From The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers · 2002 · Reconstructed
Sam's Coney Stew
Serve when
Serve it exactly as Sam wants to — 'What's taters, precious? Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew' — the moment he insists on cooking the coneys properly, to Gollum's horror.
Before you start
This is a real braise — an hour and a quarter of simmering after the browning — so get the pot going well before the movie and just keep it warm until Sam's scene.
Cook-along start: before the movie
In the movie
Theatrical
- 01:17:18 On the road to Mordor, Sam catches two coneys (rabbits) and cooks a proper stew with herbs and, if only he had them, potatoes — delivering the trilogy's most beloved food line while Gollum begs for the meat raw and wriggling.
Sam Gamgee is the trilogy's real cook and its moral center, and the coney stew is where both come through. Surrounded by peril, half-starved, he still stops to do the thing right — to make a hot, herbed stew and dream of potatoes. "Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew" is comic, but it's also the whole heart of the Shire: that ordinary comfort, cooked with care, is worth defending across all of Middle-earth.
Ingredients
Method
- Season the rabbit and brown it well in the fat in a heavy pot; set aside.
- Soften the onion, carrots, and garlic in the same pot. Stir in the flour and cook a minute.
- Return the rabbit, pour in the stock, and add the bay and thyme. Bring to a simmer.
- Cover and cook gently for 45 minutes, then add the potatoes and simmer another 30 minutes, until the meat is tender and the taters are soft.
- Season well, fish out the bay leaf, and serve in bowls — a proper hobbit supper, even in the wilds of Ithilien.
Substitutions
- Rabbit / coney: bone-in chicken thighs are the easiest swap and keep the stew moist. Rabbit is leaner and a little sweeter; chicken is richer, so skim excess fat if the pot starts tasting heavy.
- Foraged herbs: thyme and bay are enough. A little parsley at the end gives the green, gathered-in-the-wild feeling without asking anyone to identify edible plants in the yard.
- No potatoes: turnips, parsnips, or extra carrots keep the humble root-vegetable feel, though Sam would absolutely have opinions about the missing taters.
Beyond the recipe
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