spring recipes from 2012

Brouet Vert d’Oeufs et de Fromage

Take parsley and a little cheese and some sage and a very little saffron, mixed with bread and moistened with puree of peas or boiling water; grind and strain and take ground ginger moistened with wine, and put it to boil, then put some cheese in it, and eggs poached in water, and it should be bright green.   Le Menagier de Paris

         I like to make a prettier presentation out of this, so instead of just dropping eggs into the sauce, I cut hard-boiled eggs in half and lay them on top of the green sauce and sprinkle with cheese, trying for a “daisies in the grass” effect.

Three hard boiled eggs

1/3 cup fresh or frozen green peas

¼ cup fresh or 2 Tbsp dry parsley

¼ tsp. crumbled sage

one or two saffron threads

1 Tbsp. bread crumbs or as much as needed to thicken the puree

¼ tsp. ginger

1 tsp. white wine

¼ c. shredded Cheddar cheese or cheese of your choice.

Cook peas, wine, and herbs together. Puree with the bread crumbs and 1 Tbsp of the cheese. Spread sauce on serving plate and arrange halved eggs on top, sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Blank Desure

Tak the yolkys of egges sodyn & temper it with mylk of a kow, & do therto comyn & safroun & flower of ris or wastel bred myed, & grynd in a morter & temper it up with the milk; & mak it boyle & do therto wit of egges corvyn small, & tak fat chese & kerf therto wan the licour is boylyd, & serve it forth.  Curye on Inglysch

         This sounds like the ancestor of my childhood favorite, eggs goldenrod, in which the yolks, rather than being blended into the milk sauce, are pressed through a strainer over the top to make it pretty. Eggs goldenrod is served on toast; most medieval soups were served over “sops”, that is, toasted bread points.

3 hard –boiled eggs, separated into yolks and whites

1 cup milk

¼ tsp cumin

a few saffron threads

1 Tbsp rice flour or dry white bread crumbs

2 Tbsp. shredded Cheddar cheese

Blend the yolks, milk, seasonings and thickener well together and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, add cut-up egg whites, serve over sops with cheese sprinkled on top.

Strawberye

Take strawberys & waysshe hem in tyme of yere in gode red wyne; than strayne thorwe a clothe, & do hem in a potte with gode almaude mylke. Alay it with amyndoun other with the flower of rys, & make it chargeaunt, and lat it boyle, and do therin roysonys of coraunce, safroun, pepir, sugre grete plente, pouder gyngere, canel, galyngale, poynte it with vynegre, & a lytil white grece put therto; coloure it with alkenade, and droppe it abowter, plante it with the grayness of pomegraenad, & than serve it forth.  Harl 279

         This recipe poses a problem as to what “tyme of yere” it is to be made in. Strawberries are spring and summer fruit; pomegranates are not available until fall. One or the other will have to be dried in order to use them together. I have tried drying pomegranate and it is not very satisfactory, so I think this should be made with dried or frozen strawberries and fresh pomegranate grains.  I like to make the pudding quite thick (“chargeaunt”) and shape it on the serving tray into little strawberry shapes, then the pomegranate bits become the ‘seeds’ and I put a mint leaf at the top of each to complete the subtlety.

         As in other sweet dishes, I prefer piper cubeba (cubeb berries) to piper nigra (black peppercorns) but others may disagree.

1 pound frozen strawberries

2 ounces blanched almonds, finely ground

½ cup sweet red wine

2 Tbsp rice flour

1 Tbsp currants

½ c. sugar

dashes of saffron, cubeb powder or black pepper, ginger, cinnamon, galingal

1 tsp. wine vinegar and 1 tsp. butter, or to taste

If you have alkanet extract (in alcohol) use it to brighten the color. Other natural red colorants could be used.

Cook the fruits and almonds in the wine, puree well and force through a strainer. Add the rice flour and seasonings, bring to a boil and stir constantly until quite thick. Add colorant, if using. Drop on a cold platter or onto wax paper and shape as desired, garnish.

Yogurt Cheese

Take home cultured yogurt (no gums or gelatin) and drain it in a colander lined with doubled cheesecloth, overnight. Add minced fresh herbs such as chives, parsley, mint, oregano, garlic, tarragon, or whatever you like, and salt. Mix well. Good spread on bread.