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: 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.

Recipe: Chicken & Fruit Pie

Period: 1200s-1600s, Europe
Sources: Gode Cookery, Serve Them Forth

Use a 9" deep dish pie tin. You also want a meat thermometer.

Pie crust:

3/4 cup butter
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour 
1/2 cup water
1/4 tsp. salt (if using unsalted butter)
beaten egg whites

Filling:

2 Tbls. honey 
1/2 cup dried fruits, minced (I used fancy raisins, blueberries, prunes, cherries)
1 Tbls. ground cinnamon 
2-3 egg yolks, depending on the size of eggs (I used 3 "medium")
2 Tbls. minced nuts (I used pecans)
1 cup carrots, finely chopped
3/4 cup fennel bulb, finely chopped
2 cups chicken, cut into about 1" cubes
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. mace

Crust: Cut the butter into the flour until it is crumbly and there is no more dry powder. Dissolve the salt (if using) in the water, and stir into the flour to make a soft dough. Knead it a bit to get it all together. Form a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and place in fridge to chill until hard.

Mix the chicken pieces, salt, pepper, thyme, and mace. Set aside, let chill.

Stir together the rest of the filling ingredients.

When the crust dough is hard, divide it in half. Place a piece of waxed paper on the counter, and sprinkle with flour. Roll out half the dough to a circle big enough to fit in the pie tin. It should be somewhat thick crust. Place the tin upside-down on the dough, and flip it over with the dough and waxed paper to get the dough inside. Remove the waxed paper and press the dough down into the tin.

Around this time, set the oven to preheat to 350 F.

Stir the chicken mix into the rest of the filling. Spread the filling into the pie tin.

Roll out the rest of the crust in the same way, using the waxed paper to lift it and place it on the top of the pie. Trim the edge of the crust and pinch the top and bottom together.

Brush the beaten egg whites onto the crust. Make a cool design on the top crust with the remaining dough! Make sure there are some cuts in the top crust. Brush the design with egg whites as well.

Bake for about 1 hour, until the internal temperature reaches or exceeds 165 F.