The favorite dish of "The Hunger Games" heroine Katniss Everdeen during her time in the trendy Capitol is lamb stew with dried plums.
If you care to make it yourself -- planning a "Hunger Games" party, perhaps? -- all you need is a crock pot and this recipe from "The Unofficial Hunger Games Cookbook."
The book by Emily Ansara Baines is 200-plus pages of recipes ranging from "Groosling" to a French bread from the Mellark Family Bakery. There's also Rue's roasted parsnips, Gale's "bone-pickin' big game soup" and "Capitol-grade dark chocolate cake."
The book -- which has no tie-in with "The Hunger Games" trilogy or the movie -- contains recipes it says are inspired by "foraging with Katniss, hunting with Gale, baking with Peeta and indulging at the Capitol."
Katniss's Favorite Lamb Stew with Dried Plums
Ingredients:
5 pounds lamb fillet, shoulder or leg, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 tsp. salt
one-half tsp. ground black pepper
one-half cup all-purpose flour
2 tbsp. olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, chopped
one-half cup water
4 cups beef stock
2 tsp. white sugar
3 tsp. brown sugar
3 cups diced carrots
1 cup diced zucchini
1.5 cups diced celery
2 large onions, diced
3 potatoes, cubed
5 cups dried plums
2 tsp. dried thyme
3 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary
2 tsp. chopped fresh basil
1 tsp. chopped fresh parsley
2 bay leaves
1 cup ginger ale
Place all of the ingredients except for the flour into the slow cooker, set on low, and begin cooking at least 10 hours prior to serving. Approximately 30 minutes before serving, add the flour by stirring in and set the crock pot on high. Allow the stew to sit for five minutes before serving. Ladle the hearty stew into bowls and serve with bread.
Peeta Mellark's bread, perhaps? Enjoy.
