SC - Murkial's recipes, Second Course (Long)

[Christi Rigby]

Course the Second
Stuffed Chickens from Libro Per Cuoco
Casserole of Meat from Libre Del Coch
Dish of Onions from Libre Del Coch
Chopped Spinach from Libre Del Coch
Mushrooms, Another Way from Libro de Atre Coquinaria

Plastri Pini E Boni

Se tu voy fare polastri pieni e boni per XII persone, toy li polastri,
infilali e poy li pella ben mondi, e poy trazi fuora quello dentro; poy toy
una libra de mandole ben monde e ben maxenate e colate; toy in fina VIII
caxe passi ben dolze e toy XII ova; toy petrosemolo e mente e altre herbe
bone e lavale ben e pestalee den con lo chaxo, e toy le herbe el caso e
l'ova insieme e fa pastume a mode a quello delle fritelle; e poy toy li
polastri ben lavati e ben mondi e implili in  fra pelle e carne e dentro, e
un po' li chossi bene fino che il pastume non esca e sera bono.

Translation:
Stuffed chicken

if you want to make good stuffed chickens for twelve persons, take the
chickens, put them on a stake and pluck them, and take out the insides; then
take one pound of well-blanched almonds, ground and sieved; take  twelve
eggs; take parsley and mint and other good herbs and wash them well with the
cheese, and take 3 ounces of spices excluding saffron, and make a paste of
the herbs, cheese and eggs as for fritters; and take the cleaned chicken and
put some of the stuffing under the skin and some inside, and cook them
carefully so that the stuffing doesn't drop out and it will be good.

Author's redaction:

1 Large - 2 Kg (4 lb) - chicken, or 2 smaller birds - 1.2 KG (2.5 lbs) each
100 G (3.5 oz) fresh pecorino (MC1)
1 hard-boiled egg (MC2)
2 Tablespoons ground blanched almonds
3 Tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
1 Tablespoon finely chopped mint
1 Tablespoon finely chopped marjoram
Good pinch salt
Freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (MC3)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (MC3)
Olive oil for roasting

Using your fingers, carefully separate the skin from the meat over the
breasts, thighs and beginning of the wings; take care not to tear the skin.
roughly chop the cheese and egg, place in container of food processor and
add almonds, herbs, salt and spices.  Process until mixture is firm and
cohesive - somewhere between a paste and a crumble.

Season inside of chicken (s) with salt, then push the stuffing mixture under
the skin as far as possible, pressing firmly into place.

Roast the chicken (s) in a little olive oil in the usual way, taking care
when turning into to the break the skin.  Allow to rest for 10-15 minutes
before carving, then serve with pan juices.

My changes:

MC1 It specifically says 8 mild dried cheeses, but I couldn't think of 8
dried cheeses from period, so I used her suggested peccorino, parmesan,
romano and asiago (not sure if any but parmesan are period or not, so this
is one recipe I have not made for the SCA).  Any suggestions on the cheeses
would be wonderful!

MC2 I can't find anywhere it says to hard boil the eggs.  So I used them as
a binding agent for the cheese, herbs and spices.

MC3 I used different spices than the ginger and cinnamon but I can't
remember what I used.

Casserole of meat
Original:

CAsola De Carn
Pren la carn e talla-la menut a trocos axi com una nou.  E coffregiras-la ab
bona grassa de carnsalada.  E quantsia ben cofferedida, met hi de bon brou e
vaja a coure en una casola.  E met-hi de totes salses fines e caffra e un
poch de such de toronge o agresta, de manera que la carn se commence a
desfer e que y romanga somlament hun poch de brou, pendras tes o quarte ous
debatuts ab such de toronges o agresta.  E met-ho dins en la cassola.  E
quant ton seynor se volra aseure en taula, dona-li quarte o sinch voltes
girades, e tantost se espessira.  E qunat sia be espres, leva-u del foch e
fes escudelles e damunt cada una met-hi canyella.

Empro altres son qui no.y volen metre ous ni salsa sino canyella e girofle.
E coguuen en las carn, com dit he damunt.

Empro met-hi vinagre, perque tinga sabor.  E per lo semblant molts fan aco
que us dirte, que tota la carn posen en una peca faricida de canyella e
girofle sencer y en lo brou ben picades les salses, empro far a girar ades
ades, perques no coga mes d'una part que d'altra e axi no.y cal metre sino
girofle e canyella, empero com dit he de bona manera.

Translation"

Casserole of Meat

Take the meat and cut it into pieces the size of a walnut.  And fry it in
good salted pork fat.  And when properly fried add some good stock and set
to cook in a casserole.  And add all the spices and saffron and a little
orange juice or verjuice, so that it is very well cooked and the meat starts
to fall apart and only a small amount of the stock remains, take three of
four eggs beaten with orange juice or verjuice .  And add it to the
casserole.  And when your master is ready to sit at the table, turn it four
or five times and it will thicken immediately. And when it is thick, take it
off the fire and serve it in bowls and sprinkle a little cinnamon on each.

Yet there are some who do not add eggs nor spices save cinnamon and cloves.
The meat is cooked as above.

And they add vinegar, for the flavor.  And it seems that many people do it
in this way, that the meat is left in one piece stiffed with cinnamon and
cloves, with other spices in the stock, but it has to be turned continually
so that it doesn't cook more on one side than the other, and thus it is not
necessary to add cloves and cinnamon, but as explained and in the proper
way.

Authors redaction:

1 KG (2 lbs) lamb (preferably older lamb) from leg or shoulder
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
Freshly ground pepper
Good pinch saffron threads
1/2 cup meat stock
Juice of 1 lemon

Cut lamb into walnut-sized pieces; don't bother to remove all signs of fat.
Brown in oil in a heavy frying pan over moderate heat, seasoning with salt
and spices (except saffron).  When nicely browned all over, transfer to an
ovenproof casserole.  Add stock, saffron and lemon juice to pan to deglaze,
bring to a boil and pour over lamb.  Cover casserole, and cook lamb in
moderate oven for about 1 hour.  The meat should be extremely tender, and
there should be a small quantity of deep-brown, richly flavored sauce.

Author's note:  Though the recipe is not specific, it is possible that this
dish would be cooked in the oven, as were many other en casola dishes.  The
casola may have been glazed earthenware or iron, since inn some recipes it
is used to fry onions, which implies that it could go over direct heat.  The
term casola is possibly of Arab origin.

My Changes:

I don't remember how I changed this recipe offhand.  I know I tried it with
three different meats, lamb, chicken and pork.  The lamb was good but it is
expensive at times. I didn't like it with the chicken as well.  The pork was
very good.  Also, I used bacon grease instead of oil.  (that whole salt pork
thing again).


Dish of Onions

Original:
Potage De Porriol

Si vols fer porriol pendras cbes tallades ben menut e apres capolar-les has.
E mentre que les capolaras, lancar-y has sal e aaygua freda desobre.  E aco
faras moltes vergades.  E cada vegada prem-les entre dos talladors, perque.n
hisca la viscositat.  E, fet aco, faras-les bullir ab copia de oli de
caarnssalaada o oli comu que sia molt dolc e fi.  E apres met-hi vi qui sia
blanc e dolc amerat e un poch de vinagre.  E quant huara un poch bullit,
met-hi pebre molt e sal picada. E apres tastar-ho has, e, si es massa fort,
met-y una poca de aygua , e torna-u a tastar, si es bo de sal e de fortor.
E apres met-hi     perdius trocejades o entegres o altres ocells.

Translation:
Dish of Onions

To make porriol take onions, thinly sliced, and chop them.  And while
chopping them, sprinkle them with salt and cold water. And sop this many
times. And each time press them between two boards sp that all the moisture
is removed.  This done, boil them in plenty of salted pork fat or ordinary
oil which should be very mild. and then add a little sweet white wine and a
dash of vinegar.  And when it has boiled a little, add ground pepper and
salt, then taste it, and if it is too strong, add a little water, and taste
again.  And serve it with sliced or whole partridges or other birds.

Author's redaction:

Peel 250 g (8 oz) onions and slice them finely.  Turn them into a colander
And sprinkle with coarse salt or sea salt.  leave for 15 minutes, rinse with
cold water and squeeze out excess.  repeat this process, rinsing well at the
end and squeezing out as much liquid as possible.  Roll them in a clean tea
towel to absorb excess moisture.

Heat 1-2 tablespoons olive oil, add onions and fry very gently, covered,
until very soft and sweet - for at least 45 minutes.  Season with freshly
ground pepper and add 2-3 tablespoons of sweet wine (such as muscat, sherry
or port) and 1 teaspoon vinegar (balsamic is good).  Correct seasoning and
balance of flavors to taste.  You may add a little salt.

My Changes:

Other than the Salt pork, oil thing, I think this one is pretty well on (and
it makes a great onion on a patty melt).

Chopped Spinach

Original:

De Espinach Capolats

Pren espinachs e fes-lo bells, e apres fes-lo perbullir en aygua e sal.  E
quant sien ben perbullits, prem-los entre dos talladors.  E apres
capolar-los as molt be. E apres coffregiras-los ab oli carnsalada.  E com
seran ben coffregrits, met-los en la olla e vagen a coure.  E metras-hi axi
meteix en la olla bon brou de carsalada e molto que sia bo e molt gras, sols
la flor que sia de la olla.  E si per ventura volies metre en loch de brou,
let de cabres o de ovelles o sino de ametles, pendras la carnsalda e
tellar-l'as a trocos axi com un dau, et metras-la en la olla ensemps al los
espinachs.  Segons en lo temps en que seras, si hi vols metre formatges
frechs, ja u pots fer axi mateix com les tallades damun dites de carnsalada.
Empero, si n'i mets molts, no.ls hi metes fins que los espinachs sien cuyts
de tot, met-hi aaco, abans in poch de fer escudelles.  E si hi vols metre
axi mateix panses tendres que sien cuytes, be n'i pots metre aquestes coses
ni carnsalada ni formatage de Arago rallat, met-hi jolivert e neta axi
matiex, car ja valran mes los espinachs.

Chopped spinach
Translation:

Take spinach and wash it, and parboil in salted water.  And when parboiled,
press between two boards, chop well and fry in salted pork fat.  And when
well fried , transfer  to a pot to cook.  And to the same pot add some good
salted pork stock which should be good and fatty, but skimmed.  And if you
want to add goat milk or sheep milk or almond milk instead of stock, take
the salted pork and cut into pieces as big as dice, and add them to the pot
with the spinach.  And according to the time of year, if you want to add
fresh cheese you can cut it up like the salted pork.  but, if you are going
to add alot, don't add it until the end of cooking, just before serving.
And if you want to add currants which have been cooked, put them with the
spinach.  And if you don't want to add these things, nor salted pork nor
grated cheese, add parsley and mint, and this will make the dish better.

Authors translation:

Spinach with pancetta and currants

1 KG (2 lb) spinach
2 Tablespoons currants
60 G (2 oz) pancetta

Wash spinach and trim stalks.  Cook in a large saucepan without any
additional water, turning spinach over from time to time to allow it to cook
evenly and prevent it burning on the bottom.  Cook for 2-3 minutes after it
begins to stream.  Drain, cool and squeeze dry.  Meanwhile soak currants for
5 minutes in hot water to cover, roughly chop pancetta and fry in a lightly
oiled pan until the fat runs.  Roughly chop the spinach, and add to the pan
with the drained currants.  Toss spinach with pancetta and currants until
the heated through and serve.

My changes:

I have made this multiple times with the differing options offered in the
original.  It is good many ways, but I love spinach so I am biased.


Mushrooms, Another Way

Original:
Funghi...Altri Modi

in altro  modo potrai aconnciare li ditti fonghi, cioe nettandoli prima
molto bene, e poi mettargli sopra la bragia, et ponvi sopra del lardo et de
l'aglio battuti inseme et del pepe.  Et similemente gli potere aconciare con
olio.  Et etamdio gli poterai concere cosi acconci in una padella come se
fosse una torta.

Translation
And another way to prepare mushrooms is to clean them very well, and then to
put them over hot coals, and inside put some salted pork fat and some garlic
chopped finely together and pepper.  And you can also cook them in a frying
pan in the same way as a torta.

Authors redaction:

Grilled mushrooms with pancetta and garlic

500 G (1 lb) Mushrooms
125 G (4 oz) pancetta
4-6 cloves garlic
Freshly ground pepper
Oilve oil

Choose flat mushrooms with largish caps. Wipe mushrooms clean, trim stems.
Chop pancetta and garlic and mix the two.  Continue chopping to make a
fairly homogeneous mixture.  Distribute this mixture evenly in mushroom
caps, season with pepper and drizzle lightly with olive oil.  Grill under
preheated grill for about 5 minutes, or until pancetta has melted into
mushrooms.  Serve hot.

My changes:

None, this followed fairly close except for doing them over hot coals she
chose to do them under a grill (? possibly a broiler)

Okay ready for suggestions on these.  I think if I was doing these in a real
feast I would vary the tastes a bit more.  (sorry Anne-Marie) I felt that
too many of the dishes had a vinegar or tart taste.  I think I would have
added some pies or tarts and some sweet dishes.  But as I said, I did this
off the cuff.

Murkial