Food glorious food...

[angharad_gam]

Here are a few of the recipes from Midwinter....actually this is kind of long, so they are now behind a cut...

Grete pyes
Take faire yonge beef, And suet of a fatte beste, or of Motton, and hak all this on a borde small; And caste thereto pouder of peper and salt; And whan it is small hewen, put hit in a bolle, And medle hem well; then make a faire large Cofyn, and couche som of this stuffur in// Then take Capons, Hennes, Mallardes, Connynges, and parboile hem clene; take wodekokkes, teles, grete briddes, and plom hem in a boiling potte; And then couche al this fowle in the Coffyn, And put in euerych of hem a quantite of pouder of peper and salt// Then take mary, harde yolkes of egges, Dates cutte in ij. peces, reisons of coraunce, prunes, hole clowes, hole maces, Canell, and saffron. But first, whan thou hast cowched all thi foule, ley the remenaunt of thyne other stuffur of beef a-bought hem, as thou thenkest goode; and then strawe on hem this: dates, mary, and reysons, andc.;, And then close thi Coffyn with a lydde of the same paast, And putte hit in the oven, And late hit bake ynogh; but be ware, or thou close hit, that there come no saffron nygh the brinkes there-of, for then hit wol neuer close.
(Two 15th Century Cookbooks)

480gms beef mince
480gms chicken thigh fillet, diced small
3 eggs, hardboiled and sliced
50gms currants
50gms dates
250mls red wine
250mls stock
Pepper, cinnamon, cloves, mace, saffron
pastry
For 24 small pies, 2 in the standard foil pie dishes, or one large pie to serve 12-16 people
Either: mix the beef with the spices (and optionally suet) and lay in the bottom of the pie,
Or: cook the beef in the stock and wine, with the spices; remove and cook the chicken in the same liquid; lay the cooked beef in the bottom of the pie.

On top of the beef make a layer with dates, currants and eggs, then put the chicken (cooked or uncooked) on top.  Sprinkle with more spices.
Alternatively you can do it as per the recipe: beef, dates etc, chicken, more beef, dates etc, but that is a bit more fiddly.

Close the lid of the pie and bake at 180C. If you have precooked the meat you probably only need to cook this for 30 mins, or until the pastry is well-cooked. If the meat is uncooked bake the pie for an hour.

How to bake Orenges.
Faire peele your Orenges, and pick away all the white that is under the peele, and so lay them in fine paste, and put into them Sugar, very little Sinamon or none at all, but a little Ginger and bake them very leisurely.
(A Book of Cookrye,  A. W., 1591)

These pies are a bit of a revelation. Not as sweet as you would think, but tart and refreshing. They do not keep well, however, as the bitterness begins to seep out of the remaining pith over time. Don’t make them more than one or two days ahead of time.

2 oranges (400-500gms)
3-4 tblsp sugar
½ tsp ginger
Pastry
This makes one pie in the standard foil pie tins
Peel the oranges carefully (I found it helped to make a very small incision with a small sharp knife to get started) and remove as much pith as possible. Carefully segment the oranges, trying not to break the segments open (again I found it useful to pull out the plug of pith at the end of the orange and insert a finger through the centre of the orange to get a bit of leverage).
Grease a pie tin and line with pastry. Lay the orange segments in the shell and sprinkle with the sugar and ginger. Close the pie and bake at 150°C for 60mins (or until the pastry is nicely brown).

Strawberry Gelly
29. To make gelly ouf Straw-berries, Mulberies, Raspberries, or any such tender fruit.
Take your berries, and grinde them in an Alabaster Mortar, with foure ounces of Sugar, and a quarter pint of faire water, and as much Rose-water: and so boil it in a posnet with a little peece of Isinglasse, and so let it run through a fine cloth into your boxes, and so you may keepe it all the yeere.
(Delightes for Ladies, Hugh Plat, 1609)

250gm strawberries
100gms sugar
1tblsp (14g) gelatine (approx)
250mls water
1 tsp rosewater essence (optional)

Cut up the strawberries and bring to the boil with the water and sugar. Cook gently until the strawberries are mushy. (Alternately grind all together in a food processor). Pass through a fine sieve to remove the seeds and any remaining solid pulp. Add the rosewater if you wish.
For each 500ml of liquid you will need one tblsp of gelatine. Take ½ cup of the liquid in a small bowl, and sprinkle the gelatine on top. Leave 5 mins until spongy. If the liquid is still warm, stir the gelatine in until a smooth mixture is obtained. If the strawberry liquid has cooled then place the bowl in a larger bowl of hot (not boiling) water and stir until fully dissolved.
Mix the gelatine mixture into the remaining strawberry liquid ensuring it is well incorporated. Allow to cool a little, then pour into a baking tray to make a layer at least one inch deep. When set, cut into cubes. Note that gelatine sets at 20°C so it may or may not need refrigeration depending on the ambient temperature. You can keep this in the fridge for about a week.

Boyled Sallet
Diuers Sallets boyled. Parboyle Spinage, and chop it fine, with the edges of two hard Trenchers vpon a boord, or the backe of two chopping Kniues: then set them on a Chafingdish of coales with Butter and Uinegar. Season it with Sinamon, Ginger, Sugar, and a few parboyld Currins. Then cut hard Egges into quarters to garnish it withall, and serue it vpon sippets. So may you serue Burrage, Buglosse, Endiffe, Suckory, Coleflowers, Sorrel, Marigold leaues, water Cresses, Leekes boyled, Onions, Sparragus, Rocket, Alexanders. Parboyle them, and season them all alike: whether it be with Oyle and Uinegar, or Butter and Uinegar, Sinamon, Ginger, Sugar, and Butter: Egges are necessary, or at least very good for all boyld Sallets.
(A New Booke of Cookerie, John Murrell,  1615)

This recipe offers a huge range of possibilities, and although there’s an argument that the massive list of possible ingredients are intended to be offered individually as ‘sallets’ I think it’s not that much of a stretch to mix and match. Although John Murrell insists on eggs (he probably means hard boiled eggs), there were already a lot of eggs in this feast, so I left them out. Feel free to put them back in if you are making this dish in another setting.

¼ cauliflower cut into small florets
1 bunch fresh spinach, roughly chopped
1 leek, sliced finely
1/2 medium onion, sliced finely
1/4 cup currants
oil, vinegar, sugar, ginger, cinnamon
Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Add the cauliflower florets. After five minutes add the leeks and onions. Once these are softened add the spinach and cook only long enough for the spinach to wilt. Drain the vegetables, place in a large dish and stir through the currants. Dress with oil, vinegar and spices to your taste.

Comments

[irreparable.livejournal.com]

YUM. Thanks for these. The orange pie/tart sounds amazing. I may have to try that soon.

[angharad-gam.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the orange pies were awesome. Not for people who have a sweet tooth, mind, but a very pleasing discovery. I love reading through period cookbooks and thinking 'why have I never seen anyone redact this before!' This is up there with Maestro Martino's cherry cheesecake.