SC - transporting ingredients

[Elaine Koogler]

I'm glad to see that others have picked up on the idea of using wonton and egg
roll wrappers for pastry for large crowds.  We did two dishes for Coronation
last fall using these handy little items:  Ravioles and a stuffed fig pastry,
Tourteletes in fryture (which sounds like a simpler version of your
cuskynoles...or however you spell them).  We found that the wrappers worked very
well, and the ingredients were remarkably similar to period versions of pastry
that I found in various places.  Obviously if you're cooking for a small number,
it makes sense to make the dough from scratch, but this is a real boon when
you're cooking for 250!

Kiri

Korrin S DaArdain wrote:

> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>         Cuskynoles
>         Curye on Inglysch, Book I, "Diuersa Cibaria", c. - 1325 C.E.
>         From Spring Crown Feast In The Crown Province of Østgardr, East
> Kingdom. Feast Menu, Notes, and Receipts, Spring Crown Tourney, II May,
> A.S. XXXIII, In The Crown Province of Østgardr, East Kingdom. Posted by
> Adamantius / Philip & Susan Troy (troy at asan.com)
>         "45 A mete þat is icleped cuskynoles. Make a past tempred wiþ
> ayren, & soþþen nim peoren & applen, figes and reysins, alemaundes &
> dates; bet am togedere & do god poudre of gode speces wiþinnen. & in
> leynten make þI past wiþ milke of alemaundes. & rolle þi paste on a bord,
> & soþþen hew hit on moni parties, & vche an pertie beo of þe leyngþe of a
> paume & an half & of þreo vyngres of brede. & smeor þy paste al of one
> dole, & soþþen do þi fassure wiþinnen. Vchan kake is portiooun. & soþþen
> veld togedere oþe 3eolue manere, ase þeos fugurre is imad & soþþe boille
> in veir water, & soþþen rost on an greudil; & soþþen adresse."
>         What they did: This one is pretty confusing, and there's a great
> deal of controversy about exactly what some of it means. It all boils
> down to whether the illustration above is of one portion or fifteen. My
> feeling is that the illustration shows how several are made and cut from
> large sheets of dough. If it's one portion, then it's pretty difficult to
> fill. Observance of the principles known colloquially as Occam's Razor
> and K.I.S.S. (Keep it simple, stupid!) leads me to conclude this is
> fifteen portions. You may not agree, but it's a big world.
>         So, a dough is made with eggs (probably yolks only), and somehow
> filled with a filling of mashed apples, pears, almonds, and assorted
> dried fruits. The cuskynoles are filled and sealed so as to follow the
> illustration in some way, but exactly how is unclear. I'm betting on a
> simple rectangular fruit ravioli, boiled and then fried on a griddle like
> a pierogi.
>         What we'll do differently: Apart from the fact that we'll be
> omitting the almonds (we're using a lot of them elsewhere, and there's
> the allergy question to consider), we'll be stuffing a pulverized filling
> of mixed fresh and dried fruits as described above, into fresh pasta
> dough, in this case halved Cantonese egg roll wrappers. We'll boil them
> until they float, and then sauté them till crispy on one side, and serve
> with a dusting of sugar on the crispy side. The recipe doesn't call for
> this, but numerous sources of the period suggest a dusting of sugar on
> "fryed metes".
>         What you'll need for eight servings:
>         4 Cantonese spring roll wrappers ("egg roll" wrappers, raw pasta
> dough)
>         1 Bosc or other hard, tart pear
>         1 Granny Smith or other tart cooking apple
>         3 oz. dried figs
>         3 oz. dried dates, pitted
>         2 oz. raisins
>         optional 1 oz. finely chopped almonds
>         1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
>         1/8 tsp. powdered cloves
>         1/8 tsp. powdered cinnamon
>         In a meat grinder or food processor set on pulse, finely chop the
> filling ingredients, and let the filling mixture sit for 20 minutes or so
> while the dried fruit absorbs some of the excess pear and apple juice.
> Lay out the wrappers on a clean, dry, cutting board (you might need to
> dust with flour, but the wrappers will probably be coated with starch
> anyway). Cut each large square in half (vertically), and brush each half
> with water or egg wash, especially around the edges. Spoon 3-4 Tbs. of
> the filling in a little mound on the "lower" half (the half closest to
> you) of each strip of dough. Make sure there is a clean border of about
> 1/2 inch free of filling. Fold the further end down towards the nearer
> end, sealing the edges with the edge of your hand. You can crimp them or
> otherwise decorate the edges if you wish. Let sit for ten minutes or so,
> covered with a clean dish towel, while the wet "glue" hardens to seal the
> edges.
>         Boil in lightly salted water in a deep skillet or casserole for
> 3-5 minutes, until the cuskynoles just float. Remove them from the water
> with a slotted spoon or deep-frying basket (they'll be delicate at this
> stage). Allow to cool a bit and air-dry, then sauté in a preheated, oiled
> skillet over medium-high heat for 3 or four minutes, until golden brown
> on one side. Flipping is an option, but I like the idea of the contrast
> between crispy and soft. Serve crisp side up, dusted with confectioner's
> or other sugar.
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> Korrin S. DaArdain
> Korrin.DaArdain at Juno.com
> Quondo Omni Flunkus Mortati
> (When All Else Fails, Play Dead.)
>
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