[Sca-cooks] Compost recipe (no, not the garden stuff!)

[Patricia Collum]

It just so happened that I made composte for the first time for the event
this weekend. It was supposed to be for Selene's vigil but I got my nights
confused, so it ended up being added to the luncheon the next day. It went
over quite well.
The recipe I used was based on:

Compost from Curye on Inglysch pp. 120-21

"Take rote of persel, of pasternak, of rafens, scrape hem and waishe hem
clene. Take rapes and caboches, ypared and icone. Take an erthen panne with
clene water and set it on the fire; cast alle thise perinne. When they both
boiled cast therto peeres, and perboil hem well. Take alle thise
thynges and lat it kele on a faire clothe. Do therto salt; when it is cold,
do hit in a vessal; take vynegar and powdour and safroun and do therto, and
lat alle thise thynges lye there all night, other all day. Take wyne greke
and hony, clarified together; take lumbards mustard and raisouns coraunce.
All hoole, and gryne powder of canel, powder douce and aneys hole and fennel
seed. Take all thise thynges and cast togyder in a pot of erthe, and take
therof when thou wilt and serve it forth." -as posted in the composte
message files at Stephan's Florilegium.

Some of the choices I made were to use what I had on hand, as in the cooking
wines and vinegars. I couldn't find my saffron (pesky stuff), and I added
carrots instead of celery root, so that there would be a recognizeable root
veggie. The lumbard mustard would be a honey mustard in period, so I used an
imported german one. Here is my recipe:

1/2 lb. pkg. baby carrots
2 bunches radishes, trimmed and larger ones cut in half crosswise
2 large parsnips, peeled and cut in 1/2 inch slices
2 medium turnips, peeled and cut into 1 inch chuncks
1/3 small head of cabbage, sliced thin
1 1/2 cups white cooking wine
1/2 cup cooking sherry
1/2 cup honey
1 cup dried currants
1Tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp cloves, fresh ground from whole
1 1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp ginger
1 tsp mace
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/4 cup honey mustard
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
2 -15 ounce cans lite sliced pears, drained and cut in 1 inch chunks
1 Tbsp whole anise seeds
1 Tbsp whole fennel seeds

In a large kettle, bring the carrots, radishes, parsnips and turnips to a
boil and boil til just crisp tender (about 10 mins), add the cabbage and
boil for about 5 more minutes. Remove from heat, drain and pour vegetables
into a large bowl and set aside to cool. In a small pan, combine wines,
honey, spices and currants and heat on medium heat, stirring, until the
honey clears and the currants have plumped some. Remove from the heat and
add the mustard vinegars and salt. Add the pears and seeds to the cooled
vegetables and gently stir them in. Pour the wine/ currant mixture over the
vegetables and pears and gently stir. Gently press the vegetables into the
mixture, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3-5 days to allow
flavors to develope. Stir the mixture each day and recover. Then serve it
forth!

Cecily