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

[Phil Troy/ G. Tacitus Adamantius]

Also sprach kattratt:
>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].

<snip>

>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.

Note that you're adding into the instruction set the steps to make 
almond milk (which the recipe seems to assume), but later suggest 
that almond milk is not your final product... which the recipe _does_ 
specify.

I get the impression that the recipe wants you to make almond milk, 
strain the solid almond fiber out, then boil the milk until it both 
reduces and coagulates (presumably there's a protein component, if 
perhaps not much), forming the almond cream you mention. You then...

>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.

... basically taking almond milk and making almond ricotta out of it.

>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.

Is saffron an issue for you or are you just in league with His Grace? 
Either is fine with me, but I did notice that you seem to leave it 
out (as well as the cinnamon, I believe). How come you're coloring 
one-third of the cream instead of half? Just curious...

>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.

I believe you strain the freshly made almond milk (removing most of 
the solids in the process), boil it until it thickens, then drain 
_that_ in the towel. See, if you drain the unstrained milk on a 
towel, what you're throwing away is milk, and what you're saving is 
more or less useless, fibrous pulp. It does have some use, but not 
here. Whereas if you strain the freshly made milk, toss the pulp, 
boil the milk until it thickens, and drain it on a towel (it may be 
that, like some cream cheese recipes, you don't actually need to hang 
it up in the towel, but just sort of spread it on the towel, which 
absorbs excess moisture), then what you're saving is almond cream / 
cheese, and what you're throwing away is a relatively clear wheyish 
substance: basically water.

I think what you end up with using the method you had originally 
outlined leaves you with an eggshell filled with a sort of 
second-grade marzipan (I don't mean to be rude: it's just that if you 
have the almonds to make such a paste, you'd be throwing away a lot 
of their virtue in the process, so why do it?). I think it is the 
intention of the original cook / author to produce something more 
like a thick custard (actually something like an early form of 
frangipane cream).

Adamantius