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.

Recipe: Morrocan Harchas (Semolina Cakes)

Period: 1200s, Spain, Morocco
Sources: About Morrocan Food, Medieval Spanish Chef

2 cups fine semola flour
3 tablespoons coarse raw sugar
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 cup soft or melted butter
1/2 - 3/4 cup milk

In a mixing bowl, stir together the semola, sugar, and salt. Stir in the melted butter until the mixture is like damp sand. Stir in 1/2 cup milk. The dough needs to be very soft, like very wet cookie dough. Add more milk if necessary. It will look too wet to a baker's eye.

Let the dough rest for a few minutes. It will stiffen as the semolina absorbs moisture.

Meanwhile, preheat the frying pan over high heat, then turn heat to medium-low.

Prepare a pressing folder by cutting open 3 edges of a plastic storage bag, or cutting a rectangle of baking parchment and folding in half into a square.

Form a small ball of dough, place on one half of the pressing folder, fold over the other half, and use a flat-bottomed plate to press the dough into a circle about 1/4" thick. Peel off the top half, flip the dough onto one hand and peel off the other half of the folder.

Cook them over medium-low heat for several minutes on each side until each side has patches of deep golden brown. try to flip it only once.

Serve with toppings as with pancakes or scones, such as butter, syrup, jam, cream, or savory with cheese and meat.

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.