these simple berries, all dressed up in Capitol clothes, must have seemed out of place.
If you need to use frozen raspberries for this recipe, make sure that theyâre completely thawed and well drained before you use them.
4 CUPS RASPBERRIES
½ CUP SUGAR
¼ CUP CRANBERRY JUICE
½ CUP SOUR CREAM
¼ CUP HEAVY CREAM OR HALF-AND-HALF
FRESH RASPBERRIES AND MINT LEAVES FOR GARNISH
Put raspberries, sugar and cranberry juice into a blender and blend until very smooth and sugar is dissolved.
Pour into a large dish and stir in first the sour cream and then the cream.
Cover and refrigerate for 2â3 hours before serving.
To serve, ladle into shallow bowls, sprinkle with fresh raspberries and place a mint sprig in the center.
NO MANNERS NEEDED CHOCOLATE CAKE
SERVES 12â15
Katniss expressed her disregard and disdain for the Capitol in slightly covert ways. Shooting an arrow into the Gamemakersâ Suckling Pig was a bit less subtle than picking a chocolate flower from an elegantly decorated cake.
Feel free to pluck the flowers from this cake with no manners at all.
1 PACKAGE DEVILâS FOOD CAKE MIX
1 PACKAGE INSTANT CHOCOLATE PUDDING MIX
1 CUP SOUR CREAM
1 CUP CANOLA OIL
4 EGGS
½ CUP WARM WATER
2 CUPS DARK CHOCOLATE CHIPS
CANDIED FLOWERS (OR CREATE FLOWERS WITH ICING)
¼ CUP POWDERED SUGAR
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs and water.
Stir in the chocolate chips and pour batter into a well-greased, 12-cup Bundt pan.
Bake until a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool cake thoroughly.
After cake is completely cooked, flip onto a plate carefully, sprinkle with powdered sugar and decorate with candied flowers, or, if preferred, draw flower shapes with icing.
BLOOD ORANGE QUAIL
SERVES 4
Katniss takes a bite of âfowlâ and finds her mouth filled with orange juice, an ingredient that sheâs only tasted once â when she first visited the Capitol in The Hunger Games . The use of blood orange here seems appropriate.
This dish is a very elegant one for dinner parties, especially a Capitol-style Hunger Games party for adults. The combination of wine, sage and blood orange is delicious.
4â6 SMALL QUAILS
SALT AND PEPPER TO TASTE
8 BLOOD ORANGES, DIVIDED
1 WHOLE STALK OF CELERY
1 SMALL BUNDLE FRESH THYME
1 TABLESPOON OLIVE OIL
6 TABLESPOONS BUTTER
6 CLOVES GARLIC, WHOLE AND UNPEELED
10 SAGE LEAVES
1½ CUPS SWEET WHITE WINE, DIVIDED
QUAIL:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Wash the birds thoroughly inside and out and pat dry with paper towels.
Rub them liberally with salt and pepper.
Cut off the 2 ends of 6 of the oranges (save 2 oranges for the gravy); stand them on end and slice off the skin.
Slice the oranges into 5 or 6 rounds each. Set aside.
Remove the tougher outside ribs of the celery until you reach the white, dense bulb and slice across thinly.
Put celery into a bowl and mix in the thyme and a small pinch of salt and pepper, then stuff the cavity of each quail with it. (You will only fit barely a tablespoon of the celery mixture into each bird.)
Pull the skin at the front of each quail cavity forward to cover the filling, and tightly tie up with wet twine.
Heat a thick-bottomed pan on medium-high heat
Add the olive oil and the quail.
Cook until lightly golden on all sides.
Add the butter, garlic and sage and cook for 3â4 minutes, until golden brown.
Bake for 45 minutes, checking every 10â15 minutes and adding the wine at intervals, just enough to keep the pan slightly moist at all times.
When cooked, carefully remove the quail from the oven and rest upside down on a dish, allowing all the juices and moisture to relax back into the breast meat for at least 5 minutes.
While your meat is resting, make the gravy.
GRAVY:
Remove all the fat from the roasting pan and place the pan on low heat.
In the bottom of the pan will be your cooked,
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