Quick links: Little John Beef Stew | Blackberry Pie | Currant Pie | Prison Gruel | Verdict
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Robin Hood and Little John chilling in the kitchen, breakin’ eggs, stewin’ beef and eatin’ the day away. This is one of my wife’s favorite Disney movies. Mostly because she thinks Robin is a “fox”.
It is a really good, classic Disney movie with some good food to boot!
Little John Burnt Beef Stew
When Robin and Little John are chilling in the forest, they have a giant cauldron over a fire. It starts burning and bubbling over.
(Credit: Disney)
Incidentally, when I was making the stew, I forgot to turn down the heat and my stew started to burn. So I guess it’s super authentic to the movie.
Friar Tuck then makes an appearance and tastes it.
(Credit: Disney)
He finds it to be fairly spicy. So I searched for a suitable medieval stew I could make. I think I found one that’d be pretty close to what Robin and John were making
Little John Burnt Beef Stew
Ingredients:
| 3 lbs | Stewing Steak |
| 3 tbs | flour |
| oil for frying | |
| 1/2 tsp | ground cinnamon |
| 1/4 tsp | ground mace (or chili powder) |
| 1/8 tsp | ground cloves |
| 4 | black peppercorns (crushed) |
| 1 | large onion (finely chopped) |
| 6 | large sprigs of parsley (finely chopped) |
| 4 cups | beef stock |
| 2-3 pieces | stale whole wheat bread |
| 3 tbs | cider vinegar |
| 1 pinch | saffron (or 1/4 tsp turmeric as a sub.) |
- Toss the beef with the flour to coat.
- Cover the base of a large frying pan with a thin layer of oil and place over a medium high heat.
- Add the beef and fry, stirring occasionally, until browned.
- Add the spices, onion and parsley with a splash of the stock and fry, stirring frequently and scrapping up the crusty layer from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon, for about 5 minutes until the onions have started to soften.
- Dump contents into large pot with its juices.
- Add the rest of the stock with a pinch of salt and bring to a gentle boil. Cover, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 1hr 40 mins, until the beef is tender.
- Meanwhile, soak the bread in the vinegar with the saffron .
- After the beef is tender, stir into the stew and simmer, uncovered, for about 20 minutes until the bread has broken down and the stew is thick.
- Taste and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Serve with buscuits
source: http://ginandcrumpets.com/medieval-spiced-beef-stew/
Trigger’s Blackberry Pie
After the archery tournament, Robin gets chased around by Prince John’s guard. Trigger, the vulture takes cover in a pie stand selling blackberry pies.
(Credit: Disney)
Trigger's Blackberry Pie
Ingredients:
| 3/4 cups | cream |
| 1/4 cup | red wine |
| 5 | egg yolks |
| 1 | whole egg |
| 2 cups | blackberries |
| 1/2 cup | chopped dates |
| 1/3 cup | honey |
| 1/4 tsp | ginger |
| 1 pinch | saffron (or leave out if not available) |
| 1/8 tsp | ground mace (or chili pepper) |
| 1/8 tsp | ground cloves |
| 2 | pre-baked pie shells |
- In a medium saucepan, combine the milk, cream, wine, saffron and other spices, and bring to a boil.
- Remove from heat.
- In a separate container, beat egg yolks and honey together.
- While beating, add a bit of the hot milk mixture. Pour this back into the pot with the hot liquid while whisking furiously.
- Place the cut blackberries and dates in baked pie shells and spoon the cream mixture over fruit and into the shells.
- Bake at 375° F for 45 minutes, or until the filling has set.
Maid Marian’s Currant Pie
In the same scene, Maid Marian starts throwing pies to help Robin escape.
(Credit: Disney)
We wanted to find real currants, for the pie, but we couldn’t. However, Google told me that Blueberries are a close second. So we made a blueberry pie.
Maid Marian's Currant Pie
Ingredients:
| 2 | egg whites |
| 1/2 cup | sugar |
| 2 tsp | cornstarch |
| 2 1/4 cups | red currants (blueberries) |
| 1 | ready to bake pie crust |
| 1 | pie crust mix |
| 1/2 tsp | lemon zest |
| 1 | egg yolk |
- Prepare the pie crust mix as directed, but add 1 egg yolk and the lemon zest
- In a medium bowl, beat egg whites until stiff.
- Gradually stir in sugar and cornstarch; beat for 5 minutes.
- Fold currants (blueberries) into mixture and pour into pie crust.
- Bake in oven for 30-35 minutes, or until top is lightly browned.
Not-in-Nottingham Prison Gruel
Toward the end, the rooster narrator is in jail with the rest of the town. He sings Not In Nottingham. We then see the mama rabbit feeding her baby rabbits something from a bowl.
(Credit: Disney)
In general, gruel is a common food for prisons. I’ve always wanted to taste it. So I made it. It tastes like watery oatmeal.
They also showed biscuits. We cheated and made some from a Pillsbury roll. They were great with the stew.
Not-in-Nottingham Prison Gruel
Ingredients:
| 3 tbs | oatmeal |
| 2 cups | water |
| salt to taste |
- Mix the oatmeal with a little cold water to make a paste
- Put the rest of the water in a pan
- Add the mixture and boil for 10 minutes
- Add the salt
Will it Steal from the Rich and Give to the Poor?
Aside from the gruel, not a bad run. The blackberry pie was super sweet. The beef stew was good, and I think if it weren’t burnt, it would have been even better. And the currant (blueberry) pie was delicious
Verdict:
Stew – 7/10
Blackberry pie – 7.5/10
Currant (blueberry) pie – 9/10
Gruel – 4/10