Middle-Earth Menu: “Oin’s Chicken Walnut Puffs”

Middle-Earth Menu: “Oin’s Chicken Walnut Puffs” by Astrid Tuttle Winegar

In The Hobbit, Oin wears a brown hood and does not play an instrument. After the Battle of Five Armies, however, he apparently accompanied Balin to Moria. Unfortunately for Oin, he then became a victim of the dreaded Watcher in the Water. As I was typing this, I kept thinking his name looked weird. This is because of inconsistencies with Tolkien’s (and his editors’, of course!) spelling, whereby Oin is simply OIN and later on he becomes ÓIN. Since we’re still in The Hobbit, I’ll stick with the plain spelling just for kicks.
Again, follow the link to my blog to get the recipe for Savory Seasoning.

“Oin’s Chicken Walnut Puffs”

1 ounce lightly toasted walnuts, cooled
¼ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup water
¼ cup salted butter
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon Savory Seasoning
¼ teaspoon pepper
2 extra large eggs, room temperature
2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard
1 tablespoon honey mustard
½ tablespoon apple butter
12 slices very thinly sliced cooked chicken breast (use lunch meat from a ½ pound package)
1 giant apple, cored and cut in half lengthwise; cut each half into 12 slices, ¼” thick
12 slices Gouda cheese, cut into 2″ squares, ¼” thick (about 1/3 pound total)
2 tablespoons melted salted butter
Freshly ground pepper

In a small food processor, grind the walnuts and flour; set aside. In a 2-quart saucepan, combine the water, butter, salt, Savory Seasoning, and pepper. Bring to a boil, then whisk in the flour mixture. Beat over medium heat until it is thick (kind of like mashed potatoes). Take off heat and cool 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400°. Coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray or grease lightly. Beat the eggs into the flour mixture with a whisk. Drop batter in 12 portions onto sheet. Bake 30 minutes. Let stand on pan at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 450°. Meanwhile, whisk mustards and apple butter in a small bowl and set aside. Prepare the apple and cheese slices and set aside. With a small, sharp knife, slice each puff in half horizontally. Spread bottom half with a generous ½ teaspoon of mustard mixture. Layer chicken next, folding each slice in quarters to fit. Place 2 slices of apple on each, then the cheese. Press lid on top and place back on baking sheet. Brush tops generously with melted butter, then top each with some freshly ground pepper. Bake for 8 minutes. Let stand about 5 minutes before serving. Serve hot, warm, or even at room temperature. Cover and refrigerate leftovers. Makes 12.

In my cookbook, these are known as Chicken and Apple Toasty Puffs.

Astrid Tuttle Winegar

Astrid Tuttle Winegar is the author of Cooking for Halflings & Monsters: 111 Comfy, Cozy Recipes for Fantasy-Loving Souls, which is currently available exclusively in e-book form on the Amazon Kindle, but will soon be released by Oloris Publishing! Stay tuned for details. For now, she is mostly telling a culinary Middle-earth story here on Legendarium. Astrid has loved C. S. Lewis since childhood, J. R. R. Tolkien since middle and high school, all Star things, both Trek and Wars, all things Whedon, and many other things besides… She lives in the enchanted city of Albuquerque, New Mexico, with her husband and dog. She blogs occasionally at . You can check out (and like!) her Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/astridtuttlewinegar or visit her Twitter feed at https://twitter.com/astridwinegar.