Wrexham Pudding

Food in England, Dorothy Hartley, p. 220

- What kind of breadcrumbs? Fresh or dry, fine or coarse and would the crusts of the Wonder Bread qualify for brown or does it have to be a brown bread?
- What is sago and can it be substituted? It provides an interesting texture.
- What is a substitute to suet (until I can make some)?
- What are the cup measurements of the ingredients to include in the recipe along with the weight (so I have more flexibility).
- How does one steam a pudding (and add to instructions). And at what temperature?
- Locate and link Snowdon Pudding

'This is taken directly from a cookery book of 1890 and is one of the few hot winter puddings that uses many eggs.
'It was probably one of the Wynstey Hotel puddings, when that post-house was famous for its catering. This is more likely, because a pudding of the same style is still served on the old Pen y Pass route to Holyhead (see Snowdon Pudding) that connected with the Wynstey.'

1/2 lb brown breadcrumbs
1 lb suet (finely pounded)
2 oz sago (also pounded)
5 oz moist sugar
7oz orange marmalade
6 eggs (or more, should be enough to soak into the breadcrumbs and sago)
1 wineglass of brandy
__ butter
__ raisins

1. Generously butter a deep casserole dish. Arrange raisins in the butter to make a 'device' or image.
2. Mix together the breadcrumbs, the suet, the sago, sugar and marmalade.
3. Wish the eggs thoroughly and add to the mix.
4. When ready to bake, add the brandy at the last minute, pour into the dish and steam the pudding, covered, for an hour or more (make note of time).
5. Serve with marmalade or egg-custard-brandy sauce.

Marigold Eggs

Food in England, Dorothy Hartley, p. 221

Hartley likely refers to Pot Marigold also known as Calendula for this recipe.

1 recipe savoury pie crust
__ apples, sliced thin
__ eggs
__ milk
__ pepper
__ salt
__ fresh thyme, chopped
1 - 2 leaves (very little) fresh sage, chopped fine__
fresh calendula petals, whole

1. Pre-heat oven to 375F.
2. Roll out the pie crust to line a shallow pie dish with.
3. Arrange the sliced apple to evenly cover the bottom.
4. Bake in the oven for __ or until the apple is just cooked and still firm.
5. When the apple crust is done, remove from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 350 for the custard.
6. Whisk together the eggs and milk quite thoroughly.
7. Add the salt, pepper, thyme, sage and petals.
8. Pour the custard into the apple crust and bake for __ minutes or until set.
9. Traditionally served alongside roast pork, in the same way Yorkshire pudding is served alongside roast beef.

Crabapple Verjuice

Food in England, Dorothy Hartley, p. 422

Ms. Hartley claims crab apples make the best quality apple verjuice.

? lbs crab apples, when their kernels have turned black

Tools required - wooden trough, wooden mallets, coarse weave bag or cheesecloth, a carboy or wooden cask the size of a hogshead (typically between 200 and 300L).

1. When the kernels have turned black, harvest the crab apples and keep them in their baskets to 'sweat' for 7-10 days ('sweating' in this context is to let the apples sit in a shaded warm odour free place where they can finish developing their sugars and flavour profiles. They're done 'sweating' when a squeeze leave finger impressions in the fruit).
2. In non-reactive troughs (wooden is choice), beat and crush with wooden mallets called beetles to release the juices.
3. (This bit I'm uncertain. Dorothy transcribes 'Make a bagge or coarse hair-cloth and fill it with crabbes, and presse and run the liquor into Hogsheads.' If I were to extrapolate, it sounds like something like the 'cheese' made from straw in the Edwardian Farm (I think it was). It may be that the community apply press will do the job just fine without any fuss).
4. (Can I complete the fermentation as I would for wine-making, in a carboy etc?) 

Pickling with verjuice

Food in England, dorothy Hartley, p. 422

'Take three quarts of the sharpest verjuice and put in a cold still and distil it off very softly; the sooner it is distilled in the spring the better for use.'

Verjuice of Apples

Food of England, Dorothy Hartley, p. 421-2

Ms. Hartley provides a definition and explanation of verjuice. This is not a recipe, but someday I would like to figure out how to make this as a replacement for lemon juice. We are planning on getting lemon trees, but with climate change, our mild north-west climate may change for colder winters, which would kill any trees. Since I depend quite a lot on lemons and lemon juice in many of my recipes, a workable alternative would be fantastic.

'Verjuice was in constant use till the last century, when its place was taken by the squeeze of lemon juice. It is really a very sharp cider - not a vinegar. The distilling was of interest, for it would account for the apparent mildness of some of the pickles made. In copying old recipes, very often a sharp cider is much nearer the original than modern vinegar.'

In this separate entry, Dorothy recommends distilling in the spring: http://lamouffetterustique.blogspot.com/2017/03/pickling-with-verjuice.html

ALSO https://www.worldturndupsidedown.com/2015/10/18th-century-crab-apple-verjuice-recipe.html

"Having got crab apples, as soon as the kernels turn black, lay them in a heap to sweat, then pick them from stalks and rottenness, then in a long trough, with stamping beetles, stamp them to a mash, and make a bag of coarse haircloth, as square as the press, fill it with the stamped crab-apples, and being well pressed, put the liquor up in a clean vessel." (from The New British Jewel. London: Printed for Osborne and Griffin, and H. Mozley, Gainsborough, 1788

This is better explained in the other entry on Dorothy's book: http://lamouffetterustique.blogspot.com/2017/03/crabapple-verjuice.html

ALSO

https://www.woodland-ways.co.uk/blog/wild-food/green-juice/

"Today verjuice is making a comeback, and is used by many of the top chefs. It can be incorporated into salad dressings, used for deglazing pans, making sauces, fruit compotes, fish stock and in fact anywhere that vinegar or lemon juice may be used.

"There are several different recipes around, some partially ferment the apples first or sometimes a lacto-fermentation is encouraged but in this recipe it is just the unadulterated juice. It’s very simple to make and the 750g of crab apples that I collected yeided about 400ml of the finished verjuice.

1. Wash the apples
2. Blanch the apples in boiling water for a few minutes (this will soften the apples and make pressing them easier)
3. Remove the stalks
4. Put into a food processor and blitz into a fine pulp
5. Put into a jelly bag or wrap in a muslin cloth
6. Either press in an apple press, squeeze in a potato ricer or place in a sieve and weigh down with something heavy (cans of food etc.)
7. Pass the juice through fine muslin cloth
8. Bottle
9. It’s worth making sure everything is spotlessly clean and sterilising the bottle, you can even add a splash of vodka to inhibit bacterial growth.

Toffee Apples

Food in England, Dorothy Hartley, p. 421

'Before the general importation of plantation sugar - they would be quite expensive. Probably small windfall apples dipped in a toffee of honey and beeswax bedabbled fairs of St. Bartholomew even before sugar, as we know it, came into general use.'

(how many) small apples
quarter lb butter
half lb treacle (molasses? what kind?)
1 lb brown sugar
1 Tbsp vinegar (apple cider?white?)

1. Wash the apples and dry thoroughly. Poke in the stick.
2. Melt the butter in a deep pot and then add the rest of the ingredients.
3. Bring to a boil and keep on a roiling boil for 20 minutes (what candy thermometre temp?).
4. Quickly dip the apples, (probably doing a rotation of apples to dip, allow to cool and dip again to develop a good crust).

Apple Custard Tansy

Food in England, Dorothy Hartley, p. 421

3 large apples (1 1/2 lbs), cored, peeled and sliced thin
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp sugar
3 eggs
2 thirds cup whole milk or light cream
1 cup of fine bread crumbs (the same volume as the apples)
Dash nutmeg
half cup sugar

1. Preheat oven to 300F.
2. In an oven-proof fry pan, fry the apple in the butter until soft and then mash. Save about a quarter cup to serve on top when ready.
3. Mix in the Tbsp of sugar and smooth over the bottom of the pan.
4. Whisk together the eggs and milk along with the nutmeg and sugar, and blend in the bread crumbs.
5. Pour the custard over the apple and bake very slowly for (until set).
6. Serve hot with a dollop of the reserve apple mash.