A Pie of Cheese and Onion

I've been trying to put fun things on my "to do" list, along with chores. One theme that dominates this part of the list is that I want to make sure I actually enjoy my Christmas and birthday presents, rather than saying, "This looks fun," and then setting them aside with the feeling that I won't have time to use them.

One such present was A Feast of Ice and Fire: The Official Game of Thrones Companion Cookbook. It's a collection of recipes that you might find in Westeros. As far as I can tell, the methodology is to find offhand reference to some dish in the books, then use medieval sources to create a recipe, along with a possible modern variation.

The recipe I chose to make was the modern version of a cheese and onion pie (served at a wedding in King's Landing in the third book, and I suspect the fourth season of the TV show). The dough, though, was a medieval-style recipe. I think the saffron and egg yolks gave it an interesting flavor.

The filling turned out really well. I think the main change I might make would be to cut back on the amount of potato and onion -- they provide the bulk of dish, and I had to use a bigger pan than expected due to the amount of filling. Christina thought I should cut back on the cayenne pepper and consider including some meat.

The crust suffered a little bit in presentation due to my inexperience -- it has been more than 15 years since my one previous attempt to bake a pie crust. It was still tasty, but I can probably learn a few things before my next attempt.

There's a recipe for fish tarts that looks interesting. I think if I blend the medieval and modern recipes, I could end up with something a lot like a salmon & cream cheese bagel.  Maybe that'll be my next project.

PS Jack seemed to like the pie, but Salem did not.