Hardcore Hobbit: Feast of Rohan

What better way to send off your riders of rohan before battle. Really it’s just a meat and potatoes meal with a bit of flair…I have to say though my husband definitely felt fed enough to go battle some sort of orcs after this…and did….even if they were just pixels it was still a noble deed. In LOTRO the feast of rohan is made from: golden shire taters, flank of beef, and a bunch of blackberries. Like the shire rations recipe before this took some creative deconstructing. Fruit with meat is nothing new really, so why not a nice sauce with the beef….and so I did. A red wine blackberry reduction definitely does the trick.

• 1/2 cup red wine
• 1 cup strained blackberries (remove the seeds)
• 2 tbl light butter
• 4 cloves
• 1 black cardamom
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp sugar
• 4 potatoes, cubed and boiled
• 1 bulb garlic
• chicken stock
• 8 oz steak

1. (optional) marinade the steak the night before in a bit of wine, ground pepper, and blackberry juice.
2. Cut the top off of the garlic bulb, spritz with cooking spray, wrap with foil. Bake at 400F for 30 minutes.
3. Cook the steak to desired temp.
4. Pour red wine into a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and reduce by half. Add the blackberries, cloves, cardamom, sugar and cinnamon. Reduce again until it begins to thicken. Remove the cloves and cardamom. Add the butter, stirring constantly to thicken the sauce.
5. Mash the potatoes using the chicken stock to get the desired smoothness. Squeeze the garlic bulb into the potatoes and continue to mash. Salt and pepper as needed.
6. Slice the steak thinly and cover with some of the sauce. Serve with garlic mashed potatoes on the side.

Serves two riders of rohan….or just one rider and his wife who won’t be told to stay home and will dress as a man and totally kick some butt. Each serving contains 403 calories, 14.9 grams of fat and 5.8 grams of fibre. Which really isn’t bad at all for a steak dinner. Excellent with cooked carrots as a side dish for those that need a little extra vitality before battle.