Wafers

I finally tried my hand at wafers today! I started with this 15th century recipe from Gode Cookery and heavily adapted it. I ended up making two versions, a sweet and a savory (the savory is pictured here). I used Better Half's pizelle iron because 1) I don't have a waffle iron (Mom, if you are reading this, I hope you were sitting down for that; you must be so disappointed in me!) and 2) the recipe specifies that the wafers should be thin.

Both recipes were based on this base formula:

1/4 cup ricotta cheese
1 egg
1/4 cup flour
Pinch salt

Beat egg and cheese together, add flour and salt and beat until basically smooth. Cook on pre-heated pizelle iron by very small spoonfuls until slightly browned. You may find it helpful, as I did, to grease the iron periodically (even though mine is non-stick). This yielded around 8 wafers.

For the savory version, I added 1/4 cup of shredded cheddar cheese. These were so good that I ate all of them as they came off the iron and then made a second batch. I forced myself to let one get cold, though, and found that these are pretty awful cold. Since I know I'll have to serve them cold at the symposium, I decided I probably won't make these for that. But they are wonderful and I highly recommend them as a fun treat to make at home. They remind me of crepes and would be nice with a little pepper and sage, or wrapped around meat or eggs.

For the sweet version, which is closer to the original recipe, I added 1/4 tsp of ginger (I will double this next time, this was all the ginger I had left and I couldn't taste it) and 1 tsp of sugar. These stuck to the iron quite a bit as they have basically no added fat. These were definitely passable cold, and I think they'll go really well with the spiced cider that I'll be serving them with for the conclusion of the feast. They would also be absolutely divine with whipped cream, a blintz-like filling, or any kind of fruit syrup/sauce.

I am contemplating hunting down a pizelle iron that I can use on the fire next summer :)

Famous on the internet!

can I get a what what?

The rhodomel is bottled!

I broke down and got an auto-siphon after playing with my friend's. So much easier! A thing of beauty! Mine even did a great job of keeping the sediment where it belongs.

In the process of sterilizing everything, I managed to dump a very dilute bleach solution on my head. Yay?

I now have 5 pints of rhodomel in flip-top bottles. I'm going to let it sit in my "wine cellar" (the closet on the porch which stays quite cold) for two weeks, then I'll taste one. I tasted a tiny bit of what was left over after bottling and I have high hopes. It seems to have an interesting balance of flavors.

I think I'll save a bottle in the "wine cellar" and see how it ages, for future reference.

Roast Pork Recipe

From Forme of Cury, found at Medieval Cookery:

"Take Colyandre, Caraway smale grounden, Powdour of Peper and garlec ygrounde in rede wyne, medle alle þise togyder and salt it, take loynes of Pork rawe and fle of the skyn, and pryk it wel with a knyf and lay it in the sawse, roost þerof what þou wilt, & kepe þat þat fallith þerfro in the rosting and seeþ it in a possynet with faire broth, & serue it forth witþ þe roost anoon."

My very hasty translation: Take ground coriander, caraway, and pepper, and garlic mashed in red wine, mix all these together and add salt, take raw loins of pork and flay [essentially peel] off the skin, and prick it well with a knife and lay it in the sauce [the wine and spices], roast thereof what you will, and keep that that falls therefrom in the roasting and seeth it in a [posset? not sure here] with fair broth, and serve it forth with the roast anon.

Sounds yum-o, and may influence my pork roast for CS.

Culinary Symposium Food: Current Plan

It sounds like there might not be quite as many people at this gig as I had been anticipating. I don't think this will necessarily change the menu, but I have been thinking over it more and this is more what I'm leaning toward now, assuming that registration numbers don't get much larger (hey, if you're reading this, and you've been thinking of attending this gig, preregistration info is here -- and forms need to be received by November 6th.

Breakfast (peasant food)
Scottish stone-ground oatmeal
Butter
Honey
Apples
Sausage
Coffee and tea because I know that if I don't provide these I will be lynched

Lunch (town food)
Pasties of apples, onions, sage, bacon, and cheese
Ditto minus bacon
Boiled beef (with leeks and garlic)
Mustard sauce
Pease pottage (yellow peas, onions, leeks, garlic, carrots, parsnips, turnips)
Pears
Dark rye bread

Dinner (the elite)
"Artisan" sourdough white bread, butter, honey if any remaining from breakfast
Cheese platter (English cheddar, stilton, and possibly fresh cheese from Svava's class)
Any apples/pears not eaten at breakfast/lunch
Pork roast with quince/apple sauce
Roast chickens (these are being made for the carving class, so I figured why not replace the stewed chicken with roast chicken)
Buttered worts (made with winter greens)
Funges
Modified "Syrian Food" (rice with almond milk) or Frumente in Lentoun (cracked wheat with almond milk)
Tardpolene (custard tarts with dried fruits)
Spiced apple cider
Wafers

The big change is that I decided to drop the ravieles. I do love that recipe, but it's going to be fussy to make it for a large number of people.

I think today I will try the wafers!

Funges, trial 1

Original recipe from Curye on Inglish, found at Gode Cookery.

My version:

8 oz mushrooms (both white agaricus and crimini)
1 very small leek, trimmed
1.5 cups broth (the liquid from boiling my boiled beef)
pinch saffron
Dash pepper, cinnamon, ginger
Salt to taste

Wash and chop fine the leek and mushrooms. Place in a pot, add broth, bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, add spices, and simmer until mushrooms and leeks are fully cooked, I'm guessing about 20-30 minutes.

ETA: Quite tasty! The beef broth added a really nice flavor. Good proportions, I think.

Boiled Beef, first attempt

I'm trying to work out the details of the boiled beef for Culinary Symposium, so I'm futzing around to try to see what I come up with.

Here's my first try:

1.5 lbs (approximately) beef brisket
1 medium leek, green part removed, cut into large pieces and thoroughly washed
2 big garlic cloves
Herbs (parsley, sage, marjoram, thyme, sorrel)
2 tiny lady apples, quartered and cored
Salt (not sure how much)
Water to cover

Brought just to a boil, turned heat down, will simmer until meat is tender.

ETA: Result was quite tasty. Simmered about 2.5 hours. I spiked it with a bit of apple cider vinegar, too, just to give it a bit more flavor.