Menus and Recipes for the Feast presented at the Music and Dance Collegium in the Barony Marche of the Debatable Lands, April 16, 1997

Lunch

Savoury Toaste of Chese
Spinach Tartes
Hard boiled eggs and Honey Mustard
Spanish Mushrooms
Digby Cakes
Bread
Fresh Fruit

A Dinner of three courses

The First Course

Bread, Butter, and Jam/Marmalade
Roast Chicken
Stuffed Eggplant
Asaparagus

The Second Course

Tortelli of Favetta
Tortelli of Cheese
Tortelli of Veal
A Salat of Fresh Herbes

The Banquet Course

White Torta
Strawberries

The Recipes

Savoury Tosted or Melted Cheese
From Sir Kenneth Digby's Closet Unlocked, this version is based on, but not identical to the version in The Miscellany by Cariadoc of the Bow and Elizabeth Dendermonde.

Cut pieces of quick, fat, rich, well tasted cheese, (as the best of Brye Cheshire, &c, or sharp thick Cream-Cheese) into a dish of thick beaten melted Butter, that hath served for Sparages or the like, or pease, or other boiled sallet, or ragour of meat, or gravy of Mutton: and if you will, chop some of the Asparages among it, or slices of Gambon of Bacon, or fresh=callops, or Onions, or Sibboulets, or Anchovis, and set all this to melt upon a Chafing-dish of Coals, and stire all well together, to Incorporate them; and when all is lf an equal consistence, strew some gross White_Pepper on it, and eat it with tosts or crusts of White-bread. You may scorch it at the top with a hot Fire-Shovel.

Makes 1 cup -- appoximately 8 servings

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup cream cheese
1/4 lb Brie or other strongly flavored cheese (I use farmers)
2 Tbsp whole milk (though not in the original recipe, I find that a bit of milk helps gives this a better consistency, and helps the whole thing hang together better)
1/4 t white pepper

Melt butter. Melt cream cheese in butter. Add milk. Cut up the farmer's cheese and stir it into the mixture over low heat. You may want to use a whisk to blend the two together, though a spoon will do. Unlike the Cariadoc redaction, this one does not tend to separate. When you have a uniform, creamy sauce you are done. Serve over toast, put on toast and broil for 30 seconds-1 minute, mix in (or serve over) things like asparagus, bacon, sauted onions, etc.


To Make Fried Toste of Spinage
from The Second Part of the Good Huswife's Jewell, redaction by me

Take Spinnage and seeth it in water and salt, and when it is tender, wring out the water between two Trenchers, then chop it smal and set it on a Chafing-dish of coles, and put thereto butter, small Raisons, Sinamon, Ginger, and Suger, and a little iuyce of an Orenge and two yolkes of rawe Egges, and let it boile till it be somewhat thicke, then toste your toste, soake them in a little Butter, and Suger, and spread thinne your spinnage upon them, and set them on a dish before the fire a litle while, & so serve them with a little suger upon them.

This redaction takes the yummy spinach stuff from the recipe above and turns it into tarts instead. Ingredients
Spinach
Butter
Raisins
Cinamon
Ginger
Sugar
Orange Juice
2 Egges yolkes
Toast, buttered and sugared
If fresh spinach is available, boil fresh spinach in salt water until tender. Drain and press out excess water. Otherwise, substitute frozen spinach. Melt butter in frying pan, add spinach, raisins, cinnamon, ginger, sugar, orange juice, beaten egg yolks. Put in pie, and bake at 400 until thickened.


Spanish Mushrooms
A recipe of my own devising, based on a recipe for Spanish Mushrooms

Makes approximately 5 lbs of mushrooms:

60oz of fresh mushrooms (I've used both button and Cremini)
1/4 cup olive oil
2/3 cups each red wine vinegar, cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup lemon juice
6 cloves garlic, sliced
3 Tbsp dried basil, or a handful of fresh basil
salt water Boil the mushrooms for about 10 minutes in salt water, drain and put in storage container. Mix all other ingredients, pour over mushrooms. Cover and store in cool place overnight (I use the fridge).


Excellent Small Cakes

From The Closet of Sir Kenhelm Digby Unlocked, by way of Cariadoc's Miscellany

Take three pound of fine flower well dried by the fire, and put to it a pound and a half of loaf sugar sifted in a very fine sieve and dried, 3 pounds of currants well washed, and dried in a cloth and set by the fire; when your flour is well mixed iwth the sugar and currants, you must put in it a pound and a half of unmelted butter, ten spoonfuls of cream, with the yolks of three newlaid eggs beat with it, one nutmeg; and if you please, three spoonfuls of sack. When you have wrought your paste well, you must put it ina cloth, and set it in a dish before the fire, till it be through warm. Then make them up in little cakes, and prick them full of holes, you must bake them ina a quic, over unclosed. Afterwards ice them over with sugar. The cakes should be about the bigness of a handbreadth and thin; of the size of the sugar cakes sold at Barnet.

3 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 lb currants
1.5 sticks butter
2.5 Tbsp cream
1 egg yolk
1/4 t nutmeg
2 t sack/sherry

Mix dry ingredients together; but in butter until the texture is mealy. Add currants. Mix in other ingredients until it is right. Bake about 20 minutes at 350F. Mix icing and water until it is spreadable, then ice with it.


Roast Chicken

From Platina, by way of Cadiadoc's Miscellany

You will roast a chicken after it has been well plucked, cleaned and washed; and after roasting it, put it into a dish before it cools off and pour over it either orange juice or verjuice with rosewater, sugar, and well-ground cinnamon and serve it to your guests.

One roasting chicken
1/3 cup orange juice
1 Tbsp rosewater (which I will probably leave out)
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Roast chicken. When done, put it on a plate. Mix all other ingrediants and pour over the chicken.


Stuffed Eggplant

From The Fruit, Herbs and Vegetables of Italy by Giacomo Castelvetro,1614, translated by Gillian Riley

One way of preparing aubergines is to cut them open down the middle, hollow them out and fill them with a mixture of the chopped pulp, breadcrumbs, egg, grated cheese, sweet herbs, and butter or oil, and bitter orange juice. Then either grill them over charcoal, or stew them gently in an earthenware pot or tinned copper dish.

3 eggplants
3-4 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
5-6 Tbsp Italian dried bread crumbs
(or, if you use fresh, add basil, oregano also)
2 eggs
3 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1/8-1/4 cup butter, melted
3 Tbsp lemon juice
3 Tbsp orange juice

Preheat oven to 450F. Cut eggplants in 1/2, scoop out the middles, and chop corsely. Beat eggs, mix all ingredients together. Stuff back in hollowed halfs. Sprinkle tops with bread crumbs. Place on baking sheets, cover bottom of pan with water, cover with tin-foil. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Serve immediately.


Asaparagus

From The Fruit, Herbs and Vegetables of Italy by Giacomo Castelvetro,1614, translated by Gillian Riley

Next, or more of less at the same time, asparagus begins to appear, which is even better than hops as a vegetable or medicine. Some people eat it raw, with salt, pepper, and Parmesan cheese, but I prefer it cooked and served like hops, with oil, ad little vinegar, and salt and pepper. *

*I start with hops, the first shoots to appear at this time of year [Spring]. We never eat them raw, but serve them as a cooked salad. We wash the hops thoroughly and then cook the desired amount inwater with a little salt, drain them very well and serve them in a clean dish seasoned with salt, plenty or oil and a little vinegar or lemon juice, and some crushed, not powdered, pepper.

1 lb asparagus
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar (balsamic?)
1/2 tsp salt
crushed peppercorns
Boil asparagus 3 minutes. Drain throughly. Toss with oil, sprinkle with vinegar, salt, and pepper. Serve.


Tortelli of Favetta

From The Fruit, Herbs and Vegetables of Italy by Giacomo Castelvetro,1614, translated by Gillian Riley

Our ladies make tortelli with this puree, seasoned with pepper, which are really delicious. They take a sheet of very thin pastry, and cut out round shapes with a glass or a wooder cup, and put a spoonful of the puree on each one, adding a few raisins if desired. Then they fold each one up and make a neat little edging with their fingers and sprinkle them with four. These tortelli will keep eight days or more.

When they come to cook them, they fry them in oil, and some send them to talbe sprinkled with honey or sugar. These crisp little morsels are so light they never fear for their precious teeth. FavettaHere is another recipe, which is somewhat more refined than the other two. Cook the beans in water with salt, and put them ina stone mortar with a little of their cooking liquid, and pound them with a wooden pestle until they are white as snow. Serve this favetta hot with olive oil, pepper and clean, washed raisins. Some use cinnamon as a seasoning instead of pepper.

1 can Fava beans
Fresh noodle or pastry dough
1/4 cup raisins + some more
pepper
cinnamon
Olive oil
salt
2 tsp honey

Cook fava beans in water with salt until soft. Pound them into a paste with a little of the cooking water "until white as snow". Stir in raisins, spices, honey, and 2 Tbsp olive oil. Take pastry or noodle dough, and cut out rounds. Put a spoonful of puree on each round, add a few more raisins, fold and seal. To cook, heat olive oil in frying pan. Fry on both sides until cooked, drain, sprinkle with sugar, and serve. One can of beans makes enough 20


Tortelli of Cheese


Tortelli of Pork

From Forme of Cury, by way of To the Kings Taste

Tartlettes: Take pork ysode and grynde it small with safron. Madle it with ayren and raisons of coraunce and powdor fort and salbe, and make a foile of dowhg and close the fars threrinne. Cast the tartletes in a panne with faire water boillyng and salt. Tkae of the clene flessh withoute ayren, and boile it in gode broth. Cast thereto powdor-douce and salt, and messe the tartletes in disshes and helde and the sewe thereonne.

1 lb ground pork
cinnamon
saffron
ginger
salt
pepper
mace
cloves
nutmeg
4 egg yolks
Raisins
8 cups chicken broth
noodles

Brown the pork in a skillet, breaking it up fine. Sprinkle browning meat with spices. When done, let cool. When cooled enough that it won't curdle the eggs, mix in egg yolks. Stuff in noodles adding 3 or 4 raisins to each dumpling. Bboil in chicken broth for 6-10 minutes. If desired, remove dumpling from broth and fry lightly in olive oil. This recipe and one batch noodles makes approximately 16 dumplings using the smallest "dumping maker" in the pierogie kit.

Noodles

2 cup all purpose flour
2 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
water

Mound your flour on your pastry board, and make a well in the middle. Break eggs into the well, and use a knife to mix them with the flour. Sprinkle on the salt and add water, kneading as you go, until you have a bread-like dough. Let rest, covered, for 15-20 minutes. Cut into rounds, and roll through pasta roller, flouring each time, until the desired thickness and consistency.

A Salat of Fresh Herbes

By way of most of the recipe books that have herbe salat in them

Take whatever fresh herbes happen to be available; leaf lettece, mint, sage, basil, parsley, etc, etc, etc. Onions and radishes may be added--radish tops may also be used. Wash and pick clean. Dry. Tear into pieces. Toss together. Add olive oil. Toss. Add vinegar, toss. Sprinkle on salt and pepper. Toss. Serve.


White Torta

From Platina, based on a reconstruction in Cariadoc's Miscelleny

Prepare a pound and a half of best fresh cheese, choped especially fine. Add twelve or fiften egg whites, half a pount of sugar, half an ounce of white ginger, half a pound of pork liquamen and as much fresh butter. Blend in as much milk as you need. When you have blended this ,put it into a pastry crust rolled thin and put it all ina pan and set it to bake on the hearth with a gentle flame. Then, to give it color, put coals on the lid. When it is cooked and taken from the pan, sprinkle ground sugar over it, with rosewater.

6 egg whites
1 cup ricotta or dry cottage cheese
1-2 tsp ginger
1/2 cup milk
1/2 lb butter
1 9" pie shell
2/3 cup sugar
Slices strawberries for topping

Beat egg whites into soft peaks. Cream together sugar, ginger, butter, milk, cheese. Fold mixture into egg whites, blend until smooth. Pour into pie pan and bake for about 50 minutes at 350F. Let cool. Top with whipped cream and strawberries and serve.