Tuesday, January 03, 2012

Limonade de Vin

meyer lemonI managed to grow just two lemons on my Meyer Lemon tree this year. And here is the perfect recipe for this bounty--I shall have a taste of summer in this very cold month.

Wine lemonade

Put in a pot two pints of wine, a wine bottle of water, Zests of two Lemons, & also the juice which you express: Then put in nine or ten ounces of Sugar, more or less according to whether you like it sweetened, or according to the quality of the wine. Let it infuse approximately half an hour; then strain, & put it in bottles. When you want to drink some, chill it.

Limonade de Vin

Mettez dans une terrine deux pintes de vin, une chopine d'eau, les Zests de deux Citrons, & aussi le jus que vous exprimez: Ensuite mettez-y neuf ou dix onces de Sucre, plus ou moins selon que vous l'aimez sucré, ou selon la bonté du vin. Laissez-la infuser environ une demi-heure; ensuite passez la à la chausse, & la mettez dans des bouteilles. Quand vous voulez en boire, faites-la rafraîchir.

*****

Nouvelle Instruction pour les Confitures, les Liqueurs, et les Fruits, François Massialot. Chez Claude Prudhomme, Paris, 1716, p. 305.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

10 Years - 10 Days

Image Source

Total immersion, ten days of living history to mark the tenth anniversary of a dedicated band of reenactors in a truly magical place, Louisbourg. Cooking, dancing, fishing, praying - you name it - they did it. Enjoy the photos and relive with them an 18thC colonial seaport.

Friday, June 24, 2011

Assembling Pastry-making Tools


My order is in--I'm just waiting for the boat to arrive with provisions. I will be perfecting my technique by comparing modern instructions with 18thC recipes using the following books: Mastering the Art of French Pastry, by Healy and Bugat and Nouvelle Instruction pour Les Confitures by Massialot.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Swiss or Dry Meringues

«For Swiss Meringue, egg whites and sugar are combined at the outset and whipped over low heat. … Swiss merignue is much heavier than French and Italian merignues. At one time it was considered quite versatile, and some chefs preferred it over French and Italian meringues for many purposes because it is very stable.» The Art of the Cake, Bruce Healy and Paul Bugat. William-Morrow, NYC, NY, 1999, p. 173.

The beginnings of Swiss meringue can be found in François Massialot's Le Cuisinier Roïal et Bourgeois, 1691, translated in The Court and Country Cook in 1702, p. 103.

Dry Meringues
Having caus'd the Whites of four new-laid Eggs to be whipt, as before, till they rise up to a Snow, let four Spoonfuls of very dry Powder-sugar, be put into it, and well temper'd with a Spoon: Then let all be set over a gentle Fire, to be dried a little at two several times, and add some Pistachoes, that are pounded and dried a lttle in the Stove. Afterwards, they are pounded and dried a little in the Stove. Afterwards, they are to be dress'd as the others, and bak'd in the Oven somewhate leisurely, with a little Fire underneath, and more on the top: When they are sufficiently done, and very dry, let they be taken out, and cut with a Knife: Lastly, as soon as they are somewhat cold, let them be laid upon Paper, and set into the Stove to be kept dry.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Bread Baking Day #40 - Baking with Curds

Bread Baking Day #40 - Bread with curd (last day of submission June 1, 2011)
This month the theme is bread with curd. With curd I mean the dairy product obtained by curdling milk with rennet or an edible acidic substance such as lemon juice or vinegar. You don't need to make curd yourself, but you are invited to do so, if you like. Otherwise just buy it. You can use curd, cottage cheese, quark and paneer and the bread can be sweet or savory.

How to participate: •Bake a yeasted bread with curd.
•Post about it on your blog with a link back to this post.
•Fill in the submission form below and your post will be listed in the roundup.
•Please only one entry per blog.
•Your post can be written in English, German, Spanish, French, Italian. All other languages please translate to one of these languages.
•Last day of submission is June 1st, 2011.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Baby Lemons

It's been a dreary Winter. The calendar says it's now Spring. I've been busy hand-pollinating my lemon tree and it appears I shall be rewarded with some lemons one of these Spring days.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Biscotins

Another manner of Biscotins
Take a half-pound of sugar; cook it to the feather stage. Once cooked, remove it from the fire, & weigh three-quarters [pound] of flour which you will put inside your sugar syrup, reserve some flour that you will keep to handle it on the table. Having put your flour in your syrup, you will stir it well with a spoon: when your paste is well done [all your syrup has been absorbed into the flour], take it from the stove, & put it onto a clean table [marble pastry board], where you will have strewn a little flour before; it is necessary to stir it up; at the same time you will pour out your paste, & make small balls about one inch: you must work quickly; because when the paste is cold, one cannot work with it anymore: when the balls are formed, cook in the oven without paper; on copper sheets. When they are cooked, take out of the oven, & put them in a paper cone at the drying oven.

Another manner.
You will take a pound & half wholewheat flour: cook twenty ounces of sugar to the small feather; you will pour it in a mortar; let it cool & afterwards put in the flour, six fresh eggs & a spoonful of orange flower water; pound the whole together one quarter-of-an-hour, & pour out of the mortar onto a clean table, & roll the aforementioned paste in rolls, as large as a hazel nut, & cook in an oven until hot [cooked through or set] and sweet-smelling. Here is a recipe with proportions of ingredients. These biscotins also enclose a hazelnut, or you could use a whole almond. The orange flower water makes a delightful taste and smell--even better the next day. But be warned! These are very hard on the teeth--dunk them in expresso or mocha to soften them. Enjoy!

Nouvelle Instruction pour les Confitures, les Liqueurs, et les Fruits, François Massialot. Chez Claude Prudhomme, Paris, 1716, pp. 194-196.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Arroche Fraise - Strawberry Spinach

Strawberry Spinach [Chenopodium capitatum, also known as strawberry blite] (available from Heirloom Seeds) turned out to not only be a spectacular plant, but a delightful eat, served here with one of my tiny green climbing melons(vert grimpant seeds available from Baker Creek) after mascerating with a touch of sugar on a bit of yogurt.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Thanksgiving Bounty

May this day of Thanksgiving find you truly blessed.

Pictured are Galeux D'Eysines squash, our own cross of a pumpkin-squash, Marina Di Chioggia squash and Rouge Vif D' Etampes & Musquee De Provence pumpkins. Aah, the pies and confitures that await …

Seeds available from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.

Thursday, September 09, 2010

Court & Country Cook





A 1702 translation of François Massialot's Cuisinier royal et bourgeois of 1691, is now available hand bound, 18thC style with marbled boards and 1/4 leather binding, by Paul McClintock, Common Hands Studio, for $100.00. Please contact Paul for shipping details and payment.

Massialot's book was reissued and updated often in French during the 18thC, but only once in English. The book is full of savories and sweets, liqueurs and confitures, instructions for table settings and menues for fat days and lean (fasting meals according to the church's calendar). Reenactors, living historians, museums and lovers of food and great books will find a remarkable treat in this lovely volume. Paul's work is magnificent--you won't be disappointed!


The Court and Country Cook: Giving New and Plain Directions How to Order all manner of ENTERTAINMENTS. A 480 page volume, presented to the BINDERY by Mrs. Carolyn Smith - Kizer. Additional copies will be bound in a 1/4 calf with marbled boards and may be had at the Crown and Book. Please inquire. fromcommonhands@yahoo.com

Thursday, September 02, 2010

Poirée - Chard - White Beet

poirée chard white beetChard - use the chopped, blanched or wilted leaves in fillings for ravioli, tarts or pan-pies. The stalks can be sliced and used like celery. Another use of stalks is to cut them in finger lengths, blanch, dip in beaten egg and dredge in bread crumbs and fry in oil - sprinkle with salt and freshly grated nutmeg and serve as a side dish.

WHITE BEET, otherwise called chard, in Latin beta, pot herb which one cooks the leaves in a pot, & the stalks in ragout. … One can cut it very often during the summer, because it grows back easily, like sorrel & parsley.

POIRÉE, autrement appellée bette-blond ou blanche, en Latin beta, herbe potagere dont on met les feuilles au pot, & les cardes en ragout. … On peut le couper fort souvent pendant l’été, parce qu’il repousse aisément, comme l’oseille & le persil.
*****
La Nouvelle Maison Rustique, Troisieme Partie, Le Jardinage, Livre Second, Chap. II, p. 125.

Friday, August 06, 2010

Cooking for Geeks

If you've ever wondered how to adjust the taste of something you're cooking to give it the WOW factor or to add what's missing, this book is for you. With the added factor of umami (savory), along with salty, sweet, sour and bitter tastes explained by cuisine/country and ingredients, you're sure to find an explanation of «why» this or that ingredient is or isn't the one to add to mask or enhance your dish. Cooking for Geeks by Jeff Potter is more a book about cooking than a cookbook - new from O'Reilly Press.

Even though Geeks contains experiments with new ways of food preparation, overclocking your oven and sous vide, the science behind new techniques and centuries' old ones are explained in this book. Case in point, the Maillard reaction--how proteins react with heat and why you would want them to--explains the browning of your bagel, your sausage and even your self-tanning lotions!

Jeff Potter has taken the sting out of the moniker «geek.» Once you're through with his book, you'll proudly claim that title for yourself!

If Jeff has inspired you to play more with your food, cooking schools online may be for you.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Ail - Garlic - A Favorite for Millenia

garlic and garlic scapesWe remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. Num 11:5 ESV
Nous nous souvenons des poissons que nous mangions en Égypte, et qui ne nous coûtaient rien, des concombres, des melons, des poireaux, des oignons et des aulx. Nombres 11:5 (Louis Segond)

GARLIC, is produced by the offshoots which are formed out of the ground around a stem, & is an onion species: one calls these offshoots cloves of garlic. To multiply it one plants these cloves in ground in April or March [or the preceding Fall], four inches deep, & three or four inches from each other: one leaves them in the ground until towards the end of July, & one puts them to dry to keep them then from one year to another, in a place which is not wet. Most of the major garlic diseases are soilborne, so proper site assessment and yearly rotations are crucial in maintaining a healthy garden of garlic. Garlic has a very strong odor.

Garlic scapes are the flower stalk of the garlic pulled to allow the head to become bigger below the ground. Scapes make a wonderful pickle, can be pounded into a «pesto», or just cut and added to stirfries.

***
AIL, est produit par des caïeux qui se forment en terre autour de pied, & qui font tous ensemble une espéce d’oignon: on appelle ces caïeux des gousses d’ail. Pour le multiplier on remet ces caïeux en terre au mois de Mars ou d’Avril, à quatre pouces de profondeur, & à trois ou quatre de distance les unes des autres: on les sort de terre vers la fin de Juillet, & on les met sécher pour les garder ensuite d’une année a l’autre, dans un lieu qui ne soit pas humide. La meme terre ne peut pas porter de l’ail deux années de suite; & cette plante craint dit de Sarres, de s’y succéder à elle-même. L’ail est d’une odeur très-forte.

La Nouvelle Maison Rustique, Troisieme Partie, Le Jardinage, Livre Second, Chap. II, pp. 87.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Arroche - Orache - Bonne-Dame

BONNE-DAME, ou arroche, est une herbe potagere qui dure peu; elle ne vient que de graine, qui est extrêmement plate & mince, ronde & roussatre; on la seme fes premieres au printems en rayons sur planche, ou elle ne reste guère de tems, parce qu’elle leve fort vite, & qu’elle monte en graine dès le mois de Juin. Sa feuille est fort agreeable à manger en farce: on en met aussi dans les potages; elle les rend jaunes and comme dorés: on s’en sert presque d’abord qu’elle est sortie de terre, à cause qu’elle passé vite. Pour en avoir dans la primeur, il faut en semer sur un bout de couche: elle vient en toute sorte de terre, mais toujours plus belle dans les bonnes que dans les médiocres. Lorsqu’on veut en avoir de belle graine, il est bon d’en replanter quelques pieds dans un endroit à part.

La Nouvelle Maison Rustique, Troisieme Partie, Le Jardinage, Livre Second, pp. 93-94.

French Synonyms : Bonne Dame des jardins, la Folette, la poule grasse, la glorieuse, la prude femme, le blé d'espagne, épinard des montagnes, belle dame et le chou d'amour. Atriplex hortensis L., family Chenopodiaceae.

Seeds of Arroche blonde (white/alba) or Bonne Dame available from Ferme de Sainte Marthe


Recipes for orach as an au courant vegetable. Here you see it peaking out of my lettuce patch--I don't have to plant seeds--it's considered by some to be a pervasive weed. It ranks right up there with Dandelion, Watercress and Nettles in chemical analysis: leaves per 100 g contain ca. 17 g protein, 3 g fat, 56 g total carbohydrate, 11 g fiber, 24 g ash, and perhaps 2,000 mg Ca, 150 mg P, 10 mg Fe, 2 mg Cu, 500 mg Mg, 800 mg K, 10 mg Mn, 2 mg b-carotene equivalent (Miller, 1958). It mixes very well with shredded roots and could be used to farce or stuff pasta (ravioli) or tint and flavor pasta dough for lasagna.

Here you see my starts of strawberry spinach or Arroche Fraise. It will eventually look like this and have little red berry fruits.


ARROCHE, plante connue sous les noms de bonne dame, belle dame & follette. Ses fleurs naissent en grand nombre aux extrémités de la tige & des rameaux, elles sont composées de plusieurs étamines sans pétales. Ces étamines sortent d'an calyx à cinq feuille, avec un pistile qui devient dans la suite une semence plate, ronde, & enveloppée par une capsule.

On distingue trois especes d'arroche, la blanche, la rouge, & la puante: il n'y a que les deux premieres qu'on cultive dans les potagers pour l’usage de la cuisine; on en bannit même la rouge à cause de la teinte rouge que sa feuille donneroit au bouillon.

L'arroche eft une herbe potagere. Qui dure très-peu; elle ne vient que de graine qu'on seme pour l'ordinaire à l'entrée du printems, à la volée, ou par rayons sur planche, pour en jouir en attendant la poirée qui ne pousse pas avec la meme rapidité. Mais si, d'un côté, elle a le mérite de lever très-vite, elle a aussi le défaut de monter en graine presqu'auffi-tôt qu'elle est levée. Elle vient en toute sorte de terre, mais toujours plus belle dans les bonnes que dans les médiocres. Lors-qu'on veut en avoir debelle graine, il est bon d'en replanter quelques pieds dans un endroit à part. S'es feuilles entrent dans les potages, & dans les farces, où on l'emploie avec l'oseille, au défaut de la poirée.

Dictionnaire Domestic Portatif. Chez Vincent, Paris 1765, Tome Premiere, p. 105.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Dandelion Fritters - A Spring Tonic

Dried up [left over from winter storage], shredded turnips and fresh chopped dandelions make a tasty fritter with the addition of an egg, some milk and flour, maybe some flavoring herbs or spices, a pinch of salt. Beets, carrots, parsnips, rutabaga, even shredded pumpkin or squash will work. Serve with a dollop of crème fraîche.