Pastilles

So, once again I've been asked to teach a class, this time for the kiddies.  And, as many of the people who have read this blog might have realized, I'm going to shamelessly steal from Townsends yet again (check the video link above, and seriously, check out their channel in general).  Townsends may be focused on colonial-era recipes, but a lot of their stuff goes back towards things that are entirely appropriate for the SCA.

Sugar was used primarily as a medicine in the Greek and Roman eras and no, it does not come solely from the US.  In fact, Marco Polo (not the game) reported that the Chinese were producing vast amounts of unrefined sugar.  Egypt and Venice were creating a more pure substance, but let's be honest, it probably wasn't the pure white stuff we know today.  And, of course, Native Americans in both North and South America were producing sugar from cane for centuries by this time.

Sugar naturally helps stop coughing by dissolving in your mouth, which is part of why cough drops are made the way they're made.

If you're looking at an English persona, sugar was first acknowledged in England in 1100.  By 1400, the nobility had enough of it that it was considered a moderately common, albeit expensive, spice.  In the 1000s, Islamic countries were using sugar as a medicine for a variety of ailments.

Now, it is important that we all realize that this is not actually a medicine.  Sugar isn't good for you, kiddos.  In fact, it's pretty darned bad for you.  So why did people take sugar pills when they felt bad?

Well, there's the easy explanation--they weren't used to sugar.  Sugar tastes good and it made them feel happy, which helped them feel better.  There's also the fact that they often included various oils, herbs, extracts, and other things that might actually have a little bit of medicinal properties.

And that's what we'll be making for this class.  What was viewed as medicine is, to us, going to be candy.

What You're Going to Need

It's important to note here that just about everything here is going to be "a little bit of this."  Basically, make sure you have some extras.

Sugar - Probably a cup, maybe a little more if you want more

Flavorings - This can be pretty much anything you want.  I'm going to use some peppermint extract and maybe some vanilla extract.  If you want lemony candies, use some lemon oil.  Hot fireballs?  Cinnamon oil.

Water - You know where to get this.  You won't need a bunch, but enough to make a paste.

Waxed Paper - This stuff likes to stick to anything, so having something non-sticky to put it on is a good idea.

Eye Dropper - Remember, extracts are STRONG.  You don't want to add more than a few drops to the mixture.

A Note to Parents

Guys, if you're running out to get essential oils (Lemon, Citrus, Cinnamon, etc.), make sure they are food-grade.  A lot of the stuff you can get at, say, Whole Foods or whatever isn't graded for human consumption.  While these aren't actually medicines, we don't want your kids getting sick from them either.

What You Might Want

A little bit of Xanthan Gum - I got it at Foodarama by me, honestly.

If you can't find xanthan gum, you can use cornstarch or really, any other sort of goopy, food-safe stuff.  This isn't necessary, but as the video above shows, it does help.

Oh, and if you have any stamping tools, you can use them to decorate your pastilles.

Directions

1.  Pour the sugar in a bowl.  Hard, I know!

2.  Add a few drops of whatever flavor you want the pastilles (which means little pills) to have.

3.  Start adding a little bit of water at a time until you have a still paste.  What you're looking for is a bit like making a sort of wet sandcastle mixture.  If you're using xanthan gum or another binder, mix it with the water as you're adding it here.

4.  Start making the pills.  How big or how small is really up to you, but too small is a lot of work and too big won't fit in your mouth (and takes longer to dry).

5.  Put the pastilles on the waxed paper somewhere safe from bugs and humidity.

6.  Wait.  Sorry, this takes a while to dry.  In a couple days, they should be good to go.

7.  Eat.  But not all at once!

Pierogi

Please note:  for this, all images are stolen horribly from the Internet.  I haven't made these in a while, but I want to show some things here.

I know I haven't updated this in forever, but my wonderful friends at the Barony of Stargate have asked me to teach a class on Saturday on making pierogi, so hey, I figure this is a good way of having a writeup!

What's a Pierogi, Anyways?

For a start, a grammatical mistake!  Pierogi are the plural form of pierog (I can't do the accents on here, sorry), which is basically just about any form of dumpling.  The word actually translates, more or less, to pie.  Pierogi are very common in Russia, the Ukraine, and Poland, and have a supposed history dating back to the Kievan Rus.  They are commonly filled with all sorts of things, from mushrooms to potatoes and onions to fish and any sort of meat you can think of.  They are typically served with sour cream and/or melted butter and onions, with usually some sort of green garnish.

Pierogi Russkie

The type of pierogi I am making for the class is pierogi Russkie, which is pretty much the most traditional one (I may do some filled with mushrooms as well, but since the class is online, I'm not sure if there is a real point here--not like anyone can taste it).  This is pierogi filled with mashed potatoes, fried onions, and quark cheese.  Now, I can't exactly purchase quark easily and I don't have the time to make it, so we're going to use cream cheese here.

Please note:  for those of you looking into a much more "traditional" recipe, you'll want to use something other than potatoes, which are a New World crop.  However, this works well, especially since I have a lot of leftover mashed potatoes from Thanksgiving.  Waste not, want not.

Pierogi at an Event

The nice thing about pierogi, in my opinion, is that they freeze exceptionally well and are simply prepared by boiling for a while, then frying in some butter and topping them.  This makes them ideal for the sort of event where you can prep a LOT of food for people and then make it relatively quickly, or even to-order.  Boil them in a big pot, take a few out and fry as people come up.  Event fast food, anyone?

Recipe for the Class

Please note:  I will not be making anywhere near this much pierogi, as I am cooking only for myself.  All measurements are for a "full batch," and frankly, you should all be smart enough to know how to adjust recipes for servings.

For the Wrappers:

5 cups flour (AP if you want to be modern, unbleached etc. for more traditional)

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup water

3 large eggs (if going more historical, try 4 medium eggs--our modern large eggs are pretty big)

1/2 cup softened butter

For the Filling:

4 medium peeled and chopped potatoes

2 medium onions, chopped (reserve some for toppings)

2 tablespoons butter

5 ounces softened cream cheese

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

For the Toppings (for each serving):

1/2 tablespoon butter

1 sprinkle reserved onions

1 sprinkle chopped parsley

1 sprinkle chopped green onion

Directions:

1:  Make the dough.  Combine the salt and pepper, then add everything else and mix as you see fit.  A food processor would be nice here.  Let rest 15-30 minutes.

2:  Fry the non-reserved onions in the butter until they are nicely brown and a little crispy.

3:  Make mashed potatoes.  Seriously.

4:  To the mashed potatoes, add everything else for the filling.  Mix until nicely combined.

5:  Roll out the dough until it is about 1/8" thick and cut into 3" rounds with, well, anything.  You can separate the dough into multiple parts if that makes it easier.

6:  To each round, add 2 tablespoons of filling.  Moisten the edge around the round and press to seal.  You're making dumplings.  If you want to be fancy, you can crimp them.  I'm not super-fancy.

7:  Get a big pot full of boiling water.  Toss in the pierogi and wait until they are floating.  Remove and strain.  You probably want to do these in batches unless you have a REALLY big pot.

8:  Get a serving of 4-6 pierogi ready.  Melt the topping butter in a skillet and add the reserved onions.  Cook them down for a bit (you want them to get like the onions in the filling).  Fry the pierogi on each side for a few minutes until they are nicely browned.  Plate with the butter, onions, and the greenery.

9:  Serve with sour cream, if you want.

Revisiting Rations, Part 9: Gnome

Revisiting Rations, Part 9:  Gnome

What's this?  Looks like some sort of chicken nugget plate or something.  But hey, it's Monday, so it's time to get down to brass tacks.  Today, we discuss a ration fit for the diminutive folks with the pointy hats and fishing poles (okay, not really).  It's Gnomic food day!

What we have is a bowl full of what I'm calling pierogi roulette with some dilled cheddar cheese, an herbed mustard dipping sauce, and some mint schnapps.  Prost!

Pierogi

Let's start off with getting a fact straight:  pierogi is a plural word.  It's the plural form of pierog.  You don't order three pierogis, but rather three pierogi.  So what are they?

Well, they're little mini hand pies, basically.  They are a national dish of Poland and really quite good.  They can be filled with, well, almost anything, and these kind of are.  After making the pies/dumplings/ravioli/whatever you want to call them, you boil them, then fry them in butter and onions.  Traditionally, they are served with onions and sour cream, but we went a little different here (because I don't trust sour cream to last at all).

So, here, we have a pork, bacon, and leek pierog:

A potato, farmhouse cheese, and leek pierog (it's hard to get just a few leeks):

A mushroom and sauerkraut pierog:

A gingered sweet potato pierog:

And even a blueberry pie pierog.  This one has some cranberry and mulberry added as well:

These make handy, portable food, and while they are better fresh and hot, they can be munched on later.  The dough makes a handy barrier to keep everything nice and safe from any nastiness, and boiling and frying them helps to preserve said dough as well.

I should point out that these are seriously delicious.  This was a fun little ration to work on.

Herbed Mustard Sauce

Pierogi can be a somewhat dry experience.  There is a lot of dough and not a whole lot of moisture inside the delicious little dumplings, and as such they are nearly always served (in my experience) with sour cream (and sometimes applesauce).  However, we are focusing on rations and as such, I needed a sauce that would survive a day or so at room temperature.  Hence, this herbed mustard.  Chives, dill (of course), and a little bit of parsley were blended into one of my standard mustard recipes with just a little bit of honey for sweetening.  In case it's not obvious, someone (and I won't name who!) sampled a bit before shooting.

Dilled Cheddar Cheese

Disaster struck most of my cheese in the form of some weird bug that got into the waxed cheeses, causing them to spoil.  Oddly, the unwaxed cheeses came out fantastic and weren't touched by insects, so hey, there's an advantage.  In the future, any waxed cheeses are going to be sealed with plastic to prevent that from happening.  Lesson learned.  So, this dilled farmhouse cheddar is still going strong after months of aging.  It's hard, it's dry, it's crumbly, and it's delicious.

Mint Schnapps

It's the return of the cute little bottle!  Hint:  it's a Patron single-serving bottle, but it works wonders for showcasing liquers.  This is a neutral grain spirit that's been soaking up sugar and mint for a few months.  It definitely freshens your breath after a mustardy bite of pierogi, and it packs quite a punch, too.

How Long Will it Last?

Good question!  Here, the acidic mustard, the dried cheese, and the spirits aren't going anywhere as long as you keep them dry, cool-ish, and away from bugs.  The pierogi, of course, don't have quite the same shelf life, but they should easily last several days if one is careful not to break them open.  If you want to freshen them up, reheat with some butter and/or lard and they're delicious several days later.  Believe me, I've tried.

Also, oh my gosh I have my very first follower on this blog!  Thanks so much, and you know who you are!

Revisiting Rations, Part 8: Orc

Revisiting Rations, Part 8:  Orc

Did you miss me?  I missed you!  Sorry about the lack of an update last week--between an illness (everyone is fine) and a car accident (everyone is fine), I really didn't have the time or the energy to get around to doing some fun cooking.

Oh!  And I got a new phone as well, so hopefully the pictures look better.

So, this little ration is focusing on those befanged greenskins themselves.  It's important to realize that Orcs, like every other species, need a functioning society to be able to survive.  They can't always be raiding and eating the dead, or else they would have been wiped out a long time ago.  Therefore, I have created a ration that, I think, meets them pretty well.

My inspiration here was to take Texas barbecue and give it a little Indian spin.  Orcs seem like the type to enjoy spicy food, and this is no exception.  Plus, in any sort of warrior society, those too old or injured to fight would, of course, be in charge of cooking.  Orcs love smoked pork, potatoes, rice, and cabbage--all easy to prepare and farm and capable of providing nutrition and (most importantly) calories.

This ration consists of a smoked pork tenderloin with loquat barbecue sauce over safflower-seasoned fried rice, a curried potato salad with cilantro-lime dressing, spinach and cabbage slaw with paneer, blackberry gulab jamun, and beer.

Smoked Pork Loin with Loquat Sauce

Orc Pitmasters have been passing down recipes for generations.  This particular tenderloin was first marinated with papaya and garam masala to tenderize the meat, then it was smoked over mesquite wood for about 6 hours, basting every 90 minutes with a sauce made of pureed loquats, hot peppers, paprika, and more traditional barbecue seasonings.  It's firey and a little sticky and smoked well through.  The fried rice is simple--just old rice fried in butter with safflower and a little garlic, ginger, soy sauce, and rice vinegar.

I should mention that there is a loquat tree nearby, so I figured why not use them for something?  It provides a slightly exotic taste here, but you could easily use a standard spicy barbecue sauce.

Curried Potato Salad

Ask any Texan and they'll tell you that barbecue requires potato salad.  This is a little spin on that.  Potatoes are an easy crop to grow, don't require good soil, and, once harvested, will last a long time.  Perfect for Orcs.  Here, they are paired up with some carrots and peas, then sauteed with your typical curry spices until they're nice and tender.  Cilantro and mint was blended with lime juice and a little olive oil to dress the salad.

Yes, Orcs eat salad sometimes.

Slaw with Paneer

Another simple and hardy crop is the humble cabbage.  I've added some spinach for additional nutrition, then made a simple dressing of some mayonnaise, curry powder, safflower, and homemade paneer, plus a little bit extra vinegar for acidity.  It's nice and crunchy and I'm sure the Orcs would enjoy the side effects of a diet high in cabbage.  Hur, hur, hur...

Blackberry Gulab Jamun

This is going to take a bit of introduction.  Gulab jamun is a traditional Indian dessert which bears a lot of similarities to a donut hole, but is very different.  It is made predominantly from milk solids, which you get from boiling milk down over several hours, then rolled into balls and deep-fried.  Sounds like a perfect thing for a Pitmaster to have going while they're preparing the meat.  After the little balls are fried, they are dunked in a syrup containing rosewater and spices.  Here, we have elected to remove the spices and substitute in blackberry, as blackberry cobbler is a very common dessert had with barbecue.

I didn't take a picture of the beer.  Really, that mug doesn't lend itself to photographing due to the black interior.  It's beer.  It's good for you!

How Long Will it Last?

If stored in the syrup, gulab jamun will last for quite a while, and the pork is heavily smoked and should last for the weekend easily.  The acidity of the potato salad likewise means it's going to be fine for a weekend event.  Here, the issue is the slaw, but if you can pack it in an airtight container, you'll be fine.  If not, eat it first, because I wouldn't trust mayonnaise and fresh cheese to last more than a day or so at room temperature.  Still, that's not bad for an "on the go" meal.

Revisiting Rations, Part 7: Norse

Revisiting Rations, Part 7:  Norse

It was requested that I do a Norse-style ration, and, to be honest, I portray a person of that culture in my LARPing, so this is somewhat near and dear to my heart.  What we have here comes largely from the Ribe Viking Center and some of these recipes are things I've been making since I first starting cooking for my LARPing.

What we have here is a smoked herring and slice of leg of lamb served with honey-dill mustard, "trail bread" with bacon and onions, goat cheese, gjetost (another type of goat cheese, basically), and, of course, mead.

The Meat:  Lamb and Herring

Yes, that's a whole herring (well, okay, it's gutted) and a slice of lamb.  These were salted to help dry them prior to smoking and were very lightly seasoned--after all, we have mustard for them.  These meats are dry and heavily smoked (I used apple wood here) so that they will last the weekend.

Honey-Dill Mustard

I need to get a better camera (and more serving bowls) if I'm going to keep this up.  Stay posted!  This is a whole-grain mustard made with mustard seed, dill, honey, red wine, and red wine vinegar, then ground in a mortar and pestle until it just comes together.  It's quite spicy and rather nice with the plain meats.  I might want to add a dash of horseradish next time, though.

Goat Cheese

This is, effectively, a slightly salted chevre and one I made in preparation for this ration.  It's good, but very distinct from cow's milk cheese.  Note that even though it's a full round, this is a very thin wheel (I didn't get much goat milk) and so it is what it is.

Gjetost

Gjetost is also known as Ski Queen cheese, peanut butter cheese, and probably a bunch of other things.  I got very hooked on it when I was hanging with a friend from Norway.  It is, effectively, the cooked-down whey from making goat cheese (if you do it with cow's milk, the result is called mysost).  Because this batch is homemade, it has crystallized somewhat and, as a result, isn't as smooth as the stuff you'll get at the store, but it's still delicious, and besides, you might as well use that whey!

Mead

I know, I know, you can't see the golden deliciousness in that mug.  This particular batch is Bray's One Month Mead, albeit aged for about 6 months now.  It is delicious and slightly sweet still (which is surprising given that this typically brews very dry).  It made a perfect accompaniment to the meal here, although I may have wanted another mug.  Or two.  Or just finish off the gallon and be done with it.

How Long Will it Last?

Okay, in this case, we have both seafood AND dairy to worry about.  Except we really, really don't.  The goat cheese is going to be the first thing to go bad, and that's assuming you let it get hot.  Keep it cool and dry and you'll be good all weekend.

A note on the mead:  if allowed to get hot, there is a VERY good chance that fermentation will restart, meaning that any bottle you keep it in might just become a foamy bomb.  So keep it cool and skol!

Revisiting Rations, Part 6: Hobbit

Revisiting Rations, Part 6:  Hobbit

 

Okay, so I had to play around with images to make things work today.  Bear with me.

It's that time!  Time for another rations post.  This time, I have focused on what a Hobbit might take along the road for a couple days.  Please note, a Hobbit is not a Halfling, no matter what Tolkien might say.  Halflings are more slender, fey, and "wild" compared to the pastoral Hobbits.  But here, we have a good example of a delicious meal that will last several days and includes many things Hobbits are overly fond of.

The ration consists of a sausage wellington roll (that's what I'm calling it), blackberry scone with clotted cream, truffled cheddar cheese, an apple, and blackberry cordial.  Seeing as how Hobbits, described by Tolkien, are incredibly fond of mushrooms and seem to enjoy blackberries, I figure this works well.

Sausage Wellington Roll

This is my take on the traditional sausage roll.  I made a sausage from half pork loin, half bacon, hand-minced, then seasoned with Prague Powder, salt, white and black pepper, nutmeg, mace, and allspice.  This was then stuffed into a casing and smoked for several hours over apple wood.  The resulting sausage was added to a roll along with some mushrooms and shallots.  This provides a portable meal that's savory and really quite good.

And now, for the money shot...

See all that duxelles?  True, I didn't add any pate or parma ham or the like, but I wanted to keep this somewhat simple.  While Hobbits love flavor, their meals (as taken from the Hobbit) don't tend to stand on a lot of fancy preparation.

Blackberry Scone (with Clotted Cream)

It's kind of rare when I'm making one of these rations to come across something that makes me go "You know what?  I'll have another.  And another."  This scone recipe was one of those things.  It's s simple scone dough with the addition of some fresh blackberries, then split and filled with homemade clotted cream.  You could add some jam as well, if you wanted.

Truffled Cheddar Cheese

This is something I'm really quite proud of.  It came out amazingly, although it's super-rich.  I made a standard cheddar cheese, then added a small amount of truffle oil and a goodly portion of dried cremini mushrooms.  The entire cheese smells of mushrooms and tastes wonderfully, but man, it's rich.  I said that already.  This process took about three months and involved me waxing the cheese.  Believe it or not, it's actually really easy to make.

Side note:  you're not getting a pic or statement on the apple.  It's an apple.  It was yummy.

Blackberry Cordial

Just a small portion because this is both strong and sweet.  Equal portions of vodka and sugar are dissolved and then I added a bunch of fresh blackberries and stored for a month or two.  It's...  Not my thing, really.  Too sweet.  Seems like a hangover in a mason jar, honestly, but I'm sure quite a few people will love it!

How Long Will it Last?

Here we only have two components to worry about.  The cheese, being less salted and far more moist than others, will go bad within a few days (particularly because of all the spores in it--eat quickly) and clotted cream needs to be kept sealed and cool to avoid spoiling.  If you can manage those (perhaps don't unwax the cheese before time to eat and keep the cream in a mason jar), you're good to go over a weekend event.

Revisiting Rations, Part 5: Wild Elf

Revisiting Rations, Part 5: Wild Elf

Looks good, doesn't it?  And yes, this is a hot meal (and a cold dessert), but let's get into it.

You see, I don't see Wild Elves as having taverns per se.  That sort of eating establishment just doesn't mesh with the way I view Wild Elves.  Your mileage may vary, of course.  So, instead of that, I made a "quick-to-cook" meal using whole ingredients that provides a very thematic and pretty darned delicious example of Wild Elf cooking.

And, for those of you playing along at home, a LOT of this comes from Townsends.  And yes, it is very heavily influenced by Native American cooking.

Basically, what we have here is a succotash or stew (it's hard to decide) with pemmican, parched corn, broken beans, acorn squash, onions, sweet potato, and carrot, alongside akutaq and a mixed berry wine.

Succotash (Or Stew?)

Here's most of the ingredients that went into the succotash.  There's pemmican in the bowl along with parched corn and lima beans that I ground in a mortar (to make this cook quicker).

Pemmican

Pemmican is a mixture of dried meat, dried berries, and rendered fat, all mixed up and delicious.  This particular batch was made ages ago and is still delicious and hugely high-calorie.  It is beef with blueberries and cranberries and then mixed with equal weight of rendered tallow.  I seriously love this stuff.  Pemmican can be eaten on its own, but it's better cooked with potatoes and onions in my opinion.

Parched Corn

So I wanted to do a Three Sisters-style meal, but I was worried about corn taking so darned long to cook.  The answer:  parch it!  I used generic popcorn, heated it slowly in a pot full of salt, then removed the kernels (popped or not) from the salt and ground them up.  This can be eaten on its own, or mixed with water into a gruel, but it's not the tastiest thing in the world.

Broken Beans

Same basic principle here.  I wanted to add beans to the meal, but wanted them to cook quickly.  Nobody's going to be impressed with a 2-hour cook time for a trail meal, after all.  I just ground up the baby lima beans until I was satisfied and called it good.

Hardtack

No weevils in this one (and yes, I checked).  Hardtack or ship's bisket is basically flour and water with perhaps a little salt, baked twice until it's as hard and delicious as a brick.  Here, it was broken up (with a hammer, seriously) and added to the succotash to form dumplings.

Veggies

Acorn squash (this is a Three Sisters succotash), onion, carrot, and sweet potato.  Mostly orange, all delicious.

SECRET INGREDIENT!

I couldn't show this in the original pics because I don't want to get my pretty cloth even more messy, but I used a little bit of portable soup to flavor things up.  This was made by boiling beef bones down to a gelatin, which was then air-dried.  Think of it as old-timey bouillon cubes.

Final Result

This was seriously awesome.  The butternut squash was simply delicious and the other veggies complimented it nicely.  The corn, beans, and pemmican became sort of "lost" in the broth, but provided thickness and flavor.  This is probably one of those recipes I'm going to do again.

Akutaq

Bright pink fluffiness!  This is really good as well, and very shelf-stable.  Akutaq is also known as Eskimo ice cream (or a dozen variations thereof).  It is a blend of fat (traditionally animal, but here I used Crisco), sugar or honey, and various meat or fruits.  I have used blackberries, raspberries, and some cranberry juice to make this.  While I prefer it cold, it's definitely edible at room temperature.  Also, it's got a TON of calories.  Keep that in mind.

Mixed Berry Wine

I swear the glass looked cleaner in real life.  This is a simple fermentation of a bottle of mixed berry juice drink.  It's lightly alcoholic and goes well with the succotash and akutaq.

How Long Will it Last?

So, this is going to be a fun little story.  I made the pemmican, hardtack, and portable soup last year and they're still good.  The akutaq will eventually mold if the fruits are exposed, but the fat will help prevent that.  Basically, the only risk is that your veggies will spoil, and they were chosen for being hard to spoil.  Unlike the other rations, this one requires active cooking, but it's safe to say you can keep it with you over the course of your typical LARP event without issue.