To Stew Fillets of Beefe - Wine Braised Beef (1615)

In June, I hosted a cook's gathering featuring a selection of dishes that would have been found on "Shakespeare's" table. Each of the cook's that attended chose a dish from the recipes presented and brought it with them. We dined that night on buttered eggs, french bread, stewed fillets of beef, Fridayes pye and a berry cream.

The beef was delicious, tender, and served over a bed of saffroned rice. I cooked it in a crock pot. It recieved rave reviews. I don't cook with salt or pepper if I can avoid it, so the major comment of the evening were that this dish would have been better if I had added some salt and pepper while cooking. Note to self: Add Salt and Pepper!

To stew Fillets of Beefe

Take a rawe fillet of beefe and cut it in thin slices halfe as broad as your hand and fry them till they bee halfe fried in a frying-panne with sweete butter uppon each side with a soaft fire, then powre them into a dish or pipkin putting in a pint of claret-wine, a faggot of sweet herbes, and two or three blades of whole mace, a little salt, the meate of a Lemon cut in slices, then stewe these all together very softly for the space of two or three houres till it be halfe boyled away, then dish it up on sippets and throwe salt upon it, and serve it to the table hot  John Murrell "A Booke of Cookerie" (Lorwin, 1976).

Interpreted Recipe

2 to 3 pounds beef chuck shoulder roast (aka pot roast), sliced into ¼ inch thick slices

2 Tbsp. butter

2 cups red wine (preferably a Bordeaux which is another name for “claret”)

8 sprigs fresh thyme

1 sprig fresh rosemary

1-2 Tbsp. parsley

2 bay leaves

Salt and pepper to taste

1/8 tsp mace

1 lemon, peeled, sliced

Beef prepared to be stewed

Fry the slices of beef in the butter (if you wish, add olive oil to keep butter from burning). Remove from the pan until the all of the meat has been cooked thoroughly. Add meat back into the pan and add remaining ingredients. Allow meat to simmer two to three hours, or until liquid has been reduced by half and meat is tender.


I have included some pictures of the product in process, but silly me! I forgot to take a picture of the finished product. This was a huge hit at the gathering and I will be making it again in the future for an event. Probably 12th Night in January.

Ladie Graies Manchets (1594) and Robert Mays French Bread (1685)

Manchet Bread -three loaves from one recipe

Can you imagine eating two to three pounds of bread a day? Or following it up with a gallon of ale? During the late medieval period, that was the standard ration of food given to individuals from nobility to castle garrisons. It is a staggering amount of bread to be eaten daily. Bread was an important staple of the medieval diet, in fact, it was the most basic and common element on every table.  

Bread could be produced as trenchers, which were used in lieu of plates, or as "table bread" or pain de mayne. The Menagier de Paris not only gives specific instructions on how trenchers are to be made, but even advises his wife that four-day old trencher bread would be the best to use for a dinner party.  

"Trencher bread, three dozen of half a foot in width and four fingers tall, baked four days before and browned, or what is called in the market Corbeil bread (Le Menagier de Paris)."

Table bread was produced from cereal grains and can be dated back to Ancient Mesopotamia.  Grains such as millet, wheat or barley were ground into flour, wet with a liquid, shaped and cooked.  With the addition of yeast, the dough would rise and the bread would become lighter.

Recently I have been experimenting with medieval bread recipes; specifically, two recipes found in Madge Lorwin’s “Dining with William Shakespeare”. Here are my thoughts.  First, our flour is much better ground then medieval flour.  Not far from here there is a stone mill that will mill flour for you, which means you can get the added benefit of a bit of stone with your meal. In lieu of purchasing stone ground whole wheat flour, I mix my flour 3:1 ration of unbleached white to whole wheat. No stones—BONUS!

The first recipe I worked with was Robert May’s French Bread, which is very different from what you would normally think of.  This recipe results in “buns” that are about the size of a hamburger bun, it’s salty, crusty and crumbly on the inside.

To make French Bread the best way.

Take a gallon of fine flour, and a pint of good new ale barm or yeast, and put it to the flour, with the whites of six new laid eggs well beaten in a dish, and mixt with the barm in the middle of the flour, also three spoonfuls of fine salt; then warm some milk and fair water, and put to it, and make it up pretty stiff, being well wrought and worked up, cover it in a boul or tray with a warm cloth till your oven be hot; then make it up either in rouls, or fashion it in little wooden dishes and bake it, being baked in a quick oven, chip it hot. (May, 1685)

Recipe

1 Cup lukewarm water

2 cakes fresh yeast or 2 Tbsp. dried yeast

1 Cup lukewarm milk

1 Tbsp. salt

1 egg white

6 cups sifted unbleached flour

Pour the water into a large mixing bowl. Crumble or sprinkle the yeast into the water and let it stand until the yeast softens and expands .Add the milk, salt, and egg white and beat until the egg white is blended in.

Stir in five cups of the flour, one cup at a time, until all is absorbed. Sprinkle the remaining flour on your work surface and turn the dough out onto it. Pat the dough back and forth between your hands until it is coated with flour. Then knead it for five minutes. Put the dough into a clean, warmed mixing bowl large enough to permit the dough to double in size. Cover with a clean cloth or plastic bowl cover and set to rise in a warm place or an unheated oven. When the dough has doubled in size—in 1 1 ½ hours—turn it out on a floured work surface and bread into a ball.

Divide the ball into twelve more or less equal parts, and knead each one into a ball. Flatten each ball with the palm of your hand to a thickness of ½ inch, and, with a sharp knife, cut around the circumference of the roll 1/8 inch halfway between the top and bottom.  Place the rolls two inches apart on a floured cookie sheet. Punch holes in the tops and set the rolls to rise—forty five minutes to an hour—until doubled in size.  Bake at 400 degrees for twenty minutes, or until golden brown.  Cool on a wired grill (Lorwin, 1976).

I read somewhere, and I wish I had kept a record of where I read it, that to imitate ale barm, you use a mixture of ale and yeast.  This is one of the areas I diverted from the recipe.  I used some of my son’s homemade ale ¼ cup to 2 tablespoons of yeast. I also added a tablespoon of sugar and 1 cup of the 3:1 ratio flour to my starter.  I allowed the starter to proof….ok….I went to a movie, and then shopping for groceries…you get the idea. I threw all of the rules out the window…and I was pleasantly surprised at the sponge that I had when I returned home. At that point I followed the recipe exactly.

The other bread that I have been experimenting with is Manchet. There are several variations of the recipe available.  Manchet was the most common kind of bread eaten. The loaves are made with the best flour, they should develop a good crust, with a soft, dense interior when completed.

The making of manchets after my Ladie Graies use.

Take two peckes of fine flower, which must be twice boulted, if you will have your manchet verie faire: Then lay it in a place where ye doe use to lay your dowe for your bread, and make a litle hole in it, and put in that water as much leaven as a crab, or a pretie big apple, and as much white salt as will into an Egshell, and all to breake your leaven in the water, and put into your flower halfe a pinte of good Ale yeast, and so stir this liquor among a litle of your flower, so that ye must make it but thin at the first meeting, and then cover it with flowre, and if it be in the winter, ye must keepe it verie warm, and in summer it shall not need so much heate, for in the Winter it will not rise without warmeth. Thus let it lie two howers and a halfe: then at the second opening take more liquor as ye thinke will serve to wet al the flower. Then put in a pinte and a halfe of good yest, and so all to breake it in short peeces, after yee have well laboured it, till it come to a smoothe paste, and be well ware at the second opening that yee put not in too much liquor sodenlie, for then it wil run, and if ye take a litle it will be stiffe, and after the second working it must lie a good quarter of an hower, and keep it warme: then take it up to the moulding board, and with as much speede as is possible to be made, moulde it up, and set it into the Oven, of one pecke of flower ye make ten caste of Manchets faire and good.

(Wallace, 2011)

Recipe

¼ cup ale or beer lukewarm + lukewarm water to equal 2 cups

2 tbsp. dry yeast

1 tbsp. salt

2 cups whole wheat flour

4 cups all-purpose flour

Makes 6 “Elizabethan” size rolls or 8 dinner rolls or two medium sized loaves - 1 large loaf

Peck = 14 pounds

Mix the yeast and the ale together and add water to equal 2 cups.  Mix the two flours together, and when the yeast has softened, add the salt and stir in flour to form a dough (this will take anywhere from 4 ½ to 5 cups).  Knead until it becomes elastic and dough has formed. Cover and let dough rise until doubled in bulk.  This will take anywhere from an hour to two hours.

Turn out the dough onto a floured work surface and knead into a smooth ball.  At this point you can divide it into two loaves, 6-8 “rounds”, or 12 small rolls.  Flatten your dough with the palm of your hand and cut ¼ “all the way around the side between ½ and ¾ of the way between the top and the bottom of your roll.  You can also slash the top in a decorative pattern if you choose.  Let them rise until doubled in bulk.

Bake your bread in a 400 degree oven until golden brown.  It should sound “hollow” when you pick it up and thump it on the bottom.

This bread is dense and heart and has become the favored bread in our house.  When I make bread, this is the one “the fam” asks for.  It is a very forgiving sort of bread.  I have made the sponge by adding a cup of flour to the yeast and ale mix and walking away, and running errands for several hours and then returning to complete the bread.  I prefer to make six hamburger bun size rolls, or, if I’m feeling especially lazy, two big round loaves. I have varied the flours and have added eggs and milk at times also.

Works Cited

Le Menagier de Paris. (n.d.). Retrieved June 5, 2015, from http://www.daviddfriedman.com/: http://www.daviddfriedman.com/

Lorwin, M. (1976). Dining with William Shakespeare. New York: H. Wolff.

May, R. (1685). The Accomplisht cook, or the Art & Mystery of Cookery. Retrieved May 16, 2015, from Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/22790/22790-h/main.html

Wallace, S. (2011, March). The good Huswifes Handmaide . Retrieved August 30, 2015, from http://www.staff.uni-giessen.de/gloning/ghhk/

A Fridayes Pye, without eyther Flesh or Fish - Beet and Apple Pie with Raisins

A Fridayes Pye made with Greens instead of beets

During my research, I ran across a recipe that caught my attention for a dish that could be prepared for large banquets that could be served warm or room temperature.  The recipe can be found in John Murrell’s “A new booke of Cookerie”.  

In our most recent meeting of our cook’s group, I brought this dish.  It was agreed that it was very pleasant tasting.  I didn’t miss the meat in this dish and I believe it would make a great starter dish for any banquet, possibly alongside some fresh cheese.

Recipe

WAsh greene Beetes cleane, picke out the middle string, and chop them small with two or three well relisht ripe Apples. Season it with Pepper, Salt, and Ginger: then take a good handfull of Razins of the Sunne, and put all in a Coffin of fine Paste, with a piece of sweet Butter and so bake it: but before you serue it in, cut it vp, and wring in the iuyce of an Orenge, and Sugar  (Gloning, 2001).

Note: The Beetes that are being referred to are not beet roots, but chard, a member of the beet root family, specifically red, or ruby chard, but any green can be used. I also think this would be lovely made with beet root, but the line “picke out the middle string, and chop them small” is the giveaway. For more information follow this link:  First Beets Yielded Only Greens

Ingrediants for a Fridayes Pye

Interpreted Recipe

1 bunch of swiss chard (or other leafy green) –OR- 2 pounds of beets, peeled and cubed

2 apples, peeled, cored and quartered and chopped to same thickness as greens or beets (whichever you choose)

¼ cup raisins or currants

2 tsp. ginger

Salt and pepper to taste

¼ cup butter, melted

Juice of 1 orange (approximately ¼ cup)

1-2 tsp. sugar (or to taste)

1 9”  pie crust

Parbake your pie shell at 400 degrees for approximately 10 minutes then lower the heat to 350 degrees. Clean, wash and chop your greens, and dry them. Mix together butter, apples, raisins, ginger, salt and pepper and add them to your greens.  Place the mixture into your pie and bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until apples have softened. Before serving, add juice of orange and sugar.

Some things that I would do differently with this recipe include finely chopping the greens.  I picked them apart, and they were a bit large.  I think this would also do very well if served in smaller bites, rather than one large pie. It was suggested at the gathering that baking this dish as tarts or in mini-cupcake tins would be a better choice.

Works Cited

Gloning, T. (2001, May 9). John Murrell: A new booke of Cookerie; London Cookerie. London 1615. Retrieved May 15, 2015, from http://www.staff.uni-giessen.de/gloning/tx/1615murr.htm

Dent-de-lion- The Dandelion - Buttered Wortes (Buttered Greens) & Joutes (Braised Spring Greens with Bacon)

“What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.”

~Ralph Waldo Emerso

Family: Asteraceae

Usage: Culinary, Medical

Whether you are referring to the dandelion as blowball, lion's tooth, cankerwort, fairy clock, priest's crown, wild endive or pissabed, you are referring to a plant that has long been known for its culinary and medicinal properties. One of the earliest known greens, and a common and misaligned flower, dandelion's make very good eating and were not unknown in period.

The official name is Taraxacum officinale, which is a derivative of the Arabic tarakhshaquin, "wild chicory" or "bitter herb", and also refers to "wild endive". In Latin, the plant was referred to as Dens Leonis, the Greeks referred to it as Leotodum. The Welsh refer to it as Dant y Llew as early as the 13th century. The French, the dent-de-lion, and the English gave it the name we are now familiar with--the dandelion.

European dandelions were imported to North America by our ancestors because it was a familiar 'potherb'. It is thought that dandelions may have arrived as early as the arrival of the pilgrims on the Mayflower. It is believed that the seeds were deliberately scattered in order to establish a wild population and to provide food for honeybees which were also introduced from Europe (Ombrello).

What is a potherb? A potherb is defined as any leafy herb or plant that was grown for culinary usage and prepared by cooking in a pot. In fact, there are records of dandelion seeds being for sale in seed catalogs as early as 1874 (Rubel, 2015).

Dandelion greens are bitter, and the first mention of dandelions are for their medicinal usage rather than culinary. They are a good source of vitamins A, B complex and C and are rich in minerals such as zinc, potassium and iron. Using the roots of the plant roasted as a tea does have a diuretic effect. The first written records of dandelion can be found in 7th century Chinese records. In the 10th century the Arabs wrote about it. In 1485, the first referance in Europe can be found.

Medieval people ate a wider range of greens then we eat today. Many of the greens that were consumed are considered weeds today. The fresh leaves of the dandelion were served in salads or cooked as greens in period. The flowers may have been used as a coloring agent, as they do produce a yellow coloring and could have been used in place of saffron. I have not been able to determine if that is so. It is a guess on my part.

James Beard has this to say of the much aligned dandelion: "A sea of golden dandelions thrusting up thorough the grass is a pretty sight--and inspires thoughts of gastronomic possibilities as well. Though familiar to us all, dandelions are not, as far as I know, native to this country. There is a legend that the first plants were brought here by a woman who greatly enjoyed the provocative, distinct taste of fresh dandelion greens in a spring salad. Being hardy little plants, dandelions then spread all over the country. True or not, the idea of transplanting a European weed for gastronomic delight is a romantic one. There was a time, both in England and here (especially through the Pennsylvania Dutch country), that dandelions were gathered and flowers picked off the stems to be made into dandelion wine. This was recognized as tonic by many people who eschewed alcohol, but would have a little nip of dandelion or parsnip wine for their health. It was worth nipping, though not a wine of such character or distinction that one would want it constantly. However, during Prohibition and during times when women thought it was not the thing to drink wine in public, a sip of dandelion wine was considered good and comforting....I have a book by Macmillan deLoup, published in New York in 1899, which lists three different recipes for dandelion salads, along with this remark: 'These are not yet popular in the United States, but the peculiar bitterness is relished by some people and is said to be most healthful.' Dandelion greens have long been popular in France and Italy, and remain so. There are even a couple of cultivated varieties that are not members of the species that pops up unannounced in one's garden. They are used in spring salads with a dressing of olive oil, vinegar or lemon juice, with salad herbs or mustard added. I love the slight bitterness and refreshing quality--it goes so well with a grilled chop or a steak. Years ago, when I was flirting with the idea of a career as an opera singer, I studied with a brilliant Italian coach in London. He also was a great connoisseur of food and a very respectable cook. He would gather dandelion greens, or find them in the markets, and concoct a most delectable mixture for Sunday lunch. This would be the first course, followed perhaps by some cheese and very good bread, or maybe chops or a chicken (Beard, 1981)."

THE BOOKE OF SIMPLES. (Bulleins Bulwarke Of Defence Against All Sicknesse, 1562)

Marcellus.

What is the vertue of Dandelion or Lyons teeth

Hilarius.

IT is temperate, cold, and drye: with Roses and Uineger tēpered togea∣ther, it helpeth the hed in hotte diseases, the sowthistle called Sonchos hath ye same vertue & so hath Cicory: if they be sodden, the loose the belly & quen∣cheth heat which burneth in the stomacke. and defendeth the head from hot smoking vapoures, and purgeth yellow choller, and rebateth venerous & fleshly heat, & is good to be sodden & dronk in hote burning Agues: though this herbe be commonly knowen and counted of many as a vile wede, yet it is reported of Dioscorides to be an excellent herbe, & is called Lyons teeth.

An excellent drinke for the Tissicke well approued. (The Good Husvvifes Ievvell, 1587)

TAke a handfull of fennell roots, as much persly roots, as many Alisander rootes, halfe a handfull of Borrage rootes, and put out the pith of all the saide rootes, then take halfe a handfull of Peniryall, as much of Uiolet leaues, and as much of cinckfoyle, as much Succary, Endiue, Holly hocke leaues, Mallow leaues, and redd gardene mints, of all these the like quantitie as of these next before, halfe a handfull of Lico∣ris sticks scraped, brused and beaten to fine powder, a gallon of faire running water, boyle therein all these simples, and boyle these séedes with them, that is, thrée spoone∣full of Anniséeds, as much Fennell seede, the like of Colliander seede and Commin séede, a good handfull of Dandelion rootes, and so boyle altogether from a gallon to a pottell, and let the patient drinke thereof first and last, and it will helpe him in short space. probatum est.

If you are looking for a free, period green to use in a salad, or in a dish of wortys, some may need look no further than the backyard. Please be sure if you are picking dandelion greens, that the area you are picking from has not been sprayed with herbicides or pesticides. I have known dandelion’s to stay green and growing in even the mildest of winters. A good dish for the SCA to try them would be “Buttered Wortes, found in Harliean MS 279, published approximately 1430.

“Buttered Wortes”. ^ Take al maner of good herbes that thou may gete, and do bi ham as is forsaid ; putte hem on \q fire with faire water ; put ]7ere-to clarefied buttur a grete quantite. Whan thei ben boyled ynogh, salt hem ; late none otemele come ther<;-in. Dise brede small in disshes, and powr<? on \q wortes, and serue hem forth (Austin).

Buttered Herbs. Take all manner of good herbs that thou may get, and do by them as is aforesaid; put them on the fire with fair water; put thereto clarified butter a great quantity. When they are boiled enough, salt them: let no oatmeal come therein. Dice bread small in dishes and pour on the herbs, and serve them forth.

Buttered Herbs – Makes about 4 Cups serves 6-8 (this is probably more than enough for two tables of 8 at any feast- it is a vegetable. Use your best judgment)

8 cups assorted greens (kale, spinach, cabbage, beet greens, arugula, lambs quarters, chard, dandelion, etc.)Several sprigs of fresh herbs such as thyme, marjoram, parsley, mint etc.
2 Tbsp. clarified butter
1 tsp. salt
2 1” thick slices of bread cubed

Bring the water to a boil in a pot. Rinse all greens and herbs well and place them in the boiling water for 5-1o minutes. Remove from heat. Take the greens and herbs out of the pot with a slotted spoon. Allow them to cool on a cutting board. When cool, press them with a paper towel or absorbent cloth to remove the excess water. Chop them into small pieces and place them in a clean pot. Add butter and salt. Mix well. Cook the mixture over medium heat until hot. Do not boil. Either pour the hot herb mixture over bread cubes in a serving dish, or top the herbs with the bread. Serve hot.


For an additional recipe visit the following link: Harleian MS 279 Joutes (~1430) Braised Spring Greens with Bacon

Sources

Austin, T. (n.d.). Two fifteenth-century cookery-books. Harleian ms. 279 (ab. 1430), & Harl. ms. 4016 (ab. 1450), with extracts from Ashmole ms. 1429, Laud ms. 553, & Douce ms. 55. Retrieved May 22, 2015, from Archive.Org: https://archive.org/details/twofifteenthcent00aust

Beard, J. (1981). Beard on Food: Dandelions Left Home ot Make Good. Los Angeles Times, K38.
Ombrello, T. D. (n.d.). Dandelion. Retrieved May 19, 2015, from Plant of the Week - Dr. T. Ombrello - UCC Biology Department: http://faculty.ucc.edu/biology-ombrello/pow/dandelion.htm

Name.umdl.umich.edu. 2020. Bulleins Bulwarke Of Defence Against All Sicknesse, Soarenesse, And Vvoundes That Doe Dayly Assaulte Mankinde: Which Bulwarke Is Kept With Hilarius The Gardener, [And] Health The Phisicion, With The Chirurgian, To Helpe The Wounded Soldiours. Gathered And Practised From The Most Worthy Learned, Both Olde And New: To The Great Comfort Of Mankinde: By Vvilliam Bullein, Doctor Of Phisicke. 1562.. [online] Available at: <http://name.umdl.umich.edu/A17156.0001.001> [Accessed 6 August 2020].


Rubel, W. (2015, April 23). The History of the Garden Dandelion . Retrieved May 19, 2015, from The Magic of Fire, Traditional Foodwas with William Rubel: http://www.williamrubel.com/2015/04/23/the-history-of-the-garden-dandelion/

Name.umdl.umich.edu. 2020. The Good Husvvifes Ievvell Vvherein Is To Be Found Most Excellent And Rare Deuises For Conceits In Cookerie, Found Out By The Practise Of Thomas Dawson. Whereunto Is Adioyned Sundry Approued Reseits For Many Soueraine Oyles, And The Way To Distill Many Precious Waters, With Diuers Approued Medicines For Many Diseases. Also Certaine Approued Points Of Husbandry, Very Necessarie For All Husbandmen To Know.. [online] Available at: <http://name.umdl.umich.edu/A19957.0001.001> [Accessed 6 August 2020].



**NOTE: Post Previously published on 5/22/2015 and updated on 8/6/2020**