Category: Book of the Month Recipes

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!

Matilda’s Gummy Newts

Posted April 5, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 7 Comments

One of the most iconic moments in Matilda is when a student puts a newt in Miss Trunchbull’s water jug, and Matilda tips it over with her mind. Not only is it an exciting scene, but it’s also how Matilda discovers her powers. It’s one of my favorite parts of both the book and the movie, so I reeeeeally wanted to pay tribute to it here on the blog. Of course, when you picture appetizing recipes, newts don’t exactly come to mind, but then I remembered a recipe I made from another Roald Dahl book: my magic green sour gummy worms from James and the Giant Peach. How fun would it be to make newt gummies?

Using an easy recipe I found on Tastemade and some lizard candy molds I found online, I whipped up a batch of delicious gummy newts to start our Matilda menu. With the help of some lime and peach jello, I made mine green and orange like the newt in the book (my grocery store was out of orange flavored jello, which would have paired better flavor-wise, but peach and lime still tasted good). You can choose whatever flavor/color combinations you like—get creative! This makes a great after school snack or fun favor at a children’s Halloween party. Enjoy! 🙂

Bonus Recipe: Where the Wild Things Are Cupcakes

Posted March 29, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 2 Comments

Three cheers for extra Thursdays! Whenever a month has a 5th Thursday, I get to do a bonus post, which is especially exciting this month since this menu was inspired by my son’s birthday party. It was quite the bash! I made deviled eggs, fruit salad, and a giant chocolate chip cookie, and we ordered pizza for our entree. Plus, both the grandmas made delicious desserts too! My mom made cupcakes, and my mother-in-law made crown-shaped sugar cookies with gold sprinkles. Both were delicious, so for my bonus recipe, I decided to pay tribute to both.

These fun cupcakes come in two flavors: chocolate cake with vanilla frosting and vanilla cake with chocolate frosting (just like the ones my mom made). The recipes are easy, and the fun, whimsical decorations are inspired by my mother-in-laws cookies: white and gold sprinkles on some, fruit roll-up crowns on others. It’s a lot of variety without a lot of extra work, and the results were super delicious. Enjoy! ^.^

Where the Wild Things Are Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie

Posted March 22, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 6 Comments

Say hello to our Where the Wild Things Are dessert: a giant chocolate chip cookie! This is the dessert I made for the Little Mister’s Wild Thing-themed birthday party. As a one-year-old, cookies are easier for him to grasp than cake, and he seems to prefer the flavor. Plus, a cookie is much faster to decorate than a whole cake, which was a big deal to me since I was already making deviled eggs and fruit salad for the party.

I used the Tollhouse giant cookie recipe in conjunction with my own buttercream recipe to make this dessert. The words are made by dipping Trader Joe’s cinnamon schoolhouse cookies in colored icing. I LOVE how it turned out, especially the Wild Thing in the middle. We ate it up, we loved it so! 😉

What the Wild Things Eat: Tropical Fruit Salad

Posted March 15, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 5 Comments

At the Little Mister’s Where the Wild Things Are birthday party, fruit salad was my go-to side dish. It’s always easy to throw together for a party, and it’s a big kid-pleaser too! I assembled mine right before the party without any trouble, and it was a hit. I even had someone ask for the dressing recipe!

At the party I was sure to include the Little Mister’s favorite fruits (apples and grapes) in the salad, but for my blog version of the recipe, I decided to go with a tropical fruit salad. Tropical fruits make me think of the Land of the Wild Things, since so many of them have the whimsical look and juicy flavor of fruit you’d expect to find in an imaginary world. I chose dragon fruit, starfruit, and kiwi for my tropical flavors, then I added clementines and strawberries for some familiarity and extra color. Toss it all in my favorite lime dressing, and you’re set to go!

P.S. Don’t let those awesome, funky dragon fruit skins go to waste—use them as bowls to serve your salad!