SC - cuskynoles

[Philip & Susan Troy]

L Herr-Gelatt and J R Gelatt wrote:

> You guys are geniuses. The idea of using wontons or fresh lasagne noodles is
> INSPIRED! Now I know what direction to point my novices when we redact this
> en masse in 2 weeks. I think we'll try one batch of each noodle type:
> wonton, lasagne, home-made. Roll one sheet, add filling, top with another
> sheet, divide in sections as read in the original, brown on a greased skilet
> or pop under the grill (I will add my butter here for lube purposes, heretic
> that I am), and voila!
> 
<snip>

> By the way, Adamantius, have we actually seen your redaction yet, hmmmmmmm?
> Details, man, we want details.;^D

'Fraid I can't help you with too much in the way of details, at least
not at the moment. What I will say is that we all seem to agree, more or
less, on the contents of the filling. I'd use about 25% apples, 25%
pears, and 50% everything else, combined. Spices might include cinnamon,
pepper, cloves, and possibly a smidgen of grains of paradise. Don't
forget a tiny pinch of salt. You could chop the almonds medium small,
and smoosh it all up to a coarse paste in a food processor set on
"pulse", or perhaps a meat grinder might work well. The almonds can't be
in really big pieces, or you run the risk of them punching through the
dough.

For the dough: Egg roll wrappers would work well, but I suspect thay
might be hard to handle if they are really thin. If you wanted to make
them on your own, I'd suggest two parts pastry flour and one part whole
wheat, which would give you, I think, something fairly close to bolted,
"white" medieval English pastry flour. Add salt and enough egg yolks to
make a firm dough, which, when fully kneaded, should be completely
smooth and non-sticky. (Egg roll wrappers and many other Chinese pastas
also include some water in the dough. I think all yolks are preferable
in this case, which should eliminate the need for any shortening in the
dough.)

I still believe that the dough is rolled out into a large sheet, roughly
8" by 24", and scored or cut into rectangles as indicated in the recipe,
approximately 6" by 2 1/2". The pastry is left in place after cutting.
The filling is smeared on the portions, all of one dole. To me, this is
the main bone of contention. What does that mean? The glossary of Curye
on Inglysch says that a dole is the same as a del or dele, meaning a
portion. This could be interpreted to mean that the filling is smeared
on all at once, forming a mass the size and shape of the rectangle
pictured. That isn't consistent with the rest of the instructions,
though. I'm all for the idea that some instrcutions are implicit or
absent altogether, but this seems like too much of a logical leap. No
mention is made of using the back of a knife, or any other utensil, to
subdivide each portion into individual bite-sized cells, and it would
take a pretty skilled hand to do that subdividing, be sure it is sealed,
using only the inherent stickiness of the filling, and have them stay
that way while they boil, as steam inflates the cells.

An alternate interpretation, while still a little shaky, but still more
logical to my mind, is that the filling (represented by the dots in the
picture) is placed, in little blobs, on the pastry rectangles, still
laid out in their original large rectangular formation, all at once.
This is quite consistent with the way a cook producing several identical
items would work. It is far faster to cut out as many rectangles as you
need, plop filling on all of them, and then seal them all, because this
uses, and wastes, minimal hand motion. If you moisten the edges to seal
them, you needn't worry about the dough drying out, even if it takes a
while to do them all. It's my belief that this is what is meant by "all
of one dole".

You then seal the pastries, probably by folding them in half  and
sealing the edges (which would give you a 2 1/2 inch square, after
factoring in some dough area to be devoted to wrapping around the
filling). Or, it might be intended that they be topped with similarly
sized lids, giving you a product not unlike the candy-bar-shaped
McDonald's apple pie. Except that these would taste better.

Boil as for ravioli, lay out on a towel for a minute or two to drain and
dry the surface, and finish, ideally, on a medium heat, non-smoking,
grill  (oiled) with a fairly fine mesh or bar spacing. The broiler
method would work just fine, too. Turning them is optional, as the
recipe doesn't say one way or the other whether you should. I prefer
them crunchy on one side, and soft on the other.

I actually served something very like this, once, at a restaurant I
worked at, definitely inspired by this recipe. I cheated and did them
like Chinese potstickers, by sauteeing them in oil for about two or
three minutes, adding a tablespoon or two of water, and covering them
while they steamed. When the water cooked away they got crispy again.
Served on creme anglaise, crunchy side up. 

Adamantius 
______________________________________
Phil & Susan Troy
troy at asan.com
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