[Sca-cooks] Redaction done this weekend

[Mairi Ceilidh]

Bravo!  I am SO glad to see someone else using Libro Novo.  Have you tried
Messisbugo's version of pasta?  It is made with bread crumbs in addition to
the normal pasta ingredients.  Good stuff, until you have to do it by hand
for a feast for 100.

My experience with semolina versus unbleached flour has been exactly the
opposite of yours.  I love semolina and the way it works.  Making pasta with
regular flour is a trial to my religion.  Of course, that could be affected
by the oppressive humidity we usually live with in North Trimaris.

Please keep us posted on other experiments with recipes from the Libro Novo.
There's a lot of great stuff in there.

Mairi Ceilidh



> Libro Novo (Banchetti) by Cristoforo Messisbugo from the 1557 edition of
the Libro Novo printed in Venice as translated by Master Basilius Phocas
(MKA Charles A. Potter)
>
> The following recipe:
>
> 51 C     TO MAKE TEN PLATTERS OF OBLONG RAVOLI IN THE LOMBARDY STYLE, FOR
A DAY OF MEAT AND FOR LENT
> Take Swiss chard well washed, and mince, and you shall fry it in six
ounces of fresh butter, note that it does not take the smoke.  And then when
it shall be fried you shall leave it to cool a while, then you shall put it
in a pot with two pounds of good hard cheese well grated, and four eggs, and
four ounces of sugar, a quarter (ounce) of pepper, and a ounce of cinnamon,
and you shall mix everything well together.
> Then you shall make your pastry sheet with a small amount of butter and an
egg, and then make your small ravioli long, which you shall cook in good
broth for a day of meat and for a Lenten day in water with butter.  And then
when they shall be ready for the banquet, you shall put over them a pound of
good grated cheese, and a quarter (ounce) of pepper, and three ounces of
sugar, blend together everything.
> And then when they shall be ready to set for the banquet you shall cover
them with other plates, and you shall put them over hot ashes, so that they
would stay hot till it is enough that you shall want to send to table.  And
note that such like small ravioli you with it can serve, and alone, and for
covering capons, ducks, pigeons, and others you want.
>
> I made two versions of ravoli dough.  One was unbleached flour - It worked
fairly smooth, easy to handle, roll out, sealed extremely well.  The other
version I used semolina flour mixed with a bit of the unbleached flour (I
ended up adding 2 tables of unbleached flour to the semolina flour).
>
> The recipe I ended up with was 2 & 1/2 cups flour, 1 egg and 1 egg white.
I cut in four tablespoons of butter and a 1/2 teaspoon of salt (next time I
will increase the salt to the full teaspoon called for in the recipe.) I
also added a tablespoon of water to the semolina batch, but only a half
tablespoon to the unbleached batch.
>
> The semolina batch - was much fussier to work with when trying to make the
ravoli.  It tore easily, and just didn't want to seal tightly.
>
> When cooked both batches pretty much looked alike. But the semolina batch
was slightly toothier to eat.  I liked it better.  I don't know if this
because this is how I expect the ravoli noodle to taste or what.  It wasn't
chef-boy-r-dee tender.
>
> The filling:
>
> I stopped at a small cheese import store and got some aged provolone,
parmesan, and pedano (a grating cheese).
>
> I bought one bunch of red chard at the grocery store.  I chopped the
leaves fine - expecting it to cook down more than it did. It didn't act like
turnip/mustar/spinach greens at all. It held up surprisingly well during the
stir fry/sautee in butter before mixing with the cheese mixture.  I ended up
with about 1 & 1/2 cups of the chard mixture.
> I used approximately 1/3 cup grated of each cheese.  I added 2 eggs, and
1/2 teaspoon of grated pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon.  And two
tablespoons of turbinado (raw) sugar.  Okay flavoring - nothing to make the
taste buds jump.
>
> I daubed the mixture in rounded teaspoons onto the bottom later of dough,
marked between the mixtures with egg wash and laid the top noodle over it.
Then, I pressed between the lumps to help -bond- the layers of dough
together, before I cut the noodles apart.
>
> The ravioli was boiled in strained chicken stock.  I strained the noodles
and moved them to serving bowls.
>
> I sprinkled the mixture of cheese/sugar/cinnamon/pepper over the top.  It
melted onto the noodles in a pleasing pattern, aroma.
>
> I like the cooked texture of the semolina noodle better.  I need to
granulate the sugar finer next time before using it.  The flavor was good
but not anything to write home about.
>
> Next time I believe I would like to try pecorino romano, pedano, and some
Gorgonzola.  I would like the flavor to -pop- a bit more.
>
> I also want to try one of the puff pastries next.  Perhaps Thursday
night...
>
> Kateryn de Develyn
> Barony of Coeur d'Ennui
> Kingdom of Calontir
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