Touching base

Almost better will post a new recipe soon.

Langue wortes de pesoun

I am not even bothering to write out amounts on this one. It really is dependant on personal taste and style. You can use fresh peas in season, frozen peas or dry green peas. The flavor will vary but you will find that it makes no sizable difference inpreparation. You can use a vegetable broth, a chicken broth or beef broth or just some of the reserved pea water. Wortes are fresh seasonal greens anything from spinach and turnip greens to parsley and sage. This is a versatile recipe in that it can be turned into a sort of vegetable cracker or a dense soup. It can be used on fish days, flesh days or anything in between. Finally it can be served in spring when it is seasonally fresh which has a light flavor or in winter when it would be denser with the stronger flavors of preserved and dried foods.

This recipe highlights one of the things that we forget about medieval cuisine which is that they did have ways to extend the life of their ingredients and their recipes reflect that. They didn't need to be told about that fact because they lived it. I advise trying this recipe following the path of seasonality to get yourself into the medieval mindset. In fall and winter, try dried peas, cold hardy greens, dried herbs and onions. In spring, try baby peas, early greens, early herbs and chives or green onions. In summer, try fresh garden peas, varietal greens, fresh herbs and garden fresh onions. Try seasonal broths as well and I think that you will begin to see the variety possible within even a small range of ingredients.


Langue wortes de pesoun- dry green peas, onions, fresh herbs and greens, oil, salt, saffron

.ij. Lange Wortes de pesoun.—Take grene pesyn, an washe hem clene an caste hem on a potte, an boyle hem tyl þey breste, an þanne take hem vppe of þe potte, an put hem with brothe yn a-noþer potte, and lete hem kele; þan draw hem þorw a straynowre in-to a fayre potte, an þan take oynonys, and screde hem in to or þre, an take hole wortys and boyle hem in fayre water: and take hem vppe, an ley hem on a fayre bord, an cytte on .iij. or iiij., an ley hem to þe oynonys in þe potte, to þe drawyd pesyn; an let hem boyle tyl þey ben tendyr; an þanne tak fayre oyle and frye hem, or ellys sum fresche broþe of sum maner fresche fysshe, an caste þer-to, an Safron, an salt a quantyte, and serue it forth.


Wash and clean the dry peas and put to boil until they break and become a paste. Cut up onions, boil fresh herbs and greens and cut them up, and add both to the pea soup. Bring back to a boil until tender and thick. You can now either fry the peas and greens paste in oil or add fish broth with salt and saffron and serve as a hot soup.

Passing of a Friend

I woke this morning to find that a friend has lost his long struggle with leukemia, and a condition called monosomy 7. His long struggle is documented at http://www.healemru.com/index-en.php and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=9635600965.

I have no words except that being on the bone marrow donor list can save lives, I have lost two people to diseases that could be cured with a timely match and the only way for that to happen is to have as many as possible on the list. That means that regardless of your ethnicity, you need to be on the list, you need your family on the list and you need your friends on the list. You may never be needed, you may never match but if you do then you can save a life. There is nothing better than that.

Remembrance Day

We will remember.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

— John McCrae (1872-1918)

Egredouncye

This is a nice beef or pork stew. It is easy to make and if you want to make it into a porridge then that is possible as well simply by adjusting the breadcrumb/grain and stock levels. The herb issue seems to be fairly undefined and I think that this is a good place for people to experiment with fresh herbs and their seasonal availability. There is a huge number of herbs that would have been grown in home gardens and pots, trial and error will give you an idea of how they effect the outcome of a stew. I like to add sorrel, a leafy relative of rhubarb, because it adds an acid undernote and melts into the liquid. Sorrel is easy to grow, likes cool weather, is available from early spring and shouldn't be eaten raw. It is exemplary in soups and stews.


.Cxl. Egredouncye.—Take Porke or Beef, wheþer þe lykey, & leche it þinne þwerte; þen broyle it broun̛ a litel, & þen mynce it lyke Venyson; choppe it in sewe, þen caste it in [leaf 24 bk.] a potte & do þer-to Freyssh brothe; take Erbis, Oynonys, Percely & Sawge, & oþer gode erbis, þen lye it vppe with Brede; take Pepir & Safroun, pouder Canel, Vynegre, or Eysel Wyne, Broþe an Salt, & let ȝet* boyle to-gederys, tylle þey ben y-now, & þan serue it forth rennyng.

1 kg. stewing beef or pork in 1-2” cubes
2 litres beef broth
3 tblspns. Mixed seasonal herbs
2 large onions, chopped
1 tblspn. Chopped parsley
1 tblspn. Chopped sage
2 cups bread crumbs (you can add whole grains)
1 tspn. Pepper
½ tspn. saffron
1 tspn. cinnamon
500 milliltres white wine
Add more broth to loosen
Salt to taste

Take stewing beef and brown it in a pan. Put it in a pot with beef broth, take herbs, onions, parsley and sage and other good herbs. Add the rye berries. Add pepper, saffron, cinnamon, white wine more broth and salt to taste. Boil it until the rye is soft and serve.

( I have replaced the breadcrumbs with the rye berries at times to make it gluten free.)

Cryspes

Crisps are fried dough. Fried dough is good and it is period and it is probably eternal. This is quick and fun and, if you keep an eye on them, a way to get children involved. Make sure the dough is runny enough to drip off the fingers but sticky enough that it forms strings. Adjust the milk/flour ratio as needed.


.lj. Cryspeȝ.—Take Whyte of Eyroun, Mylke, & Floure, & a lytel Berme, & bete it to-gederys, & draw it þorw a straynoure, so þat it be renneng, & not to styf, & caste Sugre þer-to, & Salt; þanne take a chafer ful of freysshe grece boyling, & put þin hond in þe Bature, & lat þin bature renne dowun by þin fyngerys in-to þe chafere; & whan it is ronne to-gedere on þe chafere, & is y-now, take & nym a skymer, & take it vp, & lat al þe grece renne owt, & put it on a fayre dyssche, & cast þer-on Sugre y-now, & serue forth.

3 egg whites
1 cup milk
1 ½ cup flour
1 tspn yeast
1 tblspn sugar
Salt to taste
Oil
Icing sugar

Mix egg white, milk, flour and yeast into a runny dough. Let the dough rest, covered, until it starts to bubble. Add sugar and salt to taste then drip into a pan of hot oil and fry until crisp. Drain on a towel and cast sugar on it and serve it forth.

Waffres

This is a variation on the pancake. The egg whites are the rising agent and the soft cheese adds a sour note to the flavor. They work well when you are serving a gooey or loose dish such as an applade as the wafers can be used like chips.

Waffres- yogurt cheese, flour, egg white, sugar, ginger


.xxiiij. Waffres.—Take þe Wombe of A luce, & seþe here wyl, & do it on a morter, & tender chese þer-to, grynde hem y-fere; þan take flowre an whyte of Eyroun & bete to-gedere, þen take Sugre an pouder of Gyngere, & do al to-gederys, & loke þat þin Eyroun ben hote, & ley þer-on of þin paste, & þan make þin waffrys, & serue yn.

Wafers- Take the womb of a pike and simmer it well and grind it in a mortar and tender chese thereto, grind them together; then take flour and egg white and beat together, then take sugar and ground ginger and mix it all together and look that your grill is hot and lay on it a thin paste and make thin wafers and serve.


1/2 cup yogurt or soft cheese
1 cup flour
3 egg whites
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tspn ground ginger

Mix yogurt, flour and egg white into a thin paste, add sugar and ginger to taste and then fry the paste on a hot skillet or griddle in thin wafers and serve.