Directory: Guilds: Cook's Guild: Menus: January Event 2008

The Crusades and tournament of Chivalry Feast

The Past Event web site for this event

The Feast Stewards Report on this feast

This feast suffered the great challenge of feading approximately 150 people a feast worthy of the fine Cleftlands Cooks' reputation at an event site with no kitchen. Edward fitzRanulf headed the kitchen with assistance from Madelaine Bouvier.

• Pickled Vegetables
• Mustard Eggs
• Pickled Eggs in Beet Juice
• Apple Tart
• Sweet Spinach Tart
• Savory Oat Pottage
• Honey Cookies
• Lentils Browned with Bacon and Onions in Stock
• Vegetarian Red Lentils
• Boiled Root Vegetables
• Strong Mustard
• Stewed Chicken with Sauce
• Salt Beef
• Rabbit Pie

Recipes

16 oz. vinegar (used cider vinegar for carrots, and onions, and white or wine for mushrooms)
16 oz. water
1 Tbsp. cracked black pepper corns (2 Tbsp. for onions)
2 cloves garlic, pealed and sliced (about 5 in the mushrooms)
½ inch piece of fresh ginger, pealed and sliced thin
½ cup lemon juice (optional – used for carrots)
2 Tbsp. sugar (used 4 Tbsp. for carrots)
1 tsp. Kosher or pickling salt

Place all ingredients in non-reactive saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10-15 minutes. Cool and pour over vegetables to cover. This should cover veggies in a 1 quart jar.

Vegetables: All veggies should be cleaned, rinsed, and drained. Carrots need to be boiled briefly before pickling. You may use fresh red onions, or frozen pearl onions. These must be defrosted completely and drain before pickling. Soft veggies, like mushrooms, should only be pickled overnight, or at most a day or two. Denser veggies can be done several weeks in advance.

About 12 hard cooked eggs
1 Tbsp. Kosher or pickling salt
1 ½ cups cider vinegar
½ cup water
1 ½ tsp. sugar
1 ½ tsp. mustard seeds, cracked
1 tsp. crushed white or black pepper corns
½ tsp. ground turmeric

Put eggs in a 1 quart jar. Combine remaining ingredients in non-reactive sauce pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Cool and pour over eggs to cover. Cover jar and refrigerate for at least 1 week (2 is better). Eggs will keep in frig for several weeks. These also travel well as event, picnic, and Pennsic food.

About 12 hard-cooked eggs
1 cup liquid from pickled beets (can use beets from the store, if you don’t have home-canned)
1 cup white wine or distilled white vinegar
1 tsp. Kosher or pickling salt
½ tsp. black pepper corns, crushed
½ tsp. whole allspice, crushed
1 day leaf, crumbled

Bring all ingredients, except eggs, to a boil in a non-reactive pan. Remove pan from heat and let cool. Put eggs in a 1 quart jar and pour liquid over them to cover. Refrigerate from 6 to 24 hours before serving. The longer you leave the eggs in the liquid, the deeper the color the egg will become, and the further into the egg white the color will penetrate.

This recipe was arrived at after researching several sources, including Pleyn Delit (item #116 and # 118), and Mastering The Art of French Cooking, to arrive at a period-appropriate recipe. Here is what I came up with.

Take a 10” unbaked pie crust. Place in it 1 lb. good red cooking apple that have been peeled, cored, and diced (such as Johnagolds), ½ cups raisins, and 1 lb. peeled, cored, and diced Granny Smith apples. This should mound well above the crust.

In a small bowl combine ½ cup sugar, 3 Tbsp. rice flour, ½ tsp. salt, ¼ cup half-and half or light cream, ¼ tsp. each cinnamon, nutmeg, and freshly ground mace, 1/8 tsp. ground clove, and a pinch of saffron. Stir until smooth. It should be slightly thick so that it will coat the fruit. Pour this over the fruit and cover the tart loosely with foil.

Bake for 1 hour at 375 degrees. Remove foil and bake 15 minutes longer to brown crust. Remove from oven and let cool. Chill well before serving. You can add an extra sprinkle of freshly ground cinnamon before serving, if you really love cinnamon.

This is my adaptation of the tart receipt from To the Queen’s Taste.

Bake a 9” pie shell at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake another 35 minutes or until done. Let cool.

Wash and trim spinach. Pat it dry. If you are making many pies, buying pre-washed is worth the expense. Put 2 lb. of spinach in a large pot with ¼ cup white wine and steam just until it wilts. Stir often as the spinach in the bottom of the pot will wilt first. Drain spinach and mince fine. In the same pot, or a large frying pan, combine 1 Tbsp. orange water, 1/3 cup sugar, ½ tsp. cinnamon, and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil and stir to dissolve sugar.

Add chopped spinach and stir to coat. Simmer, and stir, until liquid evaporates. Be careful not to overcook spinach. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. If you don’t cool this completely, the pie crust will get soggy.

Fill pie shell with spinach mixture and chill at least 2 hours before serving. Decorate to serve as you desire with sliced strawberries, or a sprinkle of coarsely ground sugar (found at cake decorating stores).

Start with a 42 oz. box of old fashioned oats (not quick-cooking!!) and read the box for water-to-oats ratios. Chicken, beef, or vegetable stock/bullion can be used instead of water, depending on what you are serving this with.

Dice about 3 unions and sauté in ¼ lb. of butter in a large pot. Add garlic to taste. When cooked, add your chosen liquid and oats. Season this with thyme, savory, hyssop, pepper, basil, and sage. Cook until desired thickness is reached, and serve out. This makes about 25 to 30 servings.

Cream together 1 cup butter and 1 cup sugar. Add 1 cup honey and cream until smooth. Gradually add 5 ½ cups of flour, 1 tsp. salt, and 2 tsp. baking soda dissolved in 4 Tbsp. hot water. Kneed dough until a nice, smooth ball forms. This should not take long, not like with bread dough.

Chill the dough for 2 to 4 hours or overnight. Roll out thin, about ¼ inch, and cut with your favorite cookie shape.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. The cookies will be very pale in color. They will look under cooked, but are fine. Cool on rack and store in airtight container, if they last that long.

Brown diced bacon in a large pot. Add diced onions and cook until slightly browned. Add lentils and stock (we used homemade rabbit and chicken) in liquid-to-lentils ratio recommended on the lentil bag. Season the lentils to taste with thyme, savory, and pepper. Cook until liquid is absorbed and adjust seasonings. Serve out and enjoy.

In a large pot add red lentils and enough water to cook (see bag for liquid-to-lentil ratio). Add “Better Than Bullion” vegetable base in desired liquid-to-base ratio. Season the lentils with pepper, or whatever you like, to taste. Cook until done. Red lentils cook up quickly and turn mushy, unlike brown lentils, but the taste is superior to the brown when cooked this way. Any leftovers can be thinned with more stock, or water, and turned into soup, or turned into a curry dish. You can also add anything to the soup that you like. Have fun playing with this one. *

We used carrots, parsnips, turnips, and onions. Dice into smallish bite-size pieces and boil in stock of your choice. We used water and “Better Than Bullion” no-chicken vegetable base. Season the pot with pepper, and garlic to taste. Boil until crisp-tender. Strain and serve out. Save the broth as it makes a lovely soup starter. Just add whatever tickles your fancy. **

* Red lentils can be found at most Indian or Middle Eastern grocery stores.

** When using a powdered bullion or soup base, try to find one that has no MSG, and a high quantity of real ingredients. Many bases can read like a list for a chemistry class. That is why I like the “Better Than Bullion” brand for soup bases. “Herbox” is a good brand for beef and chicken bullion. Vegetable base or bullion can be hard to find. Try your local health food or whole/organic food stores or co-op.

1 cup finely ground Mustard Seed
1/2 cup pureed onion
1 T pureed Horseradish Root
3/4 cup distilled white vinegar
1/2 cup unseasoned bread crumbs
1 1/2 T sugar
2 t powdered ginger
1 t ground peper
2 t salt

Take 1 cup of finely ground mustard seed, dribble vinegar into it and stir until it is a thick paste, and let sit for a time - ideally overnight.

Take 1/2 cup of pureed onion and 1 T of pureed horseradish root, add 3/4 cup of vinegar and allow this to sit for a time.

Take 1 1/2 T of white sugar, 2 t of powdered ginger, 1 t of ground pepper, and 2 t salt, 1/2 cup of bread crumbs and mix together.

Mix the mustard paste witht he vinegar/onion/horseradish, and the spice mix, together in a blender, and blend till smooth. Drain in a metal sieve, or add vinegar as needed to achieve the proper consistency, leave liquid enough to run through the blender a second time if necessary.

Store covered in a glass or crockery container for approximately six weeks, stirring occasionally, and adding a little vinegar if the mustard is too dry, before bottling or serving. This mustard will keep for some time.

To boyle Chickens or Capons.

FJrst boyle them in faire water till they be _tender. Then take bread and steepe it in _the broth of them, and with the yolkes of _foure or fiue Egges, and Uergious or white _Wine, straine it, and therewith season your _<<6b>>_broth and your Capon in it. Then take Butter, _Parslie, and other small hearbs, and chop _them into it. And so serue them foorth vppon _soppes of bread.

Recipe from: The good Huswifes Handmaide for the Kitchin, London, 1594.

Edward fitzRanulf's Redaction:

Quarter your chicken and put it in a pot with enough water to cover it. Boil until the chicken seems tender to the fork, then remove from pot and test with a meat thermometer. If done, remove chicken and set aside.

Mix two cups of the broth with four egg yolks and add one cup bread crumbs. Mix parsley, tarragon and 1 t salt with 1/4 cup of vinegar or verjuice or white wine and add to the mix. Stir in 1/4 cup of melted butter.

Arrange the quartered chicken on sops of bread; pour the sauce over all and serve.

Wet Salting:

For each 1/2 Gallon of Water take:

9 oz. Common salt
1 T Sea salt
8 oz Brown Sugar

Mix the salts and sugar in a pot and scald with 1/2 gallon of hot water, stir and leave to cool, stirring occasionally to make sure tha tthe mixture has dissolved.

Put in the beef ensuring that the liquid completely covers the beef. Weight the beef down with a ziplock full of water if necessary. Leave beef in brine 2-3 days if salted flavor is desired, turning every day. For preservation, leave in brine for 2-3 months.

To Boil beef:

Remove the beef and rinse - if beef has only been in for a few days proceed to cook - otherwise soak the beef.

Rise beef, tie beef in a roll with tape.

Place beef in a pot with enough cold water to cover the beef, cover the pot and bring slowly to a boil. Skim off the scum, and reducing heat to a gentle simmer, simmer for 2 to 2 1/2 hours skimming as necessary.

Press meat overnight and serve cold.

Recipes from: Brears, Peter All the King's Cooks: The Tudor Kitchen of King Henry VIII at Hampton Court Palace, London, Souvenir Press, 1999, 56-58, redaction Edward fitzRanulf.

Take two rabbits, put in a pot with just enough water to cover them, bring to a boil, cover with a lid and simmer for about 1/2 hour.

Cool until you can handle and strip the rabbit meat, and return the carcasses to the pot. Add to the water you in which you simmered hte rabbits, onion, garlic, salt, pepper and other seasoning and boil carcasses down for stock

Dice the rabbit meat: mix about two cups of diced rabbit with one cup of diced bacon, one cup of diced onion and 1/2 cup raisins. Season mix with 1 t salt, 1 t pepper, 1 t of sugar and a "generou sgrating of nutmeg," about 1 level t.

Line a pie pan with dough, fill with mixture, add 1/2 to 1 cup of rabbit stock depending upon the absorption, and cover with a lid with a small hole. Brush lid with beaten egg white.

Bake for about two hours in a medium oven, 325 degrees.

Make syrup with a sweet fruity red wine. When the pie is taken from the oven, pour 1/2 to 1 cup syrup slowly through hole, monitoring the crust for signs that you have added too much.

Let pie cool at room temperature and stand at least overnight.

Recipe from Elinor Fettiplace's Recipe Book in Elinor Fettiplace's Recipt Book: Elizabethan Country House Cooking, Spurling, Hilary ed., New York, Viking, 1986, 56-57, redaction: Hilary Spurling and Edward fitzRanulf.