SC - Some food i cooked at Estrella War

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

I cooked several period dishes at Estrella - these two were the most 
successful:

I. PAN PERDU

I made this Friday and Saturday mornings - because i ended up feeding 
a number of unexpected breakfast guests, i didn't have any eggs left 
Sunday.

I didn't follow one particular recipe. The basics are from a couple 
historic recipes. The syrup was inspired by one recipe that called 
for a final sprinkling of sugar, rosewater, and spices. I don't like 
to crunch on granulated sugar, so i made the ingredients into a syrup.

eggs
salt
granulated white sugar
saffron
rosewater - mine is Lebanese and not too strong
bread - good quality white sandwich is probably close to period.
      - Historically the crusts should be cut off.
      - I used a high-quality brioche loaf because i'm decadent
unsalted butter
ground cinnamon, cloves, mace, and nutmeg

1. BATTER - For the initial batch, i beat a bunch of whole eggs (5?) 
with a pinch of salt, a healthy pinch of saffron which i crumbled in 
my fingers as i added it, a tsp of sugar, and half a capful of 
rosewater.

2. SYRUP - I put some sugar into a sauce pan - somewhere between 1/2 
and 3/4 cup, and added about 3 or 4 times as much water. To this i 
added a full capful of rosewater, a pinch of saffron, and about 1/4 
tsp. each of  ground cinnamon, ginger, mace, and nutmeg [should have 
had cloves, but i forgot to bring them]. Then i set it on the fire to 
boil, stirring occasionally, after a bit, i turned the heat down. I 
left it simmering as i prepared the pan perdu. When it seemed thick 
enough to me, i turned off the fire.

3. I soaked slices of brioche bread into the egg batter. I left the 
crusts on. I like them.

4. When they had soaked up some egg, i sauteed them in hot butter in 
a cast iron skillet until the eggs were set, the outside was nicely 
browned, and the bread began to puff up a bit.

5. I served the bread with the syrup.

As other people showed up in camp, i beat more eggs with sugar and 
rosewater; dipped in the bread, and fried it and served with the 
syrup.

I got a thumbs up from a fighter who says he doesn't like Medieval food.

* The syrup was really good. One must gauge one's rosewater carefully 
- - and mine was rather light, so it had a rosewater flavor that was 
subtle, not overpowering.
* The amount of spices were also light - i thought i was putting in 
rather a lot, but the flavor was, again, not too strong. (and all my 
spices are pretty fresh)
* I like saffron, so i was happy with its flavor in the syrup and 
bread. It was, again, subtle, but made a difference i noticed when i 
left it out of a later batch of beaten eggs.

This was very easy to do - i use a Coleman propane stove, but i think 
it would work fine on a wood fire. And it is likely to please anyone 
who likes French Toast.

- -----

What i brought to the Friday night Known World Cook's Potluck

Recipe for a Dish of Chicken or Partridge with Quince or Apple
from the Manuscrito Anonimo

ORIGINAL
Leave overnight whichever of the two [birds] you have, its throat 
slit, in its feathers. Clean it and put it into a new pot and throw 
in two spoonfuls of rosewater and half a spoonful of good murri, two 
spoonfuls of oil, salt, a fennel stalk, a whole onion, and a quarter 
dirham of saffron, and water to cover the meat. Then take quince or 
apple, skin the outside and clean the inside and cut it up in 
appropriate-sized pieces, and throw them into the pot. Put it on a 
moderate fire and when it is done, take it away with a lid over it. 
Cover it with bread crumbs, a little sifted flour and five eggs, 
after removing some of the yolks.  Cook it in the pot, and when the 
coating has cooked, sprinkle it with rosewater and leave it until the 
surface is clear and stands out apart. Ladle it out, sprinkle it with 
fine spices and present it.

WHAT I MADE
about 5 lb. chicken breasts and thighs
two bottle capfuls of rosewater
[no murri - forgot to bring it]
two Tb. oil - i used sesame oil (unroasted, cold pressed)
salt - can't remember - probably a couple tsp.
1 fennel stalk - a whole white bulb which i cut in slices and some of 
the fuzzy greens
1 whole onion - which i cut in quarters and sliced
a quarter dirham of saffron - i used about 1/4 tsp.
water to cover
2 quinces, peeled, seeded, and cut it up in appropriate-sized pieces
bread crumbs from 1/2 of a sweet batard which weighed about 1-1/2 lb.
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
five eggs, after removing some of the yolks - i didn't remove any yolks
rosewater
fine spices - i used between 1/8 and 1/4 tsp each of powdered 
cinnamon, ginger, mace, nutmeg, and white pepper. I forgot to bring 
cloves.

1. Put chicken into a deep pot - i used a cast iron dutch oven.
2. Add rosewater, [murri - i forget to bring it,] oil, salt, fennel 
stalk, onion, and saffron, and water to cover the meat, and cut-up 
quince into the pot.
3. Put it on a moderate fire until it is done. I'm not sure how long 
this was - about 45 minutes, i think. I pulled a breast out and cut 
into it to be sure it was cooked through. At this point i tasted the 
broth to adjust the seasonings - i probably added more salt.
4. When it is done, cover with a mixture of bread crumbs, flour and 
eggs. Then i covered it with a lid - actually an inverted frying pan 
since my second hand Dutch oven is lacking a lid.
5. Cook it in the pot until the coating is cooked - i watched to see 
it change from eggy yellow to a cooked opaque warm beige.
6. When the coating has cooked, sprinkle it with rosewater and leave 
it until the surface is clear and stands out apart. (i may have 
forgotten to do this, i can't remember.)
7. Ladle it out, sprinkle it with fine spices and present it - since 
i had to carry this to the pavilion where the cooks' meeting was, i 
sprinkled it with spices before i left the camp site.

This was quite good. I'd used more quinces next time and maybe a dash 
more rosewater - the stuff i have is not overly strong, or else i'm 
using it too moderately. The "topping" soaked up cooking liquid from 
the chicken and had the character of dumplings or matzoh balls, 
rather than a crust - i wasn't sure what it was supposed to be like.

I brought what was left back to camp where my camp mates were 
roasting duck over the fire pit, and it was taking rather a long 
time. Between leftovers from the night before and my chicken, they 
were full by the time the ducks were cooked, so we ate them the next 
day.

The fighter who "didn't like medieval food" didn't eat the quinces, 
but said the chicken, dumplings, and broth tasted fine.

I think it would be good with rice.

- -----

It was very nice to meet listees face to face. I had the good fortune 
to meet Mordonna - who made real tasty apple fritters from a 
redaction by His Grace Lord Cariodoc, Mordonna's daughter Lee, 
another good woman who may soon join the list,and a young man who 
isn't on the list but is interested in historical cooking. Only 6 
people attended. The location was not easy to find - it was listed as 
"The Dance Pavilion", and no one i asked who was associated with the 
War seemed to know where the Dance Pavilion was, although it was in 
plain sight, uphill from the A & S pavilion. Perhaps some folks 
missed it because they couldn't find it :-(

I did some shopping - bought lots of books, of course (including 
"Food and Feast in Tudor England"), a little trim, and a lovely hand 
made red ceramic coffee set with blue glaze - a pitcher with a sun 
and a moon, a sugar bowl with a sun, a milk/cream container with a 
moon, and a matching ceramic "Melitta" style coffee filter. Now i 
have to figure out a way to transport them to events without breaking 
them. And American mounted cavalry style saddle bags to use mundanely 
instead of a purse.

I was encouraged by a vendor who makes reproduction metalwork to 
enter the Laurels' A&S Tourney - where folks plop down their works, 
including works in progress. I was heartened to receive a pretty 
large pile of trinkets from the Laurels who passed by for my Medieval 
Egyptian knitting. It was the first time i entered an event and was 
very encouraging.

Sadly there was one awful tragedy: a young couple, the lady new to 
the SCA, fell asleep with a propane heater apparently on but not lit 
and asphyxiated. There was also a suggestion that they may also have 
been drinking a bit. There were frequent warnings not to have heaters 
on in tents at night. It was very cold at night (around freezing) and 
i can understand the temptation - or intention to have it on a while 
then turn it off - but if one falls asleep... It was very sad. I can 
only hope that other campers learn from the tragedy.

Anahita