17 June 2011

chickpea crepes, Andalusian recipeFood Challenge Eleven: A&S50 Challenge

Counterfeit (Vegetarian) Isfîriyâ of Garbanzos: Food Challenge Eleven: A&S50 Challenge
Savory crepes of chickpeas
Makes 8-10 crepes

13th century Andalusian recipe

Translation: Pound some garbanzos, take out the skins and grind them into flour. And take some of the flour and put into a bowl with a bit of sourdough and some egg, and beat with spices until it's all mixed. Fry it as before in thin cakes, and make a sauce for them.

1 c chickpea flour
4 t cinnamon
1/4 c sourdough (omitted for gluten-free option, no substitution was necessary)
4 eggs
½ t salt
1 t pepper
1 c water
olive oil or pale sesame oil (for frying, approx 4 T)

Combine the flour, sourdough, eggs, spices, water and beat with a fork to a uniform, thin batter. Use the ¼ c measure to add batter to the frying pan. Add water to the batter if the first one is not crepe-thin. Fry at medium high temperature until brown on both sides, turning once. Add more oil as necessary. Drain on a paper towel. Serve with sauce.

Many thanks to Baroness Ellen de Wynter and her family for testing this recipe for me. It is toddler approved.

Based on: How to Milk an Almond Stuff an Egg And Armor a Turnip: A Thousand Years of Recipes By David Friedman and Elizabeth Cook ISBN: 978-1-460-92498-3
http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Medieval/To_Milk_an_Almond.pdf Used with permission.

Banana chicken dessert

A recipe for Judhaba of bananas by Ibn al Mahdi
Al-Warraq, 10th century Baghdadi recipe

Translation: Peel the bananas and set them aside. Spread a ruqaqa (thin round of bread) in the pan and spread a layer of bananas over it. Sprinkle the banana layer with pure sugar, and spread another ruqaqa all over it. Repeat the layering of banana, sugar, and ruqaqa until the pan is full. Pour enough rose water to drench the layered ingredients, [put the pan in a hot tannur,] suspend a fine chicken over it [and let it roast] God willing.

10 oz Iranian lavash ( typically four sheets)
1-4 T rose water
3 ¼ lb ripe plantains or bananas
[strawberries, optional]
4-5 lb fryer chicken
½ c sugar
2 lemons

Oil the bottom of a pot. Line the pot with lavash. Cover that with sliced (or mashed) bananas and sliced strawberries, if used. Use one half lemon to sprinkle lemon juice over each layer. Sprinkle over them 2 T of sugar. Cover with another layer of lavash. Repeat, and top with the last layer of lavash. Sprinkle the rose water sparingly over that.

Slice 1 ½ lemons and slide the lemons under the chicken skin. Arrange your chicken so it is suspended above the layers. Bake the chicken until done—roughly 20 minutes a pound at 350°, to an internal temperature of about 190°—letting the drippings fall on and soak into the layered bread and bananas. Serve the chicken for dinner and then the dessert will be just the right temperature to serve. Ingus recommends a cold glass of milk with dessert.

• Cariadoc did it by running a hardwood skewer lengthwise through the chicken and laying it across the top edge of a pot.
• Samia did it by using a large convection oven and placing the chickens directly on an oven rack. The lavash and fruit were layered on a jelly roll pan which was placed on a lower oven rack beneath the chicken.
• Ingus made the banana-lavash layers in an 8 inch cake pan. Place cake pan inside a Dutch oven, cover with the cooling rack, and place chicken on cooling rack, suspending it about 2 inches above the lavash. Put Dutch Oven and lemon-impregnated chicken into pre-heated 350 degree oven for one hour, then turn chicken over for another hour.

NOTICE: Normally, 20 minutes per pound at 350 is sufficient to cook chicken, but the lack of heat from below because of the cake cooking there inhibits the roasting, and the meats within, around the thigh bones and along the spine, do not cook as quickly. Since the point of this was to have chicken that could service double duty, it is important to give it the extra cooking time to get the flesh fully brought up to temp.


Many thanks to Master Ingus Moen (of bardic fame) for the detailed cooking suggestions. Thanks also to Baroness Euriaut Deri for testing the recipe for a party so I could decide it wasn't awful!

Modified from: How to Milk an Almond Stuff an Egg And Armor a Turnip: A Thousand Years of Recipes By David Friedman and Elizabeth Cook ISBN: 978-1-460-92498-3 http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Medieval/To_Milk_an_Almond.pdf Used with permission.

12 June 2011

Andalusian Cheesy Bread

Cheese and Flour Cake
al-Andalus 13th century recipe

Knead the necessary quantity of flour, one time with water, another with oil, and to it add yeast and milk until it has the same consistency as the dough of fritters, and leave it until it has next risen. Next grease with oil a large earthen pot, stretch in it a piece of dough, and over it a bit of cheese, and over the cheese a bit of dough, and so a little of one, and a bit of the other until the last of the dough and cheese. Next cover it with dough as you did in the previous recipe and cook it in the same way in the oven. Afterwards, drizzle it with honey, sprinkle it with sugar and pepper and eat it.

1 1/3 cup white flour
⅔ cup whole wheat flour
3 Tbl olive oil
½-¾ cup water
1 packet yeast
3 Tbl milk
12 oz cheese (Munster or provolone, shredded)

Topping (use larger amounts with pie pans):
6-10 Tbl honey
1-2 Tbl sugar
¼-½ tsp pepper

Proof yeast in ½ cup of water. Mix flours in a large bowl. Combine yeast, milk, olive oil. Mix liquids into the flour. Knead flours and liquid to a very dry dough, let sit five minutes. Knead the dough for about 5-10 minutes, until fairly uniform. Cover with a damp dish towel and leave 45 minutes to rise in a warm place. Divide dough in about 5-6 equal portions, flour and roll out to size of your pan (glass pie pans work well). Layer with sliced cheese. Bake 45 minutes at 350°.

Sprinkle with sugar and pepper, then drizzle the honey over it while hot. "Put the honey on the bread hot out of the oven so it got all melty and sprinkle with sugar in the raw and fresh ground pepper. It was awesome! Sweet, crunchy, and a little spicy. Plan on one loaf per table of 8 as a first course."

Cariadoc: This should probably be done with sourdough instead of yeast, but we have not tried it that way yet.

Translation and original redaction from: How to Milk an Almond Stuff an Egg And Armor a Turnip: A Thousand Years of Recipes By David Friedman and Elizabeth Cook ISBN: 978-1-460-92498-3 http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Medieval/To_Milk_an_Almond.pdf Used with permission.

Many thanks to The Honorable Lady Brigid ingen Maol-Mhichil of Northshield fame for testing this recipe. Her thoughts on the awesomness of this dish were echoed throughout the feast hall. I am grateful for her support on my first feast.~~Sayyeda al-Kaslaania

10 June 2011

Borrowing cast iron

I recently made a feast with an egg and veggie dish. In order to keep it
hot for serving, we cooked and served it in cast iron pans.

We borrowed many pieces of cast iron for this. The trick was that each
person used a different color of nail polish to put a dot on the handle
(closer to the pan end so it took less abuse). Then after the feast we
could comfortably get all the cast iron back to the original owners.
Being an enamel, nail polish survives several visits to the oven.

Since cast iron is not period, what are other tools for getting hot
dishes to your tables when you have limited oven space?

05 June 2011

Lamb and walnut "burger" recipe, called Isfiriya

To Make Isfîriyâ (lamb and walnut "burgers")
Andalusia 13th century recipe

Pound the flesh of a leg until it is like brains. Remove the sinews and throw in pepper, half a spoon of honey, a little oil, as much as is needed, and a little water. Mix all smoothly with flour and do not neglect to pound it, and do not slacken in this, because it will cool and be ruined. Grease the pan with oil or fat, make the pounded meat into flatbreads and fry in the pan; if there be with the meat almonds or walnuts or apples, it will be superb, God willing.

12 oz lamb, ground [Substitute up to 6 oz with ground beef]
1 Tbl corn starch [use as a gluten-free sub for the wheat flour]
½ tsp pepper
1 tsp honey
2 Tbl olive oil
2/3 cup walnuts, chopped
[3 Tbl apple, chopped]
[almonds]
2 Tbl water

2 Tbl sesame oil for frying [This is pale, untoasted sesame oil]

Mix meat with remaining ingredients (the meat will absorb the water as dehydrated muscle), including optional walnuts, almonds, or apples. Make 8 patties and fry on medium to medium-high in a frying pan. Fry a minute or two on each side until cooked through.

Serve with garlic sauce and pita bread.

Translation and original redaction from: How to Milk an Almond Stuff an Egg And Armor a Turnip: A Thousand Years of Recipes By David Friedman and Elizabeth Cook ISBN: 978-1-460-92498-3 http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Medieval/To_Milk_an_Almond.pdf. Used with permission.

I am thankful for the recipe testing and other support offered by Meistari Katriona ni Chonarain of Northshield. ~~Sayyeda al-Kaslaania

03 June 2011

A Garlicky Sauce: Food Challenge Ten: A&S 50 Challenge

Garlicky sauce
Adapted from: Recipe for Thûmiyya, a Garlicky Dish
Andalusia 13th century recipe
Redaction by Sayyeda al-Kaslaania

Take a plump hen and take out what is inside it, clean that and leave aside. Then take four ûqiyas of peeled garlic and pound them until they are like brains, and mix with what comes out of the interior of the chicken. Fry it in enough oil to cover, until the smell of garlic comes out. Mix this with the chicken in a clean pot with salt, pepper, cinnamon, lavender, ginger, cloves, saffron, peeled whole almonds, both pounded and whole, and a little murri naqî'. Seal the pot with dough, place it in the oven and leave it until it is done. Then take it out and open the pot, pour its contents in a clean dish and an aromatic scent will come forth from it and perfume the area. This chicken was made for the Sayyid Abu al-Hasan and much appreciated.

5-8 oz of garlic cloves, peeled
1 tsp ginger, ground
¼ tsp cloves, ground
6 Tbl sesame oil
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper, ground
1 tsp cinnamon, ground
¼ cup almonds, ground
[pinch lavender, crushed]
¼ cup tamari or soy sauce
Olive oil for roasting garlic

Murri is fermented sauce, similar to soy sauce. Tamari is a soy-only sauce which is therefore gluten free. Soy- and wheat- sauce (sold commonly as soy sauce) would likely be closer to true murri.


Roast garlic: toss in olive oil and spread on a baking sheet. Bake for 10-15 minutes at 350 degrees F, stirring occasionally. When cooled, mash with the other ingredients. Let sit over night to allow the flavors to blend. Stir vigorously (or store it in a covered container and shake) just before serving. This sauce was made for Baroness Marwen de la Rivere of Northshield and much appreciated.

Clearly this recipe is far removed from the original-- and it turned out to be stunning. In preparing a feast which included some people who eat vegetarian and others with gluten intolerance, I revised this recipe to accompany roast chicken and savory crepes of chickpeas. Because I had already included in my feast one recipe that would be a culinary adventure, I did not include the lavender in this attempt. I certainly will for the next. ~~Sayyeda al-Kaslaania

Translation and original redaction from: How to Milk an Almond Stuff an Egg And Armor a Turnip: A Thousand Years of Recipes By David Friedman and Elizabeth Cook ISBN: 978-1-460-92498-3 http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Medieval/To_Milk_an_Almond.pdf  Used with permission.

Fish Cakes, called Muqluba al Turrikh

Maqluba al Tirrikh (Fish cakes)
al-Baghdadi, 13th century recipe

Take tirrikh and fry in sesame-oil: then take out, and place in a dish to cool. When cold, cut off the heads and tails, remove the spine, bone, and scale with the greatest care. Crumble and break up the flesh, and sprinkle with dry coriander, cumin, caraway and cinnamon. Break eggs, throw on, and mix well. Then fry in sesame-oil in a frying pan as maqluba is fried, until both sides are browned: and remove.

½ lb cod fillets
1 t caraway
2 T sesame oil, divided (pale “golden” Middle Eastern oil; not Asian toasted sesame oil)
1 ½ t cinnamon
½ t coriander
1 egg
1 t cumin
1 t salt

Tirrikh is a freshwater fish similar to salted herring. When using other fresh (or frozen) fish include the salt.

10" skillet, 1 Tbl sesame oil, cook the fillets 3-5 minutes on medium heat, removed them to paper towels to cool. Crumble the fillets into a bowl and add the spices and egg. The mixture will be moist, but should hold together well. Make 8 small patties approx 2" diameter and fry them in another tablespoon of sesame oil for 3-5 minutes each side, or until they are nicely crispy and brown. Carefully remove the patties to paper towel to drain, they are delicate.

Serve hot with warm pita and a vinegar based sauce.

I am grateful for the help of Maestra Giovanna di Battista da Firenze in testing this recipe, offering a revised redaction, and suggesting that salt and more spice was warranted. Her suggestion prompted me to see if the Internet held more details about what tirrikh might be, which allowed us to likely come closer to the original flavor of this recipe.~~Sayyeda al-Kaslaania

Translation and original redaction from: How to Milk an Almond Stuff an Egg And Armor a Turnip: A Thousand Years of Recipes By David Friedman and Elizabeth Cook ISBN: 978-1-460-92498-3 http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Medieval/To_Milk_an_Almond.pdf Used with permission.

02 June 2011

Eggplant relish served at Schutzenfest A.S.46

Another recipe for dressed eggplant by him (ibn al-Mahdi) too
Al-Warraq, 10th century Baghdad

Boil eggplant and chop it into fine pieces. Take a platter, and pour on it a little vinegar, white sugar, ground almonds, saffron, caraway seeds, casia, [and mix]. Spread the [chopped] eggplant and fried onion all over the sauce. Drizzle some olive oil on the dish and serve it, God willing.

Translation from: How to Milk an Almond Stuff an Egg And Armor a Turnip: A Thousand Years of Recipes By David Friedman and Elizabeth Cook ISBN: 978-1-460-92498-3
http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Medieval/To_Milk_an_Almond.pdf Reprinted with permission.

16-24 servings as an appetizer

1 1/2 lb eggplants
½ cup ground almonds
½ lb onion (two medium)
8 threads saffron
2 Tbl olive oil
2 tsp caraway seeds
¼ cup vinegar
2 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbl sugar
olive oil for serving

Pot for boiling water and eggplants (whole)
Frying pan for onions
Knife for cutting
Knife for seeding
Food processor
spreader

Pierce eggplants several times, remove the green tops and boil for about ½ hour. Cool slightly and peel off skin, chop. Chop onion and fry in 2 Tbl olive oil until limp and beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Combine almonds, spices, vinegar, and sugar in a food processor, mixing to a paste and adding water to thin. Spread paste thinly on the plate, dump on chopped eggplant and chopped onion, drizzle with olive oil.


The Honorable Lady Brigid ingen Maol-Mhichil of Northshield fame tested this recipe and offered the revised redaction. I am grateful for her support on my first feast.~~Sayyeda al-Kaslaania