Class Recipes From Previous years

My Father, Daniel Poliak was born in Shanghai before the war. His Father was a Russian Jew, and his Mother was a French/Polish Jew. They fled to Shangai – after my father was born they divorced. My Father then lived with his Father, and his Mother married a British man. The war broke-out and my Grandmother was interned as she was a British subject. My Father extremely saddened by this needed distractions, while living with his Father in Shangai, he decided he wanted to learn how to cook, and did so by watching and the teachings from his Amma.

Growing up here in CA, my Father would make this dish in the summer and fall when entertaining, which he and my Mother did often.

This dish rings “seasonal” to me!

Baklazhanaya Ikra -Russian Eggplant Caviar

Baklazhanaya Ikra, a popular vegetarian spread prepared specially with large eggplants and this dish resembles taste wise quite like our Indian Baingan Bharta..This caviar is prepared simply by grilling eggplants in oven from which their flesh is taken and prepared along with onions, canned tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, salt and pepper powder.Chopped tomatoes brings them a beautiful colour and this Russian eggplant spread tastes fabulous simply when served along with any bread even though Russians goes for their famous rye bread...This spread take an important role in most of Russian home, as this eggplant caviar is known well in Russia as the Poor Man's Caviar

CHICKPEA DIP WITH GRILLED PITA

And gold chickpeas were growing on the banks.

Sappho, Circa 610 – 580 B.C.

Sappho, referred to as the “tenth Muse,’ was often quoted in ancient literature. Unfortunately, only fragments of her poetry have survived. This dish is inspired by one such fragment and by the many delicious chickpea purees found on the island of Lesbos, Sappho’s birthplace.

Alexis, the fourth-century B.C. playwright, joked, “How many traps to catch bread do unhappy mortals set,” referring to the many dipping appetizers sensed before a Greek feast. This puree makes a wonderful ‘trap” for warm pita or flatbreads and is also delicious served on a bed of salad greens. Photograph on page 4.

1 large onion, diced 1/2 cup olive oil

1 cup dried chickpeas, soaked overnight, rinsed, and drained

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon freshly milled pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups vegetable or chicken stock

2 large garlic cloves, chopped

Juice and grated zest of 1 lemon

6 pita breads

3 tablespoons minced fresh mint

Sauté the onion in cup of the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat until golden, about 10 minutes. Add the chickpeas, oregano, bay leaf, pepper, salt, and stock. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer until the chickpeas are tender and the stock has been absorbed, about 1 hour. Allow to cool slightly. Discard the bay leaf.

Put the mixture in a food processor along with the garlic, lemon juice, and remaining 1/4 cup of oil. Pulse until combined but still coarse. Place on a plate.

Preheat the grill or broiler. Grill or broil the pita breads until warm, about 1 minute per side. Cui into triangles and arrange them around the dip.

Serve the chickpea dip topped with the lemon zest and fresh mint.

Serves 8

Segan, Francine, The Philosopher’s Kitchen. Random House, NY. 2004. p8.

ORZO PASTA

Servings 4

Per serving: 378 calories

1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms – rinsed in cold water

2 Tbsp. Unsalted butter

1 small onion – finely chopped

Coarse sale and ground pepper

1 ½ cup orzo

½ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

3 Tbsp. Chopped fresh parsley

Place mushrooms in a medium bowl; add 2 cups warm water. Let soak until softened, about 30 min. Drain in a sieve lined with a paper towel or coffee filter, reserving liquid. Squeeze mushrooms to remove excess liquid; roughly chop.

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, cook stirring occasionally, until softened, 5 min. Season generously with salt and pepper. Add orzo; cook, stirring often, until orzo is golden brown and fragrant, about 5 min.

Add porcini, reserved liquid, and 2 ½ cups water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer, stirring often, until orzo has absorbed most liquid and is creamy, 15-20 min. Stir in Parmesan; season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle parsley on top.

SIMPLE ORZO PASTA

Servings 6

12 ounces orzo pasta

5 tbsp. Unsalted butter, chilled

6 ounces Kasseri cheese, shredded

Salt and pepper, to taste

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add orzo and cook until tender, about 10-12 min. Immediately drain in a colander and put in a warm bowl.

Add butter, cut into small pieces and stir to coat orzo. Mix well and add cheese. Stir until incorporated. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

HERBED OLIVE PUREE

It is a hard matter, my fellow citizens,

to argue with the belly, since it has no ears.

—CATO THE ELDER, 234—149 B.C.

Cato, the Roman orator and statesman, wrote a book about small farm management in which he detailed a recipe for chopped olives mixed with herbs and spices eaten at the start of a meal. This modern version is not only wonderful as a dip with pita bread but also delicious tossed with cooked spaghetti.

1/2 cup pitted oil-cured black olives

1/2 cup pitted large green olives

1/4 cup chopped sweet onion

1 garlic clove, minced

10 fresh mint leaves

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/4 cup minced assorted fresh herbs, such as parsley, mint, and basil

6 pita breads, warmed and cut into quarters

Puree the olives, onion, garlic, mint leaves, oil, fennel seeds, cumin, and coriander in a food processor until smooth. Place the puree in a serving bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature for at least 6 hours.

Before serving, stir well, top with the minced herbs, and place on a plate with the warm pita bread sections.

Serves 10

Segan, Francine, The Philosopher’s Kitchen. Random House, NY. 2004. p5.

Ancient honey and sesame fritters - (Arxaies Tiganites me meli kai sousami)

INGREDIENTS

120 gr flour
225 ml water
2 spoons honey
Oil for frying
1 spoon (15 gr) baked sesame seeds

METHOD

Mix the flour, the water and one spoon of honey and make a dough. Heat 2 spoons oil in a frying pan and pour ¼ of the mixture. When it thickens turn it upside down 2 -3 times to fry it in both sides. Prepare 3 more fritters following the given instructions. Serve them hot, pour over the rest of the honey and dredge sesame seeds over them.

ROASTED LEEKS AND APPLE

Serves 4

Virgil, amo others, viewed farming as a noble Undertaking. He wrote of a farmer who, although Poor and owning only a tiny plot of land, was content: "In happiness he equaled the wealth of kings, and returning home late at night he used to load his table with banquets from his own land. First he was in the spring to gather roses, and apples in the fall; and when the grim winter was still bursting rocks with her frost and braking the current of rivers with ice, already he was cutting soft-haired hyacinths."

This exceptionally delicious mix of leeks and apples makes a gorgeous side dish that is perfect with plain roasted meats or chicken. Simple to make, it's great for parties because you can easily double or triple the recipe.

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons white wine
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
1 teaspoon anise seeds
3 large leeks, white & tender green parts
1 crisp apple, such as Granny Smith or Fiji, cored & sliced
Salt and freshly milled pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F.
2. Whisk together the oil, wine, marjoram, and anise seeds in a medium baking pan until combined. Quarter the leeks and slice into 2-inch pieces. Add the leeks and apple to the dressing, season to taste with salt and pepper, and toss to coat.
3. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring gently about every 10 minutes, until the leeks are golden and the apple is soft. Serve immediately.

TYROPSOMO: FETA CHEESE BREAD

2 1/ 4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup warm water

1 cup of feta cheese, crumbled

1 package of dry yeast

¼ cup of olive oil.

Put the warm water in a medium bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the water and stir. When it starts to bubble (in about 10 min) , add the flour and start to stir with a wooden spoon (or by hand.) Add the olive oil slowly until the dough is pliable and smooth.

Work in the fetal cheese, kneading until evenly distributed throughout the dough. Cover the dough and let it rest for 30 min.

Place the dough on a lightly oiled cookie sheet and flatten with the palms of the hand. The dough shouldn’t be any higher than about 1 ¼ inches. Score the top lightly in squares or diamond shapes. Cover with a towel and allow the dough to rise for one hour.

Preheat the over to 340 F (170 C)

Bake for approximately 30-40 min. It should be done on the bottom and nicely browned on top.

Lochen (Noodle) Kugel

Traditional Jewish Dish

Rabbi Gil Marks, in his thorough ?World of Jewish Cooking? (Simon & Schuster, 1999), writes that a kugel (which comes from the German word for ball) was originally a dumpling made from flour or stale bread that was cooked in the cholent, a Sabbath stew of beans and beef.

1 cup raisins

Sherry or orange juice

1 pound egg noodles

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces, more for pan

4 large eggs

3 cups cottage cheese

1 cup sour cream

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Grated zest of 1 lemon

Pinch of salt.

1. Put raisins in a microwave-safe bowl or small saucepan and cover

with sherry or orange juice. Heat on stove top or in microwave oven until liquid is steaming hot (about 1 1/2 minutes in microwave or 3 minutes on stove). Let cool while you prepare kugel mixture.

2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter an 11-by-17-inch jellyroll pan.

Cook noodles according to package directions and drain well.

Immediately return noodles to pot and add butter. Toss until butter melts.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, cottage cheese, sour

cream, sugar, cinnamon, lemon zest and salt. Drain raisins and add to bowl along with buttered noodles. Mix well.

4. Spread mixture in prepared pan and smooth top. Bake until top is

crusty and golden, 25 to 35 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Yield: 8 to 12 servings.

The Chinese Moon Festival

Every year on the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, when the moon is at its maximum brightness for the entire year, the Chinese celebrate "zhong qiu jie" (The Moon festival, also called the Mooncake or Mid-Autumn festival). Children are told the story of the moon fairy living in a crystal palace, who comes out to dance on the moon's shadowed surface. The legend surrounding the "lady living in the moon" dates back to ancient times, to a day when ten suns appeared at once in the sky. The Emperor ordered a famous archer to shoot down the nine extra suns. Once the task was accomplished, Goddess of Western Heaven rewarded the archer with a pill that would make him immortal. However, his wife found the pill, took it, and was banished to the moon as a result.

Legend says that her beauty is greatest on the day of the Moon festival.

Moon Cakes Recipe

Makes 24

Moon Cakes are eaten on Chinese New Years because the Chinese New Year is based on the lunar calendar (and the little treats look like the moon). They are also eaten as part of an autumn, harvest type celebration that falls on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month.

The real moon cakes are far fancier than these will be, often with impressions of Chinese letters on them.

Ingredients:

1/4-cup sugar  

2 egg yolks

1/2 cup salted butter  

1-cup all-purpose flour  

1-cup red bean paste

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Combine the butter, sugar and 1 egg yolk and stir.

Mix in the flour.

Form the dough into one large ball and wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for half an hour.    Unwrap the chilled dough and form small balls in the palms of your hand.

Make a hole with your thumb in the center of each moon cake and fill with about half a teaspoon of red bean paste.    Brush each cake with the other beaten egg yolk and place on a cookie sheet.

Bake for about 20 minutes or just until the outside edges are slightly brown.

A Boke of Gode Cookery Presents

Potage of Rice

PERIOD: England, 15th century | SOURCE: MS Harley 5401 | CLASS: Authentic

DESCRIPTION: A thick rice dish, colored gold

ORIGINAL RECEIPT:

Potage of Rice. Recipe rice, & pike þam & wash þam clene, & seth þam to þai breste; þan lat þam kele & cast þerto almond mylke, & do þerto a lityll porcyon of wyne, anoþer of hony, and colour it with saferon, & boyle it & serof it forth.

- Hieatt, Constance B. "The Middle English Culinary Recipes in MS Harley 5401: An Edition and Commentary." Medium Ævum vol. 65, no. 1 (1996): 54-71.

GODE COOKERY TRANSLATION:

Pottage of Rice. Recipe. Rice, & pick them & wash them clean, & boil them till they burst; then let them cool & add there-to almond milk, & do there-to a little portion of wine, another of honey, and color it with saffron, & boyle it & serve it forth.

INGREDIENTS:

cooked rice
Almond Milk
white wine
honey
saffron (or substitute with turmeric or yellow food coloring)

DIRECTIONS:

Place the cooked rice in a soup or sauce pot; add enough almond milk to just come to the top of the rice. Add a small amount of the wine, then add enough honey to slightly sweeten. Color with the saffron or its substitutes. Bring to slow boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Cook slowly until the liquid cooks down and the mixture thickens, being careful not to scorch or burn the bottom. Serve forth!

ROMAN SWEET

ADAPTED FROM THE ROMAN COOKERY OF APICIUS

2 TSP. CINNAMON

1 TSP. GROUPD ROMEMARY

2 CUPS WHEAT FLOUR

2 TSP. BAKING POWDER

¼ CUP APPLE JUICE – CONCENTRATE

1 EGG

4 TBSP. HONEY

¾ CUP MILK

CHOPPED ALMONDS

In a bowl, mix all dry ingredients. Next, combine the juice concentrate, the egg, the honey and the milk. Blend well, but do not beat. Pour into a greased 9-inch round cake pan and bake at 375 degrees for about 30 min. Pour a little honey on top of the finished cake and sprinkle with chopped almonds.

Salad of Roasted Beets and Arugula with Blue Cheese Dressing

Recipe courtesy Tyler Florence

Show:

Food 911

Episode:

Tyler Talks Turkey

3 bunches baby beets, washed, trimmed, and halved
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 handful fresh thyme sprigs
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
5 bunches arugula, washed, dried, and hand-torn
Celery leaves from 1 bunch celery, about 1/2 cup
1 cup walnut halves and pieces, toasted
1/2 pound blue cheese, crumbled
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
1 lemon, juiced

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Lay the beets on a large sheet of aluminum foil, drizzle with the oil, toss the thyme on top, and season with salt and pepper. Fold up the foil tightly to make a sealed pouch and put it on a sheet pan. Bake until the beets are tender when pierced, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. (Drop a knife in the center of 1 beet; if it slides out without resistance, they're done.) Let the beets cool to room temperature and remove skins. Put beets in a large mixing bowl. Add the arugula, celery leaves, and walnuts; toss to combine.
To make the blue cheese dressing: Put the blue cheese and sour cream in a bowl, mashing with a fork to combine. Add the chives, lemon juice, and a few turns of freshly ground black pepper; mix to incorporate, leaving a few chunks of cheese in the dressing. Thin out the dressing with a tablespoon of water, if you wish, to smooth out the consistency.

Pour the blue cheese dressing over the salad and toss gently to coat; season with salt and pepper. Put the salad on a chilled platter and serve.

Perys en Composte

PERIOD: England, 15th century | SOURCE: Harleian MS. 279 |

DESCRIPTION: Pears in wine and spice

ORIGINAL RECIPE:

Perys en Composte. Take Wyne an Canel, & a gret dele of Whyte Sugre, an set it on þe fyre & hete it hote, but let it nowt boyle, an draw it þorwe a straynoure; þan take fayre Datys, an pyke owt þe stonys, an leche hem alle þinne, an caste þer-to; þanne take Wardonys, an pare hem and sethe hem, an leche hem alle þinne, & caste þer-to in-to þe Syryppe; þanne take a lytil Sawnderys, and caste þer-to, an sette it on þe fyre; an yif þow hast charde quynce, caste þer-to in þe boyling, an loke þat it stonde wyl with Sugre, an wyl lyid wyth Canel, an caste Salt þer-to, an let it boyle; an þan caste yt on a treen vessel, & lat it kele, and serue forth.

- 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.

FRENCH VERSION

Poires au sirop parfumées de cannelle et de gingembre selon Wardonys in syryp (Poires au sirop), Harleian (15e siècle) et autres recettes anglaises.

Ingrédients (1 cfé = cuillère à café rase)

1 kg net de poires à cuire
600 g de vin rouge
200 g de sucre
2 cfé de cannelle
1/2 cfé de gingembre
1 cfé de vinaigre
1/8 cfé de clou de girofle
une pincée de safran

Recette (cuisson = 30 mn) Mélanger le vin et la cannelle, laisser reposer (1/2h) et passer plusieurs fois à l'étamine. Faire chauffer le vin avec le sucre, pour faire le sirop. Eplucher les poires, les couper en quartiers puis les pocher (30mn) dans ce sirop frémissant (si poires de type Williams pocher 10mn). Ajouter gingembre, safran et clou de girofle (éventuellement le vinaigre) et laisser refroidir les poires dans leur sirop.

Remarques et variantes Des recettes indiquent cannelle, anis, clou de girofle et macis, le gingembre étant ajouté à la fin de la cuisson.

On peut ajouter des dattes et des raisins secs.

On peut faire confire les poires dans un sirop plus léger, avec tous les ingrédients, pendant plusieurs heures à four doux.

MODERN TRANSLATION:

Pears in Compote. Take wine and cinnamon, & a great deal of white sugar, and set it on the fire and heat it hot, but don't let boil, and strain; then take fair dates, and pick out the stones, and cut thin, & add; then take pears, and pare them and boil them, and cut them in thin slices, and place in the syrup; then take a little sandalwood, and add, and set it on the fire; and if you have quinces, add them, and look that it stand well with sugar, and well laid with cinnamon, and add salt, and let it boil; and put it in a wooden container, & let it cool, and serve.

MODERN RECIPE:

2 cups red wine
2 Tbs. cinnamon
1 Tbs. sugar
1/2 cup sliced dates
4-6 pears, peeled, cored, and sliced thin
pinch salt
drop or two of red food coloring

Boil the pears until they are tender but not too soft; drain well. In a separate pan heat together the wine, cinnamon, and sugar. Remove from heat, strain the mixture to remove the cinnamon (I recommend using a sieve or China cap lined with cheesecloth or paper towels), then return to the fire. When hot, add the dates, pears, salt, and food coloring. Bring to a boil, allow to cook together for several minutes, then remove from heat. Place pears and wine in a wooden dish and allow to cool slightly before serving.

Our modern pears, which can be purchased fresh from the grocery store, are softer & sweeter than the type available to the Medieval cook, and don't need to be boiled to soften before cutting; I also find cutting cooked, soft pears a little inconvenient. To "pare" (from the Latin parare - to prepare) means to either "pare" (remove outer skin) or "to prepare;" I have thus chosen "to prepare" my pears by slicing before boiling.

Composte is an Old French word meaning "stewed fruit."

Wardonys were a type of English pear common in the Middle Ages - feel free to substitute any slightly hard, not-too-sweet variety.

Sawnderys, or sandalwood, was used primarily by Medieval cooks as a red food dye. It can taste rather nasty if not used properly, and is only recommend for authenticity's sake. Red food coloring is much cheaper and easier to find.

Source: www.GodeCookery.com

I Will be preparing the "Auld Alliance". A dish from the Scottish Highlands, steeped in the history of Scots animus toward England and strong kinship with France.

Ingredients: A good sized wedge of Roquefort cheese

Whiskey ( preferably Highland single malt, blended if you must)

Pound the cheese to a thick cream. Add drop by drop as much whiskey as it will "drink" to make a firm cream.

Pack into earthenware pots and chill in the fridge for 3 to 4 hours.

Serve with hot buttered toast or oatcakes.

Enjoy as a cream pate for the first course or at the end of a meal as a savory.

quince paste

Quince paste has a texture somewhere between that of stiff jelly and gumdrops.

Servings: Makes about 2 1/4 pounds.

Ingredients

4 medium quinces (about 2 pounds total)
1/4 to 1/2 cup water
2 to 3 cups sugar

Accompaniment: cheese and crackers

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°F and lightly oil a 1-quart terrine.

Scrub quinces and pat dry. In a small roasting pan bake quinces, covered with foil, in middle of oven until tender, about 2 hours, and transfer pan to a rack. When quinces are cool enough to handle, with a sharp knife peel, quarter, and core them.

In a food processor puree pulp with 1/4 cup water until smooth (if mixture is too thick, add remaining 1/4 cup water a little at a time, as needed). Force puree through a large fine sieve into a liquid cup measure and measure amount of puree. Transfer puree to a 3-quart heavy saucepan and add an equivalent amount of sugar.

Cook quince puree over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until it is thickened and begins to pull away from side of pan, about 25 minutes. Pour puree into terrine, smoothing top with an offset spatula, and cool. Chill puree, loosely covered with plastic wrap, until set, about 4 hours.

Run a thin knife around sides of terrine and invert quince paste onto a platter. (Quince paste keeps, wrapped well in wax paper and then plastic wrap and chilled, 3 months.)

Slice paste and serve with cheese and crackers.

Roman period

Fabaciae Verides et Bainae (Green and Baian Beans)

Ingredients:

500g soybeans with pod, or green beans

50ml Liquamen, or ½ tsp salt with 50ml wine

1-2 tblsp olive oil

1 tblsp minced coriander leaves (or ½ tblsp ground coriander seed)

1 tsp cumin seeds

½ minced branch of leek

Instructions:

Cook beans with Liquamen, oil, leek and spices.
Serve.

Renaissance period

Oat Bread

Ingredients:

5 ¾ to 6 ¼ cups wheat flour (or oat flour)

2 ½ cups oats (old fashioned, uncooked)

¼ cup honey (or granulated sugar)

4 ½ tsp yeast

2 ½ tsp salt

1 ½ cups water

1 ¼ cups milk

4 tblsp butter (½ stick)

Instructions:

In large bowl, combine 3 cups flour, oats, honey (or sugar), yeast and salt; mix well. In small saucepan, heat water, milk and butter until very warm (120ºF to 130ºF). Add to flour mixture. Blend until dry ingredients are moistened. By hand, gradually stir in enough remaining flour to make a stiff dough.
Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface. Knead 5 to 8 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Shape dough into ball; place in greased bowl, turning once. Cover; let rise in warm place 30 minutes or until doubled in size.
Punch down dough. Cover; let rest 10 minutes. Divide dough in half; shape to form loaves. (Option: Place in two greased 8 x 4 or 9 x 5-inch loaf pans.) Cover; let rise in warm place 15 minutes or until nearly doubled in size.
Brush tops of loaves lightly with butter and sprinkle with additional oats.
Heat oven to 375ºF. Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until dark golden brown. Remove to wire rack. Cool completely before slicing.

Makes 2 Loaves

Gingerbread

Source: Goud Kokery section of Curye on Inglysch: English culinary manuscripts to the fourteenth century, Hieatt & Butler

Take goode honey & clarifie it on [th]e fere, & take fayre paynemayn or wastel brede & grate it, & caste it into [th]e boylenge hony, & stere it well togyder faste with a sklyse [th]at it bren not to [th]e vessell. & [th]anne take it doun and put [th]erin ginger, longe pepper & saundres, & tempere itvp with [th]in handes; & than put hem to a flatt boyste & strawe [th]eron suger, & pick [th]erin clowes rounde about by [th]e egge and in [th]e mydes yf it piece you, &c.

Ingredients

1cup honey

3–4 cups bread crumbs

1teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper

1/4 teaspoon powdered saunders or a few drops red food coloring 1/4cup sugar 1/4teaspoon ground cloves

Bring the honey to a boil, skim off any scum and allow to simmer for a few minutes. Remove from heat and stir in breadcrumbs, ginger, white pepper and saunders or red food coloring until well mixed.

Pour mixture onto waxed paper and allow mixture to cool.

Mix the sugar and cloves together on a small plate.

Take the honey mixture and roll into a ball, and then roll in the sugar mixture.

Renaissance Date and Walnut Bread:

(From Patricia Weller’s Vegetable Harvest book)

This is one of my favorite quick bread recipes and when researching I found that all the ingredients were used in the Renaissance times.

Equipment: a non stick 1 quart rectangular bread pan

1 teaspoon best quality walnut oil (I used olive)

2 cups dates, pitted and cubed

A cup walnut halves, coarsely chopped

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon fine sea salt

½ cup honey

¾ cup hottest possible tap water

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 ½ cups unbleached all purpose flour

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Coat the pan with with the oil. Set aside

In a large bowl combine the dates, walnuts, baking soda, salt and honey. Add the hot water, stir to blend. Add the eggs and vanilla extract to the date mixture and stir to blend thoroughly and slowly add the flour, stirring to blend. The batter will be fairly thick.

Pour the batter into the bread pan, evening out the top with the back of a spatula. Place in the center of the oven and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean, 45-50 minutes.

Remove the pan from the oven. Turn the loaf out and place it on a rack to cool. Do not cut bread for 1 hour, for it will continue to bake as it cools.

Chawettys

Two Fifteenth Century p. 48/62

Take buttys of Vele, and mynce hem smal, or Porke, and put on a potte; take Wyne, and caste + er-to pouder of Gyngere, Pepir, and Safroun, and Salt, and a lytel ver+ ous, and do hem in a cofyn with yolks of Eyroun, and kutte Datys and Roysonys of Coraunce, Clowys, Maces, and + en ceuere + in cofyn, and lat it bake tyl it be y-now.

3 cups chopped pork or veal (about 18 oz)
3/4 c red wine
5 threads saffron
3/4 t ginger
3/4 t pepper
3/4 t salt
1 t wine vinegar
9 egg yolks
3/8 c dates
3/8 c currants
1/4 t cloves
1/2 t mace
double 9" pie crust

Cut the meat up fine (1/2" cubes or so). Simmer it in a cup and a half of water for about 20 minutes. Make pie crust, fill with meat, chopped dates and currents. Mix spices, wine, vinegar and egg yolks and pour over. Put on a top crust. Bake in a 350deg. oven for 50 minutes, then 400deg. for 20 minutes or until the crust looks done.