Sabina Welserin- 1553
60 To make a veal pie
Take pieces of veal from the leg and boil them in water, about as long as it takes to hard boil an egg. Afterwards take them out and chop the meat small, and take suet from the kidneys and cut it small and chop it with the veal. And when it is finely chopped, then put it in a bowl and put some wine into it and an ample ladelful of broth , pepper and a little mace, which should be whole. Crush it a little by hand so that it in small pieces, put in it raisins and saffron and stir it all up together with a spoon, put cinnamon in it also, and taste it, however it seems good to you.
1 double crust pie shell
2 kilograms ground beef or veal
1/2 cup red wine
1 1/2 broth. preferably beef
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground mace
1 1/2 cup raisins, seedless
1/8 teaspoon saffrom
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
salt to taste
Put meat, wine and broth in a large saucepan and bring to a simmer, Cook until meat is done, add spices and raisins and simmer until the raisins are plump and the broth is reduced. Adjust salt and spices to taste. Put into crust, cover and bake at
425 F. for 30 minutes or until the crust is completely cooked.
It is common in medieval recipes for the meat to have been cooked before being put into the crust to bake. This also allows for a period cook to prepare the bulk of the dish ahead and then assembled on site and baked.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Baked Strauben
Sabina Welserin-1553
141 To bake Strauben for a meal
Take six eggs and a little milk with water, salt it, beat it together well and put the flour into it. Do not make it thick, then it is right.
1 cup milky water (3/4 water. 1/4 milk)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup flour
4 medium eggs
oil for coating pans
Combine milky water and salt in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the flour all at once and stir constantly, over medium heat, with a wooden spoon or spatula until it is very firm and pulls away from the sides of the pan. Take off the heat and add the eggs one at a time, beating vigorously until each egg is completely incorporated. The dough should be firm and glossy. Pipe the mixture through a wide tipped pastry bag onto a large greased pan. Bake the strauben in a preheated 375 degree oven for 30-40 minutes (depending on the size that you made) or until puffy and golden. Remove from the oven and put a slask or hole in the bottom to allow steam to escape and return to the oven for a few minute to dry them. Cool and store loose.
Interpreting medieval recipes can be tricky because you never know if steps were left out or not and by whom. Since many medieval manuscripts would have been copied, errors can be either from the original cooks, the original clerk or a later copist/translater. There is only one way to deal with that- try the recipe as written. For me I could never make the original recipe work as written, it was fine flavor wise if you like rocks but it was always denser than I thought useful for any food purpose when baked. There are variant fried strauben recipes and it works well with them but still nothing special. Then it strikes me, as it has struck other cooks, that this is more workable as a hot dough method like a pate choux or a churro recipe. The purpose is to precook the flour and egg and then the baking or oil frying makes the pastry puff and hold air pockets. It is the kind of step that people who do something all the time might forget, like strudel cooks forgetting the pound the bejesus out of the dough step.
I adjusted the order of entry of the ingredients to the modern variant because it actually makes it easier to teach to new cooks. It can be done following the original order but it is trickier for making the porridgelike dough.
141 To bake Strauben for a meal
Take six eggs and a little milk with water, salt it, beat it together well and put the flour into it. Do not make it thick, then it is right.
1 cup milky water (3/4 water. 1/4 milk)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup flour
4 medium eggs
oil for coating pans
Combine milky water and salt in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the flour all at once and stir constantly, over medium heat, with a wooden spoon or spatula until it is very firm and pulls away from the sides of the pan. Take off the heat and add the eggs one at a time, beating vigorously until each egg is completely incorporated. The dough should be firm and glossy. Pipe the mixture through a wide tipped pastry bag onto a large greased pan. Bake the strauben in a preheated 375 degree oven for 30-40 minutes (depending on the size that you made) or until puffy and golden. Remove from the oven and put a slask or hole in the bottom to allow steam to escape and return to the oven for a few minute to dry them. Cool and store loose.
Interpreting medieval recipes can be tricky because you never know if steps were left out or not and by whom. Since many medieval manuscripts would have been copied, errors can be either from the original cooks, the original clerk or a later copist/translater. There is only one way to deal with that- try the recipe as written. For me I could never make the original recipe work as written, it was fine flavor wise if you like rocks but it was always denser than I thought useful for any food purpose when baked. There are variant fried strauben recipes and it works well with them but still nothing special. Then it strikes me, as it has struck other cooks, that this is more workable as a hot dough method like a pate choux or a churro recipe. The purpose is to precook the flour and egg and then the baking or oil frying makes the pastry puff and hold air pockets. It is the kind of step that people who do something all the time might forget, like strudel cooks forgetting the pound the bejesus out of the dough step.
I adjusted the order of entry of the ingredients to the modern variant because it actually makes it easier to teach to new cooks. It can be done following the original order but it is trickier for making the porridgelike dough.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
May Cake
Sabina Welserin- 1553
176 To make a good May cake
Take a pound of raisins, a pound of currants, five small portions of May butter, a handful of hyssop, a handful of ground ivy, some sage, about ten leaves, two times as much mint, a handful of costmary, approximately fifteen eggs and a half pound of sugar; the herbs finely chopped, baked for two hours. The butter must be stirred into the herbs. For the crust, two eggs, which are prepared as for a tart.
To do one May Cake in a 9 inch pie pan
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup currants
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
5 leaves fresh sage, finely chopped
10 leaves fresh mint, finely chopped
6 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sugar
2 additional eggs beaten
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Put the pan in and let it get hot. Toss the herbs and fruit with the butter and mixthe beaten eggs and sugar together. Put both together and set aside. When the pan is hot, take the two additional eggs and pour them into the hot pan and swish it around to coat the bottom and sides thoroughly. Let set and then add the fruit/egg mix and place in the oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the center is firm. Take out and cool.
This is a great recipe to serve the next day as the herbs infuse their flavor over time.
176 To make a good May cake
Take a pound of raisins, a pound of currants, five small portions of May butter, a handful of hyssop, a handful of ground ivy, some sage, about ten leaves, two times as much mint, a handful of costmary, approximately fifteen eggs and a half pound of sugar; the herbs finely chopped, baked for two hours. The butter must be stirred into the herbs. For the crust, two eggs, which are prepared as for a tart.
To do one May Cake in a 9 inch pie pan
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup currants
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
5 leaves fresh sage, finely chopped
10 leaves fresh mint, finely chopped
6 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sugar
2 additional eggs beaten
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Put the pan in and let it get hot. Toss the herbs and fruit with the butter and mixthe beaten eggs and sugar together. Put both together and set aside. When the pan is hot, take the two additional eggs and pour them into the hot pan and swish it around to coat the bottom and sides thoroughly. Let set and then add the fruit/egg mix and place in the oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the center is firm. Take out and cool.
This is a great recipe to serve the next day as the herbs infuse their flavor over time.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Large spoons
For my friend Tadea, a wooden spoon with her as Edward E Newman on one side and a woman doing her hair on the other.
For my friend Freya, a maple spoon used in large scale tomato paste production that has been woodburned with a fox pattern on one side and a viking ship bearing the logo Freya's Fabrics on the other. A running pattern of dots and seaaxes finishes the handle. Watercolors and varnish.
New stick- under construction
A 50" maple stick, dies naturally and stained with naturally occuring colors. Wood burned leaf and acorn pattern with a triskele knotwaork pattern on the upper haft and the top. Colored with goldleaf, milk paints and water paints. To be varnished after completion.
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