Untested - Buttered Apple Dice

Food in England, Dorothy Hartley, p 417

"Buttered Apple Dice
"We know that buttered apples is a dish which dates from 1700, maybe earlier.
"Peel, core, and chop the apples and drop into the sugar bowl as done. Meanwhile cut a slice of stale bread into cubes, the same size as the pieces of apple. Melt just enough butter in the thickest frying pan to fry the sugared apples; keep them well stirred around till they go a golden sticky brown, then toss out, add a little more butter and fry the bread cubes quite crisp, toss both together and serve instandly, with crushed sugar strewn over. This dish should be very crisp and crunchy, with soft pieces of buttered apple in it. It was probably laced with sack or hot cider; but is good with cream."

__ apples, peeled, cored, coarse chop

__ sugar

__ stale bread, diced (same size as apple pieces)

__ butter

Cream and/or cider and/or sack/mead

1. Put the sugar in a large bowl. As you chop the apples, drop them in the sugar and toss as-you-go.
2. Melt the butter in a heavy frying pan (preferably cast-iron) on a medium high heat. When the butter has stopped frothing, dump in the apple and sugar mixture and saute for approximately 5 minutes or until tender crisp and beginning to brown. Turn several times to brown evenly. Remove from heat and dump into a bowl.
3. Add more butter to the pan to loosen what sugars are sticking to the bottom, and toss in the bread cubes, stirring and scraping to mop up anything left behind by the sugared apples.
4. When the bread is quite crisp, toss them with the apples until well mixed and serve immediately.
5. (To try - a glug of cream or cider or sack when serving).

Untested - Chaucer's Roast Apples

Food in England, Dorothy Hartley, p 416

1 cup galangal/galingale root, fresh, diced

1 cup honey

2 cups water

__ apples, peeled

Coarse sugar

1. Start by making a simple syrup with the galangal - put the root in the water and honey, bring the mixture to a boil, remove from heat and let steep for an hour.
2. Heat oven to 325F (bake gently). Arrange apples tightly in a __ x __ glass baking dish - the apples should come level with the top of the dish. Pour the simple syrup over the apples (strain out the galangal or leave it in?).
3. Bake for about an hour (?) or until the apples have become soft. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
4. Sprinkle with crystallized sugar and serve.
5. "They should look like frosted pink roses, in a syrup the colour of rose quartz."

Untested - Nursery Apples

Food in England, Dorothy Hartley, p 416

"Core the apples and fill with brown sugar. Pack into a platter, just fill with water, and bake till the apples are fluffy and soft and the sugar has boiled to toffee."

__ apples, cored but not peeled
__ cups brown sugar
__ cups butter
Boiling water

1. Bake at 375F.
2. Core the apples and arrange them tightly in a __ x __ baking dish.
3. Set water to boil.
4. Stuff the apples with the sugar and add a piece of butter on top.
5. Before putting in the hot oven, pour enough boiling water to cover the bottom.
6. Bake for 30-45 minutes, or until the water has evaporated, the sugar has turned to toffee at the bottom of the dish, and the apples are baked and soft all the way through.

Untested - Bottled Apples

Food in England, Dorothy Hartley, p 414

"Peel, quarter, core, and drop at once into clear water with a squeeze of lemon juice in it. Pack into jars, fill up with syrup and proceed as usual. A pleasant change is made by cooking blackberries in a jar until the juice runs, and using this to fill up the apple jars. Another is made by adding a quince, or some quince seeds may be put into the jars."

Apples – cleaned and quartered, core removed.  If you’re worried about them browning, toss the cut pieces in a bit of lemon juice (I tend to work fast and skip the lemon).  6 pounds will make about 5 pints.
Light Syrup (dissolve 3/4 cups of sugar in 6 cups of water – or 10% by weight).  This will make enough for approximately 9 pints of pears; I tend to make a bit extra in case I’ve measured my pears wrong.
1 tablespoon of brandy or Calvados per jar (this will be added at the end so none will be wasted)
OPTIONAL - blackberry juice, quince or quince seeds

1. Bring simple syrup to a boil.
2. Carefully place pear slices in the boiling solution.  Wait 5 minutes.
3. While still hot, add pears to clean, sterile pint jars.  Top with syrup and gently move jar to release any air bubbles (I use oven mitts).
4. Add 1 tablespoon of Whisky per jar.
5. Add liquid to leave a 1/2 inch headspace.
6. Process pints for 20 minutes in a hot-water bath.

Testing - Pork and Apple Pie

Food in England, Dorothy Hartley, p 119
Also consulted Food of England Web project

0 - The quantity of pork and apple really does not seem like enough to fill a whole pie shell! How thick, exactly should the potato crust be? It reads as if there is a very thin layer of apple and pork, and a honking huge layer of potato!
1 - Here goes! It's in the oven as I type. I forgot to press it down, in part because there was barely enough to fill a shallow pie plate. Hmmm. It may be that there should be more of a substantial potato crust and a thin layer of meat as I observed in my pre-making comment, above. As a cottage pie, I could imagine that it would be designed to stretch the protein so that it isn't really the main ingredient. The finished product was good and needs work: the potato layer was too thin and while baking, they started to curl up and burn at the apex; the contrast of sweet apple chunks (I used Granny Smith apples) to savory pork and onion was too pronounced. Next time, I will grate to apple, 'press it down firmly', and while creating a thicker layer of potato, also look into how to have them cook to be tender and golden instead of white and burnt.
2 - Parboiling and buttering the potatoes definitely works. I used 1.5 lbs of potatoes and the ones in the thicker portion didn't finish cooking, so I'll reduce it to 1 lb. It's an unexpectedly spicy and sweet dish. This time I made it without the bottom crust and it was good, but I'm curious to see how it'll be with it in. The observation that Ben and I made was the the layering didn't really work - there isn't enough matter for the layers to really show and in terms of flavour, it merely meant there were pockets of more apple, for example, which created an unevenness in the bites.

1 pie crust dough recipe
8 oz of cooked leftover pork of any description or fat bacon, or hock, or any spare meat, finely chopped
1 large cooking apples, rough chop grated
1 small onion, grated
2 sage leaves, minced (very little)
1 tsp salt
A couple of pinches of 1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp pepper
1⁄4 1⁄2 to 2⁄3 cup meat stock
3-4 5-6 1 lb potatoes, sliced thin (pref. with a mandolin)
1-2 Tbsps melted butter

1. Line a deep pie dish with pie dough.
2. In a skillet, parboil the sliced potato until just under-done, about 4 minutes. Immediately throw in the butter along with a pinch of salt and pepper, and toss to cover the potatoes.
3. In a bowl, mix together the chopped meat, grated apple and grated onion along with the sage, salt, pepper and sugar. Lay in layers the ingredients in the following order: 1- the finely chopped pork, seasoned with salt; 2- the layer of apples, dusted with sugar; 3- a layer of shredded onion, dusted with pepper. (NOTE: I divided the pork into thirds and the apple and onion into halves which seemed to work fine).
4. Continue to layer, finishing with a layer of pork.
5. Press the filling down firmly, and then fill up with a very little the stock, barely enough to moisten it.
6. Cover with a thick potato crust.: after each layer of potato slices, brush with butter and lightly sprinkle with salt and pepper. Generously brush the top layer so that it browns nicely while baking.
7. Bake slowly at (325 or 350)F, browning nicely for one hour. (I have it in at 350F with an initial 45 minutes, which I'm pretty sure will have to be extended.)

Testing - Potato-Apple Cake

Food in England, Dorothy Hartley, p 370

1 - It turned out well. Ben and I agree that it is likely more of a side dish than a main dish. I did not pinch in the butter at the correct moment for the crust, and I felt it was a bit tough. I will make it again in the correct sequence, and may attempt a future iteration with baking powder in the crust to make it more bread-like.
In fact, I also made it in a pie plate just as a pie, with the bottom a little thinner than the lid. I'd like to make it more like a pithivier and smaller so that it is a bit like a dome - I think it would look better and the sugar and butter would disperse more readily at the final stage.
OH! and the time is incorrect. I will change it as it took much longer to bake than I'd anticipated.

1 lb potatoes
1 oz butter
2 tsps sugar
1⁄2 tsp salt
1⁄4 tsp ginger powder (or 1⁄8 tsp ground cloves or 1 tsp cinnamon or a blend)
4 oz flour (3⁄4 cup?)
2 large apples, sliced
3 Tbsps very soft butter
2 Tbsps sugar

1. (Ms. Hartley's instructions, but see mine, in point 2. : Peel and boil the potatoes until quite soft. Mash with the oz of butter, the sugar and the spice. Add enough of the 4 oz of flour to make a dough that will roll out smoothly onto a floured surface.)
2. "1-Peel and boil the potatoes until quite soft. Drain and allow to cool completely, preferably for several hours in the refrigerator. Mash thoroughly, until almost completely broken down but not so much that it becomes a paste. 2-Combine the sugar, salt, spice and flour. Pinch in the cold butter until it forms pea-sized granules. Mix in the mashed potato and work until it forms a ball."
3. Divide into two balls. Roll out into thickish (?) rounds (she says As if making rather thick pastry), the second larger than the first to fold over the apple filling (rather like the Pithivier).
4. Cover the bottom round with an inch layer of sliced apple.
5. Damp the edges of the bottom round, lay the top round of dough on top and press and pinch the edges together. Mark the top with a broad X.
6. Bake in a hot oven (400-450F?) 425F until brown outside and the apple soft inside, for (30?) 50 minutes.
7. When baked, cut a hole on top to make a lid and lift off carefully, about 2 inches in diameter to avoid spilling any juices. Quickly add the extra butter and sugar, replace the lid and put back in the oven for 5 minutes to give the butter and sugar time to melt.
8. 'It is best to 'carve' the pudding with two forks, pulling the pudding into four farls (where you marked the X on top).' 

Untested - Onion and Apple Pie

Food in England, Dorothy Hartley, p 364

2 receipts of pie crust
__ apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
__ onions, thinly sliced in rings
__ fresh sage, minced
__ thyme, minced
__ parsley, minced
__ rosemary, minced
__ pepper
__ salt
__ butter (or Clotted/Cornish Cream)

1. Line a shallow pie plate with pie crust.
2. Mix together the herbs
3. Layer 1/3(? or 1/4?) each at-a-time, sprinkling with salt and pepper after each addition, of the apple, onion, and herb mixture until it is well and attractively mounded higher than the lip of the pie plate.
4. Place pinches of butter (or dollops of the cream) over the top, and cover with a thin layer of crust, making sure to moisten the edges for a good seal.
5. Let the pie sit in the refrigerator for a minimum of 15 minutes. This is to ensure that the glutens in the crust seal the seam properly.
6. Bake in a (375F?) oven for 1 to 1.5 hours?

Untested - Jugged Celery or Celery and Windfall Apples

Food in England, Dorothy Hartley, p 385

__lbs apples
__lbs celery (enough to pack a narrow pot)
1 clove
1 Tbsp sugar
3-4 slices bacon

- Select a tall, narrow cooking pot - the quantity of celery is determined by how much can be packed very tightly in an upright position.
- The quantity of apple sauce should be just enough that, when the celery is added to the pot, it is forced up and between the stalks to the very top.
- The vertical position of the celery is essential for the flavour to seep down its fibres.

1. Wash the apples and place them, whole, in a pot with the clove bud, the sugar, and as little water as possible (1/4 cup? A few Tbsps?). The cooked apple should produce a stiff pulp. Run this through a sieve or a food mill and discard the remains.
2. In a narrow cooking pot (or jug) put one slice of bacon at the bottom, topped with the apple sauce. Pack the celery, standing up, until no more will fit. Trim the stalks so that there is about 1.5 inches left at the top of the pot. There should be enough apple sauce that it starts to squidge up between the celery stalks to the very top. 
3. The celery stalk tops that have been cut off should be chopped up into a fine dice, and spread on top of the celery and apple sauce.
4. Chop up the remaining bacon and spread evenly over the celery.
5. Cover, and bake at 350F(?) for (?) or until the celery is fork-tender.

Test 1 - Pork and Apple Stuffing

Food in England, Dorothy Hartley, p 120

Good stuffing for roasting dry meat or poultry.

I've crossed out Ms Hartley's version (see bottom) and replaced it with my own recipe. This is definitely a winter farm meal, heavy in fats, starch and protein, and definitely delicious. Attached is also a link to the recipe for how to use it for roast chicken.

2 large apples, peeled, cored and sliced
2 onions, diced
8-10 slices bacon, chopped
6 sage leaves, minced
Sprig of lemon thyme or lemon balm, minced, or a bit of lemon zest
8-10 boiled floury potatoes (4 needed for the stuffing, the rest to bake with the roast)
Salt and pepper

1. In a large pan cook together the bacon, onions and apple over a slow flame.
2. Meanwhile, thoroughly mash 3-5 of the potatoes.
3. When the onion is soft, turn off the heat and add the herbs. Stir in the herbs to let them cook a bit in the residual heat.
4. Add the mashed potato to the bacon mix, stirring and mixing until the potato has absorbed all the bacon fat and the mixture has smoothed.
5. When in the roast, test the stuffing with a meat thermometre for 165F for doneness.

4 large apples, peeled and cored
4 onions
(equivalent in weight of) bacon
6 sage leaves, minced
Sprig of lemon thyme or lemon balm, minced
1 Tbsp of apple cider OR stock
? floury potatoes, mashed
Salt and pepper
(Mix all these together ... beat in the mashed potatoes to make a smooth stuffing. Season well and pack it in very tightly (because both apple and onion, and fat, will melt down and make juice while cooking). If the joint or bird is very small it may be wise to part-cook the apples, onions, etc., before use - but as a rule they will be cooked by the time the meat is done.