Category: Book of the Month Recipes

Rodeo Red’s Red-Hot, Rootin’-Tootin’ Chili

Posted June 14, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 3 Comments

Chili may not be the first thing you think of when you picture eating lunch aboard a starship, but Voyager’s head chef Neelix takes great pride in creating foods his shipmates find comforting and familiar, no matter what planet they call home. His foray into chili began as an experiment with classic American cuisine…and ended with several crewman in sickbay with heartburn! Luckily, the chili recipe I’m sharing here today has a spice factor that’s easy to customize, so you don’t have to worry about making an unscheduled trip to sickbay. 😉

Fun fact: this is actually my grandma’s chili recipe! Once I decided I wanted to make the Rodeo Red chili from the show, I knew right away this was the recipe I wanted to use. I’ve always loved it, and it’s super easy. It was a go-to cold weather dish for my family when I was a kid, and a lot of times my mom would serve it in delicious sourdough bowls (which is an addition I HIGHLY recommend). It’s actually not that spicy on its own, but I added a few extra ingredients (Tabasco, cayenne pepper, and red pepper flakes) to give it the kick you’d expect from Neelix’s super spicy chili. Enjoy…with some milk close at hand! 🙂

Neelix’s Algae Puffs

Posted June 7, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 2 Comments

When I first decided to make a Star Trek: Voyager menu, I started hunting through Memory Alpha for recipe inspiration. Unlike the other Star Trek series I’ve seen, this series features a HUGE amount of food, since the ship’s cook (Neelix) is one of the main characters. As I scrolled through his various creations, algae puffs jumped out at me. They appeared in S3E6 (Remember) when Neelix serves them to an Enaran diplomat, but it isn’t their significance to the series that got my attention. It was the fact that they reminded of a recipe I already make all the time! 🙂

Everyday for lunch, my husband packs a spinach and cheese omelet, which means we ALWAYS have a bag of spinach in our fridge. However, he doesn’t need a ton of spinach per omelet, and our grocery store only sells it in big bags (they technically have small bundles of organic spinach, but it’s rarely in good condition and costs as much as a bag). Which means every week I’m scrambling to figure out how to use up almost an entire bag of spinach before it goes bad.

Enter these delicious, healthy spinach muffins from SuperHealthyKids.com. They feature whole wheat flour, honey, and a whopping 6 ounces of spinach. I stumbled upon the recipe after I decided I couldn’t eat one more bite of sauteed spinach ever again in my life. And these are GOOD. I love them; the Mister loves them; the baby loves them. They’re gone in a day or two every time I make a batch.

When I read up on Neelix’s algae puffs, I knew this was the way to go. So buckle up, crew, we’re off to bake some tasty green muffins!

Bilbo’s Birthday Cupcakes: Vanilla Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream and Blackberry Curd Filling

Posted May 31, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 6 Comments

For my Lord of the Rings bonus recipe, I loved the idea of making the cake from Bilbo’s birthday party. It’s not expressly mentioned in the book, but it’s hard to imagine a birthday without one. As you may recall, the one in the movie is huuuuge—2 giant tiers with 2 layers each, enough to fit 111 candles and a host of fresh flowers. I thought about doing a recreation of that same cake, but I’ve seen enough other bloggers do it that I wanted to try something different. Plus, I just finished making a giant chocolate chip cookie, and I made a 10-inch 2-layer double chocolate cake last month. They were fun (and delicious), but I think I’m done with giant desserts for a while. I was in the mood for something mini, but not JUST mini. I wanted a unique, creative element to make this dessert just a little bit special. And that’s where I got the idea for these cupcakes!

The cake in the movie appeared to be white cake with vanilla frosting. I decided to stick with the white cake for the cupcakes themselves but went with a lemon frosting on top, garnishing with candles and edible flowers just like the movie. Inside, I added a surprise: homemade blackberry curd! It’s super delicious and easy to make—an invisible surprise, just like at the end of Bilbo’s party!

Hobbit Door Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie

Posted May 24, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 4 Comments

The round, green door of Bag End is one of the strongest icons in the stories of Middle Earth. It represents so much—home and journey, beginnings and endings, comfort and adventure—and it holds all these otherwise contradictory ideas in effortless resolution. It’s the door through which Bilbo greets his unexpected guests and leaves for adventure in The Hobbit. It’s a symbol of the home that Frodo longs to return to in The Lord of the Rings, but when he does, he finds that although we can go home, we can never go back. It’s a door that, when opened, leads to the promise of good company, a full larder, and a kettle of hot tea. It holds a special place in my heart (and that of many other Tolkien fans as well), so I knew my Lord of the Rings menu wouldn’t be complete without a tribute to it.

I’ve made giant chocolate chip cookies in the past, and I loved the idea of making one to look like a hobbit door. So here it is! The recipe is the giant chocolate chip cookie recipe from Tollhouse. I love how it turned out, though if I’d been thinking ahead, I might have tried to create a wood grain effect with my smoothing knife as I spread out the frosting for the base. I love the yellow doorknob and Gandalf’s rune in the corner. The quote around the border comes from Bilbo and Frodo’s traveling song, and it couldn’t be more perfect! 🙂

A Short Cut to Mushrooms: Quick, Easy Pan-Roasted Mushrooms

Posted May 17, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 2 Comments

“A Short Cut to Mushrooms” is one of my favorite chapters in Fellowship. It’s when we get a really good look at the nature of hobbits. When Pippin first suggests crossing Farmer Maggot’s land, Frodo doesn’t want to because he was caught stealing mushrooms from Maggot as a child. However, we see a glimpse of hobbit-y good humor when Maggot laughingly remembers the thefts…and his wife later sends a basket of mushrooms with them just for Frodo! We also see the stout-heartedness of hobbits when Farmer Maggot volunteers to take the travelers to the ferry, even though he knows there are dangerous men out looking for Frodo. He stands up bravely to what they think is a Black Rider (but turns out to be Merry in the end). It pulls at my heart that the farmer is willing to risk himself for his neighbors when he owes them nothing.

Long story short: from the moment I first started planning this Lord of the Rings menu, I knew I HAD to have a mushroom recipe. I wanted something quick and easy with only a handful of ingredients—a literal short cut to mushrooms! This recipe is one of my favorites. I use it all the time at home. Just throw the ingredients in a bowl, stir, spread it on a baking sheet and roast for 10 minutes. It works well in a skillet on the stove top too!

Sam Gamgee’s Rabbit Stew and Lembas

Posted May 10, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 5 Comments

We’re doubling up on recipes today! There are SO many awesome foods in Lord of the Rings, so it was the only way I could fit in everything I wanted today make. ^.^ For the stew, I combined a method I found on The Spruce Eats with my own list of ingredients and created what is now one of my new favorite recipes. The meat is savory, mild, and tender (it falls right off the bone!), and the broth is perfectly seasoned. It’s definitely a dish Sam Gamgee would be proud to serve Mister Frodo!

For the lembas, I used a recipe featured on Tea with Tolkien as a jumping off point and experimented with it from there. The original recipe makes a thicker, slightly sweeter cookie with almond pieces in it—which sounds delicious, don’t get me wrong—but I was in the mood for a thinner, simpler cookie. It took a few tries, but I FINALLY came up with a version I loved. It’s delicate and faintly sweet, almost a cross between a cookie and a savory biscuit. The almond-lemon flavor combo is just the sort of subtle, fresh, back-to-nature flavor you’d expect to find in Elven food. Husband and baby loved it too! 🙂

Tom Bombadil’s White Bread with Basil Butter, Honey, and Berries

Posted May 3, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 5 Comments

Dear Tom Bombadil,

I never got over you being left out of the Lord of the Rings movies. You’ve always been one of my favorite Fellowship characters, quite possibly because you are such an enigma. Even Tolkien himself didn’t claim to know your whole story, though I admit I favor the theory that you represent Adam before the Fall. No matter what your origin may be, you undeniably bring a refreshing touch of charm and joy to a book series that definitely has it’s share of somber moments. As such, I wanted to show my appreciation for you by giving you a place of honor in my Lord of the Rings menu.

As I read Fellowship, the dinner you shared with Frodo and friends sounded sooo wholesome and delicious: white bread, butter, herbs, yellow cream, honeycomb, and berries. I simply couldn’t resist recreating it for myself! I used a white bread recipe developed by Red Star Yeast, which produced a beautiful, soft, smooshy loaf. It paired wonderfully with basil butter, fresh blackberries, and a light drizzle of honey.

A slice of this bread is the perfect start to a wonderful culinary journey. If you ever decide to travel outside your forest and visit the land of Chicago, don’t hesitate to stop by. I’ll put the kettle on, and we’ll munch on homemade bread as you tell me all about Old Man Willow and your adventures in your beautiful forest.

Love,

Ali

P.S. I love your boots.

Bruce Bogtrotter’s Chocolate Cake

Posted April 26, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 1 Comment

There is only one true dessert anyone could ever create for a Matilda menu: Bruce Bogtrotter’s Chocolate Cake! I’ve made my fair share of chocolate cakes in my day, but this one was almost intimidating because it’s just so iconic. It’s practically synonymous with Matilda. I absolutely could NOT get Bruce’s cake wrong. So I hunted high and low for a cake recipe that I new would stand up to the massive dimensions of Bruce’s cake. In the book, it’s 18 inches across, but since that wouldn’t fit in my oven, I went with the size of my largest pan: 10 inches. Still a pretty darn big cake, and one that I wanted to make sure would be stay moist despite having to bake longer than a small cake.

For the actual “cake” part of the cake, I used a recipe I found through Good Housekeeping. It promised to be super rich and moist, which was perfect. What surprised me was that, unlike many intense chocolate cakes I’ve seen, this one didn’t use coffee. I saw a way to sub out part of the buttermilk for regular milk mixed with instant coffee granules, so I made the change. And I’m so glad I did! The cake was that much more chocolatey, and even though you can’t taste the coffee itself, the added depth of flavor helps balance all the sweetness in the cake.

For the frosting, I tried a twist on my own chocolate buttercream. Instead of milk, I used sour cream, which added moisture while making the final product lighter and fluffier than milk would. Plus, I added a bit of cinnamon for a little somethin’ special. The final cake was just what I was looking for: a rich, luxurious chocolate cake with a frosting that matched it for intensity of flavor yet contrasted it with a smooth, light texture.

Of course, a 10-inch, 2-layer cake is too huge for just the Mister and me, so I sent half of it to work with him. It got rave reviews, especially the frosting, so I think it’s safe to say this cake is worthy of Bruce Bogtrotter. Enjoy! 🙂

Miss Honey’s Whole Wheat Honey Oat Bread

Posted April 19, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 4 Comments

When Matilda goes to visit her teacher, Miss Honey, she’s served a simple snack of brown bread with margarine and tea. It’s the first time Matilda visits her beloved teacher’s home, and she’s understandably distressed that Miss Honey lives in a bare-bones cottage with little food. However, the thing that stood out to me most wasn’t Miss Honey’s dire living situation; it was her reaction to it. She has no refrigerator or real stove but doesn’t seem to mind. She serves Matilda but eats nothing herself, cheerfully insisting she’s not hungry because she eats a large lunch at school every day.

This seems a little sad at first, as if she’s just putting on a brave face for Matilda’s sake, but when we learn what the cottage represents to her, we realize that it’s truly precious, even with its shortcomings. As she and Matilda have tea, Miss Honey explains that she rented the cottage to get away from her cruel aunt. We get the impression that her freedom is so important to her that her circumstances don’t bother her as much as they might. Deep down, she feels the pain of privation, but her current life is the first step into something better. In this moment, we see that Miss Honey is made of sterner stuff than we might have imagined, and it only makes us love her all the more. And at the end of the book when Miss Honey’s inheritance is finally returned to her, we see her and Matilda having tea—with real butter and jam on their bread!

Miss Honey’s bread is one of my favorite aspects of the book, because it’s used as a symbol of both difficulty and triumph. I knew it would be the perfect side dish for my Matilda menu. The bread in the book isn’t described in much detail (beyond being brown), so I decided to go with something simple and hearty with a touch of honey: this whole wheat honey oatmeal bread from Girl Versus Dough. It’s one of the easier breads I’ve made, and the hint of sweetness made it just right. Serve with butter and tea, and you’re all set! 🙂

Fish and Chips with Homemade Tartar Sauce

Posted April 12, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 2 Comments

Several entrees feature fairly prominently in the book Matilda: Mr. Wormwood’s breakfast, TV dinners, fish and chips, and the school’s sausage and bean lunch. Although the Wormwood family’s TV dinners are the most iconic to the book, they’re technically a full meal and would be pretty time consuming to re-create. Plus, I was much more intrigued by the idea of fish and chips. I’d never made them before, so I was eager to try my hand! And since we observe meatless Fridays at my house, I’m always on the lookout for new meatless recipes to try. 🙂

This particular recipe comes from Tide and Thyme. The beer batter for the fish is easy and flavorful, and the copycat Red Lobster tartar sauce recipe I found on Simplee Thrifty was the perfect condiment. The chips were easily my favorite part—I’m a sucker for a good ol’ french fry!

However, I will admit that slicing, soaking, and frying all the potatoes in addition to the fish was pretty time consuming. They both tasted good, but I think I’ll treat them as separate recipes and pair them with more low-maintenance dishes in the future. After all, beer-battered fish pairs perfectly with lots of easy side dishes (we’re having it again this Friday, and I’m planning on serving roasted broccoli on the side). And next time the Mister wants to grill burgers, I can be inside making some delicious homemade fries!