 fresh coneys (rabbits) skinned & cleaned
½ pound pork (bacon can be used)
2 large onions – sliced
1 medium turnip – sliced into ½ inch cubes
6 carrots – sliced into ½ inch thick slices
6 potatoes – quartered
flour for rabbit pieces
rosemary – a few sprigs – for seasoning
Directions
Soak coneys overnight in cold water, dry well and cut into serving sized pieces and roll in flour to coat lightly.
Cube pork (again ½ inch chunks work best) and fry in a skillet. When browned remove pork to stew pot (or slowcooker).
Add floured rabbit pieces to hot pork grease and brown on all sides. Place in stew pot and add just enough water to cover the pieces. Simmer for 1 ½ hours.
Add vegetables and simmer until tender. Remove rosemary sprigs and serve.
Optional dumplings
Ingredients
1 cup flour
1tsp baking powder
1tsp sugar
½ tsp salt
1 tbsp butter
½ cup milk
Directions
Add all ingredients but milk and stir until crumbly. Add milk and stir until a good doughy mixture forms. Having previously removed the Rosemary sprigs, drop spoonfuls of the dumpling mixture to the top of the stew and cover tightly with lid for about 15 minutes.
Serve hot and with an accompanying mug of mulled wine. This is a meal fit for any Hobbit table.
Potbelly’s Gooseberry pie – by PotbellyHairyfoot
Potbelly isn’t a great cook but he loves his pie, especially when it is made with berries from his own garden. His gooseberry bush gives him a couple of gallons of berries each year but they cook up almost as tart (sour) as Rhubarb, so he’s found that adding other berries results in a better pie. He also likes to make sure that the filling tastes good, so he precooks it, adjusting it as necessary, before adding it to the pie shell. As a result, this is a really simple pie to make.
Filling (this makes enough for two 9 inch pies)
4 cups gooseberries
3 cups strawberries
1 cup strawberries
1 cup sweetener (PB uses Splenda, but sugar will work fine if you aren’t counting calories or carbs)
1/2 cup flour (cornstarch or tapioca can be substituted here) as a thickener
your favorite pastry recipe. Enough for top and bottom crusts for two pies. (Pb has tried making pastry – and now finds it better to have one of the ladies of Hairyfoot House make it for him.)
Making the pies
1 – cook the pie shells until browned and flaky (about 15 minutes at 400º F)
2 – in a microwaveable bowl add all the berries and the sweetener. Then stir them up and microwave on high for about 10 minutes
3 – taste the mixture and make sure that it is not too tart. If it is, then add a few more tablespoons of sweetener. Either way, microwave on high for about 5 more minutes.
4 – stir in the flour until thoroughly dissolved and then spoon the mixture into the pie shells
5 – cover with top crusts, cut a few decorative slices into them for steam to escape and bake in the 400º oven to brown (about another 15 minutes)
Now take them out, allow them to cool a bit and serve them with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
If you don’t like tart tasting pies or you don’t have access to gooseberries, you can substitute any other type of berry; like raspberries or blackberries. When you do so, you’ll find that you need only 1/2 cup of sweetener.
Hot Mulled Wine – by Jesalyn
Ingredients
1 bottle red wine
12 cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
1 lemon rind
2 tablespoons sugar
Add all ingredients to a pot and steep gently over a medium heat until hot. Avoid boiling the mixture. Strain out solids and serve in mugs. Simple but delicious!
