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Anst-12Nt-Fst-art - 10/24/08

 

Ansteorra 12th Night Feast in 2007 done by Count Gunthar.

 

NOTE: See also the files: 12th-nite-fst-art, 12th-N-Oertha-art, 12th-nite-msg, Yule-msg, Holiday-Celeb-lnks, brd-manchets-msg, venison-msg, Non-Alco-Drks-art.

 

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NOTICE -

 

This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.

 

This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

 

I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter.

 

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Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s).

 

Thank you,

    Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous

                                          Stefan at florilegium.org

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Date: Mon, 31 Dec 2007 11:40:39 -0600

From: Michael Gunter <countgunthar at hotmail.com>

Subject: [Sca-cooks] Ansteorra Central Regional 12th Night feast

To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

 

Ansteorra's Central Regional 12th Night is this weekend and I'm

almost finished with the feast. Since the kitchen is rather inadequate

I'm doing the majority of the cooking beforehand and sealing it

in boiling bags. On site I'll have a bunch of turkey fryers filled with

hot water and just pop the bags in, heat and serve. It will make for

a fairly relaxing feast but kind of hectic ahead of time.

 

Menu:

1st Course

Egredouce (beef pottage)

Rumpolt's Hungarian Chicken (chicken in a lemon sauce)

Individual manchet loaves

Herbed goat cheese

butter

sliced apples and pears

 

2nd Course

Period bratwurst

Roasted venison in red wine sauce

served over frumetty

Pease in beef broth

Boiled Salat (spinach in butter/vinegar sauce)

Makke (mashed beans with wine topped with carmelized onion)

Homemade mustard from Digby

 

Dessert Sideboard

Normandy tarts (apple tarts with heavy cream)

Colonial Gingerbread

Layer cakes

 

Drinks of period lemonade, orange barley water, hot apple

drink and small mead.

 

Most of the heavy stuff has been finished and bagged.

I still need to finish the frumetty, vegetable dishes, apple tart

filling, gingerbread and vegetarian version of the venison.

I will provide vegetarian versions of the Egredouce (mushrooms)

and venison (firm tofu) and also serve some chicken sausage

for those who don't eat pork.

 

The cakes will be premade then assembled on site as well as the

tarts will have the crust made and then baked.

 

Menu and some of the recipes can be found on this website:

http://central.ansteorra.org/12thNight/menu.php">http://central.ansteorra.org/12thNight/menu.php

 

There's still work to be done but it is getting there.

 

Gunthar

 

 

Frumetty

To make frumente. Tak clene whete & braye yt wel in a morter tyl the holes

gon of; sethe it til it breste in water. Nym it vp & lat it cole. Tak good

broth & swete mylk of kyn or of almand & tempere it therwith. Nym yelkys of

eyren rawe & saffroun & cast therto; salt it; lat it nought boyle after the

eyren been cast therinne. Messe it forth with venesoun or with fat motoun

fresch. [end of original; thorns replaced by th's]

1 c cracked wheat

2 c water

1/3 c chicken broth

1/3 c whole milk (or almond milk)

2 egg yolks

4 threads saffron

1/2 t salt

Bring water to a boil. Add wheat and bring back to a boil, cook about 10

min, then remove lid and cool, with occasional stirring to hasten the

cooling and break up the pasty lumps. Crush saffron into a little of the

broth; add saffron, broth and whole milk to the wheat and heat. When heated

through, stir in egg yolks and salt. Frumenty is traditionally served with

venison; this recipe also suggests serving with mutton.

 

 

RumpoltÕs Hungarian Chicken

4 C Peeled and Chopped Apples

4 C Peeled and Chopped Onions

2 1/2 Lemons

2 C Chicken Broth

4 lbs Chicken Legs, Thighs and Breasts

3/4 C White Wine (Reisling)

1 T White Wine Vinegar

1/4 t Pepper

2 t Salt

20 threads Saffron

1 T Sugar

 

Peel and chop apples and onions. Put into pot. Peel 1 and ½ lemons and remove pith from membranes, removing seeds at the same time over the pot so as not to lose any juice. Cover and simmer until they become soft. Place chicken in water and bring to a boil, simmer for 15 – 20 minutes or until lightly poached.

 

Crush Saffron and steep in wine. Add wine, vinegar and spices to the apple mixture. Then add partially cooked chicken. Simmer covered for 20 minutes then remove cover to reduce. If the chicken is getting too done remove from the sauce and hold while reducing sauce further. Slice one whole lemon with the rind on very thinly. Stir into chicken and sauce just before serving.

 

An Excellent Boiled Salad

Country Contentments or The English Huswife

By Gervaise Markham (1615)

My Reading:

ÒTo make an excellent compound boiled Salad; take spinach that has been washed well in the quantity of two handfuls and put it in clean water and boil it until it is very soft and tender as baby food; then put it into a colander and drain the water from it, when this is done, use the back of your chopping knife and chop and crush it as small as possible; then put it into a small pan with a good lump of non-salted butter and boil it again; then take a good handful of currents that have been rinsed and put them in and stir it all together, then add vinegar to make it tart and then season it with sugar to taste. Serve over toast slices.Ó

 

4 cups of fresh spinach

2 Tablespoons of non-salted butter

4 or 5 golden raisins

1 Teaspoon good vinegar (red wine, apple cider or raspberry are good)

Sugar to taste

 

Fill a pot with water and bring to boiling. Once boiling add rinsed spinach leaves and let cook until wilted. Drain the spinach and press the water out. Place the cooked spinach on a cutting board and chop a bit with the back of a knife to chop and mash the leaves.

Move the chopped spinach to a pan and add butter. Cook until butter melts and stir to integrate it thoroughly then add the raisons. Cook a bit longer until raisins plump and start to give off some sweetness. Add vinegar and sugar to taste.

 

ItÕs also good if served topped with croutons.

 

 

Makke

The Forme of Cury: A Roll of Ancient English Cookery Compiled About A.D. 1390 By the Master Cooks of Richard II, Presented to Queen Elizabeth by Edward Lord Stafford

My Reading:

ÒTake dried beans and simmer them well.  Take them out of the water and put them in a mortar. Grind them to dust, until they are white as milk.  Heat (per The Dictionary of Early English) a little red wine and put this with the ground beans, add salt and place it in a dish, take onions and mince them then simmer in oil until brown.  Top the beans with the onions. Serve it.Ó

 

Dried or canned beans. (Great Northern are good or Red Kidneys if you want darker)

Red Wine

Salt

Onions

Olive Oil

If using dried beans, soak overnight and drain soaking water. Cover beans with cold water and bring to a boil over medium heat. Lower heat to simmer and cover. Cook until soft. If using canned, ignore and simply place in food processor. Process until lumpy then add red wine. If canned beans are used, salt will probably not be needed. Process until smooth and taste again. Adjust seasonings if needed.

Chop onions to small dice. Heat olive oil in medium pan until hot then add onions. Cook onions slowly and stir often until onions are golden, approx 20 minutes.

Serve beans topped with the onions.

 

As to New Peas

The Goodman of Paris (Le MŽnagier de Paris)

A Treatise on Moral and Domestic Economy by A Citizen of Paris, c.1393

Translated by Eileen Power.

My Reading:

ÒSometimes they are cooked with the drippings of meat and crushed parsley to make a green pottage and that is for a meat day; and on a fish day they be cooked in milk with ginger and saffron mixed in. For new peas to be eaten in the pod, you must add bacon on a meat day and on a fish day, when they are cooked, you separate the liquid and add underneath salted butter and then shake it.Ó

 

1 bag of frozen green peas

1 can of beef stock

 

Wash the peas in warm water to defrost. Heat beef stock in pan and add peas. Cook so the peas are cooked through but still have a bit of give to them.

 

 

 

�� Bratwurst

<<25>> Weltt jr gœtt prattwirst machen

So nempt 4 pfœnd schweinis vnnd 4 pfœnd rinderis, das last klainhacken, nempt darnach 2 pfœnd speck darœnder vnnd hackts anainander vnnd vngeferlich 3 seidlen wasser giest daran, thiet aœch saltz, pfeffer daran, wie jrs geren est, oder wan jr geren kreœter darin megt haben/ mœgt jr nemen ain wenig ain salua vnnd ain wenig maseron, so habt jr gœt brattwirst/.

 

25 If you would make good bratwurst Take four pounds of pork and four pounds of beef

and chop it small. After that mix with it two pounds of bacon and chop it together and

pour approximately one quart of water on it. Also add salt and pepper thereto, however

you like to eat it, or if you would like to have some good herbs, you could take some/little

sage and some/little marjoram, then you have good bratwurst. (1)

 

Chop and mix the following:

2 pounds pork

2 pounds beef

1 pounds bacon

Add seasoning mix to taste:

2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

2 tsp marjoram

1 tsp sage

 

Pour water over the mixture. This moistens the meat and makes the mixture much easier

to stuff into the sausage skins. Add salt, pepper, salt and marjoram to taste. Take a bit of the forcemeat and put in a dry skillet. Cook the meat and see how much fat is rendered, it should cook without need for additional oil. Taste the cooked meat and adjust seasoning. The batch was a bit too dry and mealy so some lard was mixed in as well as a bit more salt and white pepper. Taste again until you are happy with the results then stuff into hog casings.

 

 

 

Egredouncye

Two Fifteenth Century p. 31/58

My reading:

Take pork or beef, whichever you prefer, and slice it thin crosswise; then broil it brown a little, and then mince it like Venison; chop it in the drippings and then put it into a pot and add fresh broth (light chicken broth); take herbs, onions, parsley and sage and other good herbs, then thicken it with bread; take pepper and saffron, cinnamon, vinegar or else wine, broth and salt, and let it boil together, until they be cooked enough and then serve it forth hot.

 

1 lb pork or beef steak

2 cups chicken stock

1 small onion, minced

2 Tablespoons fresh parsley

1 teaspoon each sage, oregano, rosemary and basil (or whatever herbs you have on hand)

3 cups breadcrumbs

3 or 4 threads of saffron

½ teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon vinegar or wine

salt

 

(Chicken stock and breadcrumbs will vary for consistency.)

Broil steak and then chop finely.

Put the steak and any drippings into a pot and add chicken stock, onion, herbs and cook until onions are soft. Then add breadcrumbs and mix. Add more chicken stock or breadcrumb until you reach your desired consistency. Soak saffron in ¼ cup of hot water then add saffron with water, pepper, cinnamon, salt and vinegar to taste.

Serve topped with fresh parsley.

 

Venison

Basic Marinade – Ingredients

1 bottle of Burgundy or red wine

1 large peeled and finely chopped white onion

4 desertspoons of dark brown Muscovado sugar

2 tablespoons of 'extra virgin' olive oil

2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar

2 large finely chopped carrots

1 sprig of fresh Rosemary

1 sprig of fresh Thyme

1 sprig of Parsley

6 large bay leaves

6-10 whole peppercorns

3 large whole cloves of garlic (crushed)

Method

¥ Sweat the vegetables in the oil then pour in the Burgundy. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring slowly to the boil.

¥ Simmmer for twenty minutes and then leave to cool.

¥ When absolutely cold, place the venison in a pot and baste thoroughly with the marinade. Cover with tinfoil place in the bottom of a fridge and leave to marinate for as long as possible (2 days is good). Remember turn the meat before you go to bed and turn it again when you get up in the morning.

¥ When you are ready to cook remove the venison from the marinade and let it drip dry, saving the marinade to make gravy. DonÕt forget to strain it to remove surplus solids.

¥ Roast the venison until it matches your requirements. We tend to like it cooked medium rare.

¥ Make your gravy in the roasting pan using the meat juices and strained marinade to provide additional taste.

 

 

Manchet

The Good Huswife's Handmaide for the Kitchen, 1594

 

To Make Fine Manchet. Take halfe a bushell of fine flour twise boulted, and a gallon of faire luke warm water, almost a handful of white salt, and almost a pint of yest, then temper these together without any more liquor, as hard as ye can handle it: then let it lie halfe an hower, then take it up, and make your Manchetts, and let them stande almost

an hower in the oven. Memorandum, that of every bushell of meale may be made five and twentie caste of bread, and every loaf to way a pound besyde the chesill.

5-6 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups water

1 teaspoon dry active yeast

1 teaspoon salt

In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the water and let the water turn

creamy (10 to 15 minutes).

Add the salt.

Stir in the flour, until the dough forms a ball. Remove the dough to a well

floured surface and knead in the remaining flour.

Place the dough into an oiled bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place for

30 to 40 minutes.

Place the dough on a floured surface. Divide into four parts.

Roll each piece of dough into a ball and place it on a greased baking sheet.

Bake at 400 degrees F. for about 45 minutes.

Note: Other manchet recipes tell the baker to score the loaf around the

middle with a knife to let the loaf expand properly in the oven.

 

Normandy Tarts

Pastry:

1 1/2 cups flour

2 tablespoons sugar

a pinch of salt

1 stick of butter

3 egg yolks

1 tablespoon water

1. Sift flour, sugar and salt together. Cut in butter til well blended with lumps no bigger than peas. Add egg yolks and water and blend well.

2. Knead until smooth and use to line ungreased muffin cups, pressing into a shell.

Filling:

2 1/2 cups apple slices

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

a pinch of nutmeg or cinnamon

1 cup of heavy cream

1. Peel and slice apples. Make the pieces fairly small so they will fit into the shells.

2. Toss the apples with flour, sugar and spice 3. Place in tart shells and bake at 375 for 10 minutes 4. Pour a dash of cream into each tart 5. Bake another 30 minutes or until crust is golden and apples are tender 6. Cool before serving

 

 

Barley ÒSodaÓ

1/2 cup pearl barley

water, to rinse barley

10 additional cups cold water

1 whole ripe lemon, to be juiced and the rind used

1/3 cup (approx) additional lemon juice (more on this later)

1/2 to 1 cup sugar, honey, golden syrup, or other equivalent sweetener (I prefer honey), to taste

 

Rinse the pearl barley under running water. Scrub the lemon to make sure the rind is clean.

Put the rinsed barley in a pan or pot, cover with cold water, bring to a boil, and let simmer for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and drain.

 

Put the simmered barley in another large pot and add the 10 cups cold water. Grate the rind from the lemon into the water, careful not to get any of the white pith. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover well, and let simmer on low for 60 minutes. Check it occasionally to make sure itÕs not boiling too hard - you donÕt want to lose too much liquid.

 

Roll the lemon (now minus the rind), pressing it with your palm, on a countertop or cutting board to release the juices inside. Juice the lemon and add enough extra lemon juice (from whatever source, commercially available is fine) to make at least 3/4 cup of juice.

 

To the barley water in the large pot, add the lemon juice and sugar (or honey); stir until dissolved. Taste the liquid and add any additional lemon juice until it is as tart as you prefer.

 

Pour the barley water through a fine strainer into a pitcher, retaining the barley.

I have found that if you bring the temperature down a bit then use a 2 liter soda bottle it works very well.

 

You can enjoy the barley water as a hot drink like tea, pour over ice for a refreshing drink on a hot day, or chill in the refrigerator. The flavor is a lemony sweet/sour and is very close to the Orange Barley Water IÕve bought commercially. I like it diluted with a bit of water and poured over ice but Elizabeth enjoys it full strength.

 

Recipe makes approximately 2 liters of ÒBarley Soda.Ó

 

Syrup of Lemon

Andalusian p. 279 (Translation and commentary by David Friedman)

Take lemon, after peeling its outer skin, press it and take a ratl of juice, and add as much of sugar. Cook it until it takes the form of a syrup. Its advantages are for the heat of bile; it cuts the thirst and binds the bowels.

*This we also serve as a strong, hot drink. Alternatively, dilute it in cold water and you have thirteenth century lemonade. All three of the original recipes include comments on medical uses of the syrups.*

 

This is very basic and IÕve used this to great effect at feasts. Just take equal parts lemon juice and sugar and place over low heat. Slowly stir and reduce until a syrup is achieved and it takes on a bit of cooked flavor. Add either hot or cold water to your taste.

 

These are also from Al Andalus courtesy of the Miscellany:

 

I havenÕt converted the quantities over to modern because it really doesnÕt matter much. The recipes do give proportions which is the more important aspect.

 

 

Syrup of Apples

Take a ratl of sweet apples, those that the common people call sar”j [this might mean "little lamps"], cook them in water to cover until they fall apart and their substance comes out, then clarify it and take the clear part and add it to a ratl of sugar. The bag: an žqiya of aloe stems, pounded and put into the bag. Cook until it takes the form of a syrup. Drink an žqiya in two of hot water. Its benefits: it fortifies and gladdens the heart.

 

In reproducing this I took 5 lbs of a mix of Gala and Braeburn apples, but any sweet apple would do, washed and quartered them. Then put them in a large stockpot and covered with water. I cooked the apples over medium heat for around an hour and a half until they fell apart easily when pressed with a spoon. Once the apples were soft and had given up their juice I poured the mass into a strainer set over another stockpot. I then lightly mashed the apples to give out as much juice as possible but not so much to make an applesauce. The apple remains were discarded.

 

In my investigations of aloe I have found it has been used both topically and internally for centuries. The common aloe plant is abundant in the area so just regular aloe stems would work. Unfortunately, among the medical benefits of aloe laxative properties are also noted. I donÕt think that steeping crushed stems in the juice would give anyone a case of discomfort, but I would rather not risk it. It was also noted that the pulp of the aloe is very bitter. I feel the aloe was not only included for medicinal benefit but also for the bitterness to balance out the very sweet apple syrup. For this purpose I chose regular tea bags. In the future I will try the crushed aloe to see if there are any ill effects but for my first try and for an item to be distributed to the masses I went with something a little less potent.

 

I took the juice of the simmered apples, added a half dozen Lipton tea bags and nearly an equal volume of turbado sugar. Then I just left the mixture to reduce over medium low heat over several hours. The end result was a thick dark syrup of intense sweet/bitter flavor. The recipe calls for it to be mixed with hot water and this creates a very satisfying Òhot toddyÓ effect. This is great for a cool evening.

 

Weak Honey Drink

(More commonly called Small Mead)

Digby p. 107/147

Take nine pints of warm fountain water, and dissolve in it one pint of pure White-honey, by laving it therein, till it be dissolved. Then boil it gently, skimming it all the while, till all the scum be perfectly scummed off; and after that boil it a little longer, peradventure a quarter of an hour. In all it will require two or three hours boiling, so that at last one third part may be consumed. About a quarter of an hour before you cease boiling, and take it from the fire, put to it a little spoonful of cleansed and sliced Ginger; and almost half as much of the thin yellow rind of Orange, when you are even ready to take it from the fire, so as the Orange boil only one walm in it. Then pour it into a well-glased strong deep great Gally-pot, and let it stand so, till it be almost cold, that it be scarce Luke-warm. Then put to it a little silver-spoonful of pure Ale-yest, and work it together with a Ladle to make it ferment: as soon as it beginneth to do so, cover it close with a fit cover, and put a thick dubbled woollen cloth about it. Cast all things so that this may be done when you are going to bed. Next morning when you rise, you will find the barm gathered all together in the middle; scum it clean off with a silver-spoon and a feather, and bottle up the Liquor, stopping it very close. It will be ready to drink in two or three days; but it will keep well a month or two. It will be from the first very quick and pleasant.

 

11 pints water

1 T peeled, sliced fresh ginger (~1/4 oz)

1/2 t yeast

1 pint honey = 1 1/2 lb

1/2 T orange peel

Dissolve the honey in the water in a large pot and bring to a boil. Let it boil down to 2/3 the original volume (8 pints), skimming periodically. This will take about 2 1/2 to 3 hours; by the end it should be clear. About 15 minutes before it is done, add the ginger. At the end, add the orange peel, let it boil a minute or so, and remove from the heat. The orange peel should be the yellow part only, not the white; a potato peeler works well to get off the peel. Let the mead cool to lukewarm, then add the yeast. Cover and let sit 24-36 hours. Bottle it, using sturdy bottles; the fermentation builds up considerable pressure. Refrigerate after three or four days. Beware of exploding bottles. The mead will be drinkable in a week, but better if you leave it longer.

 

I made the batch pretty much following the instructions above. The 2-liter bottle idea is great. During the two weeks it sat in the guest bathroom tub, the bottle, which was only half full, swelled to nearly bursting with CO2. Releasing the cap was a slow process as I let the gas escape. The mead fizzed beautifully and the result is a very palatable mead with undertones of lemon and a bite of ginger. I need to get a measuring device to check for true alcoholic content, there seems to be a bit but very little.

 

<the end>



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