Recipe: Socca

Basically a faster, smaller version of cecina.

1 1/2 cups garbanzo flour
1 1/2 cups water
2 Tbls olive oil, plus some
3/4 tsp salt
black pepper

Stir together garbanzo flour, water, 2 Tbls olive oil, and salt. Let the batter rest for 30 or more minutes.

Put a cast iron skillet in the oven, close to the top, and preheat to 450 F. When it hits temperature, set the oven to high broil. Remove skillet from oven, pour in a small amount of olive oil to coat the bottom, and pour in the batter. Broil the socca for 5-8 minutes, until the top is browned and crispy.

Remove from oven, drizzle olive oil on top, salt, and plenty of freshly ground black pepper.

Recipe: Lambswool Wassail

A sort-of medieval recipe, I haven't found a good primary source, only other people saying that it is medieval. A small verse:

Next crowne the bowle full of
With gentle lambs wooll,
Adde sugar, nutmeg, and ginger,
With a store of ale too,
And thus ye must doe
To make the Wassaile a swinger.

No reference was listed, and it sounds fake; but I haven't had time to investigate further. Anyway the recipe is unusual and delicous regardless of provenance.

3 liters of apple juice or cider (I did part unfiltered apple juice, part carbonated apple juice)
6 large apples
2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground ginger
1 cup brown sugar

Preheat oven to 375 F. Remove wax from apples and cut out the cores. Place them in a cake pan and add about 1/2" of water. Roast the apples for 35-45 minutes, until they are mushy and the skin is peeling off.

Meanwhile, put the sugar in a pan and add enough juice to cover it. Heat over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Stir in the nutmeg and ginger. Keep it over low heat.

Remove and discard the skin from the roasted apples. I found that different varieties of apple peeled differently, and some apple flesh needed to be scraped off the back of the pulled-off skin, but it wasn't difficult.

Puree the apple flesh in a food processor or blender until it is totally smooth like thick apple sauce. If using a blender, add enough juice to get it to blend, but not enough to really liquefy it. It needs to be thick and drier than usual applesauce.

Set a crock pot on high heat. Pour in the apple juice/cider and the sugar mix. Stir together. Then pour in the pureed apple and whisk it. It should float to the top and resemble a wool fleece soaking in cider. Let it heat up to desired temperature, then set the crock pot to low or warm to maintain temperature for the duration of your winter feast.

Recipe: Pety Pernauntes

Period: England, 1300s-1400s
Sources: Medieval Cookery

Crust:
1 cup semola flour
1 Tbls. sugar
1 tiny pinch of saffron
1/8 tsp. salt
6 Tbls. butter
1/4 cup water

Filling:
6 egg yolks
1 Tbls. water
1/2 tsp. gelatin
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. powdered ginger
1/4 cup minced dates
1/4 cup minced raisins, dried currant berries, or similar

For the crust: Stir together the flour, sugar, saffron, and salt. Cut in the butter until it creates moist crumbs, leaving some small chunks of butter. Stir in the water, forming a dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill it in the fridge while making the filling.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Dissolve the gelatin in the water. Beat together the egg yolks, gelatin, sugar, and powdered ginger until the mixture is very light, as light as you can reasonably get it. Then stir in the dates and raisins.

Divide the crust dough into 12 pieces, 6 of them slightly smaller than the others. Roll the larger balls out into circles and line 6 cups in a mini tart pan. Put about 2 Tbls. of filling into each cup--there will be a little extra, so divide it evenly. Then roll the smaller balls of dough to make top crusts. Leave a little bit of space, if you can, between the filling and the top crust.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the crust is golden brown.

Recipe: Pork Stewed with Apples and Pears

Period: Basic medieval European
Sources: Adarhysenthe, (research later)

Pork rub:
3 Tbls brown sugar
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 Tbls salt
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp dill weed

Main:
3 lb. pork loin
2 cups thinly sliced apples
2 cups pear halves (or 2 cans of pears canned in juice)
1 can chicken broth (what size can?)

Sauce:
Pear juice (from canned pears) or like 1 cup apple juice? if using fresh pears?
2 heaping spoonfuls of apple jelly
1/4 cup heavy cream or some semola flour

Preheat oven to 400 F and grease a roasting pan.

Mix the pork rub in a small bowl. Massage the pork loin with the rub, then place the pork loin into the roasting pan. Place sliced apples and pears around pork. Pour chicken broth and half the pear juice over the fruit, save the rest of the pear juice for the sauce later.

Bake at 400 degrees for 1 hr 10 min or until meat is 145 degrees internally.

Remove the roast from oven, place the pork on carving board and place the fruit in a separate bowl using a slotted spoon.

Pour remaining pan juices into sauce pan, add rest of the pear juice and apple jelly. Bring to a boil. Boil for 4 minutes. Thicken the sauce using either cream or semola.

Recipe: Basbousa

Period:
Sources:
(need to do research)

Cake batter:
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup raw sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups fine semola
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup plain yogurt
12-15 almonds – blanched and split


Syrup topping:
2 cups raw sugar
1 1/2 cups water
2 tsp rose essence (or desired extract flavoring)
1/2 tsp lemon juice

Preheat oven to 300 F. Grease a large cake pan.

In a large bowl, mix the butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and beat well.

Mix the semola, baking powder and baking soda in another bowl. Add this slowly into the butter mixture alternately with yogurt.

Spread batter into the cake pan. Put the almonds on top of the cake at equal distances so that when you cut into pieces later, each piece has an almond topping in the center.

Bake for 30-35 minutes.

For the syrup, dissolve sugar in water over medium heat, add the lemon juice and the rose essence and bring to a boil. Let it boil for 5-7 minutes, then set it in a container filled with cold water to cool the syrup.

When the cake is done, slowly pour the cooled syrup over the hot cake. This works best to keep it in the pan so the syrup can be soaked into the cake. Serve the cake once it is completely cool.

Recipe: Orange Almond Cake

Period: Medieval in Spain, Italy, Middle East

Sources: (I need to do research)

2 large bitter oranges, left whole (or a mix of citrus fruits such as sweet oranges, grapefruit, and lemon)
6 eggs
2 cups almond meal
1 cup raw sugar
1 tsp baking powder

Place the oranges (I used 1 small sweet orange, 3 tiny lemons, and a grapefruit) in a saucepan and barely cover them with water. Bring to a boil, lower the water to a simmer and leave on low heat, covered, for 1 hour. (I saw a recipe that said they can be microwaved in a covered container for 8 minutes instead of boiling, but I haven't tried it.) When done, remove the oranges from the pan and leave to cool.

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Butter and flour, with semolina flour, a 10-inch springform tin. 

Chop the fruit into chunks, removing seeds. Puree them in a blender. Make sure they are completely pureed and there are no chunks of peel. Measure 3 cups of fruit puree and discard any extra. Then thoroughly blend the eggs with the 3 cups of fruit.

In a large bowl, mix the almond meal, sugar and baking powder, then stir in the egg-orange mixture, just until it is mixed. 

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45-60 minutes. The cake is done when it turns a deep golden brown, has come away slightly from the sides of the tin, and a tester comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool completely in the tin before turning it out gently on the serving plate. It is good served plain, or with cream or syrup.  It can be stored in the refrigerator.

Recipe: Spiced Almond Biscuits

Period: plausibly medieval

Sources: Ricciarelli, Almendrados, Acı badem kurabiyesi, Chinese almond cookie, Qurabiya, Almond biscuit, Macaroon, Vanilla

1/2 cup cold butter

1/4 cup coconut oil or lard

1/2 cup raw sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 eggs

1/2 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

3 cups almond meal

about 1/2 cup cinnamon sugar

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, or grease it.

Cut the butter into small cubes. In a medium bowl, put in the butter, coconut oil/lard, and sugars. Use a pastry cutter to mix the butter and shortening into the sugar. When it is somewhat creamy, a beater can be used to mix it to a smooth, creamy texture. 

Beat in the vanilla and eggs until creamy again. Then stir in the baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

Stir in the almond meal one cup at a time. It will create a very soft, sticky dough.

Form the dough into small balls, the volume of about 2 tablespoons. Roll the balls in the cinnamon sugar until they are completely coated. Place the balls on the baking sheet at least 2" apart, as they spread quite a bit while baking. Gently compress the top of each ball, so it is just barely flat.

Bake for 11-13 minutes, until they are golden-brown around the edges.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies.