Baronial 12th Night - Pickle for the Mallard - Onion Relish Harl. MS 279, 1430

Capon Farced, Let Lorey and Pickle for the Mallard

PikkyH ipotir le Mallard. ^ Take oynons, and hewe hem smaH, and fry hem in fressh grace, and caste hem into a potte, And fressh broth of beef, Wyne, & powder of poper, canel, and dropping of the mallard/ And lete hem boile togidur awhile ; And take hit fro ]>e ijre, and caste thereto mustard a litul, And ponder of ginger. And lete hit boile no more, and salt hit, And seme it forthe with j^e Mallard.

36. Pickle for the Mallard. Take onions, and hew them small, and fry them in fresh grease, and cast them into a pot, and fresh broth of beef, wine & powder of pepper, cinnamon, and drippings of the mallard/ And let them boil together awhile; And take it from the fire, and cast thereto mustard a little, and powder of ginger, and let it boil no more, and salt it and serve it forth with the Mallard.

Pickle for the Mallard – Onion Relish Harl. MS 279, 1430

2 medium onions sliced
1 tbsp. oil or lard
1 cup beef broth (you should be able to sub chicken or 50/50 beef/ chicken mix)
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
2 tbsp. melted duck fat (I used chicken fat that I had saved after skimming off fat from chicken stock)
1/2 tsp. dry mustard (I used a tsp. of the lombard mustard)
1/2 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. salt

In large skillet over medium heat, fry the onions in oil until they are transparent, add the broth, wine, pepper, cinnamon, duck fat, and let the mixture boil until the flavors are mixed, about 10 minutes. Add mustard, ginger, and salt. Stir. Reduce heat. Serve hot with duck (capon, chicken, or goose).

Baronial 12th Night - Capon Farced – chicken stuffed with a mixture of sausage, onions and grapes, roasted Harl. MS 279, 1430 and How to Spatchcock Chickens

Spatchcocked roast chicken served with "farce" balls and giussel along with pickled blueberries (pickled barberries)

I had originally planned to serve the chickens stuffed with the farce. The time to cook the chickens was problematic, and the last time I served chickens stuffed with a meat stuffing, the stuffing tinted the meat closest to it a light pink and despite the fact that the chickens were *falling apart* the diner's complained that because of the tint (I used veal and pork in the stuffing) the meat was not cooked. Not wanting a repeat of that experience I elected instead to spatchcock (butterfly) the chickens which would cook them evenly, and halve the cooking time. I also elected to turn the stuffing into "sausage balls" that was served as a side to the chickens.


How to Spatchcock (butterfly) Chickens


Word of advice--buy a cheap pair of kitchen shears if you are going to be doing this to a large number (16) of chickens. My shears needed to be resharpened when I had completed this process. I found it easier to remove the backbone from the chicken while they were still semi frozen, then when they were thawed. I would not attempt this while frozen.

The tailbone of the chicken is also referred to as the parson's nose, and now I can't stop referring to it as that. Turn the chicken so that it is breast side down. Using your shears cut the chicken along each side of the parson's nose which removes the backbone from the bird.

Turn the chicken back over onto its breast and put the frustration of trying to cut through some of the thicker bones into flattening it by placing your hands into the middle of the bird and pushing down until she gives up fighting and lies down complacently flat for you. Ignore any odd noises you might hear.

You can also take the extra step of cutting out the breast bone, but I didn't do this. I think that chicken cooked on the bone is more flavorful and moister then chicken not on the bone.

Original Recipe: XXXV. Capoun or gos farced. — Take Percely, & Swynys grece, or Sewet of a schepe, & parboyle hem to-gederys til J^ey ben tendyr; J^an take harde plkys of Eyroun, & choppe for-w/tA ; caste ])er-to Pouder Pepir, Gyngere, Canel, Safroun, & Salt, & grapis in tyme of jere, & clowys y-nowe ; & for defawte of grapis, Oynons, fyrst wil y-boylid, & afterward alle to-choppyd, & so stufFe hym & roste hym, & serue hym forth. And jif ]70 lust, take a litil Porke y-sode, & al to-choppe hit smal a-mong )7«to|ier ; for it wol be J^e better, & namely ^ for ]>e Capoun.

Translated: 35. Capon or Goose stuffed. Take parsley & swines grease, or suet of a sheep, and parboil them together till they are tender; then take hard yolks of eggs, and chop forthwith; cast thereto powdered pepper, ginger, cinnamon, saffron & salt & grapes in time of year, and cloves enough; & for default of grapes, onions, first well boiled & afterward all chopped, & so stuff him & roast him, & serve him forth. And if thee like, take a little pork seethed, & all chop it small among that other; for it will be the better, & especially for the capon.

Capon Farced – chicken stuffed with a mixture of sausage, onions and grapes, roasted Harl. MS 279, 1430

For the chicken

1 chicken
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. pepper

For the stuffing

2 small onions minced
1/2 cup chopped parsley
¼ cup water
½ cup chicken broth
2 tbs. bacon fat, lard or suet
1 pound mild spice sausage (I used sage)
1 hardboiled egg
1/2 cup seedless grapes
½ tsp. cinnamon powder
1/4 tsp. cloves

To Roast Chicken

Pat your chicken dry and lightly coat it with butter or oil. I prefer European butter because it results in a crispier skin. Mix together salt, ginger and pepper, and sprinkle over the chicken, being sure to coat inside and outside of your bird. If you are stuffing your bird, add the stuffing, and cook your chicken at 350 degrees for about an hour and a half.

If you are serving the sausage as meatballs on the side, and have spatchcocked your chicken, cook your chicken at 400 degrees until the chicken is browned (about 45 minutes) and has an internal temperature of 165 degree's measured in the thickest part of the thigh.

For the stuffing balls:

Put parsley, water, broth, fat and onions in a pot and bring to a boil. Cook for five minutes. Remove the pot from heat, drain and allow to cool. Meanwhile, finely chop the hardboiled eggs and grapes. Add onions, grapes, parsley, cloves, cinnamon, salt and pepper to the sausage and form into balls. I use a tablespoon to shape the sausage balls.

To cook your stuffing, bring a pot of water to boil, and place the balls into it. They will float when they are done. Drain. At this point you can freeze them (they freeze well) or serve them.

Baronial 12th Night - Garbage - stewed chicken offal (hearts, gizzards, livers, feet, neck) Harl. MS 279, 1430

         

Fryer chickens went on sale ($.68/pound) right after Thanksgiving. I purchased 16 of them and much to my surprise on the day I was butterflying them I discovered that they came complete with neck, gizzards, liver and heart. Joy! A "found dish" within the already purchased ingredients that I could offer at the event for those brave enough to try it. I did purchase (on sale) an additional package of livers, gizzards and hearts, and chicken feet.

I have to chuckle because at this particular event, the diner's got to enjoy mortis (mortrews), entrails (trayne roast), compost (pickled vegetables) and garbage (offal) all while being entertained with a boar's head. I'm not sure if anyone else realized it or if I have just let the cat out of the bag, but 12th night had a bit of an accidental darker theme going on :-D

xvij - Garbage. Take fayre garbagys of chykonys, as the hed, the fete, the lyuerys, an the gysowrys; washe hem clene, an caste hem in a fayre potte, an caste ther-to freysshe brothe of Beef or ellys of moton, an let it boyle; an a-lye it wyth brede, an ley on Pepir an Safroun, Maces, Clowys, an a lytil verious an salt, an serue forth in the maner as a Sewe.

17 - Garbage - Take fair garbage of chickens, as the head, the feet, the liver, and the gizzard; wash them clean, and caste them in a fair pot, and caste there-to fresh broth of beef or else of mutton, and let it boil; and mix it with bread, and lay on pepper and saffron, mace, cloves, and a little verjuice and salt, and serve forth in the manner as a stew

Garbage - stewed chicken offal (hearts, gizzards, livers, feet, neck) Harl. MS 279, 1430

1 1/2-2 pounds of chicken offal
1 c. beef broth
2 tbsp. bread crumbs
1/2 tsp. pepper (I used my pepper mix which is made from black pepper, cubebs, long peppers and grains of paradise)
pinch of saffron
1 tsp. mace
1/4 tsp. clove
2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp. salt

Clean your offal; this means rinsing away blood, cutting gizzards in half and removing anything you find inside of them (it's part of the digestive system and you -don't- want to eat that!), trim away the lining of the gizzard, trimming fat, green parts and membranes from the livers, remove connective tissue from hearts, wash the feet, peel if you want (I didn't), clip the toes if you want (I didn't). Make sure that you clean and sanitize your work surface after. Offal is delicious but it does carry a higher risk of contamination.

Place all ingredients in a pot, bring to a boil, turn down to a simmer and cook until tender. I have to confess that I treated the garbage like I treat a stock and simmered this for about six hours after which I served. What I discovered is the livers mostly disappear, they cook away to almost nothing, flavoring the broth.

Those who tried it loved it, and someone took home the left overs. If rumor is true, chicken feet were a much sought after commodity.

Baronial 12th Night - Brawn with Mustard- Pork with Mustard The good husvvifes ievvell, 1587

Brawn with Mustard- pork with mustard The good husvvifes ievvell, 1587

To sowce a Pigge. TAke white Wine and a litle sweete broth, and halfe a score Nutmegs cut in quarters, then take Rosemarie, Baies,Time, and sweete margerum, and let them boyle altogether, skum them verie cleane, and when they be boyled, put them into an earthen pan, and the syrop also, and when yee serue them, a quarter in a dish, and the Bayes, and nutmegs on the top.

To Souse (pickle) a Pig. - Take white wine and a little sweet broth, and half a score nutmegs cut in quarters, then take rosemary, bay, thyme and sweet marjoram, and let them boil together, and skim them verie clean, and when they are boiled, put them into an earthen pan, and the syrup also, and when you serve them, a quarter in a dish, and the bay and nutmeg on the top. 

Interesting note: A score is 20, so the recipe above called for ten quartered nutmegs!

To Pickle Pork

2 cups water
1 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup kosher salt
2 tbsp. sugar

I combined a couple of different recipes to create the pork dish that I served. Because I knew I wasn't going to use the wine I prepared a brine to pickle the pork before cooking it. I created a very basic brine by heating all of the ingredients below, adding about a cup full of ice to quickly cool it and then putting it and the pork which I had sliced into pieces into ziplock bags and placing them in the fridge for about 24 hours. This created a very light pickle on the pork. I have also done this in the past using a combination of the spices called for David Friedman's "Lord's Salt" recipe (it's delicious).

Brawn with Mustard

1 ½ to 2 pounds pork (I used shoulder roast with bone in)
2 cups dry white wine (I subbed chicken stock and ginger ale)
Fresh Rosemary, thyme and marjoram (ok, another confession--I used a 3/4 ounce package of thyme, rosemary and parsley mix, putting the parsley in the beef, and the rosemary and thyme in the pork and then added about 2 tsp. dried marjoram)
4 fresh bay leaves
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 ½ tsp. salt

Rinse the pork very well after you have brined it. Place the pork in the pot with the remainder of the ingredients. You may even wish to forego the salt because the pork should be plenty salty already, and cook until tender. I froze this and then thawed and warmed it the day of the event, and serve it with my favorite mustard (slightly out of period).

To Make Mustard of Dijon The Accomplisht Cook, Robert May

The seed being cleansed, stamp it in a mortar, with vinegar and honey, then take eight ounces of seed, two ounces of cinnamon, two of hone, and vinegar as much will serve, good mustard not too think, and keep it close covered in little oyster barrels.

To Make Mustard

1 cup mustard seeds
1 ½ cups mustard powder
¼ cup cinnamon
¼ cup honey
½ cup vinegar
1 ½ cups water

Grind the mustard seeds for a few seconds in a spice or coffee grinder, or by hand if you wish using a mortar and pestle just enough to crack. Pour the seeds, mustard powder, honey and cinnamon into a bowl and then add cold vinegar and water. Wait at least 12 hours before using.

What I have learned with this particular mustard is that you really need to make it long before you plan to serve it. The longer it sits, the better it gets, so this is one of the first things I made for the event after I made the sugar candies. It sat for about two weeks prior to the event in my fridge with a post-it note advising anyone who thought about using it they would be in trouble. To be honest, I've made it once and have since purchased stone ground mustard and a whole grain mustard and mixed them together, adding the honey and the cinnamon to them.