[Sca-cooks] Pennsic Potluck, revisited

[Stefan li Rous]

 > Now, shall we tell each other what we brought to the Potluck? I think
 > the folks at home might enjoy the dishes- I certainly did ;-)

I've had mixed success trying to actually cook something at Pennsic for 
our annual dinner, so this year I went back to making something at home 
and bringing it. For this to work, the food item has to be able to be 
transported by airplane for half a day and keep for about eight or nine 
days until the day of the pot luck.

Being the procrastinator that I am, I usually end up using someone 
else's redactions since I'm usually deciding what to do just before I 
leave for Pennsic. However, I usually end up altering the redaction for 
various reasons.

This year I first picked Fig and Raisin Puree and then decided I needed 
something to put this on, so I looked at biscotti and saw an 
interesting recipe for Bisket bread. So, since I seemed to be doing 
stuff to put on the bisket bread I also chose to try the Angel Food, 
which has been discussed here previously. I was also going to make a 
Polish Hydromel of water, fennel seed, honey and cassia from "Food and 
Drink in Medieval Poland" but didn't have the time either at home or at 
Pennsic.

I had labels for each of these dishes giving the sources and the 
ingredients, but I don't know if anyone looked at them.

The Bisket bread seemed to go over pretty well, although the sauces 
seemed to be less appreciated and there was a lot of these leftover. 
Perhaps the Fig and Raisin Puree would have made a better pie filling.

Stefan

Fig and Raisin Puree
Redaction from "To the King's Taste"

1 1/2 cups minced dried figs
1 1/2 cups raisins
1 1/2 cups red wine
1/2 teaspoon finely minced fresh ginger
1/8 teaspoon dried or fresh orange peel
dash salt and pepper
1/2 teaspoon red sandlewood powder dissolved in 2 tablespoons water 
(optional)

1. Simmer all ingredients in covered pot until fruits become soft.
2. Puree mixture in a blender.
3. Serve warm or chilled.
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I used the sandlewood, but it was already pretty dark in color, so I 
don't know that the sandlewood made much difference. I actually 
increased the ginger to closer to 1 teaspoon.

---------
Angel's Food

Modern translation by THL Temair Carra

Ingredients:

5 oz fresh Ricotta cheese
5 oz marscapone cheese
2 T sugar
2 T orange flower water (to taste)

Mix cheeses with fork or whisk.  Mix in sugar.  Add a small amount of 
orange
water and increase if needed (amount will depend on the concentration 
of the
orange water).  Do not use orange oil.  Fluff before serving.


Bibliography: Libra de Sent sovi (Catalan 1324 or before)

Source: Menyar D'`ngels (con sa deu manyar matr cens bolir, o 
fformatges) Si
vols menyar lo mato, prin lo matr e met-lo en lo morter; e pique'l be 
ab bon
sucre blanc.  E quant ser` picat, axeteu ab aygua-rrs ho naffa, e 
met-lo en
gresals ho en escudelles ho ab qui.t vuylles; e drna-ho a menyar.  E si 
no y
volies metre sucre al piquar, met-hi de bona mel.  E axm matex sse ffa 
cel
fformatge ffresc, he diu-hi millor, e anomene's menyar d'`ngels.

Translation: If you want to eat the fresh curds, put the curds in the 
mortar
and pound with some good white sugar.  And when pounded together, blend 
in
some rosewater or orange-flower water, and put it in bowls or dishes or
whatever you like; and serve it at table.  And if you don't wish to use
sugar, add some good honey.  And you can do the same with fresh cheese,
which is better, and it is called angel's food.
------------

Bisket bread
Redaction by: Lady Katherine Rowberd

based primarily on a recipe from Thomas Dawson's 1596 book, The Good 
Huswife's Jewell, with additional tips garnered from a few other recipe 
books written just after 1600.

Dawson's recipe

To make fine  bisket bread Take a pound of fine flower, and a pound of 
suger, and mingle it together, a quarter of a pound of Annis seedes, 
foure eggs, two or three spoonfuls of Rose water put all these into an 
earthen panne. And with a slyce of Wood beate it the space of two 
houres, then fill your moulds halfe full: your mouldes must be of 
Tinne, and then lette it into the oven your oven, beeing so whot as it 
were for cheatbread, and let it stande one houre and a halfe: you must 
annoint your moulds with butter before you put in your stuffe, and when 
you will occupie of it, slice it thinne and drie it in the oven, your 
oven beeing no whotter then you may abide your hand in the bottome.

2 1/2 cups (370g) flour
1 1/2 cups (370g) sugar
1 oz aniseed, ground
1/2 oz coriander seed, ground
8 whole eggs
butter (to grease the pans)

   Beat eggs thoroughly.  Gradually sift mixed flour, sugar and spices 
into the eggs, beating constantly for about half an hour or until the 
batter changes to a lighter colour and has bubbles in it.  Allow to 
rest a few minutes, or tap the bowl on the bench top, to encourage the 
largest bubbles to rise to the surface. Butter the inside of two loaf 
tins.

   Spoon the mixture into the tin, and bake at 200C/400F for 
approximately 40 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the middle of 
the loaf comes out clean. Turn out and allow to cool.  Slice as thinly 
as you can, and place on a wire rack in a warm oven (70-100C) for 2 
hours or until very dry.
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I was concerned about the moisture at Pennsic or even before affecting 
this and causing it to mold, so I made sure it was well dried before 
placing the slices in ziplock bags and bringing it to Pennsic. By the 
time it got through traveling to Pennsic there were fewer slices and 
more crumbs but there was plenty. I was unsure how much this would 
rise. At one point the recipe says "tin" and elsewhere it says "to 
grease the pans", so I used just a single loaf pan. It rose well above 
the edges of the pan and was browning on the outside while the inside 
was still wet. So I sliced it in half parallel to the table top, set 
the pieces side by side and continued to bake them for a while and then 
sliced and left them in the warm oven until dried.

I froze the two sauces so that they would keep better and so that if 
the top of the containers came loose in transit there would be less of 
a mess.
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THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas          
StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****