[Sca-cooks] Need Help with a recipe...

[Daniel Myers]

Having played with this stuff before, I'm pretty sure that it's the 
solids that you'd be working with.  Almond milk sets pretty well when 
boiled, but is usually too runny to hold it's shape.  Draining it a bit 
might help (got to try it now and see).

Note that almond milk is usually strained before use to remove the 
larger bits, so I wouldn't expect anything too paste-like (of course, I 
could be wrong here - another thing to try out).

Here's a picture of the "eggs" with sugar paste shells I tried making 
once (just before the shells got all runny - both the draining and 
roasting might have made it work out better).

	http://www.medievalcookery.com/images/eggs.jpg

- Doc


On Wednesday, September 24, 2003, at 09:18  PM, kattratt wrote:

> Ok folks Now that I have summed up the NY trip....
> I have a real cooking question....
>
> Here is the recipe.... Original.... See below...
>
> ORIGINAL RECEIPT:
>
> Take Eyroun, & blow owt that ys with-ynne atte other ende; than 
> waysshe the schulle clene in warme Water; than take gode mylke of 
> Almaundys, & sette it on the fyre; than take a fayre canvas, & pore 
> the mylke ther-on, & lat renne owt the water; then take it owt on the 
> clothe, & gader it to-gedere with a platere; then putte sugre y-now 
> ther-to; than take the halvyndele, & colour it with Safroun, a lytil, 
> & do ther-to pouder Canelle; than take & do of the whyte in the nether 
> ende of the schulle, & in the myddel the yolk, & fylle it vppe with 
> the whyte; but noght to fulle, for goyng ouer; than sette it in the 
> fyre & roste it, & serue f[orth].
>
> - Austin, Thomas. Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books. Harleian MS. 
> 279 & Harl. MS. 4016, with extracts from Ashmole MS. 1429, Laud MS. 
> 553, & Douce MS 55. London: for The Early English Text Society by N. 
> Trübner & Co., 1888.
>
> Ok now I know some of ya'll have seen that recipe.  Here is the 
> Modern...
> Snipped.....
>
> MODERN RECIPE:
>
>    * 1 C blanched almonds
>    * 2 C water
>    * 1 C sugar
>    * 6 large eggs
>    * Yellow food coloring
>
> 1. Grind blanched almonds to a fine paste in a blender or food 
> processor, adding about half a cup of the water, a tablespoon at a 
> time, during the grinding. You might want to grind the almonds in two 
> or three batches.
>
> 2. In a saucepan, combine almond paste with the remaining water and 
> the sugar, stirring to blend smooth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and 
> simmer, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes.
>
> 3. Pour and scrape the mixture onto a large, clean white cloth, such 
> as a dinner napkin or tea towel, laid on a large plate or cookie 
> sheet. Spread the mixture out and let it cool, Then gather up the 
> cloth by the corners, and gently wring it out over a cup or bowel. Tie 
> the cloth up like a bag, and hang up the mixture in the cloth over a 
> cup or bowl for at least three hours.
>
> 4. Dish the almond cream into a lightly oiled bowl. Refrigerate until 
> cold.
>
> 5. Separate out one third of the almond cream, and put it into a 
> separate bowl. Stir in yellow food coloring a few drops at a time 
> until it is the color of egg yolk.
>
> 6. Carefully poke holes into both ends of the eggs, a large hole at 
> the wide end, and a pin hole at the narrow. Holding each egg over a 
> bowl, blow through the pin hole, blowing out the yolk and the white 
> into the bowl. You may refrigerate the yolks and whites for later use. 
> Rinse out the empty egg shells with warm water.
>
>
> Here is my problem the modern recipe does not seem to tell you which 
> to use... do I use the squeezed out juices that I drained out? (The 
> "milk" so to speak) or do I use the almond paste that is in the towel. 
>  I was thinking the paste that is in the towel. would be what is used. 
>  Katrina was thinking the sugary milk run off....
> So my question is which is right?
> Any help is appreciated.
> Nichola