SC - RE: Recipes as promised (long)

[Robyn Probert]

Hello List,
As promised, here are the quince and veggie recipes...

TOMC = The Original Mediterranean Cuisine
TFCC = Two Fifteenth Century Cookery Books

Quinces in general.
Good ones are bright yellow with a tinge of green. If they are wrinkled at
the ends they are getting too old. They store pretty well, but will perfume
your entire pantry (good/bad). Before use, scrub off the brown fuzz under
the tap. The easiest way to peel them is to boil, then peel off the fine
skin, or you can use a vegetable peeler. They brown very quickly, so you
need to drop them in acidulated water (water + lemon - see prev discussion
on list).

Quince Paste TOMC

The recipie given here is a quince paste made with honey, which I have not
made successfully. I'll type this in if someone wants it, but here is a
recipie made with sugar (one of many I have) which is pretty easy. This one
is my version of the one in TOMC, supplied there in place of Barbara
Stantich's usual redaction....

Take 3 quinces and scrub off the fuzz. Put them in a pan (i layer thick) and
cover with cold water. Bring to the boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer for
2 hours. Remove quinces and allow to cool - save the cooking liquid*. Once
cook, peel off the fine skin, then break soft flesh away from the gritty
core - save the cores*. Puree/blen/process. Weigh the puree and add a bit
less than the same weight in sugar. Add 2 cinnamon sticks. Bring to a low
boil for 30 mins, stirring frequently (NB - it will spit quince napalm at
you). Cook until extremely thick or you run out of patience. Remove the
cinnamon and pur out onto  trays lined with silicon paper to about 1 cm
thick (half inch). Cool, then dry out in the sun or a very low oven, then
turn out and dry the other side. Store layered up with sugar and bay leaves.

*I used to throw out the liqid, but last time I made it into quince jelly -
perfectly clear without using a jelly bag!

Measure your liquid (volume) and return to a clean pot. (For 3 quinces I had
750 ml of juice) Add about an equal volume of sugar and the cores (tied in
fine cloth). Bring to the boil, simmer and skim for about 20 minutes, then
remove the cores and discard. Turn off the heat, add the strained juice of a
lemon and 150 ml white wine. Skim and pot as usual. Great as a preserve, or
to glaze apple tarts with for extra flavour.

To bake quince pies (The Good Huswife's Handmaid, 1594)
"Pare them and cut out the core; then perboil them in water till they be
tender; then take them foorth, and let the water run from them till they be
drie. Then put into everie Quince sugar, sinammon and ginger and fill everie
pie therewith, and then you may let them bake the space of an houre, and so
serve them."

I guess the coffin is a given in this instance...

Quinces Boiled in a Pot (Stewed Quinces in Red Wine) TOMC
"Take a casserole or a covered frypan. And see that the lid has many small
holes. It is preferable that the casserole or frying pan be new, so that ir
doesn't lend a meaty flavour. And put the quinces in the pan, having cleaned
them. And fill it with almonds and cooked [concentrated] wine so that the
dish becomes smooth and thick. And with the quinces put sticks of connamon
and cloves and nutmeg and mace and grains of paradise. And put this over
live coals with a little heat around the pan, ans boil. And see that it is
covered. And when cooked, slice them neatly and remove the core. And put
them on a plate and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon and cloves."

Quinces (Quince puree with Almonds) TOMC
"Take quinces, according to the quantity you want to make, and quarter them
and remove the core. And then peel them, wash them in cold water. And put
them to boil in cold water. And when they begin to break up, then they are
cooked, and take them out of the pot. And grind them in a mortar. And blend
them with a little of the cooking liquid and strain through a sieve. And
then take seven pounds of almonds, wash them well in cold or lukewarm water
and grind them in a mortar. And when they are well ground, blend with warm
water and pass through a sieve. If it is a meat-eating day, use meat broth.
And add this milk to the quinces.. Then put in a pot with all kinds of
spices, namely ginger and cinnamon and saffron and grains of paradise and
nutmeg and mace. And if it is a fish-eating day you cannot [ie can't use
meat broth - spices are fine!]. When it turns very thick turn it into bowls
and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon."

Pureed Quinces TFCC
"Take Quinces, & pare him clene, cast hem on a potte, & caste ther-to water
of Rosys; do it over a fyre, & hele it faste, & let it boyle a gode whyle
tyl they ben neysshe; & if they wol not nen nysshe, bray hem in a Mortar
smal, draw hem thorw a straynoure; take gode Mylk of Almyndys, & caste in a
potte & boyle it; take whyte Wyne & Vynegre, an caste ther-to the Mylke, &
let in stonde a whyle, take than a clene canvas, & caste to the creme, & do
it over the fyre, & lat boyle; take a porcyon of Pouder of Clowys, of
Gyngere, of Graynys of Perys, of Euery a porcuon; take Sugre y-now, and
Salt, & a party of Saffroun, & alle menge to-gederys; & when thou dressyst
forth, plante ot with foyle of Syluer."

In the interests of health, I'd suggest gold leaf decoration rather than silver.

Fried Asparagus TOMC
"If you want to eat asparagus, clean them and parboil. And when parboiled,
coat them in wheat flour; then out them in the frying pan, and fry them
until cooked. And serve them on platters. And if you like, add vinegar."

Aspargus with Shallots TOMC
"Take asparagus, and boil it; and when boiled, set it to cook with onions,
salt and saffron, and with ground spices, or without."

Fennel and Leek TOMC
"Take the white part of the fennel, finely chopped, and fry with a little
white of leek, finely chopped, with oil or salted pork, and add little
water, saffron and salt, and bring to boil, and add beaten egg if desired."

'Salted pork' is pancetta.

Broccoli with Fennel TOMC
"Take the tips of green cabbage, and throw them into the boiling pot with
the meat and boil them; tghen take them out and put in cold water. Then take
abnother lot of stock in another pot and addthe white part of fennel; and
when it is time to eat, add the said cabbage to the previous pot, and bring
it to the boil and then add chicken stock, or oil."

Note the blanch-then-cold-water technique! This one could be easily adapted
fopr vegetarians by using vegetable stock (as per previous discussion). As
an aside, you can add body and "mouth feel" to a veggie stock by using the
cooking water from a pot of beans as a starter/additive. Also adds
nutritional value (the protiens are what make the stock thicken). 

That'll teach me to rashly promise stacks of recipes!
One tired
Rowan


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Robyn Probert				
Customer Service Manager		Phone +61 2 9239 4999
Services Development Manager		Fax   +61 2 9221 8671
Lawpoint Pty Limited			Sydney NSW  Australia
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