gary@ur-cvsvax.UUCP (Gary Sclar) (11/18/84)
Thanksgiving coming up I thought I would post a few recipes from a
marvelous cookbook called "Fabulous Feasts: Medieval Cookery & Ceremony".
There are certainly a few things out of the ordinary in this book.
Perhaps you can use a few of these and come up with a TG centerpiece that
will be remembered:
1) Straberye Sauce for Byrdes (Strawberry Cream Sauce for Fowl)
Ingredients: 2 cups fresh strawberrys; 2 cups of heavy cream; 1 cup white
wine; 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon; 1/8 teaspoon salt; 2 Tablespoons honey
Remove all the stems etc from the berries and mash one cup of them with a
fork or mortar & pestle (or, since it's modern times, in your food
processor). Cut the other cup into 1/4's and 1/8's. Slowly heat the cream
in a pot, careful to avoid boiling. Add wine, cinnamon, salt, honey and
berry pulp; stir while heating slowly for 4 min. Add cut berries just
before serving.
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2) Sauce de Limon (Lemon Wine Sauce for Fowl)
Ingredients: 3 unblemished lemons; 2 1/2 cups white wine; 4 Tablespoons
sugar; 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon; 1/4 teaspoon salt
Grate the lemon peel and reserve; squeeze lemons reserving pulp and juice;
throw away the membranes; add peel, pulp and juice to wine and simmer for 4
minutes; add sugar, cinnamon and salt- simmer for 1 minute more. Makes a
tart syrup which is supposedly good on chick. & pheasant.
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3) Mulled Apple cider
Ingredients: 2 quarts fresh apple cider; 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg; 1/8 teaspoon
thyme; 1/2 teaspoon ginger powder; 7 sticks of cinnamon
Garnish: 1 Tablespoon finely crushed sweet basil
Simmer juice with spices for 7 minutes in a large enameled pot; break cin.
sticks placing a portion in each drinking vessel (ie- a glass). Pour on
warmed cider, sprinkling the top of the drink sparingly with sweet basil.
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4) Wyne Potage (Spiced Wine Broth)
Ingredients: 1 cup fresh squeezed orange juice; 2 cups water; 2 cups dry
white wine; 4 tablespoons honey; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 3 tablespoons lemon
juice; 2 cinnamon sticks; 2 tablespoons flour
Garnish: 6 egg whites (or 1 pint of heavy cream);
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg; 1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
Mix oj, water, wine, honey, salt, lemon juice, & cinnamon. Bring to a boil
and then simmer gently for 3 minutes. Removes 1/2 cup of broth and stir
flour into it. Add this back to broth and simmer for additional 4 minutes.
Blend nutmeg and ginger with egg whites (or cream) and whip unitl mixture
Remove the cinnamon sticks.
"peaks". Pour broth into individual bowls and garnish with dollup of spiced
froth just before serving.
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5) Farsed Chycken (Chicken stuffed with lentils, cherries & cheese)
Ingredients: 1 large roasting chicken (about 5 lbs.), 1/2 cup dry lentils;
1 1/2 cups ale; 1 cup chicken broth; 1/2 to 2/3 lbs. cherrie; 1/2 lb
ricotta; 2/3 cups oats; 1/2 tsp salt; 1/2 tsp dried sweet basil; 21
Tblspoons butter.
Sauce: 2/3 cup white wine; 3 to 4 slices crumbed white bread; 1/4 tsp salt
Soak lentils in ale overnight; boil lentils in ale residue plus broth for
15 minutes; drain lentils but reserve 1 cup of fluid; pit cherries and cut
in 1/2; mix lentils, cherries, ricotta, oats; sprinkle on salt and basil;
stuff this in the bird, rub it's skin with butter and bake it at 350 F for
about 2 hours. Make a gravy with 1 cup of lentil fluid, wine, bread, and
salt, simmering all for 10 minutes.
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6) Henne Dorre (Golden Cardamon Chicken)
Ingredients: 1 large roasting chicken cut into small serving portions; 1/4
cup coasrely ground walnuts; ditto 1/4 cup filberts; 4 Tblspoons butter; 3
tart apples, cored and peeled; 2/3 cup golden raisins; 1/2 cup currants;
1/2 tsp cinnamon; 1/4 tsp fresh rosemary; pinch of thyme; 7 cardamon
berries (or 3/4 tsp crushed cardamon) 1/2 tsp salt; 1/2 cup chicken broth
Glaze:6 egg yolks; 1/8 tsp saffron; 2 Tblspoons honey
Preheat oven to 350; Saute chicken and nuts in butter in a shallow baking
dish until meat is white, then leave in dish but remove from heat; sliver
apples and mix in raisins and currants; stir together all spices, salt, and
mix with fruit; distribute spiced fruit amongst chicken and nuts; pour on
mixed wine and chicken broth; bake covered in slow oven for 45-55 minutes
until the chicken is tender; remove from oven while preparing glaze- turn
oven to 400 degrees; beat egg yolks, saffron & honey thoroughly; pour or
paint over each piece of chicken; return to oven uncovered for 5 to 7
minutes. Serve warm.
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7) Lemonwhyt (lemon rice with almonds)
Ingredients: 1 large unblemished lemon; 1 cup raw rice; 2 cups water; 1/2
tsp salt; 1/2 tsp cinnamon; 1 Tblspn butter; 2/3 cup coasely ground
almonds; 2/3 cup currants; 1 cup dry white wine; 1 cup fresh peas;
Garnish: 12 tspsns honey
finely grate lemons and then squeeze lemon, reserving skin juice and soft
pulp; bring water, salt, rice, cinnamon, butter and lemon to a brisk boil
in an enamled pot, reducing heagt to simmer until most of the fluid is
absored. Stir once or twice while simmering, otherwise keep pop tightly
covered; remove covered pot from heat; slowly simmer the almonds & currants
in wine for 7 minutes; fluff rice w/ fork & add wined almonds to rice; stir
in fresh peas & very slowly simmer mixture for 5 to 7 minutes- if rice
begins to stick to bottom of pot add small amounts of boiling water;
garnish w/ 1 tsp honey per serving
Want any more (I got lots). Desert, for instance? Just let me know.
{seismo!rochester!cvsvax!gary}russak@pegasus.UUCP (Jan D. Russak) (11/26/84)
(one for the hungry line daemon) I was very intrigued by the medieval recipes. Have you tried any? Are they as delicious as they sound? I would appreciate more of them. Also, who publishes the book? Once, several years ago, I attended the annual 5th Ave. book fair in New York City. One of the exhibits I was able to push my way through the throngs to get to concerned a beautiful medieval cookbook, whose name I no longer recall. This could quite easily be the one. It was hard bound, about 1-1/2 inches thick, and had illustrations as well as recipes and typical medieval menus. I have long searched bookstores in vain for it. I would appreciate any and all information on books that seem to meet this description. Jan Russak AT&T Information Systems Lincroft, NJ ihnp4!pegasus!russak