Fiction To Sink Your Teeth Into, a feature from author and professional chef Rohan O’Duill!

This month I opened up suggestions for recipe pairings to the Twitterverse, and by far the biggest response was for LOTR with mushrooms and taters.

While Tolkien listed off a lot of foods from the Shire, he tended not to get into recipes. I have taken a little liberty with the tomatoes as they were not mentioned, but with land borders to warmer places, I am sure they could have got their hands on them.

Serves 2/3

Ingredients

• 250g of mushrooms
• 1 med white onion, large diced
• 4 cloves of garlic diced
• 1 bunch of cherry tomatoes
• 1 stock cube
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
• Fresh thyme and rosemary
• 300g of baby potatoes
• 20ml of canola oil
• Cracked pepper and sea salt

Method 

Fry the mushrooms, onion and garlic in a pot with a little oil, until browned. Add the tomatoes, stock cube and thyme and reduce to a low heat. Allow to simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
While your stew is simmering, toss the baby potatoes in the oil, rosemary and seasoning and place on a roasting tray. Roast in the oven at 180C (350F) for 30 minutes.
Taste your mushroom stew and season as required.
Pair with a nice pint of ale and jump back in to the magical world of the shire.
Notes: This would also be good with some diced chicken or some slow cooked lamb or beef.