My mulberry tree is producing, and I am loving it. Fresh mulberries! They are excellent just on their own, and they are also good paired with gouda cheese and white wine.
But I wanted to do something historical with them. For this I returned to Cindy Renfrow's Take a Thousand Eggs or More, a collection of 15th century recipes for my inspiration. I had previously made a recipe from it named "Tart de ffruyte". Click here to see it.
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| ISBN 0-9628598-2-6 |
What appealed was on page 200, taken from the Harleian MS. 279 - Potage Dyvers:
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| Early English above, modern English below |
My Redaction
I was not convinced that this was served as uncooked meat and eggs, and it looked to me like a fruit-and-spice meatloaf. That is approach I took in redacting it.
2 pounds boneless beef round steak
1 pound, 13 ounces fresh mulberries
2 egg yolks
2 ounces dried bread crumbs
2 + 1 teaspoons poudre fines
2 teaspoons sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Place a handful of mulberries in the center of a damp cloth (I used a thin cotton cloth normally used for drying dishes), gather the cloth around them, then use your hands to squish the berries, letting the juice flow into a waiting bowl. Twist the cloth around the berries, extracting more juice, until the mass feels firm and no more juice flows. Discard the spent berries, then repeat until all the berries are juiced. This gave me 1 cup of mulberry juice.
Cut the meat up into cubes then run them through the meat grinder. (Or buy pre-ground beef.)
If the bread isn't already in crumbs, run them through the grinder after the meat. Mix them into the meat.
Mix the meat mixture and the juice, then add the sugar and 2 teaspoons of spices and mix again. Then mix in the egg yolks.
Shape the mixture into a loaf. I made a round that was about 8 inches in diameter and 2 to 3 inches high. Sprinkle the top with one teaspoon of the spices.
Bake for 30 minutes or until cooked all the way through. Serve it forth.
My Notes
The poudre fines mixture I have contains cinnamon, cloves, ginger, grains of paradise, pepper, and saffron. You can mix up your own version using most or all of these, and I believe you will still be mimicking the medieval time period well.
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| Meat and bread after grinding |
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| A handful ready for juicing |
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| Squeezed and twisted |
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| Mulberry juice |
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| Beginning to bake |
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| Serve it forth! |
The Verdict
It was cooked just right: no pink left but everything was still juicy. Also, the loaf was firm enough and held together when cut and served. I would not change the number of egg yolks, although I usually use whole eggs when I make a meatloaf. (I enjoyed the leftover whites for breakfast the next day.)
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| Don't ignore those juices! |
The flavor was interesting! The mulberry juice didn't taste like mulberries, but it added a lovely fruit element to the meat and spices. The spices were a nice support for the juice and did not conflict with the meat.
I think I would not put a full teaspoon of spice over the top; a half teaspoon would probably be better. That was too strong. But I liked the amount in the meat. In fact, I think I could put in more and still enjoy it.
I'm glad I didn't put in much sugar. I didn't taste it, and I was glad.
My guest taster and I both enjoyed this meatloaf. We found ourselves spooning the pan juices over the top of our pieces just because they made it taste even better. A piece of bread also did a good job sopping up the extra juice.
Success! Definitely worthwhile repeating. If I didn't have fresh mulberries available, I would try mulberry molasses diluted with water.
When I make meatloaf, I typically soak the liquid (red wine!) in the bread crumbs for 10 to 15 minutes before mixing them into the meat. I think I would do this with the juice if I did this recipe again. It might disburse the flavor throughout the meat better, although you do not hear me complaining.
Just in case you were worried, the juice did not stain the white cloth. Most of the color left when I rinsed the cloth out in the sink, and the rest washed out in the laundry.
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