So, back to achalasia. It started with simple things. I would have problems eating a sandwich at night before bed. I would choke on hot dogs. Things weren't difficult to get down but they had a bad habit of coming back up again. It wasn't constant but it was getting worse. Saw the doctor and had my throat scoped. It came back clean and I was advised to see a speech therapist. In my head I knew that that wasn't where I needed to go, that we hadn't found the cause and I got stubborn which leads to stupid. I didn't go back to the doctor until my next yearly check up. The only smart thing that I did was to get fed up with losing weight and throwing up so that I put myself on a liquid/pureed food diet. This trip to the doctor got a new test, the barium swallow which showed the achalasia as if it was from a text book. Now I wait for the next step. I will need specialist and possible surgery but at least I know what I am in for and I am already eating better than I have in a long time. I still crave all the foods that I have been able to eat in the past but at least I can eat something. So next a recipe that I found that is quite tasty and can be done as an side dish for people who aren't on a specialized diet.  

Crab Fondue
 2 cups milk
 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 3/4 cups breadcrumbs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper, ground
1/4 teaspoon minced garlic
 1 tablespoon minced onion
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
6 1/2 ounces canned or fresh crab meat
5 large eggs, separated
1 cup shredded cheese, cheddar or gruyere

Heat milk. Add the next eight ingredients after pureeing them together. Beat egg yolks and stir into the mixture. Stir and cook over low heat for 5 minutes or until thickened. Add cheese and mix well. Beat egg whites until they stand in soft, stiff peaks and fold into the mixture. Turn into a 1 1/2 quart casserole, having only the bottom buttered. Place in a pan of hot water. Bake in a preheated slow oven (325 degrees F.) for 1 1/2 hours or until the center is firm. Serve with a tomato sauce.

 From The Spice Cookbook Avanelle Day and Lillie Stuckey, David White Company, NY, 1964.

So, it has been awhile since I last posted. That has to do with the fact that I mostly post my food adventures and food has been an issue for me for some time now. I finally have a diagnosis and it is not a good one for someone who loves food. I have achalasia. This is a condition where the muscles of the esophagus atrophy and the sphincter leading into the stomach doesn't open properly. Peristalsis is also not working in the esophagus so I have given up any dream of being an astronaut. I have moved to a liquid diet and am currently looking for food options that work for me in my condition. What this means is that I am now an achalasia food blogger. My diet at the moment is pretty simple- if it purees I eat it. I have oatmeal or cream of wheat for breakfast with my coffee. I add cream to everything that I can for the added fats and calories. Lunch is usually a fruit smoothie with whey protein and a one-a-day vitamin added for nutritional supplement. Dinner is currently either something based on mashed potatoes or gazpacho variations with nutritional yeast added as a supplement. I can eat very tiny grains so quinoa is also something that I have added to my diet. I will be looking for recipes that are good for my condition and I will be posting them. I will also be researching medieval recipes that work. I do have issues with potassium and so any advice about adding beans as a protein source, while welcome for the general audience, is not an option I can take except as a periodic option. The last thing I need is to crash my blood pressure while dealing with my current food issues. And yes, I have done it twice already while adjusting my diet- with bananas in the smoothies and with mixing hummus and guacamole. Delicious but way too much potassium for me. The biggest problem that I have has been eating out and the only advice I have at the moment is to not be afraid of asking for what you need. Indian restaurants are great because the sauces are good with rice alone and a mango lassi is a great drink. Fast food places are a problem as they usually have few options that aren't hand-held but smoothies are becoming more common on fast food menus and that is something. DO NOT ORDER THE SECOND CUP SMOOTHIES- yuck. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achalasia

Beast Wellington

I started calling this dish Beast Wellington so that non-cooks could get an idea of what I meant and it just stuck. It is a dough wrapped roast or "pie". The dough would have protected the floor of the bake oven from the oils and juices of the roast as well as insulating the roast until service.


Beast Wellington


Sabina Welserin #67 A game pie


Take a hind leg from a red deer and divide it in for three pies, the bones are good afterwards for a game soup. Then boil the three pieces, which are for the pies, well, after which take them out and lay them on a platter or in a trouogh and salt and pepper them well and let them lie there overnight. Afterwards mix a dough out of rye flour. First pour about a quarter pound of flour on the table and put into apan about one quart water and one pound of fat and let it dissolve together and bring it to a boil and pour it afterwards on the flour, until it is sufficient, and make then a strong dough and work it well. After that remove some dough, about one third, and roll it out into two rounds, according to how many pies you need or want to make. Next put the game on the bottom round and put afterwards the top round on it and shape it, however you would like to have it. After that take a bag of water and spread the bottom crust on the edges. Afterwards press the top dough onto the bottom so that nothing runs out, arrange it with a small knife and crimp it, however you would like and shove it in the oven.

2 1 ½ kilos French roast
1 pound salt
1 pound pepper
2 cups rye flour
1 cup water
½ cup shortening


Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Put the roasts into them and boil them for 30-45 minutes. Remove into a large pan and cover with a mixture of salt and pepper. Put in the fridge overnight to marinate.
Bring the water and shortening to a boil. Pour into a large bowl with the flour. Mix well with a large spoon and set aside to let the flour absorb the liquids. Do not let it cool too much. Work the dough until it is smooth and then separate it into 4 and roll each out separately. Cut to shape of the roasts and reserve the rest for decoration. Take the fat and string off the boiled roasts and place in the center of the bottom dough. Place the top over and shape it around the roast. Wet the edges of the bottom and roll over the top edges pressing down to seal the edges. Crimp and then wetting surfaces decorate as desired. Put into a 375 F oven for 30 minutes or until the roasts are hot through and the dough is cooked. If you are adding ears and tails you should cover them with foil for half the cooking time and remove the cover. Egg wash is also good for a decorative touch.

Veal pie

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.

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.

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.

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.

Walking Stick- The Old Man of the Forest

Walking stick- the Forest Within

Walking stick- The Universe Within

I lied.

It appears that I wasn't ready to get back to blogging but we have a new year now and so how about some pictures.

These are from a statue called Elven Village.

After Worldcon and renovations.

Alright I have been absent too long. We can call it an extended vacation from medieval recipes or just a messed up year. Things seem to be getting back to normal and so with the start of a new school year I hope to get back to making recipes.

I will start with a non-medieval one. I was asked about it after using it for Worldcon Consuite. I was also asked to not use the oriental name since I have radically altered it for convenience sake so...


Consuite soy chicken


Cooking liquid- Mix equal part soy sauce and either water, stock or wine/beer and then add chopped onions, garlic, ginger, pepper and sugar to taste. I like more garlic and less sugar and others prefer more ginger and sugar. Try several attempts to find your own taste.


In a slow cooker place thawed chicken legs or wings and then cover with the cooking liquid. Reserve some liquid for topping up later on. Set the slow cooker on high, cover and let cook for about 1-2 hours until the liquid is very hot and the chicken is cooked throroughly. Remove the chicken, add more raw chicken, top up the liquid and recover the slow cooker. You can keep doing this all day.

You can now eat the chicken either hot on rice, or chill it and eat it cold later. You can also grill the cold chicken later to reheat and give it a different flavour.

If serving a large crew then you can simply scale the whole process up and into a larger pot. Enough cooking liquid to completely cover the chicken is all that is needed. It is also important to note that the liquid keeps after cooking and becomes denser and more flavourful the more often you use it because of the added flavour from the chickens and the added gelatine from the bones and cartilege. Keep the cooking liquid in an airtight container in the fridge for several days or in the freezer for several months. You may need to add more soy and sugar as time goes on but it is well worth the end results.

New Year

With hours to go before 2009, I wish to say that 2008 has been full of surprise and frustration. Surprise in the renewed strength of the American Progressive movement and frustration that so many could enthusiastically join it without the least clue about what it is about. So this year I resolve to educate myself about progressive causes and get better at implementing the changes that I need to be more progressive in my day to day life. I hope to bring others along with me but if I am alone I accept that each life that is more aware is a step forward. So teaspoon at the ready, I stand prepared for a new year and new surprises.

One extra thing- get tested as a bone marrow donor, give blood when you can and if possible become prepared to donate organs so that other teaspoons can be raised when they might have been lost. Each life has something to give if we are prepared to learn.

Lebkuchen for Subtelties and Sieges

Lebkuchen is a basic Germanic honey cake which is still used to make Christmas decorations and gingerbread houses. Variants of this recipe range from Scandanavia through the Balkans and whose modern cousins are made softer by the addition of fats and rising agents. The traditional lebkuchen is closer to a candy than a cookie and its durability varies based on the thickness of the cookie. A thin cookie will produce a crisp texture and a thicker cookie will be tougher. The cookie stores well as long as it is kept away from humidity.
The key to making a good lebkuchen is to cook the honey and sugar together until it is very liquid and then stop cooking it to avoid it becoming a candy. The flour/spice mixture must be mixed in quickly while the liquid is very hot to allow complete absorbtion. Then you have a waiting period. You have to work the dough while it is warm. Too warm and you risk hurting yourself, too cool and the dough becomes impossible to work. It can be rewarmed as long as you are careful not to start baking/cooking it.
The warm dough can be sculpted, shaped, stamped, molded and cut. It can be incised and because it has no rising agents it will retain fairly complex designs through the baking process. Larger size shapes may bubble and so caution must be used on larger pieces. Individual pieces should be baked separately dependant on size to ensure even colour.
The baking process needs to be slow as you are dehydrating the dough at the same time. The dough will be pliable while warm and so some adjustments are possible with the warm cookie. You can return the piece to the stove to rewarm but not for too long or too hot because the cookie will continue baking in that situation.


151 To bake good Lebkuchen Take first a pound of sugar, a quart of clear honey, not quite a third quart of flour, take two and a half ounces of cinnamon, one and a half ounces of cloves, two ounces of cardamom. Cut the other spices as small as possible, the cinnamon sticks are ground as coarsely as possible. Also put ginger therein and put the sugar into the honey, let it cook together, put the flour in a trough, pour the cardamom into it first, afterwards the ginger and the other spices.
163 To make Nürnberger Lebkuchen Take one quart of honey, put it into a large pan, skim it well and let it boil a good while. Put one and a half pounds of sugar into it and stir it continually with a wooden spatula and let it cook for a while, as long as one cooks an egg, pour it hot into a quarter pound of flour, stir it around slowly and put the described spices in the dough, stir it around slowly and not too long; take one and a half ounces of cinnamon sticks, one and a half ounces of nutmeg, three fourths of an ounce of cloves, three ounces of ginger, a pinch of mace, and chop or grind each one separately so that they are not too small, the cinnamon sticks, especially, should be coarsely ground. And when you have put the spices in the dough, then let the dough set for as long as one needs to hard boil eggs. Dip the hands in flour and take a small heap of dough, make balls out of it, weigh them so that one is as heavy as the others, roll them out with a rolling pin, and spread them out smoothly by hand, the smoother the prettier. After that dip the mold in rose water and open it up. Take four ounces of dough for one Lebkuchen. Be careful and get no flour in the molds or else they will be no good, but on the board you can put flour so that they do not stick to it. Let them set overnight. And when you take them to the baker, then see to it that you have another board that is thoroughly sprinkled with flour, so that it is very thickly covered. Put the board with its covering of flour into the oven so that the board is completely heated, the hotter the better. Take it out afterwards and lay the Lebkuchen on top, so that none touches the other, put them in the oven, let them bake and look after them frequently. At first they will become soft as fat. If you take hold of them you can feel it well. And when they become entirely dry, then take them out and turn the board around, so that the front part goes into the back of the oven. Let it remain a short while, then take it out. Take a small broom, brush the flour cleanly away from the underside of the Lebkuchen and lay the Lebkuchen, in the mean time, on the other board, until you have brushed off the Lebkuchen, one after the other, so that there is no more flour on the bottoms. Afterwards sweep the flour very cleanly from off the board. Lay the Lebkuchen on top of it again, so that the bottom is turned to the top. Take a bath sponge, dip it in rose water, squeeze it out again, wash the flour from the bottoms of the Lebkuchen. Be careful that you do not leave any water on the board, then they would stick to it. Afterwards put the board with the Lebkuchen again in the oven, until the bottoms rise nicely and become hard, then take the board out again. See to it that two or three [people] are by the board, who can quickly turn the Lebkuchen over, or else they will stick. Afterwards take rose water and wash them on top with it as you have done on the underside. Put them in the oven again, let them become dry, carry them home and move them around on the board, so that they do not stick. And when they have completely cooled, then lay them eight or ten, one upon the other, wrap them in paper and store them in a dry place, see that no draft comes therein, then they remain crisp.
164 To make a large Nürnberger Lebkuchen Take a quart of honey and a quarter pound of sugar, prepare it as for the smaller Lebkuchen, take one quarter pound of flour and then the spices as follows: one half ounce of cinnamon, one ounce of cloves, one and three fourths ounces of nutmeg, four ounces of ginger, one fourth ounce of mace. Stir it carefully around, afterwards roll the dough out somewhat. Bake it as for the smaller Lebkuchen. Welserin, Sabina Cookbook of Sabina Welserin Armstrong, Valois (trans.) (orig. German 1553) online copyright Valoise Armstrong 1998



My redaction :

Lebkuchen


4 cups flour
1 ½ teaspoons each of ginger, cinnamon and cardamom
½ teaspoon ground clove
2 cups honey
1 cup sugar

Put the honey and sugar in a large saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly. Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl so that the spices are completely incorporated. Once the honey mixture is liquid, remove from the heat and add the flour mixture in a slow stream. Stir in until the flour is completely absorbed. Put the dough in a clean bowl and let cool. Cool the dough until it is at a temperature that is comfortable to handle. Do not let the dough cool completely. Roll or shape the dough as desired, working with floured hands and boards. Bake in a slow ( 300 degree F ) oven just until the dough browns slightly. Remove from the cookie sheets as soon as they can be handled and let the cookies cool completely before placing in a container. The cookies will keep in a container for very long periods.



Pfferneusen

¾ cup molasses
¾ cup honey
¼ cup shortening
1 large egg
4 cups flour sifted
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon each of nutmeg and allspice
¾ teaspoon cardamom
½ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon anise seed ground



Heat honey and molasses (do not boil) in a large saucepan. Add shortening and stir in. Cool. Beat in egg. Sift dry ingredients togethr and add gradually stir into honey mixture. Let dough stand 30 minutes to stiffen enough to handle.

Moisten hands and shape dough. Usually they are shaped like small nuts: filberts, almonds or pecans. Bake on a lightly greased cookie sheet in a preheated moderate oven (300 degrees F.) for 13-15 minutes. Cool on a rack and store in an airtight container.

Pokerounce

.xxxvj. Pokerounce.—Take Hony, & caste it in a potte tyl it wexe chargeaunt y-now; take & skeme it clene. Take Gyngere, Canel, & Galyngale, & caste þer-to; take whyte Brede, & kytte to trenchours,* & toste ham; take þin paste whyle it is hot, & sprede it vppe- [leaf 32 bk.] on þin trenchourys with a spone, & plante it with Pynes, & serue forth.

I cup honey
1/2 tspn. each ground spices-ginger, cinnamon and galingal
1/2 cup toasted pinenuts
24 toasted rounds of french bread

Heat honey in a pot until it boils, skim the top and let it settle. Add ginger, cinnamon and galingal and stir in. Prepare toasted rounds of bread and spread the hot honey mix on top, scatter with pine nuts and serve.


When you heat honey it becomes very liquid and it can be used like a liquid. When it cools it becomes less liquid and more spreadable. So we have a problem with the recipe which states that we have a paste when the mix is hot. I take this to mean that there is a very high ratio of ground spices to honey. Modern tastes would rebel at this, so I advocate less spice and cooking the honey longer to evaporate some of the water resulting in a more caramel like texture. You can also leave it looser as the honey will thicken as it cools on the bread. Any way that you do this, this is a very sticky dish to serve and that should be taken into consideration. With due consideration, a finger washing bowl should be served immediately after or a person should go around with a salver and towel for people to wash up at the table.

The Tale of Brave Sir Stephen

I acknowledge deep input from years of watching Monty Python and wanting to usurp their talents.

Bravely bold Sir Stephen
Rode forth from Calgary.
He was not afraid to lead,
Oh brave Sir Stephen.
He was not at all afraid
To legislate in nasty ways.
Brave, brave, brave, brave Sir Stephen.

He was not in the least bit scared
To have his budget quashed,
Or to have his members shout,
And his ministers all broken.
To have his caucus split
And his votes all burned away,
And his quotes all hacked and mangled
Brave Sir Stephen.

His agenda smashed in
And his initiatives cut out
And his government removed
And his microphone unplugged
And his conversations taped
And his trustworthiness burnt off
And his pen--

"That's... that's enough music for now lads,
*** there's dirty work afoot*** ???."

Brave Sir Stephen ran away.
("No!")
Bravely ran away away.
("I didn't!")
When danger reared it's ugly head,
He bravely turned his tail and fled.
("no!")
Yes, brave Sir Stephen turned about
("I didn't!")
And gallantly he prorogued out.

****Bravely**** taking ("I never did!") to his feet,
He beat a very brave retreat. ("all lies!")
Bravest of the braaaave, Sir Stephen! ("I never!")

Longue Fretoure

Long Fritters

xlvj. Longe Fretoure.—Take Milke, an make fayre croddes þer-of, in þe maner of a chese al tendyr; þan take owt þe whey as clene as þou may, & putte it on a bolle; þan take ȝolkys of Eyroun & Ale, & menge floure, & cast þer-to, a gode quantyte, & draw it þorw a straynoure in-to a fayre vesselle; þan take a panne with fayre grece, & hete it on þe fyre, but lat it nowt boyle, & þan ley þin creme a-brode; þan take a knyff, & kytte a quantyte þer-of fro þe borde in-to þe panne, & efte a-noþer, & let it frye; & whan it is brownne, take it vppe in-to a fayre dyssche, and caste Sugre y-now þer-on, & serue forth.

1 cup curdled milk/yogurt/cottage cheese
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup ale (preferably on lees)
2 1/2 cups flour
oil
sugar

Take yogurt frozen and thawed drain out the whey or take curds or cottage cheese and drain. Mix the whey, egg yolks and ale and mix it with flour until you have loose dough. You may not use all the flour so add it gradually. Heat the oil to 375 degrees F. Cut slices of the dough and pull them into long strips and fry until golden brown. Cover with sugar and serve.

Deep-fried dough is a basic of comfort food. The ale acts as the leavening by expanding when the cool dough hits the hot oil. The soured or fermented milk product gives the fritter an interesting sourdoughlike flavor and the whole dish is always popular. It is hard to prepare for a set feast but is good in more informal affairs like an outdoor event or a fair. You can get fancy with the cut or twist of the dough as you get comfortable working around hot oil. I do advise never getting TOO comfortable around hot oil- always make sure the pan is level and securely in place. Make sure that the heat is consistent and that you have a safe zone around you where people do not enter unexpectedly, especially children. Have a cover for the pot as it is easier to put out an oil fire by starving it of oxygen than any other way.

The best ale to use for this recipe is the lees at the bottom of homemade beer- it really is the yeast that you want.

A bake Mete

.xxxij. A bake Mete.—Take an make fayre lytel cofyns; þan take Perys, & ȝif þey ben lytelle, put .iij. in a cofynne, & pare clene, & be-twyn euery pere, ley a gobet of Marow; & yf þou haue no lytel Perys, take grete, & gobet ham, & so put hem in þe ovyn a whyle; þan take þin commade lyke as þou takyst to Dowcetys, & pore þer-on; but lat þe Marow & þe Pecyȝ* ben sene; & whan it is y-now, serue forth.


12 tart shells using favorite crust
6-18 pears depending on size
1/4 lb. butter cut into 12 lumps

2 cups milk
5 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tspn. saffron

Prepare open tart shells, take peeled and pared pears and place them in the shells. Add a piece of butter on each. Bake the pies until the pears are tender. Mix milk, egg yolks, sugar and saffron into a basic custard mix. Pour over each pie letting the pear be seen and return to the oven until the custard sets. Serve warm or cold.

Any leftover custard can be baked separately.

This makes a great finger food for a sideboard, lunch or picnic meal. Custards are the basis of many great recipes and are surprisingly durable, quick and efficient. Learn custard/flan- baked and stovetop. That one recipe will serve you well in medieval and modern cooking- milk, egg and sugar, apply heat and serve.

Touching base

Almost better will post a new recipe soon.