Heya folks n friends! Today on our LotR cooking series, we're going to be making something inspired by Mrs. Maggot, wife of Farmer Maggot. Originally we were going to do a cream of mushroom soup, but the idea of adding meat as a cheeky lil joke on their last names was too good to pass up. In my mind meat goes better with thin soups than creamy ones.
And thus Mrs. Maggots Meat 'N Mush Stew was born.
(As always you can find the cooking instructions and full ingredient list under the break-)
MY NAMES CROSS NOW LETS COOK LIKE ANIMALS
SO, “what goes in to Mrs. Maggots Meat 'N Mush Stew?” YOU MIGHT ASKFor the stew portion itself we're going to be using a hearty base, aiming for a layering of flavors. If you feel comfortable making a roux, feel free to do so, but I did not due to energy levels and thus the flour in this recipe is only used for searing the meat before its added to the pot.
Cubed beef
Flour
Peanut oil
Beef stock
Dried porcini mushrooms
Carrots, chopped
Onion, diced
Garlic, crushed
Scallion, chopped
Bay leaf
Salt and pepper
Ground red pepper
Cumin
Zatarins gumbo file
For the other mushrooms, were going to cook them separate and throw them in at the end (but they'll have friends to keep them company!!).
Cremini mushrooms, sliced
Half an onion
Carrots
Garlic
Salt and pepper
Thyme
Olive oil
This took about 4 hours in total. If you have a slow cooker itd probably be easier to use that, but as is isn't too bad either. I mostly worked on commission stuff in the kitchen in-between stirring. "The best food is the one you don't have to make, the second best food is the one you don't have to think while making."
AND, “what does Mrs. Maggots Meat 'N Mush Stew taste like?” YOU MIGHT ASK
HOT HOT HOT
Tastes like walking from the cold into the cramped but cozy bar your friend works at
Meat was so tender and juicy, melts in your mouth. Makes you cry
It wanst actually carmelization but the onions had a hint of tasting caramelized
Mushrooms- a strong umami flavor with a bit of smokeyness
Once you get that Perfect level of gumbo file, it just makes every other element stick out more
Like an energy booster for the ingredients
A spotlight on the bay leaf, and oils, and spices
. If you don't want to use beef, feel free to use vegetable stock instead and replace the cubes with strips of king oyster mushrooms. Exclude the flour but still cook them in the pan.
. this isnt officially part of the recipe since im not sure itd be 'on theme', but feel free to start your rice cooker around the 3 hour mark so you can have some hot rice ready for serving as filler.
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When I was looking through food and food mentions in LotR, Mrs.Maggot just stook out to me. 'Queen amongst farmers wives' is both really sweet and a fuckin killer description. What a legend.
I wanted to do something based on her and our two options were either beer, bacon or raw mushrooms. Beer while very appealing is also not something you can whip up in a day, while raw mushrooms have a chance of killing my beloved readers. I don't want to talk about me and bacons sordid past.
And so as praise to this funky farmer women, may you add this stew to your collection of potpie, lasagna, and roast recipes.
Did i mention i started my first grease fire when making this? Yeah. Don't cover any empty greased pan even if your intent is to keep water from splashing into it.
Anyway, this recipe is a solid 10/10 (with 1 being food that makes one physically sick and 10 being food that gives one a lust for life again.) The partner has already made me pledge to cook it again hehehe
🐁 ORIGINAL RESIPPY TEXT BELOW 🐁
Ingredients:
2 lbs cubed beef
A little bit of flour to 'tumble' the meat in, in a bowl
Peanut oil to sear the beef, as needed
3 kilograms beef stock
28g dried porcini mushrooms
4 carrots, chopped
1 white onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 scallion branch, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Ground red pepper to taste
Cumin to taste
3 bay leafs
A pinch of Zatarins gumbo file
Ingredients… . . TWO:
1 lb cremini mushrooms
Half of a white onion, diced
1 carrot, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
Salt, pepper, and thyme to taste
Olive oil as needed to pan-fry
Method:
Put the porcini mushrooms into a bowl, add enough warm water to cover. Give them roughly 20 minutes, or until softened and the waters turned color.
Cut the carrots, onion, and garlic.
Get a large pot with a lid, pour in your stock (or water and bouillon cubes). Pour in the porcinis and the mushroom water. Turn the burner to medium-high.
Add your bay leaves, carrots, onion, and garlic to the pot. Add extra salt if you'd like.
Tenderize and cut your beef into roughly 1 inch cubes.
In a small bowl, pour a handful of flour along with pepper, cumin, and ground red pepper. Mix until combined.
Lightly toss each cube of beef in the mixture, get a little coverage on each side.
Heat a frying pan to medium heat and add peanut oil. If using an electric stovetop it will take time to heat up.
Add some of your beef cubes to the pan, don't overcrowd it. Flip to check sides are a light brown with dark brown edges, its good for some pink/red to poke through.
Add beef cubes to the pot when done, careful of splashing.
Keep doing this in batches until all beef cubes are added.
Once the pot has reached a simmer, turn the heat down a few notches and cover.
Set a timer for 4 hours. Taste test every so often. Aim to stir the pot every 10-15 minutes.
(You can do steps 14-21 immediately or optionally wait a bit)
Rinse and dry your cremini mushrooms.
Slice them vertically. Cut the carrots, onion, and garlic.
In a frying pan on medium-low heat, add olive oil, carrots, and onion. Keep the vegetables moving! When they start to change texture, add your cremini mushrooms.
Bring the pan up to medium heat.
Once your mushrooms have cooked off the liquid inside, theyll start turning a deeper brown. Add the garlic. Keep! the! vegetables! Moving!
If the pan gets overcrowded, take some out and set it aside in a bowl. Smaller batches.
This process took roughly 15 minutes, but youll know its done once everything has a nice sear on it and the garlic is brown but not burnt. Add salt, pepper, and thyme to taste.
Set everything aside in a bowl.
Once the 4 hours are up the meat should be cooked all the way through and tender enough to pull apart. Strain the bay leaves out. Cut and add scallions. Add the bowl with cremini mushrooms.
Add a pinch of gumbo file to start, stir and taste test.
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H A P P Y A N N I V E R S A R Y
Loki Laufeyson / Odinson x Reader
Request: None I just had this lying around from ages ago
Summary: Loki is thoroughly fed up with his birth family and comes to you (his witchy spouse) for comfort
Warnings: none
Word Count: 900+
You shuffled around the kitchen, deep in thought, unaware that you were humming a soft tune. You hung yet another bunch of thyme to one of the hooks by the window to dry, taking in its scent for a moment.
Today had been a day of tireless planning and you found comfort in the familiar cooking up of a magical brew.
It was nearing Loki and your fifth anniversary and while he might as well have forgotten, (he had a mysterious principle concerning 'anniversaries are no more special than any other night of courtship',) you were determined to make it your best one yet.
The two of you were both quite the romantics and appreciated the quality in one another greatly, although your shared evenings often had to be spent hidden from prying eyes. You were not the kind of witch Freya was, and as supportive as your husband's mother was of your marriage, Odin - and with him the entire kingdom, apparently - was not.
Therefore, it had been a significant struggle to shape plans that for once didn't take place in an abandoned field or a faraway forest - not that those wouldn't forever be your favourite nights.
But you had a plan now that ought to work. A stunning golden ring, a homemade dinner, a fancy bar with trusted workers, a ballroom reserved just for the two of you with a magical source of music... Yes, it would do just fine.
Tearing you from your thoughts you heard rapid knocking that you assumed stemmed from Loki. Not many even knew the whereabouts of your expertly hidden cottage.
Quickly drying off your hands, you hurried to the door, soothingly calling out: "I'm coming, love. Just a moment."
You fingered the unusual door handle for a few moments before the door swung open, but your cheery smile was met with a menacing scowl.
"What's wrong, my beloved?" you spoke softly, closing the door behind him and then taking his face in your hands. "What has that damned father of yours dared this time?"
A moment's silence, in which he led you to the kitchen, slumping into a chair so that you sat across from him.
"I can't believe him!" he said suddenly, taking you momentarily off guard. "And Thor could have stood up for me, too, you know. But he's just a bloody oath, isn't he? Couldn't say a word against his father. Not until he has the crown, at least."
You laid a gentle hand on his knee, tilting your head so that he might continue.
"It's... That- That man spent minutes listing all the reasons I couldn't have claimed the throne even if my brother couldn't take it before me. I wasn't even speaking of it! I get the feeling he brings it up as often as possible just so that he can humiliate me concerning that topic again and again.
'He said- Oh, so, you see, apparently I'm incompetent, weak, do not know the line where negotiation must end so that war can ensue... and much more, of course. And to top it all off, he said I was unfit for the throne simply because at times I may think and be as a woman might. What reason is that? As if my mother couldn't rule infinitely better than him, not to mention you, or even Sif. He has no right!"
You could see the tears collecting in Loki's eyes so you stood to firmly wrap your arms around him.
"It's not right," he murmured against the fabric of your shirt.
"No, my love, it's not." You glanced back at the kitchen, quickly rethinking your plans. "Let's stay in tonight. I made dinner."
You couldn't completely dispel the tinge of disappointment you felt from all the work that had flourished into planning, but it didn't matter. Whatever he needed.
"Thank you," he said absently, staring through the window. "Do you agree? Is Thor truly that much better? Would you rather have taken-"
You cut him off before he could finish: "No, of course not. I love Thor like my own brother, but he is not clever or witty or handsome like you... neither can he recite poetry or negotiate with a wild bandit as well as he could defeat them. That's all you, darling."
He stared up at you from where he sat, still teary-eyed and nearly awe-struck. "Thank you," he said again, but this time it was barely a whisper.
"I need you to understand that for any fault you may have, I would take you over any other in this world or the next. Do you? Do you understand?"
"Yes."
"And even if you were not fit to be king, which I do not believe, you would be a better one than your father, and you will find yourself talented enough to do anything you set your mind on. All of it."
His hand reached up, cupping your jaw as he smiled, pulling you down gently so that your lips brushed against one another.
"Happy anniversary, love," he breathed.
"Thank you," you answered.
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