SC - Thoughts on Black Turkey

[LrdRas@aol.com]

Picking up from where I left off...

III.	ESCICIUM EX CARNE
	{Meatballs}

P VII 50

For ten guests, boil a pound of pork belly or veal belly well.  When it
is cooked and cut up, add half a pound of aged cheese and a little fat,
and mix with fragrant herbs, well cut up, pepper, ginger and cloves. 
Some even add breast of capon, well pounded.  When these have all been
worked with meal and reduced to a thin sheet, roll into balls the size
of a chestnut.  When rolled, cook in rich juice and color with saffron. 
They require little cooking.  When they are transferred to serving
dishes, sprinkle with ground cheese and rather sweet spices.  It is also
possible for this food to be made from breast of pheasant, partridge, or
other fowl.

Per Table			17 Tables

1-1/2 lbs ground pork		25 lbs pork
1 cup mozzarella, shredded	17 cups cheese
1 tbs bread crumbs		1 cup crumbs

Herbs {1/8 tsp of each}		{2 tbs each}

pepper
oregano
ginger
basil
marjoram

pinch saffron			1/8 tsp saffron

1 cup broth			17 cups broth
1/4 cup parmesean cheese	4-1/4 cups cheese
1/4 tsp basil			1-1/2 tbs basil
1/4 tsp marjoram		1-1/2 tbs marjoram

Combine pork, mozzarella, bread crumbs, and herbs into small balls the
size of a chestnut. Cook in saffron broth at medium heat approx. 8-10
min. or until done.  Sprinkle with parmesean and additional herbs. 
Yield: 16-20 meatballs.

COMMENTS:  The combination of pork, cheese and herbs in broth made a
very mild but flavorful meatball.  Not a single one made it back to the
kitchen alive. 


	CONDITUM PANTODAPUM
	{Seasoned Salad}

P IV 5

There may be likewise a seasoned salad from lettuce, borage, mint,
calamint, fennel, parsley, wild thyme, marjoram, chervil, sow-thistle,
which doctors call taraxicon, lancet, which they call lamb's tongue,
nightshade, flower of fennel, and several other aromatic herbs,
well-washed and with the water pressed out.  They need a large dish. 
They ought to be sprinkled with a lot of salt and moistened with oil,
then after vinegar has been poured over and when they have sat for a
little while, their wild toughness demands eating and chewing well with
the teeth.  This dish requires more oil and less vinegar {medicinal
advise omitted}.

I used 1 head of lettuce per table, using whatever varieties I could
find {other than iceburg which hardly qualifies}:  red leaf, green leaf,
Boston, endive, etc.  I added fresh mint {peppermint was all I could
find fresh}, fresh thyme, fresh parsley, and dried chervil, marjoram,
and borage. I added a little salt, then commercial olive oil/red wine
vinegar salad dressing.

COMMENTS:  Too much salad came back.  Probably only needed about 13-14
heads of lettuce.  However, several people commented that they liked the
impact the herbs had on the salad.

Part 4 will be forthecoming.  First, I want to apologize to anyone I
offended with my comments about the VFW Post Commander.  I was
frustrated because I arrived from 95 miles away to spend the day with
someone who kept checking to make sure I was using my own supplies and
not taking their food or using their pots and pans.  After a while, you
get tired of being treated like a suspect.  I tend to have a caustic
sense of humor and mentally dubbing him "Commander Charming" was my
silent way of dealing with his too frequent visitations.  I meant no
disrespect to the VFW or any similar organization.

John