If you’re tuning in this Sunday to the season 4 finale of Game of Thrones, why not eat like the Starks with this recipe for Beef and Bacon Pie from the official Game of Thrones cookbook, A Feast of Ice and Fire.
To find out more about the food of Game of Thrones, make sure you listen to this week’s Good Food, where Elina Shatkin of Los Angeles Magazine delves into the intricate food styling that fans see on-screen.
Part of him wanted nothing so much as to hear Bran laugh again, to sup on one of Gage’s beef-and-bacon pies, to listen to Old Nan tell her tales of the children of the forest and Florian the Fool. —a game of thrones
Medieval Beef and Bacon Pie
Serves 6 to 8 d Prep: 15 minutes Baking: 40 minutes
We followed the recipe from A Propre New Booke of Cokery, simply swapping some thick-cut bacon in for the original marrow and letting the rest of the recipe be. The sweetness of the pie comes from the fruit, which dissolves as it cooks, providing a satisfying counterpoint to the tart vinegar and salty bacon. Then the fruit flavor fades into the background, and what remains is a sweet, rich meat pie with an easy medley of flavors.
To make Pyes. Pyes of mutton or beif must be fyne mynced & seasoned with pep- per and salte and a lytel saffron to colour it, suet or marrow a good quantitie, a lytell vynegre, pruynes, great reasons, and dates, take the fattest of the broath of powdred beefe. —a propre new booke of cokery, 1545
1⁄2 cup thick-cut bacon, diced or cut small
11⁄2 pounds stew beef, cut into small pieces
1⁄2 teaspoon ground black pepper 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1⁄4 cup red wine vinegar
1⁄3 cup prunes, sliced
1⁄3 cup raisins
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
1⁄3 cup dates, chopped
1 cup beef broth
2 to 3 tablespoons flour
1 batch Medieval Pastry Dough or dough for a double-crust 9-inch pie, unbaked, rolled into 2 rounds
1 egg, beaten
Cook the diced bacon in a saucepan over medium heat until the fat runs from it, then drain off the fat. To the bacon pan, add the beef, spices, vinegar, and fruits. Add enough broth to thoroughly wet the mixture; the final consistency should be runny. Mix in the flour and cook on low heat until the juices form a gravy.
Let the meat mixture cool. Line a 9-inch pie pan with a round of pastry dough and fill it with the meat mixture. Add a pastry lid, turn the edges under, pinch them closed, and brush with beaten egg. Bake until the filling is bubbling and the pastry is cooked, about 40 minutes.