BLUEBERRY GOOEY BALLS WINGFEATHER FOOD! and dragons!

If anyone has read the Wingfeather Saga books, you know there is plenty of mention of food. Below are recipes based on the book and the treats mentioned especially for Dragon Day (As disgusting as Maggot Loaf is that is here too). If you have read the series and liked it (there are, after all, dragons in it) there is also an animated series starting based on the books. You can watch episodes 1 through 3 here.

[url]{https://www.wingfeathersaga.com}[/url]

Below are some of the treats from the books:

[color color=”yellow”]BLUEBERRY GOOEYBALLS[/color]

The main recipe and a variant here. https://www.wingfeathersaga.com/news1/gooeyballs-and-upcoming-fun

[color color=”yellow”]CHEESY CHOWDER[/color]

Recipe: Cheesy Chowder
This is Andrew’s mom’s legendary cheesy chowder, which is so good that its
deliciousness cannot be contained in one reality but must be enjoyed in multiple
worlds. Thank you, Mrs. Peterson!
Tips: Double this recipe, if you want a vat (and you do)! And don’t forget the
butterbread. 🙂
2 c. water
2 c. diced totatoes
1/2 c. diced carrots
1/2 c. diced celery
1/4 c. diced onion
1 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
For white sauce:
1/4 c. butter (half of a stick)
1/4 c. flour
2 c. milk
2 c. cheddar cheese, grated
1 c. cubed ham
Combine water, potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, salt, and pepper in large kettle. Boil
10-12 minutes. Meanwhile, in small saucepan, make white sauce by melting the butter.
Add flour and stir until smooth (about 1 minute). Slowly add milk and cook until
thickened. Add grated cheese to white sauce; stir until melted. Add white sauce and
cubed ham to vegetables and liquid. Yields 6 servings

[color color=”yellow”]RONCHY McHIGGIN’S SAILOR’S PIE
[/color]
Olive oil
2 slabs henmeat, roasted and cut into small pieces
1 onion, cut up
8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
2 c. broccoli, cut up
1 lb. asparagus, cut up*
1 acorn squash, peeled and cut up*
2 parsnips, cut up
2 carrots, cut up
1 sprig (about 2 t.) honeybud*
A few cloves of garlic, smashed
Salt and pepper
1 c. goat crème**
1-½ c. hen broth
½ c. hen broth
¼ c. potato starch or other thickener
3 lb. totatoes, quartered
¾ to 1 c. heavy cream
½ c. (1 stick) butter
The rest of the head of garlic, smashed
Salt and copious pepper

INSTRUCTIONS:
First, start a fire in your oven. You’ll want it to get to about 350º.
Heat up a very large pan, and when it’s hot, add a good-sized splash of oil. Add some
garlic and stir it around for just a few seconds. Add vegetables, a handful at a time, and
stir as you go. Add more oil as you go to keep things from sticking.
When the vegetables are done, pour in the goat crème and 1 1/2 c. of hen broth. Whisk
the potato starch into the remaining 1/2 cup of broth, then add that to the pan, too.
It’ll thicken quickly, so keep an eye on it while you stir. Stir in the henmeat pieces, then
add salt, pepper, and honeybud to taste. Remove pan from the heat, and spread all of
this mixture into a very large (about 9×13′′) baking pan.
Bring a pot of water to a boil and add the totatoes. Let them cook until you can stab
them through with a fork. Turn off the heat and drain the totatoes, then melt the butter
in the pot. Add the rest of the garlic and stir for a minute. Put the totatoes back into
the pot and mash them. Add salt, cream, and copious pepper as you go. (If you have a
helper, they can do this part while you work on the henmeat and vegetable filling.)
When the mashes are ready, spread them atop the filling in the pan. Top with more
pepper. If you like, you can use a spoon to make little dips and swirls in the mashes,
and fill those in with more garlicky butter. Put the pan in the oven and bake for about
twenty minutes, or until the filling burbles a little. (You might want to put the pan on a
large cookie sheet, in case it burbles over.)
*You can substitute other vegetables if these are not on hand. For example, butternut
squash works well in place of acorn squash, and sugar snap peas can be used if
asparagus isn’t in season. And thyme works nicely if you haven’t any honeybud.
**If you can’t find goat crème, you can substitute goat milk (or toothy cow milk, if you
can manage to extract it and keep all your limbs), thickened with 4 oz. of goat cheese.

[color color=”yellow”]ELENNA’S FAMOUS PUMPKIN BREAD
[/color]
½ cup butter (1 stick), softened
⅔ cup sugar
1 cup puréed pumpkin (canned is fine)
⅓ cup apple cider
2 eggs
1 ⅔ cup AP flour (that’s all-purpose! ha!)
¾ teaspoon freshly-ground nutmeg (or more, if you’re using store-ground)
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cardamom (if you can’t find cardamom, you can leave it out)
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup halved pecans
Cinnamon and sugar for sprinkling
Before you start, heat the fire in your oven to about 350º, and lightly grease a loaf pan.
Beat all the wet ingredients together with a wooden spoon. Stir in the dry ingredients,
just until they’re evenly mixed. It will be very thick. Pour the batter into the pan and
smooth it out a bit on top. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It even looks a little nicer if it
isn’t! Sprinkle some cinnamon and sugar, and spread the pecans evenly across the top.
(You don’t need very much cinnamon and sugar—a light sprinkling will make the loaf
prettier, and a lot will make a bit of a crunchy crust.)
Bake the bread for 60-80 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean when you pierce it.
Let it cool on a windowsill or a rack before you slice it, or it will fall apart a little.

[color color=”yellow”]FRUIT CRISP[/color]

You can make this crisp with any kind of fruit, but apple is Andrew’s favorite.
5 cups of berries or sliced fruit (any kind! or a mixture!)
2-4 tablespoons sugar
½ cup rolled oats
½ cup brown sugar, packed firmly into the measuring cup
¼ cup flour
¼ teaspoon cinnamon, nutmeg, or ginger (whichever you think will go best with your
fruit. Be creative! Try different combinations! And a little extra usually won’t hurt.)
¼ cup butter, cut into smaller pieces
¼ cup chopped nuts (optional)
Before you start, heat the fire in your oven to 375º.
Mix the fruit and sugar together in a square baking dish. In a separate dish, mix
together the next four ingredients. Use your fingers to squish the butter into this
mixture. You want a kind of rough sandy texture with some bigger pieces. It doesn’t
have to be perfect. Stir in the nuts, then sprinkle all of this evenly on top of the fruit.
Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the topping is brown and the juices are bubbling. If
you used a firmer variety of fruit, like apples, be sure you can pierce it with a fork.

[color color=”yellow”]PUMPKIN STEW[/color]

½ cup (1 stick) butter
1 medium onion, chopped roughly
4-5 stalks celery, chopped
1 bundle (about 9 ounces) of carrots, chopped and with tops removed
2–4 garlic cloves (to taste), minced (or squashed with the flat of your knife blade)
1 lb. Italian sausage (hen or hogpig)
4 c. henmeat broth
1 small pumpkin, 2½–3 pounds, cut into chunks (if pumpkin is not in season, you can
use butternut squash, fresh or frozen; canned pumpkin might work—let us know!)
1 tablespoon minced fresh honeybud (thyme works nicely as a substitute)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
¼ pound smoked gouda (or other cheese), cut into ½-inch chunks
1 c. heavy cream
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
About ¼ cup chopped greenions, for garnish (optional)
In a big pot over a medium-hot fire, melt some butter and sauté the next five
ingredients. Add the broth and pumpkin and bring everything to a boil, then turn it
down to a simmer. Add the seasonings and let it all simmer until the pumpkin can be
easily pierced with a fork.
If you want a smoother stew, you can puree half of the pot’s contents in a blender (be
careful, since it’s hot!). We don’t have blenders in Ban Rona, so Elenna cooks the
pumpkin separately and mashes it before adding it to the stew, but either way works.
Once that’s done, add the gouda, cream, and nutmeg. If it seems too thin, you can add
¼ c. or so of flour or totato starch and let it cook a bit longer to thicken. Serves 8-12.

[color color=”yellow”]BUTTER BREAD[/color]

4 cups all-purpose flour plus more for kneading
6 tablespoons sugar
1/3 cup melted butter
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1 tablespoon instant yeast
1 large egg
1 cup warm milk
1/4 cup warm water
1 tablespoon butter, for brushing

Pour the warm water into a small bowl, sprinkle in the yeast and 1 teaspoon of sugar, give it a quick mix and leave until frothy. Add the flour, salt and nutmeg and the rest of the sugar into a bowl. Mix together the dry ingredients and create a well. Add the egg, melted butter, milk and yeast mixture. Knead until smooth and stretchy and shape into a ball. Oil the inside of a big bowl, place the dough inside, cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot until doubled in size. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 4 parts. Shape each dough into an oblong shape. Transfer onto the greased or lined tray and cover loosely with plastic wrap until doubled in size. 1 hour later… Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F 15 minutes before the end of the rising period. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes. Brush with melted butter and allow to rest in the tray for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. You could cover the bread with a napkin for 5 minutes to soften the crust if you want.

[color color=”yellow”]HONEY MUFFINS[/color]

2 c flour
1/2 c sugar
3 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 t cinnamon
1 large egg
1 c milk
1/4 c butter, melted
1/2 c honey

Mix together wet ingredients and dry ingredients separately and then pour the wet ingredient mix into the dry ingredients.
Pour into greased or lined muffin pans and bake at 350 degrees F for 10-15 minutes (depending on the size of your muffin cups), until they are lightly golden.

Melt about another cup of honey with a tablespoon or two of butter and a pinch of cinnamon. Take the muffins out of the pans and put on a tray or plate. Pour the melted honey mixture over the muffins before they are fully cooled.
[color color=”yellow”]
HENMEAT BISCUIT PIE[/color]

Janner says in The Monster in the Hollows that it is his favorite when he has come home from a very rough day. His mother simply says, “I know.” Comfort food at its best.

8 T (1/2 c) butter
2 pounds henmeat, cut into pieces
1/2 c flour
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cup cream
2 cups chicken broth
1 t salt
1/2 t ground sage
1/2 t freshly ground black pepper

4 1/4 c flour, plus more for rolling out
3 t baking powder
3/4 t baking soda
1 t salt
1/2 t dried thyme
1/2 t ground sage
pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
1 1/2 c grated cheese (We don’t really have options here; it’s just “cow cheese.” But, I would go with cheddar, if given the option. I did find some “aged” cheese here that I used.)
170 g (3/4 cup) cold butter, cut into small pieces
(Alton has a trick that I have heard is really good, which is to freeze the butter and then grate it…but, really, I never remember to freeze it ahead of time, so I’ve never tried it.)
1 1/4 c buttermilk (I didn’t have any, so I soured plain milk with about 1 T of vinegar.)

In a deep skillet over medium high heat, melt the butter and brown the chicken pieces in it.
Add the flour and mix it in, cooking for about a minute.
Slowly add the liquids (milk, cream, and broth). Bring to a boil and then reduce heat, cooking for another 2-3 minutes until sauce thickens. Season with the sage, salt, and pepper, and then set aside.

For the biscuits, combine all the dry ingredients and grated cheese. Then cut in the butter (I just use a fork) until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Pour in the buttermilk and stir to combine. Dump the dough onto a floured work surface and start folding the dough over on itself, gently kneading for 30 seconds, or until the dough is soft and smooth. Press the dough into a 1/2-inch thick round. Use a 3-inch round cutter to cut out the biscuits, being sure to push the cutter straight down through the dough to the work surface. Make your cuts as close together as possible to limit waste. Gather together any remaining dough, pat out again, and cut out as many biscuits as you can. Pour the henmeat filling into a large (mine was 9×13) casserole dish and then lay the biscuits on top. (I ended up with more biscuits than fit on top, using these quantities, so you could adjust the quantities for the biscuits, or we just baked the extra biscuits on a tray and enjoyed them.)
Bake at 400 degrees F until the biscuits have risen and are starting to get golden brown, about 15-20 minutes

[color color=”yellow”]JELLY MUFFINS[/color]

3/4 c granulated sugar
1 1/2 c plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup soured milk (mix about a teaspoon of vinegar into the milk and let set for a few minutes before using)
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
150g butter, melted (2/3 cup)
12 tsp sweetberry preserves
for the coating3/4 cup granulated sugar

Heat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and lightly grease a 12-hole muffin tin.
Put the sugar, flour and baking powder in a bowl and mix to combine.
In a separate bowl, stir together the sour milk, eggs, and vanilla extract. Pour the wet ingredients and melted butter into the dry ingredients and fold until mixed well.
Place 2 tbsp of the mixture into each muffin hole. Add 1 tsp of the jam into the center of each and then cover with the rest of the batter.
Place the muffins into the oven and allow to bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown and cooked through.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes in the tin before removing and rolling in the granulated sugar.
Serve warm.

[color color=”red”]NIA IGIBY’S MAGGOTLOAF[/color]

Note: This recipe takes a few days to prepare. Be sure to start early, to be safe!
Two slabs hen meat
1 c. firebugs
3-4 c. earthworms
Fingernail clippings
One dash dog fur (any dog is fine; preferably not one recently washed)
Three days in advance, place the henmeat on a compost pile.1 On the second and third
day, if there has been no rain, water the pile frequently. On the fourth day, the meat
should be whitish, moist, and teeming with maggots.
Preheat oven to 350º. Mash the firebugs and earthworms with a mortar and pestle, or
grind in a food processor for a finer texture. Bring the henmeat inside and chop finely.
With your hands, mix henmeat, maggots, firebug-earthworm paste, and fingernails to
taste. Place in a loaf pan and bake for one hour. Garnish with dog fur.
Serves: One.
1 If you have no compost pile, prepare one a day in advance by mixing vegetable scraps, dead leaves,
barnyard nuggets, eggshells, grass clippings, and shredded paper into a mound of dirt. Pour two cups of
water over all, and then bake in a roasting pan at 150º for seventeen hours, stirring every hour. Then
transfer the pan’s contents, and the henmeat, to a sunny place in the backyard or on the patio.