lamb-mutton-msg - 7/29/06 Medieval lamb and mutton. Recipes. NOTE: See also the files: organ-meats-msg, rabbit-dishes-msg, sauces-msg, livestock-msg, butchering-msg, roast-meats-msg, roast-pork-msg. ************************************************************************ 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. The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors. 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 ************************************************************************ From: Deb Hense <debh> Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: Medieval comfort food!! Date: 5 Oct 1995 16:21:33 GMT Organization: Microware Systems Corporation, Des Moines, Iowa I'm sorry I've been out of the loop lately. Angharad/Terry asked for a specific reference on the molded lamb's leg. I have provided it below. My original response was given under the impression that the person inquiring about meatloaf, wanted to introduce someone to period flavored dishes under the guise of something familiar. Using forcemeats shaped as a meatloaf, would introduce the person to the flavors of medieval times, while providing them the comfort of eating something familiar. It would be just another meatloaf, flavored differently, but tasty nonetheless. The next step would be to introduce the same recipe in its originally intended form, then inform the person that it tastes just like the meatloaf they had last week. I do this to my family all the time and it works like a charm. I see that it is not Goodman of Paris, but Le Viander, I apologize. When I did the four course menu for competition, I used both sources for the recipes. Again, sorry about the mixup. Kateryn de Develyn Stuffed Shoulder of Mutton [212] Stuffed Shoulder of Mutton Le Viander of Taillevent Shoulder of mutton should be cooked in a pan on the fire, as well as legs of mutton or pork - do not overcook them, then let them cool; the meat is taken off from around the bones and is chopped up very fine, and the meat for mangonels and towers similiarly; then get pine nut paste, currants, and a large egg omlette fried in white bacon fat, and cut them into small pieces the size of large dice, and keep them from burning; take all of these ingrediantes along with crumbled creamy chees, and put everything into a clean pan or bowl and mix them thoroughly together. Then you need sheep cauls; spread them out, sprinkle them with fine spice powder and set the bones on them without the stuffing then wrap up and pack around the bones, wrapping them withthe sheeps caul and sew them together with little skewers of wood to keep the meat from falling away from around the shoulder - as cooks help know how to do. My version: 1 shoulder of lamb 2 lamb shanks - the shanks had bones in them whereas the lamb shoulder was boneless. 1 cup pine nuts - crushed fine into a paste. (easy to do as they are very moist) 1 cup currants 3 egg omlette fried in bacon fat 1 cup shredded mozerella cheese chicken skin - I used the skin of chicken because I was unable to obtain sheeps cauls. Roast the meat, then chop it very fine. Chop the egg omelette into small pieces and add to the meat mixture. Next mix the pine nuts, currents, and cheesetogether and add to the meat and egg mixture., Mold the meat mixture to one of the lamb shank bones. Next, wrap the chicken skin around the molded stuffing, and sew the chicken skin together using bamboo skewers. Then baked this stuffed shoulder of mutton until the skin is cooked (approximately 45 minutes at 375 degrees). From: graydawn at pacbell.net Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: one "pot" meal Date: Mon, 26 Aug 1996 14:36:04 -0700 Here's a nice recipe adapted from one of the Gilroy Garlic Cookbooks (if you don't have them, run, do not walk...) It's originally meant to be baked in an oven, but we've done it in a Dutch oven over a campfire and over a propane stove, both worked beautifully. Lamb Shanks With Barley Ingredients: A quantity of lamb shanks (I dunno, how many are you feeding?) Butter Olive Oil 30-60 cloves of garlic, peeled A cup or so of cheap red wine Rosemary Barley Beef or chicken stock Mushrooms Butter Onions Either: mint jelly, or fresh mint leaves and honey Melt the butter in a large pot, add the olive oil and brown the lamb shanks. Remove them from the pot and deglaze it with the red wine. Return the shanks to the pot, sprinkle with rosemary and add the garlic cloves. Cover VERY tightly (I usually cover the top with foil and then put on the lid, or seal the Dutch oven lid with dough.) and either bake in coals or simmer over stove for about an hour and a half. Brown the onions and mushrooms in butter in another pot, remove. Brown barley in more butter, add the onions and mushrooms and enough stock to cover. Simmer gently, adding more broth as necessary until barley is tender (about an hour or so.) Remove from heat and let stand, covered. Remove shanks from pot, and strain out the garlic cloves. Add the cloves to the barley mixture. Bring the pot to a nice boil, scraping off the browned bits, until it thickens slightly. Add the mint jelly, or mint leaves and honey, and cook a bit longer. Turn out the barley mixture onto a large serving tray (for a company) or into plates, place lamb shanks in the middle, and spoon a quantity of the juice from the pot over the shanks. Fairly simple, extremely yummy, and it's period as far as I know! Pretty cheap, too, since lamb shanks can usually be found for as little as 99 cents a pound... Enjoy! Adellind le Quintain Date: Tue, 08 Apr 1997 14:35:34 -0500 From: JANINE BRANNON <JANINEB at smtpgw.mis.ssh.edu> To: sca-cooks at eden.com Subject: Saracen Sauce Try this - forwarded with the kind permission of Bertram, BMDL, Aethelmearc, East..... BERTRAM'S LAMB MEATBALLS WITH SARACEN SAUCE LAMB MEATBALLS 1 lb. lean ground lamb garlic salt ground pepper Fill a 4 quart pot three quarters full with water, add a teaspoon of salt, and bring to a rolling boil. Put garlic salt and pepper on the ground lamb, to taste, and form it into small balls, about the size of mellon balls. Place the meatballs in the boiling water and cook them for 5-10 minutes until they float or until one that you taste is cooked. For a large feast, freeze them and reheat them later, serving them with the Saracen Sauce described below. SARACEN SAUCE 2 cups onion soup or beef stock, strained 1 cup red wine 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper 1/2 teaspoon mace 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves 5 ounces currants 1 tablespoon sugar 1/4 teaspoon red food coloring --------------------------------- 1 teaspoon ground ginger 1/4 cup white vinegar 1/2 cup breadcrumbs In a large saucepan combine all the ingredients down through the food coloring. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes or longer. When ready to serve, add the ginger and vinegar and stir well. Remove from heat and add in the breadcrumbs, just enough to thicken slightly. Pour over the lamb meatballs or serve on the side. Date: Sat, 20 Dec 1997 08:41:24 -0500 From: dangilsp at intrepid.net (Dan Gillespie) Subject: SC - lamb recipes >I've never cooked goat. If you have the time to send any recipes for goat >or lamb, please do. I love lamb, but there are far too few recipes for it >in my collection. This, by the way, is a request open to the rest of the >list. > >Phlip Here's 2 recipes from the 1607 Arte de Cozina. The sweet & sour lamb is quite tasty, but would likely be rather expensive for a feast. I use lamb shoulder roast because it tends to be the least expensive cut that I have found. Let me know how you like the recipes! Antoine Cap. II. Como se ha de hazer una cauela quajada. Para hazer una cauela quajada, lo primero se ha de picar la carne muy bie(n) co(n) tocino, y todas verduras, y hecho esto, se ha de poner a la lumbre, y desatarla muy bien. y echarle sal, y agraz, vinagre, y especias: y despues de bien cozida la carne, echala en una cauela con poca lumbre: y si fueren dos o tres libras de carne, se le echaran quatro huevos. Y se advierte que quando pusieres la cauela a la lumbre, ha de estar bien sazonada de sal, y especias, y con poco caldo, y se han de batir los huevos muy bien, y echarlos por encima de la carne, y no se ha de menear con los huevos, sino taparla con una tapadera, y echar un poco de lumbre debaxo la cauela, sobre la tapadera hasta que se quajen los huevos: y luego se puede partir en pedaos, o sacarla entera, como fuere menester. Chap.2 How to make a "quajada" casserole To make a thickened casserole, the first step is to chop the meat very fine with bacon, & all types of greens, & when this is done, set it on the fire, & loosen it very well. And cast salt, & verjuice, or vinegar, & spices: & after the meat is well cooked, cast it into a casserole pan with a little fire: & if there is 2 or 3 pounds of meat, cast 4 eggs to it. Be careful that when you put the casserole on the fire that it is well seasoned with salt & spices & a little broth & beat the eggs very well & cast them on top of the meat & do not stir the eggs, but rather cover it with a lid & cast a little bit of the fire under the casserole & on top of the lid until the eggs set up & then you can cut it in pieces or send it out whole or whatever does the job. I #2 Quajada Casserole of Lamb - -1.5 lbs of lamb shoulder roast, deboned, excess fat trimmed & minced (ground lamb would probably work quite well) - -1/2 cup of salt pork, trimmed of excess fat & minced (either ham or bacon would work) - -1/2 cup green onion, minced - -1/4 cup parsley, minced - -2 cups frozen spinach, thawed, drained & minced - -3 Tbsp wine vinegar, or to taste - -season to taste with: pepper, ginger, cinnamon, garlic - -4 eggs, beaten Brown the meat & drain excess fat. Add greens & cook 5 minutes, until they;re wilted. Season to taste with spices & vinegar. Put into a ceramic casserole dish. Pour beaten eggs on top. Bake 25 -35 minites at 325 degrees. Cap. XI Como se ha de hazer carnero lampreado. Para hazer este guisado se ha de tomar el carnero del lomo, pierna, y echar lo a cozer, sazonandolo del sal; y desque estuviere medio cozido, se ha de quitar del caldo, y ponerlo en una tabla para q(ue) se escurra del caldo, y luego se ha de tostar en unas parrillas, y ponerlo en una cauela, olla: y tomara unas especias y despues de majadas, desatallas con el vino, vinagre, y esta(n)do desatado, se ha de echar encima del carnero, y no se le ha de echar mas caldo de quanto cubra el carnero; y a quatro libras, medio quartillo de miel, y un quarteron de aucar, y este aucar ha se de hazer polvoraduque, para echar por encima de los platos quando se sirviere a la mesa. Y ad-viertese que ha de ser este guisado agredulce, con agraz, vinagre. Chap 11 How to make sweet & sour lamb To make this dish, take lamb shoulder or leg & set it to cook, seasoning it with salt; & when it is half cooked, remove the broth & set it on a board to drain the broth, later toast it on some grills & set it in a cacerole or an earthen pot: & take some spices & then crush them, dissolving it with the wine or vinegar, & being dissolved, cast it on top of the meat, & do not cast more broth than covers the meat; & for 4 pounds, half a pint of honey & a quarter pound of sugar, & this sugar make it powdered, to cast on top of the 2 plates when you serve it to the table. And be warned to to make this dish sweet & sour, with verjuice or vinegar. I #11 Sweet & Sour Lamb - -1 lb of lamb shoulder roast, deboned, excess fat trimmed & cut into chunks - -2 cups of red wine - -1/2 cup wine vinegar - -1/4 cup honey - -1 Tbsp olive oil - -2 Tbsp white sugar - -1/2 tsp each white pepper, cloves & ginger - -salt to taste Brown the meat in the oil & add the other ingredients. Bring to a boil & reduce heat to simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, til meat is tender. Before serving adjust the balance of sweet vs sour to taste. Let the sauce thicken well. This was well received! Dan Gillespie dangilsp at intrepid.net Dan_Gillespie at usgs.gov Martinsburg, West Virginia, USA Date: Sat, 20 Dec 1997 09:48:11 -0500 From: margali <margali at 99main.com> Subject: Re: SC - Mutton and thanks > Mutton is a meat I would like to serve sometime but I have never been able to > get it. ;-) Whenever I ask my butcher about he just laughs and shakes his > head. The supermarket meat cutter's are , of course, absolutely worthless when > it comes to 'requests'. Where does one get mutton in N. Central Pa.? > Is it necessary to go to the livestock auction and buy it on hoof? Any > tho'ts would be most welcome > Ras How about avoiding the auction, and go to a local herder and seeing if they have any 2 year old culls? that is the age mutton is best at.[it being the demarcartion between lamb and mutton.] margali Date: Sat, 20 Dec 1997 08:43:00 -0800 From: DUNHAM Patricia R <Patricia.R.DUNHAM at ci.eugene.or.us> Subject: Re: SC - Lamb!!! (and kids) Another issue with lamb... I have a friend who once explained to me the butcher's definition of "lamb" vs. "mutton" (over 15 or 18 months old, or something like that) by the age of the animal... What often gets sold as lamb is only a few days from its "mutton" "birthday" (because, of course, that's a larger animal)... If you can cultivate a butcher or grower who will sell you smaller animals at younger ages (like 8-12 months), it's a whole other ball game as far as tenderness and taste. The lamb chops I ate at her house (only time) certainly didn't "taste like wool". Chimene Date: Sat, 27 Dec 1997 16:00:54 EST From: Mordonnade <Mordonnade at aol.com> Subject: SC - cooking lamb I have served a few lamb stews, made up of ingredients I had on the spot, at encampments, and all were delicious, and well received. But the most successful lamb dish I have served was simply grilled over an open fire, rubbed well with garlic, salt, and pepper. Date: Sun, 28 Dec 1997 23:24:57 +0000 From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <harper at idt.net> Subject: Re: SC - cooking lamb My favorite recipe for lamb is shashlyk (AKA shish kebab) 2 pounds of lamb, cut into cubes, and marinated overnight in the following mixture: 2 cups pomegranate juice 1/4 cup olive oil 1 teaspoon salt black pepper to taste 1 bay leaf, crushed 1 teaspoon crushed thyme 2 cloves garlic, crushed Grill on skewers. (I usually increase the garlic, and I have also used this successfully with beef.) Pomegranate juice is available in East European and Middle Eastern grocery stores. It is tart, though not as sour as lemon juice. I do not know of any reasonable substitute. Lady Brighid ni Chiarain of Tethba Barony of Settmour Swamp, East Kingdom Date: Mon, 29 Dec 1997 15:51:34 -0700 (MST) From: "Jamey R. Lathrop" <jlathrop at unm.edu> Subject: Re: SC - Lamb and Goat recipe > I've never cooked goat. If you have the time to send any recipes for goat > or lamb, please do. I love lamb, but there are far too few recipes for it > in my collection. This, by the way, is a request open to the rest of the > list. > > Phlip Good day to all, from Allegra Beati. My version of the following recipe, from Platina, has been a huge success both in the SCA and even among my very non-SCA family. The recipe calls for kid, but I remember seeing something in my studies of humoural theory in period that lamb is an acceptable substitute for kid. Boneless leg of lamb is easily obtained in Albuquerque, NM (I get mine at Costco, the price varying a little throughout the year), and I use that in this version. Obtaining the baby goat is a problem (unless you want to order the entire 35-pound critter). I've heard rumors of goat being traditional to some hispanic festivals here in the Rio Grande Valley, but I'm unaware of the time of year these festivals take place and which markets are most likely to carry goat. It's a shame-- I love both goat and lamb! I'm sorry that I can only give you the recipe as translated-- I cook like the recipes read. I'm not a "measuring" cook by any means, although since starting a cookery group here, I've been making a habit of writing down procedures and quantities for future reference (and future cooks!) I suppose that means I'll have to make this dish again soon.... Making the leg of lamb in advance for a camping event is quite simple-- I wrap the cooked roast in foil, seal-a-meal it, and stick it in the freezer. I also put the cooked juices in a plastic container, and freeze them as well. At the event, I allow time for the frozen lamb to thaw, and then slice it and warm it in a covered dutch oven with the saved juices. Although I don't have a copy here, I've always used the general temperature and timetable instructions for lamb as given in _The Joy of Cooking_. From _De Honesta Voluptate_, by Platina (Mallinckrodt edition): KID IN GARLIC Grease a whole kid or the fourth part of one, with lard and cleaned garlic cloves; put it on a spit and turn it near the fire. Baste it often with sprigs of bay leaf or rosemary and the sauce which I am about to describe. Take verjuice and the rich juice of the meat, the yolks of two eggs well beaten, two cloves of garlic well pounded, a dash of saffron and a little pepper and mix this all together and pour it into a dish. With this (as I said), you baste what you are cooking. When it is cooked, put it into a dish and pour part of the sauce over it and sprinkle with finely chopped parsley. This food, when it is well cooked, should be served quickly and not let cool. Date: Wed, 07 Jan 98 18:37:34 PST From: "Alderton, Philippa" <phlip at morganco.net> Subject: [none] Lord Ras, I want to thank you for the goat recipe you sent me. the one that starts with "Two goats, boned, meat cubed". I used it as a base for the dish I served at the 12th Night Potluck we had, though with some extensive modifications. For one thing, I used a leg of lamb since the nearest market I'm aware of that sells goat is a four hour drive away, and I suspect my neighbors would not take it kindly if I borrowed one of theirs. I also cut it down considerably, since I was serving 10-15, not 150. A friend told me that goat, which I have yet to try, tastes much like lamb but is leaner and tougher, so this is what I did. 1 4 lb leg of lamb, deboned and cut into cubes lamb fat, rendered, with olive oil 3 medium onions, chopped 1/4 bunch coriander, chopped cumin to taste salt to taste (none) ground black pepper cider vinegar I sauteed the onions in the oil and lamb fat, then moved them into a glass baking casserole since I knew I'd have to reheat in a microwave when I got there-1 hour drive. Added and browned the meat cubes then put everything in the casserole, covered it, and cooked until the meat was tender, stirring to mix occasionally. Towards the end, I tasted and it was missing some thing, so I added a bit of cinnamon. That was it! I drove it down the road, reheated, separated the food from the sauce, mixed yogurt into the sauce, and served it on the side with good bhort-grain rice. Very little came back, so I must have done something right. I'm sure it isn't period, but I think it was at least peri-oid. Anybody have any suggestions for how I might make it even better? Though it was pretty good as is. phlip at morganco.net Date: Fri, 30 Jan 1998 21:04:19 EST From: LrdRas at aol.com Subject: SC - Tharid-A Redaction OK, folks! Here is my latest attempt at a period recipe. Source: A COLLECTION OF MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE COOKBOOKS; 6th ed.; 1993, vol. II. An Anonymous Andalusian Cookbook of the Thirteenth Century (A translation by Charles Perry of the Arabic edition of Ambrosio Huici Miranda with the assistance of an English translation by Elise Fleming, Stephen Bloch, Habib ibn al-Andalusi and Janet Hinof the Spanish translation by Ambrosio Miranda. Copyright 1992 by Charles Perry). Tharid that the People of Ifriqiyya (Tunisia) Call Fatir It is of the best of their dishes. Among them this fatir is made with fat chicken, while others make it with the meat of a fat lamb. Take whatever of the two you have on hand, clean and cut up. Put it in the pot with salt, onion, pepper, coriander seed and oil, and cook it until it is done; then take out the meat from the pot and let the broth remain, and add to it both clarified and fresh butter, and fry (or boil) it. Then fabricate crumbs of a fatir that have been prepared from well-made layered thin flatbread cooked in a tajine with sourdough, and repeatedly moisten the dish [evidently, the dish in which the crumbs are] until it's right.. Then spread on it the meat of that chicken, after frying it in the pan with fresh oil or butter and dot it with egg yolks, olives and chopped almonds; sprinkle it with cinnamon and serve it. Redaction: Copyright 1998 L.J. Spencer, Jr. 2 lbs. lamb leg sirloin, cut in bite-size pieces 1 tsp. salt 2 medium onions, chopped 1/2 tsp coaresly ground black pepper 1 tablespoons ground coriander seed 3 tablespoons olive oil 1 tablespoon butter 1 tablespoon clarified butter 2 whole sourdough pitas, reduced to fine crumbs Cinnamon The yolk from 2 hard boiled eggs, crumbled 1 small can (2 0z.) black olives, sliced Brown the meat on all sides in hot olive oil. Add onions, salt, pepper and coriander. Reduce heat to medium. Cover; continue cooking until the onions are tender. Remove meat with a slotted spoon and put in the oven on warm while making cakes. To make cakes: Add both butters to broth and stir until melted. Add broth in pan to crumbs a little at a time until you are able to form 2 to 2 1/2 inch medallions that hold together. Divide into 8 parts. Form each part into a flattened pattie shape. Brown on both sides in olive oil. To serve: Arrange medallions on a serving plate. Pour meat mixture over all. Sprinkle lightly with cinnamon. Sprinkle egg yolks and black olives over all. - --------------------------------------------------- So there you have it folks. Comments and suggestions are welcome. I served this with "persian milk" (e.g. unflavored yogurt) as a condiment; sliced fresh cucumbers and steamed spinach. All in all I tho't it was very tasty. Ras Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 13:45:49 -0500 (EST) From: Stephen Bloch <sbloch at adl15.adelphi.edu> Subject: Re: SC - lamb recipe > Once upon a time we had a cooking workshop (this was in the days when we > wondered how practical 'field cooking' was. In my Backyard, over an open > fire, I prepared the following recipe (with changes as noted) > > Take one camel. (I couldn't find anywhere to take it from, so I skipped > that bit. Plus we were feeding 20 people, all of whom were cooking > something. It seemed like overkill.) > > Take one sheep (which I did. without the neck opened. The butcher > kindly got me one like that) > > Stick it in the camel (No camel. Well, what can you do) > > Take some ducks, geese, or chickens. (I got some chickens, and a buch of > bits as well.) > > Put capons or quail in them. (quail went into chickens, ducks got capons > filled with chicken breast) > > fill the rest with rice, pistachios, sultanas, figs and some other nut (I > forget. I partially cooked the rice first) > > Put it on a spit over the fire, and cook it. > > What was amazing was that over about 8 hours, we ate nearly all the lamb, > all the quails and most of the rest. It was really good. > > Unfortuantely I don't have any documentation. I'm glad to see that somebody has actually tried this. Here's your documentation. The following appears in the 13th-century Arabo- Andalusian _Manuscrito Anonimo_, and is reprinted in Cariadoc's Collection, volume II: Roast Calf, which was made for the Sayyid Abu-L-'Ala in Ceuta Take a young, plump ram, skinned and cleaned; open it deeply between the thighs and carefully take out all the entrails that are in its belly. Then put in the interior a stuffed goose and into its belly a stuffed hen and in the belly of the hen a stuffed pigeon and in the belly of the pigeon a stuffed thrush and in the belly of this a small bird, stuffed or fried, all this stuffed and sprinkled with the sauce described for stuffing; sew up this opening and place the ram in a hot tannur and leave it until it is browned and ready; sprinkle it with that sauce and then place it in the body cavity of a calf which has been prepared clean; sew it up and place it in the hot tannur and leave it until it is done and browned; then take it out and present it. mar-Joshua ibn-Eleazar ha-Shalib Stephen Bloch sbloch at panther.adelphi.edu Date: Fri, 6 Mar 1998 21:05:09 -0800 (PST) From: "Cassandra L. Baldassano" <cassie at nas.nasa.gov> Subject: Re: SC - Roast Meats & Dry spice rubs > cassie at sally.nas.nasa.gov writes: > > << I used an Andalusian recipe (13th or 14th century) for a feast two years > ago, where a spice & herb mixture was basted onto a roast using egg yolks. > Euriol of Lothian > >> > Great! :-) And the recipe is? > Ras Sorry to take so long to reply to this, but I had to hunt down the recipe it has been over a year since I used it. From An Anonymous Andalusian Cookbook of the 13th Century , translated by Charles Perry. Recipe for the Roast of Kings Take half a lamb with its breast, sprinkle it with three dirham of pepper and as much of caraway, three spoonfuls of water and a stalk of fennel, two spoonfuls of oil and as much of murri, some Chinese cinnamon, some rubbed thyme, four beaten eggs and sufficient salt. Put the lid on the pot and send it to the oven, and when it is done and browned, present it and it has an extremely good aroma. For a serving of 8. 2 lbs. Boneless Leg of lamb 1 tsp. pepper 1 tsp. caraway 1/3 stalk of fennel 1 Tbs. water 2 tsp. oil 2 tsp. murri 1/4 tsp. cinnamon 1/2 tsp. thyme 1 egg Combine all ingredients except for meat and baste meat with mixture. Roast in covered pan (350 F), basting every 15 minutes until the lamb is cooked . A recipe for murri is provided in Miscelleny, by Cariadoc and Elizabeth. I omitted the salt in the final recipe for murri is a sauce saturated with salt. If you are not inclined to make the murri, substitute 1 tsp. of salt for the murri. Euriol of Lothian - -- Cassandra Baldassano cassie at nas.nasa.gov Date: Mon, 03 Aug 1998 10:20:19 -0400 From: Marilyn Traber <margali at 99main.com> Subject: Re: SC - An OOP scone recipe Lamb Margali Take 1 leg of lamb. Mix a marinade of 1 cup each white wine, olive oil, lemon juice and cider vinegar mixed with 3 tb mint leaves, 1 ts each oregano and cracked black pepper. Take a branch of fresh rosemary and 3 or 4 bulbs of garlic turned into slivers. Poke the rosemary leaves and garlic slivers into the lamb, soak down with the marinade and let soak overnight[flip the lamb a few times to marinade well on all sides.] Remove from the marinade, reserve. Grill and occasionally baste with the marinade and put rosemary on the coals to make an aromatic smoke now and then. Let rest 15 minutes and carve. margali Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1998 20:17:01 -0800 From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com> Subject: Re: SC - So I added Beer . . . At 1:06 PM -0500 9/22/98, Shari Burnham wrote: >...My questions are this: does anyone have any >documentation on beer being added to soup or potage as flavoring? If >so, what types? I have heard of using beer OOP for things like brats, >fish, etc, but don't know about in period. > >Lady Elisabeth, giving new meaning to the nickname Elisabreath (I like >strong dark beer-not too wonderful for the breath) And since I don't think anyone ever answered it: Stwed Mutton Two Fifteenth Century Cookery Books p. 72 Take faire Mutton that hath ben roste, or elles Capons, or suche other flessh, and mynce it faire; put hit into a possenet, or elles bitwen ii siluer disshes; caste thereto faire parcely, And oynons small mynced; then caste there-to wyn, and a litull vynegre or vergeous, pouder of peper, Canel, salt and saffron, and lete it stue on the faire coles, And then serue hit forthe; if he have no wyne ne vynegre, take Ale, Mustard, and A quantite of vergeous, and do this in the stede of vyne or vinegre. [end of original; thorns replaced by th] Wine Version 1 1/2 lb boned lamb 2 T vinegar 1 t salt 1/4 c parsley 1 t pepper 3 threads saffron 2 medium onions (1 1/4 lb) 1/2 t cinnamon about 1/2 c water 3/4 c wine Beer Version Substitute 1 c dark beer and 1/2 t ground mustard for the wine. Substitute 4 T of verjuice for the vinegar if you have it. Roast the lamb (before boning) at 350 for about 1 hour, then chop it into bite sized pieces. Chop onions fine. Combine all ingredients (and the juices from roasting the lamb) in a covered stew pot; use enough water so that there is just enough liquid to boil the meat in. Simmer it about 1/2 hour and serve it forth. It is good over rice. Elizabeth of Dendermonde/Betty Cook Date: Tue, 02 Mar 1999 10:20:16 -0500 From: "Nick Sasso" <Njs at mccalla.com> Subject: Lamb marinade/recipe (was SC - meat and seafood marinades) Here is a Lamb recipe that I recommend. It is not for whole lamb, but braised pieces. It could also be done with a roast, but I cannot predict the results. Do not overcook as this can get tough and tasteless. Serve medium at most. My redaction follows the original text. Monchalet (The Forme of Cury, A Roll of Ancient English Cookery, c. 1390) XVI. Take veel or muton and smite it to gobets. See? it [in] gode broth. Cast ?to erbes yhewe1 gode wyne. And a qntite of Onyons mynced. Powdo fort and Safron. And ayle it w ayren and vions. But lat not see? aft. 3# Mutton or lamb, cubed 2 cups table wine (red) 1 gallon stock or water 1/2 c. minced onion 1 tbl dried herbs (e.g. thyme, rosemary, hyssop) 1 tsp. powder fort pinch saffron (4 threads) 2 eggs Braise the mutton/lamb in the stock and herbs. After 15-20 minutes, add onion and wine. Let continue to braise till done. Add powder fort and saffron. When ready to serve, add to beaten eggs slowly and stir vigorously so as to prevent scrambled eggs. Serve forth niccolo difrancesco Date: Sun, 14 Mar 1999 16:59:58 -0500 From: Jean Holtom <Snowfire at mail.snet.net> Subject: SC - Re: Welsh Recipe Thought you might enjoy this recipe. I am assured that it is a very old and good dish. Elysant Welsh Lamb Pie 1 1/2 lb. neck lamb Teaspoon finely chopped parsley Small bunch young carrots pepper and salt Short crust Bone the meat and cut into small pieces, clean and cut carrots into thin rounds, put layer in the bottom of the dish, then meat, parsley and pepper and salt. Repeat until all is used; cover with water, 2 inches from top. Cover with pastry and brush over with milk. Bake two hours in moderate oven. Boil the bones, one onion, pepper and salt 1 1/2 hours, and when the pie is ready strain and pour into the pie. Serve hot or cold. Date: Sat, 10 Apr 1999 19:36:46 -0500 From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com> Subject: Re: SC - all of Pennsic? Helen wrote: > You are the BEST, Cariadoc! Thanks tons for the info. Just saw a whole lamb > at my indian store.... 23 lbs for $64... hmmmmmm Not to belabor the obvious here, but I just happen to have had a chat with Countess Brekke Franksdottir this very day on the A(s)P(urchased) weight of lambs versus E(dible)P(ortion). If I caught the details correctly, Brekke was cooking a feast for the Coronation of one Sir Cariadoc of the Bow, and learned the hard way that the EP of a small lamb is somewhat under 50% of the total weight AP. She guesses more like 35%. Something to consider: asking the butcher to estimate, roughly, the amount of actual meat on a lamb weighing X pounds, when calculating what or how much to purchase. Adamantius Date: Mon, 12 Apr 1999 02:38:33 -0400 From: Marilyn Traber <margali at 99main.com> Subject: Re: SC - all of Pennsic? Helen wrote: > good idea, will research that. I think you are right. Only the legs really > had meat. They said they feed 25 from it. Sidebar, having raised lambs and eaten said critters[especially the one named lambchop...] I can say that from a lamb that dresses to 23 lbs you will at best be getting a less than 1 year old, rather than a 2 year old, so each leg will dress out to about one of the little half-football sized rolled leg of lam roasts you see for exhorbitant amounts of money in a grocery store. at best you will be able to feed 16 with little odd bits left over that if combined with the bones, assorted aromatics are best put in the bottom of a couscouserie to simmer into a rich lamb 'sauce' for the couscous. Not that they aren't tasty that young mind you, just ummmm, dainty. margali Date: Thu, 27 May 1999 02:31:12 -0000 From: "=?iso-8859-1?Q?Nanna_R=F6gnvaldard=F3ttir?=" <nannar at isholf.is> Subject: SC - =?iso-8859-1?Q?Lamb=B4s_head?= >>(And, it does have a sheeps head recipe.) > >I just found it, and it looks good, but is it period? If we can find one >that is period, I'd likely do that myself unless someone else REALLY wants >to do it, but I want ALL the things we do with the lamb to be as done in >period, and I don't mean borderline-up-to-1650. I havent found any pre-1600 recipe (although I seem to remember having seen at least one a long time ago, cant remember where). A mention of a Roman sheeps head roasted with apples and with peaches marinated in Albanian spirits, yes - but not an actual recipe. Quite a few 18th century recipes. The traditional Icelandic and Norwegian method - certainly pre-1600 - is to drive a stake into the head and hold it over an open fire to burn the wool off, then scrape the skin with a knife. (This used to be a job for us kids back on the farm, from the age of six onwards.) This is repeated until all the wool has burned off and the skin is blackened. Then you split the head in two and remove the brain, and wash the head in cold running water, scraping it with a knife until the skin is brown and clean. Then the head is boiled for an hour or so (or until meat begins to come off the bone) and served hot or cold. In the 18th century and perhaps earlier, the head was sometimes dipped in melted butter when cooked, then breaded and grilled. This was done all over Scandinavia but Im not sure how old that method is. We serve the head with the eyeballs intact, and yes, we eat them. And until maybe a few years ago, particular care was always taken to leave the ears intact. There was a special reason for this. The ears of young lambs are cut with special markings - every sheep farmer has his own distinct set of markings and by looking at the ears of a sheep, you can instantly see whom it belongs to (or look it up in a printed book if you dont recognize the markings). This has been done for hundreds of years. And if sheeps heads were served, or found in a farm kitchen, with the ears cut off, the farmer and his wife were instantly suspected of having stolen the sheep and removed the ears to hide the evidence. So, everybody served the heads with the ears intact so that the markings would show that the animal indeed belonged to them. This custom has survived, even though most people now buy their heads in a supermarket and have no idea whom the markings on its ears belong to. I am currently searching for old sheeps head recipes and will let you know if I find any pre-1600. Nanna Date: Thu, 27 May 1999 07:58:56 -0600 (MDT) From: grasse at mscd.edu Subject: SC - SC- Re: Lambs heads Last night I checked "Ein New Kochbuch" (Are you sick of my Rumpolt yet?) He does have a section on Lamb (and a separate section on mutton and a separate section (in the game chapter of the cookbook) on Turkish sheep (I am thinking maybe fat tail sheep?) The first 9+ lamb recipes are for the head. I hope to have some time this evening to rough translate a few of them, and then perhaps tomorrow afternoon I can throw them on the website. (I have totally reorganized the site, please let me know what you think.) If you have some specific preferences as to what you do or don't want in a recipe let me know, so I can try to pick one that fits your needs, as I won't have time to do them all tonight. And yes, this is pre-1600; 1581 specifically. Gwen Cat Caerthe, Outlands http://clem.mscd.edu/~grasse/Welcome.html Date: Thu, 27 May 1999 21:59:11 -0400 From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <harper at idt.net> Subject: SC - Lamb recipe This is the only Spanish recipe for lamb that I have come across. It is from the "Arte de Cozina" (1599) and is from the chapter on foods for invalids. The translation is mine. Para hazer potaje de turmas de cordero, y de ternera de leche -- To make pottage of the testicles of lamb, and of the suckling calf Take the testicles of the lamb, or of the calf, recently dead, and remove the sack, and cut them raw crosswise in slices, and put them in a little casserole or pot, in which there is melted capon fat, not very hot, and fry them little by little, stirring them, and when they have shrunk, and are somewhat solid, add a little broth of capon or veal which is not very salty, and a little cinnamon and saffron, and make it boil, and then put in the materials of the previous chapter. note: the previous recipe is for a pottage made from the feet of calves, kids, or chickens. I don't feel like translatig the whole thing. Here's the relevant part: "...add the fruit of white hawthorn, or whole sour grapes, without skin or seeds, with a few chopped herbs, and in the winter, in place of whole sour grapes, verjuice, and if you wish to incorporate or coagulate the broth, do it with the beaten yolks of fresh eggs." Lady Brighid ni Chiarain Settmour Swamp, East (NJ) Date: Thu, 27 May 1999 22:09:36 EDT From: LrdRas at aol.com Subject: Re: SC - Lamb recipe harper at idt.net writes: << This is the only Spanish recipe for lamb that I have come across. >> I don't know what you are defining as Spanish but a The Andalusian Cookbook contains not a few recipes for sheep of varying ages. Ras Date: Thu, 27 May 1999 23:50:18 -0400 From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <harper at idt.net> Subject: Re: SC - Lamb recipe And it came to pass on 27 May 99,, that LrdRas at aol.com wrote: [quoting me] > << This is the only Spanish recipe for lamb that I have come across. >> > > I don't know what you are defining as Spanish I was referring to the 15th-16th century Spanish cookbooks that I am familiar with. They contain many recipes for "carnero" (mutton), but I could only find one that specified "cordero" (lamb). > but a The Andalusian Cookbook contains not a few recipes for sheep of varying ages. Looking at my copy, I see that this is so. I know nothing about Arabic, so perhaps HG Cariadoc or some other wise gentle could comment on the terminology used in the original. Is it specific as to the age of the beast? If so, then I then have to wonder: what changed (culinarily speaking) between the Islamic period and the Christian era in Spain? Brighid Date: Tue, 01 Jun 1999 05:47:42 -0400 From: Marilyn Traber <margali at 99main.com> Subject: Re: SC - Re: Lamb Seton1355 at aol.com wrote: > << sheepz are lambs until they turn 2 then they are muttons... > margali >> > So when are they ever sheep?? > Phillipa (a city girl) Well, ovidae are like bovidae, every life stage and sex has a name, though they are all sheep and cows, you just use different terms to mean different things, sort of like a feline is a kitten for 1 year then they are a cat. My vet says that other than foodservice, which is another can of worms entirely, historically spring lamb is only able to be called spring lamb from birth through weaning, then it becomes regular lamb, until it is 1 year old. Stock lamb is from 1 year to 2 years, when it gets bred and becomes an ewe. Ewe following all this? Rams are lambs for the same 2 years until they get bold enough to start challenging for the right to breed and accomplish it. I find that stock lambs are the best eating given size and flavor, a but of muttony taste without being overpowering, but it is also why more people don't like lamb and coonsider it too strong tasting[but if you sneak in a really lovely spring lamb either as a spit roast or in a good soup, you can sometimes change their minds] and i find a good marinade will augment the mutton taste can be made with [and keep it a secret, it's my own recipe] 1 cup each cider vinegar, lemon juice and olive oil, mixed with an ungodly amount of dried mint[an entire McCormics bottle, or about 1/2 cup dry measure] 2 tbsp coarsely cracked black pepper, 2 tbsp greek oregano, 1 bay leaf and 1 stick of cinnamon, steeped for a week and filtered. Stud the lamb to be cooked with rosemary leaves and slivers of garlic and let sit for at least 4 hours in the marinade, and when spit roasting toss the stems from the rosemary and peelings from the lemon onto the fire to smoke the roast. margali Date: Thu, 9 Sep 1999 21:40:25 -0000 From: "=?iso-8859-1?Q?Nanna_R=F6gnvaldard=F3ttir?=" <nannar at isholf.is> Subject: Re: SC - OT - stuffed camel Helen wrote: >>Then she gives a recipe for Quozi mahshi - a whole lamb > >I would love to see this recipe! Quozi mahshi - Stuffed Roast Lamb (from Traditional Arabic Cooking by Miriam Al Hashimi) Serves 25 20-25 lb (10-12 kg) lamb 8 tbps lemon juice 8 cloves garlic, crushed 10 cups long-grain rice 4 large onions, finely chopped 1 cup almonds or cashews 1/2 cup pistachios 1/2 cup pine nuts 4 tbps baharat 2 tsp turmeric 1 tsp saffron threads 1/2 cup rose water (optional) 8 1/2 cups water 1/2 cup oil salt Rub the cleaned lamb with 3 tbps baharat, 2 tsp turmeric, garlic, lemon juice, salt and 1/2 cup oil. Cover and leave overnight to marinate. Soak the saffron in rose water for 10 minutes. Wash and drain the rice. To make the stuffing, saut the onions in the remaining oil. Add 1 tbsp baharat, salt and the rice for a further 2 minutes. Add the water and bring to the boil, stirring occasionally. Blanch the almonds to remove the skins. Add the nuts and saffron rose water. Cover thigthly and leave to stand until the liquid has been absorbed. Stuff the cavity of the lamb with the rice filling. Sew up the opening with strong thread. Grill over charcoal for 5-7 hours, or roast in a moderate oven until tender, basting occasionally with marinade. The lamb may be covered to prevent dryness. Serve the lamb on a large tray or platter, surrounded with the rice stuffing. (Traditionally the succulent meat is served by pulling off pieces, but it can equally well be carved.) *baharat - Arab spice blend, can vary very widely. The one recommended in the book has 6 tbsps black peppercorns, 3 tbsps coriander seeds, 3 tbsps cinnamon or cassia, 3 tbsps cloves, 4 tbsps cumin, 2 tsps cardamom, 3 tbsps nutmeg, 6 tbsps paprika - all ground or grated, then mixed well and stored in an airtight container. Claudia Roden also has a recipe in her A Book of Middle Eastern Food but that is a smaller lamb (or goat) - it is rubbed with onion juice, coriander and ginger, and stuffed with rice, onions, saffron, almonds, pistachio nuts, walnuts, and raisins - this one is roasted in the oven for about 2 hours, or barbecued. And - I had overlooked this - maybe here is the origin of the stuffed camel stories - Roden says: "The lamb can also be boned before it is stuffed. I have seen baby lambs served at weddings, made to look like miniature camels, their boneless backs shaped into a hump." Nanna Date: Thu, 9 Sep 1999 23:44:29 -0000 From: "=?iso-8859-1?Q?Nanna_R=F6gnvaldard=F3ttir?=" <nannar at isholf.is> Subject: Re: SC - OT - stuffed camel Phlip wrote: >Whether Ras does or not, Nanna, I do. Can you tell from the recipe if it's >like our head cheese? No, because I dont know what your head cheese is like. It is not that much like Icelandic head cheese because that is just head, water and salt, boiled until the bones can be slipped out easily, then chopped roughly and pressed. Here is the Arabian one: Ras kharouf 1 sheeps head, split and skinned 1 large onion, chopped 2 garlic cloves, crushed 1 carrot, diced 4 celery stalks, chopped 4 cardamoms, cracked 4 bay leaves 6 peppercorns 2 loomi, pierced twice salt and pepper Crack the skinned skull lenghtwise with a cleaver and soak in several changes of salted water. Cover the head and the remaining ingredients with water and boil for 1 1/2 -2 hours. Remove any scum as it forms. Remove the head and reserve the strained stock. Remove the bones and slice the meat. To serve cold in a mould, boil some peas and carrots in salted water until tender. Drain and add chopped pickles. Layer the bottom of a cake mould with half the meat, vegetables and the remaining meat. Cover with stock from boiling the head. Refrigerate until the gel sets. Turn out onto a serving dish. (From Traditional Arabic Cooking by Miriam Al Hashimi) Nanna Date: Wed, 06 Oct 1999 10:06:27 -0400 From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com> Subject: Re: SC - Sauce recipe for Lamb Shanks Fra Niccolo wrote: > A good cameline suace should do you well. You can find recipes for same in Pleyn Delite, The Medieval Kitchen, and, I believe, the miscellany. I'll post my own version this evening at home, if needed or wanted. Taillevent recommends salt, cameline, or just verjuice for roast mutton. I've been looking for possibilities for boiled mutton (I'm assuming you won't roast your lamb shanks, although I guess you could, if it were done right) but so far nothing in the early early period sources I've checked. On the other hand, you might also do well with bukkenade, which can be made from veal, kid, or chicken. One version of it is basically the broth you cooked the meat in, minced onions, herbs, egg yolks to thicken, and a bit of verjuice or vinegar and salt. Good stuff. I may be able to post a recipe later. Adamantius Date: Mon, 8 Nov 1999 23:27:28 -0600 From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com> Subject: Re: SC - Marwick Arts Exhibition At 10:36 PM -0500 11/8/99, Robin Carroll-Mann wrote: >The recipe was redacted and cooked by Lady Andrea MacIntyre. Her >handout says that she got the English translation of the original recipe >(Tuffahiyya) from the Miscellany. However, the recipe she quotes in her >handout is from the Andalusian cookbook, and is not the Andalusian >Tuffahiyya with Eggplants that appears in the Miscellany. I think it is >instead from Cariadoc's cookbook collection... but it must be from a >different edition than the one I have. She does not give detailed >measurements for her redaction. The handout says that she simmered >the cut-up lamb in an iron pot with two cups of water and the spices >until tender. She then transferred it to an earthenware dish, added >sugar, musk, camphor, rosewater, and the apples. It was baked for 30 >minutes in an oven with a baking stone which had been preheated to >350F and then turned down to 300 F. Tuffhiyya, a Dish Made With Apples Take meat as mentioned in the recipe for safarjaliyya and prepare the same way; then add tart apples, peeled and cleaned, as many as needed... [Huici Miranda estimates 4 words missing] and when you take it to the hearthstone, put in a little sugar, and cut with musk and camphor dissolved in good rose water. The acidity is most efficacious in lightening and strengthening the heart and it can be made with the flesh of birds, such as fat hens or young squabs of the domestic dove or stock-dove and then it will be finer and better. This sounds closer to what you describe than any other Tuffhiyya in the Andalusian. David/Cariadoc http://www.best.com/~ddfr/ Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1999 03:32:01 EST From: Mordonna22 at aol.com Subject: SC - For submission to the Chronus Draconum From Mordonna's Kitchen Tuffahiya From al-Baghdadi, "A Baghdad Cookery Book" (1226 A.D./623 A.H.) A.J. Arberry,translator, Islamic Culture, 1939, As found in Duke Sir Cariadoc's Collection copyright 1992 by David Friedman Tuffahiya al-Baghdadi p. 37/5 Take fat meat and cut into small strips: throw into the saucepan with a little salt and dry coriander, and boil until almost cooked. Remove and throw away the scum. Cut up onions small and throw in, with cinnamon-bark, pepper, mastic and ginger ground fine, and a few sprigs of mint. Take sour apples, remove the pips, and pound in a stone mortar, squeezing out the juice: put in on top of the meat. Peel almonds and soak in water, then throw in. Kindle the fire under it, until the whole is done: then leave over the fire to settle. If desired, add a chicken, cutting it into quarters, and letting it cook with the meat. Then remove. My adaptation; 2 lb. lamb's tail, 1 frying chicken, 2 c. water, 1 t. salt, 2 large onions, 2 tsp dry coriander, 1 tsp each ground cinnamon, black pepper, and ginger, 1 pinch mastic, 3 or 4 sprigs fresh mint, 8 large "Granny Smith" apples, 1/2 cup almonds. Put almonds on to soak in an equal amount of water. Core apples, and place in a blender with a little water and blend until the consistency of applesauce (this will take several batches) or use a food processor. Place cheesecloth over a bowl and allow apples to drain while completing the rest of the dish. Cut lamb into thin strips and quarter the chicken. Dice the onions, and add the onions and the meats to the water with the spices and mint, cover, and boil until very tender (about 30 to 45 minutes depending upon how thinly you have sliced the meat.) Skim off the scum and remove the chicken quarters to serve separately. Add the apples and the drained almonds and cook another 5 to 10 minutes uncovered. Serve hot with a salad and fresh bread. Note on the SCA-Cooks e-mail list: This list is for anyone interested in medieval cooking: recipes, techniques, and ingredients. To subscribe, send e-mail to Majordomo at Ansteorra.Org with the words Subscribe SCA-Cooks as the body of the message. Mordonna the Cook is head cook for House Warrior Haven. She is from late sixteenth century Ireland and can read and write. She has studied all the great chefs of history. She is a widow. She is the alter ego of Anne Francoise DuBosc, an early 14th century French noblewoman who can neither read nor write, and who has never learned to cook. Both are loyal subjects of the Barony of SunDragon, Kingdom of Atenveldt. Pat Griffin is a customer service tech for Conair Corporation, an avid cook, and has been n the Society for over three years and four Estrellas. All three can be reached at Mordonna22 at aol.com Date: Sun, 14 Nov 1999 10:29:14 EST From: LrdRas at aol.com Subject: Re: SC - For submission to the Chronus Draconum Seton1355 at aol.com writes: << Do you HAVE to use lamb's tail or can you substitute another cut of meat? The recipe looks real yummy. Philllipa >> My take on the recipe is that 'fat meat' is used, most likely mutton or goat would be a good substitute for the tails and chicken in the version that was posted. Al-Baghdadi usually specifies fat tails as a source for fat instead of meat and oftentimes clearly indicates that 'meat or chicken' can be used. This recipe appears to not specify tails and gives no indication of poultry use. However, because of my continued interest in this manuscript, I immediately tested Mordonna's version and it was very tasty and worked well. Given a lack of 'fat tails' I used fatty lamb for that part of her redaction. :-) Ras Date: Sun, 14 Nov 1999 15:33:19 -0500 From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com> Subject: Re: SC - For submission to the Chronus Draconum Mordonna22 at aol.com wrote: > I have not tried another cut of meat. However, "meat" in Andalusian recipes > is almost always lamb or mutton. The lamb's tail was available, and > certainly fatty enough. Another possibility in a place where some of these lamb cuts don't often make it to, such as Phillipa's PA, or my NY, might be breast of lamb, which is fatty enough, and if you don't mind the bones, which lamb's tail would have anyway, you can have the butcher slice across the bones into, say, half-inch strips, as is done for beef flanken. Adamantius Date: Sun, 28 Nov 1999 22:53:55 -0500 From: "Richard Kappler II" <rkappler at home.com> Subject: Re: SC - Glazed Lamb with garlic and rosemary For all who asked: Haedus in Alio (glazed Leg of Lamb (or kid) with Garlic and Rosemary Pleyn Delit 102 (Platina 6) Grease a kid or a quarter of one with lard and cleaned garlic cloves; put it on a spit and turn it by the fire. Baste it often with sprigs of bay or rosemary and the sauce I shall now describe. Take verjuice and the juice of the meat, the yolks of two eggs well beaten, two cloves of garlic well pounded, a pinch of saffron and a little pepper, and mix this and pour into a dish. With this (as I said) you baste what you are cooking. When it is done, put it in a dish and pour some of the sauce over it and sprinkle with finely chopped parsley. cooking notes: Since the verjuice I ordered a couple of weeks ago is not yet in, and I had much else going on, plus other recipes to redact, I just cooked the roast exactly as Hieatt et al redacted in Pleyn Delit. Basically what you do is set the oven at 450, coat the roast with olive oil (lightly), rub with a clove of garlic and put it in the oven. Ten minutes later, reduce heat to 325. With mortar and pestle, powder 1/2 tsp rosemary, 1/4 tsp black pepper and a goodly pinch of saffron. Once this is well powdered, add two garlic cloves and make it into a paste, then add two well beaten egg yolks and juice of 1/2 a lemon. About 35 minutes after the lamb went into the oven, take it out, add drippings to your sauce, mix well, paint the lamb with the glaze, throw it back in the oven. Repeat every 15 minutes, adding drippings to sauce before basting/painting, until lamb reaches an internal temp of 150. At this point, turn the oven off, but leave the roast in until ready to serve. When you take the roast out, add all the drippings to your sauce, mix well, pour over roast, sprinkle with parsley, slice and serve. YUMMY! regards, Puck Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2000 21:10:31 -0500 From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <harper at idt.net> Subject: SC - Recipe: Sweet and Sour Lamb Tonight's dinner was from _Libro de Guisados_. It was pretty good, though I can see several things I'd do differently next time. Source: Ruperto de Nola, _Libro de Guisados_ (Spanish, 1529) Translation: Lady Brighid ni Chiarain (Robin Carroll-Mann) ADOBADO DE CARNERO -- Pickled Mutton You must take breasts of mutton; and cook them in a pot with your salt ; and when it is almost half cooked, remove it from the pot, and cut them to pieces the size of two fingers; and then gently fry it with bacon fat; and then take honey and all spices, and put it in a little pot, and take hard bread grated and cast it inside of that honey and the spices; and let there be a greater quantity of cinnamon than the other spices; and the take the best broth of the pot and cast it inside; and then the fat which shall be necessary, according to the quantity of the bread and the meat; then cast in a good cup of white vinegar because the sauce of this pottage is desired to be sweet and sour; and cook all this: and while it boils cast in the meat with a little saffron, because this sauce is desired to be deep in color; then prepare dishes of the said pottage, and upon them cinnamon, however you should cast in pears; and quinces which should be cut and have first been brought to a boil; and set them on the meat. Redaction comments: I'm not going to post a formal recipe, because this is still a work in progress. The only lamb breast I could find in my local supermarket was a 1-1/2 pound package with the rib bones still attached. Looking at the recipe, it seems to expect 1-inch cubes of boneless meat. Would getting boneless leg work for next time? I can get that at a reasonable price. I put the lamb in salted water that just covered it, and simmered until half-cooked, about 20 minutes. I assume thicker meat would require a longer time. Meanwhile, I rendered the fat from a strip of bacon in a frying pan. I removed the lamb from the pot, reserving the liquid, and cut the ribs apart. I fried the meat in the bacon fat over medium-low heat until well-cooked (half an hour?).In a separate pot, I heated the sauce. I kept adjusting the quantities, but what I ended with was: 3 cups lamb broth 1/4 cup honey 2 TBS white vinegar 6 TBS dried plain breadcrumbs 3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg pinch of ground cloves salt and pepper to taste I brought the sauce to a simmer, then added the lamb ribs and a pinch of saffron. For reasons of personal health and aesthetics, I did not add more fat to the sauce. I let it cook while I fixed the side dishes (plain white rice and asparagus), until the saffron had released its color, the sauce was thick, and the meat tender. I cheated and garnished the meat with canned pears (juice-packed, drained, and rinsed). Verdict: easy and tasty. Because I wound up diluting the sauce with more broth to get the flavor balance right, I had much more sauce than I needed for such a small amount of meat. That quantity of sauce would be enough to accompany 2 pounds of meat cubes. Although bacon fat is the traditional fat used for meat-days, it does not lend a noticeable taste to this dish, and on other occasions I might use lard or oil if it seemed convenient. Next time I would definitely prefer boneless meat with less fat attached. Will substituting leg of lamb for the breast meat work? I believe I have used boneless leg for stew-type dishes in the past. Also, does anyone know if crumb-thickened sauces can be successfully refrigerated and reheated? If so, this strikes me as a good candidate for a cook-in-advance dish. Lady Brighid ni Chiarain Settmour Swamp, East (NJ) Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2000 23:30:13 EST From: LrdRas at aol.com Subject: Re: SC - Recipe: Sweet and Sour Lamb harper at idt.net writes: << Next time I would definitely prefer boneless meat with less fat attached. Will substituting leg of lamb for the breast meat work? I believe I have used boneless leg for stew-type dishes in the past. >> If you cut along each side of the ribs along the bone and then cut the strips into 1 inch lengths, I think this recipe would work well and be close to the original intention. Nice bite sized chunks are created this way and from the cooking description would be tender and tasty. The extra sauce sounds like it would be good for soaking bread in or as a 'dipping' sauce for bread chunks. Nice work. Looking forward to your perfected recipe although I saved this one to my personal files. :-) Ras Date: Sat, 4 Mar 2000 21:07:45 -0500 From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <harper at idt.net> Subject: SC - Recipe: Sweet and Sour Lamb Tonight I made the lamb again, with the changes I had contemplated, and was very pleased with the results. Here goes: Source: Ruperto de Nola, _Libro de Guisados_ (Spanish, 1529) Translation & redaction: Lady Brighid ni Chiarain (Robin Carroll-Mann) ADOBADO DE CARNERO -- Marinated Mutton You must take breasts of mutton; and cook them in a pot with your salt; and when it is almost half cooked, remove it from the pot, and cut them to pieces the size of two fingers; and then gently fry it with bacon fat; and then take honey and all spices, and put it in a little pot, and take hard bread grated and cast it inside of that honey and the spices; and let there be a greater quantity of cinnamon than the other spices; and the take the best broth of the pot and cast it inside; and then the fat which shall be necessary, according to the quantity of the bread and the meat; then cast in a good cup of white vinegar because the sauce of this pottage is desired to be sweet-sour; and cook all this: and while it boils cast in the meat with a little saffron, because this sauce is desired to be deep in color; then prepare dishes of the said pottage, and upon them cinnamon, however you should cast in pears; and quinces which should be cut and have first been brought to a boil; and set them on the meat. Sweet and Sour Lamb (ADOBADO DE CARNERO) 2-1/2 pounds lamb breast, excess fat trimmed 2 TBS bacon fat 1/4 cup plain breadcrumbs 2 TBS + 2 tsp. honey 4 tsp white wine vinegar 3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg 1 pinch ground cloves 1 pinch saffron salt and pepper to taste sliced pears canned in juice, drained (or fresh pears, poached until tender) Put the lamb in a large pot and just cover with salted water. Simmer until half-cooked, about 15-20 minutes. Remove the lamb from the pot, reserving the broth. Cut the ribs apart into inch-thick pieces. Heat the bacon fat in a large skillet. Add the lamb and slowly fry over medium- low heat until well-cooked, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, set aside 2 cups of the lamb broth and steep the saffron in it. In a large pot, combine the bread crumbs, honey, spices, broth, and vinegar. Mix well. Bring to a boil, stirring to prevent lumps. Reduce heat to medium-low. Place the lamb in the sauce and simmer gently until the meat is very tender and the spice flavors have blended together. Serve, garnished with pears. Notes: This time, I bought my meat at a local ethnic grocery, and the pieces of lamb breast were closer to chops than ribs. It's not clear to me from the original recipe if the meat is meant to be boneless or not. I think this would work with any cut of lamb, as long as the meat was given enough time to cook to tenderness. I intend to try it sometime with cubes of boneless leg. Mutton is hard to come by in this area -- those who have access to it might try it. The bacon fat could be replaced by oil, if desired. I decreased the amount of sauce from 3 cups to 2, but there was still plenty to go around. I kept the same proportions, except for increasing the spices. Changing over to white wine vinegar made a noticeable improvement in the flavor -- the sourness was subtler and less harsh. I forgot to buy pears for garnishing, but it was tasty anyway. I loved the sauce, and would happily make this dish again. Lady Brighid ni Chiarain Settmour Swamp, East (NJ) Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2000 18:32:48 EST From: allilyn at juno.com Subject: Re: SC - Competition entry On Tue, 14 Mar 2000 10:09:07 -0600 "Debra Hense" <DHense at ifmc.org> writes: >Almost a year ago I entered a cooking competition - with a lamb stew >dish from Menagier. I cut up the lamb into bite-sized chunks and >cooked and then served the dish. I didn't 'stew' the dish until the >lamb was in stringing shreds. I was marked down by the judges because >it wasn't shredded - "as that is how lamb and mutton are supposed to >be served. " Her words - not mine. I know its being picky, but this >was the only area where my marks were lowered. And it has bothered me >ever since. > >I disagreed then, and I disagree now that all mutton and lamb when >served in a sauce or stew/soup must be cooked to mushy strings. IMO, >the chunks had a nice texture and were extremely tender and tasty. > >Am I wrong about this? Has lamb and mutton always be