SC - Hastletes of Fruyt.

[Craig Jones.]

Meliora's husband Drake here:

Do we have any other husband and wife teams on this list.

>My husband Drake has made a similar recipe to this from Take 1000
>Eggs. In that recipe we threaded the fruits and nuts separately (i.e.
>piece by piece like a shish kabob) onto a linen thread, covered them
>in batter and deep fried.  Then removed the string.

I used strong linen thread so there was no risk of the hot oil
weakening the fibres and the string snapping.  The linen thread was
tied into a circle and about 40% of its length was threaded with fruit
and nuts.  Dipped into the thick batter till all the fruit was covered
and then suspended 6 at a time into a deep fryer.

>If you let the almonds sit in a water for a few minutes they will
>soften enough so you can get a strong needle to pierce them without
>anything splintering.

As I recall I didn't actually soften them in water (but it was a while
ago) but it's not a bad idea.  I gently carved out a conical hole in
each almond with the point of a small, sharp paring knife by spinning
the blade (like if you were starting a fire by rubbing a stick).  Go
halfway and then turn it over and do it again.  You get a small hole
you can thread the nuts onto a needle that has some strength.

>As I said above it was a similar recipe, and unfortunately I don't
>have the notes at work so I don't know if batter was called for in
>the recipe we used or whether batter was used as it was easier than
>endoring?

Was flour, egg, sugar, spices (I remember saffron, cloves, nutmeg,
sage....) and proper ale (unhopped beer) from one of my brews... 
Can't remember the proportions...

Cheers,

Drake.

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