Category Archives: Recipes

Recipe: Baklava

Recipes

Recipe: Baklava

This is an original recipe I created for Baklava.

MY INTERPRETATION: For 24 people
Equipment

Sink Stove Top Oven
Pot, cooking (butter) Pot, Cooking (simple syrup) Two 8×8 oven pans (clear)
Food processor (chopping) Mixing bowl (nuts post-chopping) Butter brush
Measuring spoons Measuring cup (wet) Knife to cut the pastry/baklava

Spoons (butter stirrer, syrup stirrer, removing food from processor & spreading the nuts, getting honey out of container)

Ingredients

Package of Phyllo dough (1 pound) 1 cup honey
Walnuts (1 pound) 1 cup water
Sticks of butter (3 sticks) 1 cup sugar
1 and ½ Tablespoon ground cinnamon 2 strips of lemon peel
¼ teaspoon ground cloves 1 cinnamon stick (or 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon)
¼ teaspoon salt (1/2 Tablespoon if using unsalted butter)

Process
BAKLAVA PREPARATION

  1. Two hours before (at lease, look at box) take the phyllo dough out to defrost.
  1. Start melting butter on stove.
  2. Chop walnuts in food processor and put into bowl.
  3. Add spices: ground cinnamon, ground cloves, and salt. Mix until everything is together.
  1. Start heating over to 350 degrees.
  1. Take the phyllo dough – cut in half (I discovered my 8×8 work perfectly for this)
  2. Brush butter in pans on bottom and sides. Do both pans at once for the next steps.
  3. Lay down 5 to 8 phyllo layers – brushing butter between each layer. The first new layer is always the hardest.
  4. Add a thin layer of the walnut mixture.
  5. Lay down 4 to 5 phyllo layers.
  6. Repeat walnut mixture & phyllo layers until walnut mixture is used up (at least five rounds).
  7. Lay down the last layer of phyllo dough – 5 to 8 layers.
  8. Cut the Baklava in long strips (4 rows) then diagonally to get the signature look. (Yes, cut it BEFORE it goes in the oven)
  9. Put both Baklava pans in the oven and cook for 50 minutes.

SIMPLE SYRUP PREPARATION

  1. After the Baklava has been put in the oven, start the simple syrup.
  2. Put the honey, water, sugar, cinnamon stick, and lemon peel slices into the small pot.
  3. Bring to a slow boil over medium to medium high heat, then lower to simmer until the Baklava comes out of the oven.
  4. Immediately pour the simple syrup over the Baklava while both the syrup and Baklava are hot.
  1. Store uncovered for 8 hours (allowing all the extra moisture to escape, leaving the lovely edges).

Recipe: Rosewater

Recipes

Recipe for Rosewater

(Created by Lady Prudence the Curious – no related period recipe)

Equipment

Sink Stove Non-reactive pot (ceramic, glass, etc)
Pruning shears Big Bowl Stirring spoon
Funnel Strainer Container (non-reactive or plastic you don’t care will be rosy for the rest of its life)

Ingredients

Roses (home grown if possible) – 2 bowls worth
Water

Process

  1. In morning before the heat: Cut a full bowl of rose blossoms – at least five or six
  2. Clean roses gently
  3. Remove the petals and place them in a non-reactive pot
  4. Cover with water
  5. Put pot over low heat and allow cook for 20-30 minutes – do not cover, let the steam out
  6. Stir on occasion to bruise the petals so they release more oil
  7. The roses should look white and the water a little pinkish, and you should have room for more
  8. Go out and cut another bowl of roses
  9. Clean, pluck and add these petals to the pot
  10. These will go white a lot sooner – just another 15 minutes
  11. When done, pull off heat and let cool

ADDITIONAL COOKING NOTES:

  • Do not boil the water – if it starts to simmer, it’s okay to remove the pot from the heat
  • You are looking for drops of rose oil on the surface of the water – too much heat and the oil will evaporate
  1. Get the final container, funnel, and a strainer to fit the funnel. Pour the cooled liquid into the container, straining out the petals
  2. Squeeze the petals to get all the liquid
  3. Use as needed for rosewater.

Comments

  1. After a heavy (2-day) rain, I made rosewater in the spring from my rose bushes. All foliage on the bushes is new since spring.
  2. I chopped the used rose petals and added them to a Ramen Noodle dish – worked very well. The petals are edible and can add fiber/substance to soups.
  3. The scent levels are no where near the levels found in store-bought rose water – but the color was much better. The scent did a slow permeation with any dish it was used in. Not noticeable at first, but over time – yes.
  4. I used the rosewater for a whipped cream dish and for pancakes.

Pictures

Roses grown in my yard. I’ve been working on them for two years now.

I’ve cut off two big bowl for the rosewater and still have tons left.

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And the Final Product

Class: Mustard Making

Recipes

MUSTARD MAKING

A&S Largess Class taught 10 Nov 2016 by Lady Prudence the Curious in the Canton of Aire Faucon

I have been making mustards from scratch ever since I took a SCAdian mustard making class. It is way fun. At its most basic, mustard is take mustard seed (black or yellow), grind, and add vinegar (white or red vinegar). Then let sit at least a week. Believe me, that waiting time is necessary for the mustard to mellow.

Long before ketchup was on the table, mustard was the sauce of choice. One recipe that can be found in A Taste of Ancient Rome (Giacosa p. 179) was written in 180 BC. Mustard was used on all three continents that the SCA period land mass covers, from China to Egypt.

Mustard sauce comes with infinite variation because cooks have added everything from nuts to honey, roots to flowers. The mustard seed and the vinegar provided the components needed for food preservation, allowing the sauce to store for extended lengths of time.

MUSTARDS
Plain Mustard
1/3 cup brown mustard seed
1/3 cup yellow mustard seed
2 cups White Vinegar

Spicy Mustard
2/3 cups brown mustard seed
2 cups red wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons each of whole peppercorn, anise seeds, caraway seeds, whole cloves, and cumin

Sweet Mustard
2/3 cup yellow mustard seed
2 cups apple cider vinegar
3 Tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ cup goldenrod honey
1 cup raisins

Directions
Put all ingredients in a mini-food processor and mix until everything is done. Start with the seeds to get them crushed and then mix until good. Let set one month in refrigerator.

Hints

  1. Brown mustard seed is spicier than yellow mustard seed.
  2. While sitting, the mustard “powder” absorbs more vinegar. If it looks like the perfect consistency at the start of the aging process, you will need to add more vinegar to make it to the consistency you are aiming for: a thick spread, soupy, or runny.
  3. Letting the mustard seed soak for 15 minutes to 30 minutes before crushing will make the crushing faster and release more of the mustard oil during the process. The more oil released, the hotter the end product.
  4. All mustards need at least 2 weeks to age before serving.
  5. Do not heat the mustard during the mustard making process. Heat activates an enzyme which reduces the mustard flavor. Heated mustards are both more mellow (blended sooner) and more bitter.
  6. Wash hands after handling powdered mustard. Remember mustard gas was a weapon in WWI.
  7. Mustard with no acid (wine or vinegar) has been added fades faster because of the oil is not in suspension.
  8. Mustard left on the counter will mellow faster than left in the refrigerator.
  9. Most mini-food processors can crush instead of cut by flipping the blade upside down.

Ingredients used in period recipes

Liquid Ingredients

Water, White Vinegar, Wine Vinegar, Cider Vinegar, Verjuice, Wine, Beer, Black or Red Grapes (broken, boiled, and take the juice thereof), Cider, Lean broth (without much fat), Eggs

In-between Ingredients

Honey, Onion, Garlic, Ginger (root), Horseradish (root),  Raisins, Dates, Quinces, Grape Mash, Apples, Candied Eggplant Peel, Candied Lemon Peel, Candied Sour Orange Peel, Pear Preserves, Crustless bread soaked in meat broth

Dry Ingredients

Yellow Mustard Seed, Brown Mustard Seed, Peppercorn, Pine Nuts, Almonds, Cinnamon Powder (Cassia), Whole Cinnamon (Z), Sugar, Cloves, Ginger (powder), Anise, Breadcrumbs,

Also leftover spices from making jelly, broth, hypocras or sauces (which can have cinnamon, ginger, Grains of Paradise, nutmeg, galingale, cardamom, mace, spikenard, sugar, saffron, zedoary, cubebs, and bay leaves)

Bibliography

Giacosa, Ilaria Gozzini. Anna Herklotz translator. A Taste of Ancient Rome. The University of Chicago Press: Chicago. 1992.

Jadwiga Zajaczkowa (Mistress). Making Medieval-Style Mustards. http://www.gallowglass.org/jadwiga/herbs/Mustards.html (last reviewed 11/10/2016).

Recipe: Meatballs in Almond Milk Sauce

Consumables, Recipes, , ,

Recipe:  Pompys (Meatballs in Almond Milk Sauce)

(article published January 2017, The Phoenix, Barony of Sacred Stone)

The Early English Text Society is a wonderful resource for the SCA and numerous other historical groups for their interest in preserving and, more importantly, disseminating texts usually available only to specialized scholars.  Two fifteen-century cookery-books is an example drawn from sources from 1430 to 1450.

Bibliography

Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books. Editor Thomas Austin.  Oxford University Press: London, England. 2000 (unaltered reprint). from p.34

Original Entry

(thorn letter symbol replaced by [th])

Take Beef, Porke, or Vele, on of hem, & raw, alle to-choppe it ate [th]e dressoure, [th]an grynd hem in a mortar as smal as [th]ou may, [th]an caste [th]er-to Raw yolkys of Eyroun, wyn, an a lytil white sugre: caste also [th]er-to pouder Pepyr, & Macys, Clowes, Quybibys, pouder Canelle, Synamoun, & Salt, & a lytil Safroun; [th]en take & make smale Pelettys round y-now, & loke [th]at [th]ou haue a fayre potte of Freysshe bro[th]e of bef or of Capoun, & euer [th]row hem [th]er-on & lete hem sethe tyl [th]at [th]ey ben y-now; [th]en take & draw vppe a [th]ryfty mylke of Almaundys, with cold freysshe bro[th]e of Bef, Vele, Moton, o[th]er Capoun, & a-lye it with floure of Rys & with Spycerye; & atte [th]e dressoure ley [th]es pelettys .v. or .vj. in a dysshe, & [th]en pore [th]in sewe aneward, & serue in, or ellys make a gode [th]ryfty Syryppe & ley [th]in pelettys atte [th]e dressoure [th]er-on, & [th]at is gode seruyse.

Translation

Take beef, pork or veal, or all of them, and raw, all to chop it at the serving, than grind them in a motor as small as thou may, then add thereto raw yolks of eggs, with a little white sugar: add also thereto ground pepper, mace, cloves, cubeb (a spice related to pepper), powdered canella (cinnamon cassia – common modern cinnamon), cinnamon (cinnamon zeylanicum – often called true cinnamon, and very hard to get ahold of), and salt and a little saffron; then take and make small pellets round suitable (y-now means done, suitable or enough) and look that you have a fair pot of fresh broth of beef or of  chicken and you throw them thereon and let them seethe/boil until that they done, then take and draw up a thrifty milk of almonds with cold fresh broth of beef, veal, mutton or chicken and ally it with rice flour and with spices and at the serving lay these pellets five or six in a dish and then pour thin sauce on it and serve in or else make a good thrifty syrup and lay pellets at the serving thereon and that is good service.

My Interpretation (serves 4)

Ingredients

1 lbs of Beef, Pork or Veal or mixture thereof (ground)

1 egg yolk

1 tsp of sugar, ground pepper, ground cinnamon

½ tsp of ground mace, ground cloves, salt (and fresh ground true cinnamon or one “Red Hot” candy)

¼ tsp saffron

3/4 can of broth (chicken or beef)

4 cups of water

Almond Milk Sauce: ¼ cup almond milk, ¼ can of broth, 2 Tablespoons thickener of choice (rice flour, corn starch, wheat flour), spices as wished (likely similar to the meatball – but use the lighter colored ones for best color effect: mace, salt, true cinnamon, sugar)

Process

  1. Take a saucepan large enough to hold the water and broth and still be 1/3 empty. Start boiling the water and broth.
  2. Take the ground meat and add egg yolks, and spices. Make into small meatballs.
  3. Once broth is at roaring boil, add meatballs carefully. Turn heat down to slow boil.  Cook until done – between 15 and 20 minutes.
  4. In frying pan, as you would make gravy, put in the almond milk, broth, thickener and spices. Sauce can be thin and runny, thick like heavy gravy, or syrupy.  You decide.
  5. Serve the meatballs and sauce together or separately. If together, meatballs are lightly (thrifty) coated with sauce, not swimming.

 

Recipe: Savory Toasted Cheese

Consumables, Recipes, , ,

Recipe: Savory Toasted Cheese

One of the favorite foods served in our shire (Shire of Iron Bog) is Savory Toasted Cheese.  A recipe can be found in Digbie, as most cooks call it, or, as it is more formally known,

The Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Keneline Digbie Kc. Opened:  Whereby is Discovered Several ways for making of Metheglin, Sicer, Cherry-Wine, &c. together with Excellent Directions for Cookery As also for Preserving, Conserving, Candying, &c. Published by his Son’s Consent.  London, Printed by E.C. for H.Brome, at the Star in Little Britian.  1669.

Yes, that is the title as it appears on the title page.  You can see why cooks used the short title “Digbie”.  Although it was published in 1669, the recipes were drawn from notes made by Sir Kenelme Digbie during his life (1603 to 1665).  The Knight gathered recipes and other information as a hobby, including writing two philosophical treatises during one of his exiles from England (which happened periodically because of his Catholic beliefs).  Sir Keneline Digbie really was “Eminently Learned” and lived in England, France and Rome at different times.  He even spent time in the Mediterranean with a Letter of Mark, protecting his Crown’s interests on the sea-lanes.

The recipe as it appears in Digbie on p. 228 is:

SAVOURY TOASTED OR MELTED CHEESE

Cut pieces of quick, fat, rich, well tasted cheese, (as the best of Brye, Cheshire, &c. or sharp thick Cream-Cheese) into a dish of thick beaten melted Butter, that hath served for Sparages or the like, or pease, or other boiled Sallet, or ragout of meat, or gravy of Mutton : and , if you will, Chop some of the Asparages among it, or slices of Gambon of Bacon, or fresh-collops, or Onions, or Sibboulets, or Anchovis, and set all this to melt upon a Chafing-dish of Coals, and stir all well together, to Incorporate them ; and when all is of an equal consistence, strew some gross White-Pepper on it, and eat it with tosts or crusts of White-bread.  You may scorch it at the top with a hot Fire-Shovel.

GLOSSARY: (from Lady Rosemary Willowwood)

Sparages:  Asparagus.  Also called “spear-grass” or “spargel”.

Collops:  A small piece or slice of food, especially of meat.

Gambon:  from old North French gambon, or ham, from gambe, leg.  In British usage, the lower end of a side of bacon.  Also called “gammon”.

Sibboulets:  translation somewhat uncertain.  Most likely related to “cibblings”, … the Welsh onion.  The Scots called this onion “cibol” with the “l” frequently not pronounced.  “Sibboulets” probably meant chopped or small cibols.  Like many other medieval words, there were as many spellings as there were spellers.

Fire Shovel: an implement almost like an antique soldering iron, heated to red-hot in the fire and used to toast surfaces of dishes where the whole thing could not be broiled.  Modernly called a “salamander”, IF you can find one!

BASIC MODERN MEANING OF ORIGINAL RECIPE

Take a soft, but firm RICH cheese, such as brie or cream-cheese, and mix it in with butter in a bowl that has had asparagus, onions or meat mixed (or cooked) in it so as would have left a layer of gravy behind.  If you are an efficient cleaner and don’t have one about, you might want to incorporate some asparagus tips, onions slivers or bits of fatty meat like anchovies or bacon in the dish.  Just a little bit, mind, you want to enhance the delicate flavor of the cheese, not overpower it.  Melt everything together and let simmer awhile until it is of equal constancy.  Toss some white pepper on top, if you want, and serve it as a gooey, WARM mess with a crusty white bread.  Run it under a broiler once it is ready, if you want a golden toasted top.

FURTHER NOTES

Amounts – Most gentles within the SCA say take equal amounts of brie, cream-cheese and butter and melt all together and add some white pepper.  I have also seen 2 parts brie, 2 parts cream cheese and one part butter; OR 3 parts cream-cheese, 2 parts brie and 1 part butter (mixed with finely chopped onion); OR equal cream-cheese and brie and a little less butter, (say 1/3 less); OR each 8oz cream-cheese and brie, ½ pound butter and 1 pound bacon; OR 8 oz cream-cheese, 32 oz brie and 2 teaspoon of butter served over a green vegetable with final toasting under the oven broiler.  As no actual amounts are given, figure what works for you.

Bacon – Period bacon is closer to a Canadian Ham in character than American Bacon.

Cheese – Should be one that melts consistently, like brie or cream-cheese or a white cheddar.  A stringy cheese like Swiss cheese or mozzarella does not produce the right effect for this recipe.

Heating – A lot of modern recipes recommend that you warm up the cheeses and butter in the microwave.  Brie can get rubbery when heated in this manner, and the natural hotspots in your microwave can cause the delicate cheeses to scorch. Most people use a crockpot, bring the dish to potlucks without the toasting part, and serve the savory cheese with bread on the side while in the warm crockpot. The cheese does not look as appetizing as it cools.

Bibliography

Digbie, Sir Kenelm.  The Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Keneline Digbie Kc. Opened:  Whereby is Discovered Several ways for making of Metheglin, Sicer, Cherry-Wine, &c. together with Excellent Directions for Cookery As also for Preserving, Conserving, Candying, &c. Published by his Son’s Consent.  London, Printed by E.C. for H.Brome, at the Star in Little Britian.  1669.

Petersson, Robert T.  “Digby, Sir Kenelm”.  Collier’s Encyclopedia.  The Crowell-Collier Publishing Company.  1965.

Webpage:  http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04792b.htm – Article on Sir Kenelm Digbie

Webpage: http://www.midrealm.org/middlebridge/archives/1997/199712/0030.html – Letter on [Mid] Savory toasted cheese (the variations) – Note as of 5/15/2019 the website is no longer responding.

Webarticle: “Then Serve It Forth: Savoury Tosted or Melted Cheese” by Lady Rosemary Willowwood de Ste. Anne

Webarticle: “The Stewpot Recipe Gallery:  Savoury Toasted Cheese” by Elaina de Sinistre

Recipe: Asparagus in Almond Milk

Consumables, Recipes, , , ,

Recipe: Asparagus (Espàrrecs)

(article originally published October 2016, Phoenix, Barony of Sacred Stone)

With a Spanish Twelfth Night around the corner, I thought I would finally break out my fourteenth century Catalonia recipe book to see what marvels it contains. I discovered an excellent vegetable dish which I had the pleasure of sharing at a recent Canton of Aire Faucon potluck. The asparagus is served in a white almond sauce creating a beautiful white and green dish, a perfect match for the Barony’s heraldry.

Bibliography

Vogelzang, R. (translator). Santanch, J. (editor). The Book of Sent Sovi: Medieval recipes from Catalonia. Tamesis of Boydel & Brewer Ltd: Barcelona Spain. 2008.

Spanish (in particular Catalonia) recipe – Sent Sovi (mid-14th century)

Espàrrecs si vols fer, quan seran perbullits e sosengats mit-hi vin blanc e espècies comunes e un poc de bon sucre blanc.

Encara, si n’has molts espàrrecs, que en vulles fer menjar per donar en escudelles, perbull-los així com damut és dit e prem los espàrrecs, e sosenga-los així com e espinacs. Aprés hages llet d’ameslles e mit-los a coure, e coguen tant tro sien ben espressos e ben cuits. E puis fe’n escudelles, e mit pólvora de canyella. E és menjar així bé de carnal com de Quaresma. (Sent Sovi LI)

Translation – Vogelzang p.145

If you want to make asparagus, when they are boiled and fried put in white wine and common spices, a little good white sugar.

Still, if you have a lot of asparagus, that you want to make as a dish to serve in bowls, boil them as is said above and press the asparagus, and fry them just like spinach. Then take almond milk, and cook them in it, and cook them enough so that they are thickened and well cooked. Then serve them in bowls, and dust cinnamon on it. It is eaten like this on meat days as well as during Lent.

MY INTERPRETATION: For 16 people
Equipment

Stove Top Largish Pot with Lid Colander
Cutting Board Knife Spatula
Measuring Cup (wet)  Serving Bowls  Frying pan (optional)

Ingredients

Cold water (about 2 cups)
Salt (optional)
Oil or grease of your choice
1 pound of Asparagus
2 cups almond milk
Powder douce (mix of sugar, cinnamon and other sweet spices)

Process

  1. Bring water to boil. Add salt if wanted.
  2. Trim off woody part of stem.
  3. Boil asparagus in one inch of water for about 5 minutes. Cover pot for boil.
  4. Empty pot into colander. (You can reserve the vegetable broth for another recipe if desired.)
  5. Return pot to stove or use a frying pan. Add oil and heat.
  6. Once oil is hot, fry the asparagus uncovered, stirring with spatula to prevent burning, for about 3 to 5 minutes.
  7. Add almond milk and continue to stir until the asparagus is well-cooked. About 3 to 5 minutes.
  8. Put into serving bowls and dust with powder douce.
  9. Serve forth hot.

Comments

  1. Powder douce for the “dust cinnamon” – The first half of the recipe recommends common spices and a little good white sugar. Powder douce is a period spice mix covering this option with the predominant taste and color being cinnamon. The dish is a mix of green, white, and the dust of brown when served.
  2. Using one pot for everything. I hate cleanup. This recipe requires three different stages of cooking – the initial boil, the frying stage, and finally the simmer in sauce.
  3. Sauce vs. soup – The period recipe could be interpreted as an asparagus soup or as asparagus in a sauce. I learned toward the sauce side because of the frying stage (which evaporates the excess water from the initial boil, giving the asparagus back its form) and because of the title not being something like “asparagus soup” and instead being simply asparagus.

Recipe: Leeks and Onions in Milk

Consumables, Recipes, , , ,

Leeks and onions in milk (Poreaux et Oignons avec Lait)

(article originally published February 2011, Phoenix, Barony of Sacred Stone)

French Recipe – Le Menagier de Paris (1393)

Porée blanche est dicte ainsi pour ce qu’elles est faite du blanc des poreaux, à l’eschinée à l’andoulle et au jambon, ès saison d’automne et d’iver à jour de char; et sachez que nulle autre gresse que de porc n’y est bonne.

Et premièrement, l’en eslit, lave, mince et esverde les poreaux, c’est assavoir en esté, quant iceulx poreaux sont jeunes: mais en yver quant iceulx poreaux sont plus viels et plus durs, il les convient pourboulir en lieu esverder, et se c’est à jour de poisson, après ce que dit est, il les convient mettre en un pot avec de l’eau chaude et ainsi cuire, et aussi cuire des oignons mincés, puis frire les oignons, et aprés frire iceuls poireaux avec les oigons qui jà sont fris; puis mettre tout cuire en un pot et du lait de vache, se c’est en carnage et à jour de poisson; et se c’est en karesme l’en y met lait d’amandes. Et se c’est à jour de char, quant iceulx poreaux d’esté sont esverdés, ou les poreaux d’iver pourboulis comme dit est, l’en les met en un pot cuire en l’en les met en un pot cuire en l’eaue des saleures, ou du porc et du lart dedans.

Nota que aucunesfois à poreaux, l’en fait lioison de pain.  (MP 139-140)

Translation – Redon p.66

White porée is so called because it is made with the white of leeks (served) with pork loin, andouille, or ham on meat days in autumn and winter.  And note that no fat other than that of hog is suitable for this.

First, pick through, wash, slice and éverder the leeks if they are young, i.e., in summer; in winter, when they are older and tougher, it is better to boil them than to éverder them.  And if it is a time of abstinence, after having prepared them as indicated, you must put them in a pot with hot water and cook them; also cook sliced onions, fry them, and then fry the leeks with them; then cook everything in a pot with milk, whether it is a meat day or a day of abstinence; but if it is Lent, substitute almond milk.  And if it a meat day, when the summer leeks have been éverdés or the winter leeks boiled as indicated above, put them to cook in a pot together with the water from slat meat or with pork and pork fat.

Note: Sometimes a bread liaison is made from the leeks (MP 139-140).

COOKBOOK INTERPRETATION: Redon on pages 189 to 190 gives their interpretation of the dish. Did not include it here due to copyright restrictions.

MY INTERPRETATION: For 16 people at a Feast

Equipment

Sink Stove top Cutting Board
Pot, Cooking Knife
Frying Pan Sieve/Cor. Wooden spoons
Serving bowls and spoons Measuring cup (wet)

Ingredients

2  leeks
1 onion (White or Yellow)
1 cup cream
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons oil or lard or butter
Water and salt

Process

  1. Slice and carefully wash the leeks. You may do the root only, or include the stem.
  2. Cook in boiling salted water for a few minutes. Drain and return to the saucepan.
  3. Peel and slice the onion. Sauté over low to medium heat in 2 tablespoons oil until it is very tender but not browned.
  4. Combine the onions and leeks (in the saucepan). Add the cream and cook for 10-30 minutes more over low heat.  Watch carefully and stir regularily.
  5. This can be let to simmer several hours if timing of feast requires it.

Comments

The recipe is period to late 15th century France, and can be found in Le Menagier de Paris.

I choose to include the green stem because I found that the bright green peeking through the mass of white to be beautiful.  I chose to boil the leeks and not include them when frying the onion because 1) it created two different tastes and 2) it saved time during the mass production of feast.

I used the milk/cream mixture as period milk would not be homogenized and that gives a higher fat feel to the tongue.

Bibliography

Redon, Odile, Francoise Sabban & Silvano Serventi.  Translated by Edward Schneider.  The Medieval Kitchen: Recipes from France and Italy.  The University of Chicago Press: Chicago.  1998.

Banham, Debby.  Food and Drink in Anglo-Saxon England.  Tempus Publishing Limited: Stroud, Gloucesterershire.  2004.