SC - Re: Hedgehog

[RuddR at aol.com]

Diana asks:

<<Also, would anyone have a hedgehog recipe? the one that starts with 
forced meat and uses lovely period spices (cubeb, pepper, ginger, 
cinnamon)? I seem to have misplaced mine in a flurry of wrapping paper, 
ornaments, gifts.....*sigh*>>

YRCHOUNS
Pork Loaf Hedgehog

Take Piggis mawys, & skalde hem wel:  take groundyn Porke, & knede it with
Spicerye, with pouder Gyngre, & Salt & Sugre;  do it on (th)e mawe, but fille
it nowt to fulle;  (th)en sewe hem with a fayre (th)rede & putte hem in a
Spete as men don piggys; take blaunchid Almaundys, & kerf hem long, smal, &
scharpe, & frye hem in grece & sugre;  take a litel prycke, & prykke (th)e
yrchons, An putte in (th)e holes (th)e Almaundys, every hole half, & eche fro
o(th)er;  ley hem (th)en to (th)e fyre;  when (th)ey ben rostid, dore hem sum
wyth Whete Flowre, & mylke of Almaundys, sum grene, sum blake with Blode, &
lat hem nowt browne to moche, & serue forth.
Harleian MS 279 

(In the original recipe the purpose of the pig's maw, apart from holding the
meat loaf in shape, seems to be to roast it in a bag of fat.  Modern tender,
fatty pork makes this unnecessary.  Also, roasted pig's maw is inedible, and
must be peeled from the yrchoun, and scraped of the almond spines and
"frosting" before being discarded.  I also have not colored the frosting green
or black.)

2 pounds ground pork or other meat
1 tsp powdered ginger
1 tsp pepper or other strong spice
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt or to taste
1/8 tsp cloves
Butter for sautéing
1 C blanched, slivered almonds

Frosting
1/4 C almond milk
1 T flour

1.  Preheat oven to 350°.

2.  In a bowl, mix spices, salt, and half a teaspoon of sugar thoroughly into
the ground pork.  Mound the meat into a hemisphere and place in a greased
roasting pan.  Cover it with foil, and bake at 350º for forty-five minutes.

3.  In a frying pan, over low heat, melt butter and add remaining sugar.  Add
almonds and brown them, stirring frequently.  Take care not to brown them too
much, or they will burn later on.

4.  When meat is done, drain fat from pan, and let it cool.  Remove foil, and
stick the fried almonds into the yrchoun, about half-way, about half an inch
apart, over the entire surface, like hedgehog quills.

5.  In a bowl, combine flour and almond milk, and stir it into a "batter".
Carefully and slowly pour this directly over the top of the yrchoun.  It
should run down evenly over the sides, leaving the almond quills exposed.
Carefully spoon run-off onto any areas left uncovered.  

6.  Return the yrchoun to a 300º oven for about five minutes until the batter
frosting browns slightly.  Be careful not to let the almond tips burn.  Remove
from the oven and allow to cool for a while.  Then, with a large spatula,
transfer it to a serving plate.  Garnish the plate with leafy greens to
simulate "natural habitat".

Serves six to eight.

Rudd Rayfield

============================================================================

To be removed from the SCA-Cooks mailing list, please send a message to
Majordomo at Ansteorra.ORG with the message body of "unsubscribe SCA-Cooks".

============================================================================