Sunday, 26 March 2017

Buckinghamshire Rabbit

Food in England, Dorothy Hartley, p. 213

(mentioned in the entry for Poached Eggs p. 212-3)

?? cups meat or vegetable stock
Salt and pepper
6 fresh eggs, like, only days old
1 loaf Wonder Bread or other country-style crusty bread
Butter (optional)

  1. Put the stock in a small pot and bring to just before a boil. Reduce the temperature to maintain it at a slow simmer.
  2. Put some thick slices of bread to toast to get them dry. 
  3. Into a small bowl crack an egg, create a vortex in the slowly simmering stock and, whites first, slowly slide the egg into the centre. Cook for about 3 minutes for soft yolks (and how else would a sensible person want their poached egg, anyway?). Scoop out with a slotted spoon and place on top of the dry toast, spooning some broth over it.
  4. NOTE: is this better with the broth served separately OR spooned over the bread, a little like Soupe à l'oignon?

Friday, 17 March 2017

Buck Rabbit

Food in England, Dorothy Hartley, p. 212-213

(Mentioned as part of the Poached Egg entry)

I hope I have the sequencing right!! There are lots of parts to making this, which was unexpected when I started trying to work it out in writing.

1 recipe of Welsh Rabbit
1 loaf Wonder Bread
Butter
6 eggs
Vinegar
3 medium-to-small tomatoes
Salt and pepper
Oil

  1. Put on a pot of water to boil then reduce heat to a steady simmer.
  2. Toast the bread, butter it and set it aside.
  3. Meanwhile prepare the Welsh Rabbit up to the point where the sauce is finished.
  4. Heat up a pan or a grill. Cut the tomato in half; drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Fry the tomato on each side until it browns, 2-3 minutes.
  5. Into the simmering water add a dash of vinegar.
  6. Into a small bowl crack an egg, create a vortex in the simmering water and, whites first, slowly slide the egg into the centre. Cook for about 3 minutes for soft yolks (and how else would a sensible person want their poached egg, anyway?). Scoop out with a slotted spoon and drain on a cloth before assembling the dish.
  7. Turn on the oven broiler. Pour out the cheese sauce over the bread and grill in the oven as per the recipe.
  8. Layer the hot grilled tomato on top and the poached egg on top of that. Salt and pepper and serve immediately.

Tuesday, 14 March 2017

Boiled Egg - Coddled Egg

Food in England, Dorothy Hartley, p. 212

Fresh and older eggs should be cooked differently (What is considered a non-fresh egg? How old must it be?)

Boiling an older egg - place in boiling water for 3.5 minutes.

Fresh egg - place in boiling water for 3.5 minutes. Remove the boiling bot of water from the heat source and let sit for an additional 5-6 minutes with the egg in it. 'Eggs cooked in this way can be kept in hot water for some time without becoming hard, and it preserves the natural moisture in the new-laid egg.'

Sunday, 12 March 2017

Crypspey

Food in England, Dorothy Hartley, p. 221

'Take whyte of eyroun and mylke and floure and a lytel berme and bete to gederys so that it be renning and not too styf. Caste sugre thereto and salt, than take a chafer full of fresshe grece boyling and put thy hand in the lature and lat hym renne down thy fyngerys, into the chafere. Whan it is runne togedere on the chafere and is y now nym a skymer and tike it up and let all the grece renne out and put it on a fayre dyssche and cast theron sugre and serve forth (with).'

1 egg white
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp dry active yeast (here 'berme' refers to 'barm', the yeast that forms on malt liquors while fermenting, but I don't know how to get this... yet)
1 Tbsp sugar + 1 Tbsp sugar
A pinch of salt
__ ? coconut or animal fat oil

  1. Unless you have barm on hand, you'll have to activate the dry active yeast. Warm the milk to body temperature, sprinkle the yeast on the surface, cover and let sit in a warm place for about 10 minutes. 
  2. Whisk the egg whites until fluffy, the add the flour and the milk, stirring until you get a batter that is like thick cream. If it's too thick, add more milk.
  3. Add the first Tbsp of sugar and the salt and let sit while the oil is heating up.
  4. (What size pot or frying pan for the oil? How much oil?)
  5. Once the oil is at 350F for frying, take up about a half cup of batter and let it run down your fingers into the hot oil; they become crisp little nests of sweet fried batter.
  6. Leave in the oil until it browns then flip to finish browning. Scoop it up with a slotted spoon and lay on paper towel to soak up any extra oil and while it's still hot sprinkle with the second Tbsp of sugar.

Saturday, 11 March 2017

Mayonnaise

Food in England, Dorothy Hartley, p. 220

2 egg yolks
__ salt
__ pepper
__ dry mustard
1 Tbsp (or more) tarragon vinegar
1 pint salad (ie. bland) oil

  1. Whisk the eggs, salt, pepper and mustard until the yolk turns a pale yellow ('start the cream').
  2. Continually whisking, very slowly, in small quantities and alternately add the vinegar and the oil. Whisk constantly until the characteristic thick cream is formed.
  3. In hot weather work in a cold room or in a chilled bowl

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.