Pastés de poucins à la mode Lombarde (Chicken pasties Lombard)

I was describing how old recipes are not as detailed as what we are accustomed to in modern cookbooks and looked for some examples to illustrate it.  The following recipe, from Pleyn Delit, Medieval Cookery for Modern Cooks by Constance B. Hieatt, Brenda Hosington, and Sharon Butler caught my attention and also tempted my tastebuds.  Chicken wrapped in bacon?  I'm in.

ISBN 0-8020-7632-7

This is one of my favorite books.  Find recipe #107, as the book has no page numbers.  The authors took it from the late 14th century manuscript, Le Ménagier de Paris.

Pastés de poucins à la mode Lombarde

In the Lombard manner, when the small chickens are plucked and prepared, take beaten eggs, both the yolks and the whites, with verjuice and spice powder, and dip your chickens in this; and set them in the pasty with strips of bacon.

Notice that the recipe does not tell you any measurements or what spices to use.  It also does not say to cook the pasties!

My Redaction

The authors provide their version but I wanted to try it myself without their help.  

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

4 slices of bacon

2 eggs, well beaten

1 tablespoon poudre fines spice mix (see ingredient list in the Notes below)

2 tablespoons verjuice (or you can substitute lemon juice, according to the authors)

1 batch of pasties dough or pastry dough, chilled (I used the pasties dough recipe from King Arthur Baking, click here for it.)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a medium-sized bowl, beat the eggs with the spices and verjuice.  Set aside.

Cut the chicken breasts into pieces about 1 inch thick and about 2 to 3 inches long.  Cut eight and aim for uniformity so they bake evenly.  You will probably have some chicken meat left over.

Cut the bacon slices in half.

Cut the dough into eight equal-sized pieces.  Roll out one piece to about 6 inches in diameter.

Place a piece of bacon on the dough.

Dip a piece of chicken into the egg mixture.  The spices are mostly on the bottom, so push the meat down there to pick up a nice coating of egg and spices.  Place the chicken on the bacon, then wrap the bacon around the chicken in a spiral shape.

Wet the edges of the dough with water, fold over the chicken, pressing out most of the trapped air, then seal the edges.  Flute them or press them with a fork.  Cut some venting slits in the top. 

Place the pasty on the cooking sheet and then repeat the process for the other pasties.

Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and cook for another 15 to 20 minutes.  The pasty dough should have some light browning on it.

My Notes

The King Arthur Baking recipe needed more water than they listed.  I put in about 8 tablespoons and it was still too dry for rolling well.  

I actually used 3 eggs but there was so much left over that I wrote to use 2 eggs.  One might have sufficed.

The poudre fines spice mix contains cinnamon, cloves, ginger, grains of paradise, pepper, and saffron.  

I cooked the batch for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

Reasonably uniform in size

Too much egg.  

First, bacon

Then chicken

Spiral wrap

I really need to work on my pastry finishing skills.

The Verdict

They were tasty!  The chicken and bacon were both thoroughly cooked, and I think they would have been better if I had taken them out at 15 minutes to make the chicken moister.

Good with green beans.

The dough was just right -- flexible enough to roll and fold and sturdy enough to hold the ingredients without (much) leaking.  My guest tasters and I commented on its good flavor.  I was happy with its texture and crispiness.  It was not a pie crust but more like a step between pie crust and bread.  I suspect the dough absorbed most of the bacon fat, which added to the overall flavor.

Chicken wrapped in bacon was, of course, flavorful, and you can't beat that.  Chicken breast always strikes me as dry, and I felt that way about this, although it was not too dry.  However, the bacon contributed some fat to improve that.  I think using chicken thigh meat would be an improvement for me.

As a group, the dough, chicken, bacon, and spices were a good blend, an enjoyable meal, and we ate them all at dinner.  

I wished to taste more of the spices, and one of my guest tasters agreed.  The spices weren't always present in a bite, and only showed themselves sometimes.  If I were to do this again, I would sprinkle the spice mixture on the dough before wrapping it around the meat.  That would ensure enough spice and that it was spread evenly across the pasty.  Still, I am not complaining about the flavor.

We also decided to try eating the pasties with a sauce.  I created a sweet-and-sour one with verjuice, honey, salt, pepper, and some ground, toasted bread crumbs as a thickener.  We poured spoonfuls over the pasty, which was a very good addition, making it moister and adding more flavor.  If you do this, aim for more verjuice than honey, and it should tingle your taste buds with that balance of sweet with sour.  I didn't measure anything, I just combined.  I heated it up in the microwave to help the breadcrumbs absorb and thicken the sauce just a little.

With sauce.  The breadcrumbs helped keep all of the sauce from running out of the pasty.

While the batch of pasties were cooking, I decided to use up the rest of the bacon and more of the egg mixture.  First I cut more chicken breast into the same size pieces I made for the pasties.  After dipping each piece in the egg and wrapping it with bacon, I rolled it in dried bread crumbs.  Those baked for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees when the pasties came out.

These were also well-received.  Quite tasty!  They were perfect little two bite morsels, and the bread crumbs added a nice crunch.

Success!  In several ways!

French Wafers -- a Pinedo recipe

It is definitely time to play with the Pinedo book and to try a recipe.  (For more details on Pinedo's book and other recipes of hers I have tried, search this blog under the key word "Pinedo.")

Today I chose to make French wafers.  The recipe made me think this would be like a thin ice cream cone, like a sugar cone or a waffle cone.  

Her recipe:

Pages 28 - 29

My translation:

My redaction:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

4 beaten eggs

12 ounces whole milk

butter for the mold

powdered sugar for dusting

Start heating the mold over medium heat (5 of 10).  

Mix dry ingredients together in one bowl.

Beat eggs with a whisk until foamy and light.

Mix eggs, milk, and dry ingredients together.  You might need to adjust the amount of milk according to what your flour needs.  The result should be a thin batter.

Lightly butter both sides of the mold.  Pour a little batter into the center of the mold.  Close the lid and hold it closed until the squealing noises are through; holding it a little longer is fine as the batter is probably still spreading in the mold.

Continue to cook on that side for another 10 to 15 seconds.  Flip the mold and check the wafer's color -- if it is not a golden brown, flip it back and cook it for a few more seconds.  Cook the second side of the wafer until it is a good color, too. 

Remove the wafer and place it on a cooling rack if you want to keep it flat.  Or roll it around a dowel or other cylinder and place it on a plate.  Dust it liberally with powdered sugar.  Makes 30 or more wafers.

My Notes

Eggs are foamy

Batter is thin.

I have what I believe is a pizzelle iron, and I found using one tablespoon of batter worked quite well.  Adjust your quantity as suits your iron.

Just the right amount in just the right location.

It took me several tries to get the right amount of batter and placing it in just the right location on the iron.  I noticed that my original wafers were very thick on one side (the handles side) and very thin on the other (the hinge side).  That observation inspired me to hold the handles to resist the puffy batter from pushing the iron's sides apart.  It does still push it somewhat, but the difference in thickness was reduced and the batter spread out more across the iron.  This gave me a bigger, more uniformly thick wafer.

I love the scalloped edges, like fancy lace.

After I got the hang of putting in the batter and holding the handles, I paid more attention to how often I put butter on the iron -- every three or four wafers seemed right.  I used a silicone brush and put a very light coating of butter each time.

I also got a better sense of when the wafer was ready to be flipped and then removed.  A few times the thinnest part got too brown, and I could tell by the scent it had cooked too long.  It was worth it to check the wafer for doneness several times on both sides to get it right.

I tried rolling them with my fingers and was not satisfied with the uneven result.  So I used a dowel and that worked out much better.  Mine was about 1 inch in diameter.  I used both the uniform diameter part and the tapered part and liked both results.

Rolling on the tapered end of the dowel

My disappointment was that I fully expected them to be crispy and stay crispy -- just like a sugar cone for ice cream.  They were crispy for a short while but then got soft.  Just like my waffles, unfortunately.  But they did look good rolled and overlapped on a plate, and I dusted each layer with powdered sugar as I went along.

At one point I decided to keep them flat and I wanted them crispy, so I immediately put them on a cooling rack.  This worked well to keep their steam from making them soft.  

The Verdict

We tried them plain, and they were plain.  Notice there is no sugar or other flavorings like vanilla in the batter.  I think they are intended to be a neutral base to support and convey other flavors in the meal.

The powdered sugar made them better.

Buttering them wasn't really interesting, even though butter tastes good.

The best way of eating them was to spread them with jam first.  We tried pomegranate jelly (good), aronia berry jam (better), and Dorie Greenspan's Lemon Goop (best).  The goop does not have sugar in it, and the tartness of the lemon with its slightly salty background was just excellent.  

We declared it a success!  At least, we tried to say "success", but our mouths were full.  

I froze most of the flat ones with the idea of using them to accompany a savory stew (no powdered sugar) or to serve with ice cream.  You can see the way I served a stew with them below.

I'm not sure how to serve the wafers "very hot" because I could only make one at a time.  Perhaps they were all put on a tray in the oven until the batter was used up, then served.

The internet gives many opinions on how to get the wafers crispy and have them stay that way.  It suggests using non-stick cooking spray instead of butter on the iron.  Or to add sugar to the batter.  Or to cook it on a higher heat.  I'm not sure.  The original recipe does not state that the result will be crispy.  Perhaps they are supposed to be soft after they are rolled.  The result I got was somewhere in between a crispy ice cream cone and a softer crepe.  

Yum!  What filling should go inside there?

Savory stew with plain wafer.  Excellent!

I made a stew for dinner and served it with a single wafer.  After defrosting the wafer, I put it into the toaster oven for a very light toasting, which got it hot and made it crispy.  Not only did it look good, the wafer soaked up the stew's liquid base.  It also added a pleasant chewy starch to the meal.  

A Red Mulberry -- A Medieval Main Course

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.

ISBN 0-9628598-2-6

What appealed was on page 200, taken from the Harleian MS. 279 - Potage Dyvers:

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.

Meat and bread after grinding

A handful ready for juicing

Squeezed and twisted

Mulberry juice

Beginning to bake

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.)

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.

Loquat and Mulberry Jam -- a riff on a Pinedo recipe

When I tried this recipe from Encarnacion Pinedo's book, Pear and Fig Jam, (visit here to see it) it turned out wonderfully and also surprised me.  I had expected the pear to add a background note to the fig, but the recipe had me candy the pear chunks first, then embed them in the fig jam.  

This technique intrigued me, and I wondered how I could apply it to other fruits.  

My loquat tree is producing great quantities after the wet winter, and my mulberry tree is mature enough to produce well, too.  I decided to try candying the loquat chunks and embedding them in a mulberry jam.  Why not?

My Recipe

2 pounds, 3 ounces mulberries

3 pounds, 8 ounces loquats (weight before removing seeds and most of the peels; 1 lb, 12 oz after)

3 cups water

1 pound sugar

a splash of lemon juice

Mmmm.  Loquats and mulberries!

Loquats halved, seeded, and peeled

Mix the water and sugar.  Bring to a boil and hold it there for 2 minutes.

Cut the loquats into small chunks and add to the sugar syrup.  

Bring to a boil and then simmer for two hours.  I noted the temperature reached about 200 degrees F, the syrup was getting thick, and the loquats looked candied.

Cut the mulberries into small chunks if they aren't already small.  (Mine are Pakistani mulberries, so they are long.)  Add to the loquats.

Add the lemon juice.  Stir it in.

Continue to simmer until the temperature reached 210 degrees F, then remove it from the heat.

Put into jars.

Loquat chunks, nearly candied

Mulberries ready for the pot.

Finished jam

The Verdict

The color is a lovely dark red, the seeds from the mulberries and the orange loquat chunks add visual texture.  The scent is of mulberries but also a little something else.

The flavor is absolutely luscious.  Mulberries with little bursts of loquat, and it is sweet but not overly so.  The splash of lemon juice was a good choice -- while the lemon flavor is not discernable, the acidity helps the jam from being too sweet.

Oh my, success.  Wonderful success!  I would do it again if I can get enough mulberries at one time.  

I'm glad I was able to make this technique work.  Now I wonder what other combinations would be good?  Also, if mulberries aren't available, I think blackberries would also work well.

Later I made a jam from mostly loquats with a small handful of mulberries and a splash of lime juice.  The loquats didn't break up in the cooking process, so I used a stick blender and pureed the mixture once it cooked to about 210 degrees F.  This made it more like a spread or a fruit butter, and it was also very tasty.  I do love loquats.

Fish in Fine Marinade -- a Pinedo recipe

It is time for another Pinedo recipe!  (See the key words list to the side for the word "Pinedo" for the others.)

I knew I was going to be near a fish market, so I planned ahead to buy some sort of fish there for a Pinedo recipe.  I was hoping to get some whole fish, but to no avail.  They did have rockfish, which Miss Pinedo references in a number of recipes, so I bought 0.84 pounds of it (four filets) and chose this recipe on page 200:

My Translation

Fish in fine marinade.

         This marinade is composed of hyssop or peppermint and garlic, all finely chopped; salt, vinegar and pepper and some other spices if you like.

         The fish is put in large pieces in a casserole in layers, one with fish and another with onion, mint, tomato juice, salt, pepper and garlic; drizzle with vinegar and oil.

         Cook the well-covered casserole over a low heat for two or three hours.

My Redaction

0.84 pounds rockfish filets (or about that much, and any kind of mild, white fish)

6 ounces tomato juice

1 medium brown onion, peeled, halved, then thinly sliced

3 cloves garlic, finely crushed

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh mint

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Start the oven preheating to 300 degrees F.  Choose a lidded casserole dish whose size is appropriate to the amount of fish you have.

Mix garlic, mint, salt, and pepper, then add the tomato juice and mix again.  This is the marinade.  Set it aside.

Mix the olive oil and vinegar, then set aside.

Oil the bottom of the casserole with a little olive oil.  Put in two fish filets to cover the bottom.

Spread half of the sliced onions over the top of the fish.  Pour half of the marinade over the top of that.  Then pour half of the olive oil and vinegar mixture on that.  (This is how I interpreted "drizzle.")

Repeat the layering with the rest of the fish, onions, marinade, and oil-and-vinegar mixture.

Put the lid on the casserole and bake for 1 hour.  

My Notes

My hyssop plant isn't big enough to harvest from yet, so I got some fresh mint from my garden.

I didn't have tomato juice by itself or even fresh tomatoes from which to make juice.  So I opened a can of stewed tomatoes and used the juice from that.  (The tomatoes themselves made a sauce for a side dish with the fish.)

*True confessions:  The stewed tomatoes had some celery flavor in it, but I didn't think it would make much of an impact on the overall flavor of the fish dish.

I estimated the quantities of flavors in the tomato juice by recalling that Miss Pinedo cautioned her readers to only use a few cloves in any recipe.  I thought one tablespoon of finely chopped mint would be enough to taste without being overwhelming.  Marinades are typically strong in flavor before cooking, so that was my goal.

Yes, that finely chopped!

Garlic, mint, salt, and pepper mixed.

The marinade

First layer:  the fish

Then the onions

With the marinade

Finally, with the oil and vinegar.

A second layer, ready for the oven

After one hour of baking.

The Verdict

I served it with a side dish of potatoes that were baked, then sliced and slowly fried in a cast iron pan with olive oil.  I made a sauce of the stewed tomatoes that were pureed and mixed with garlic, salt, and pepper.  This was poured over the potatoes in the pan, then the whole thing was topped with shredded asiago cheese.  I covered the pan and let it cook slowly to fry the potato bottoms, heat the sauce, and melt the cheese.

Potatoes on the left, fish on the right.

The fish in fine marinade was very good!  I am becoming convinced that cooking fish immersed in liquid makes it nearly impossible to overcook the fish.  Usually fish cooks quickly but I baked it for one hour -- it was done perfectly, moist and tender.  I suspect the long cooking time gave the onion a chance to soften and get a mellow flavor.

One serving.  Wine included but not in the picture.

Fish is cooked and moist.

I was intrigued by the use of the mint in the marinade.  I don't think I've ever had fish cooked with mint before, and I was not disappointed.  Its flavor was not strong -- it was really just a hint of mint, a lot like a tingle on the tongue while eating a bite.  I actually think doubling the amount of mint would be good, just to give it more of a leading role in the flavor profile.  

The garlic taste was there, but not overwhelming.  I think it was balanced in the mix.  The onions were subtle, too.  I didn't not taste the vinegar, but I think the balance would have been lacking without it. 

I believe I could have used half the amount of oil and vinegar and still have a good outcome.  That would fit better with the idea of "drizzle" as she specified. 

Viewed as a whole, the fish in its sauce was tasty and we enjoyed it very much.  My guest taster said, "If I was served this in a restaurant, I would not be unhappy."  In other words, it wasn't Earth-shattering or an amazing meal, but it was a good meal.  The potato side dish was a good pairing.  We had both parts for two meals, and enjoyed them both times.

Miss Pinedo was cooking for a large family, so I suspect she could put many layers together in a big pan, put it over a slow fire, and go do other things while it cooked.  A large quantity would benefit from cooking for two to three hours as she specified.  She would still serve a delicious main course, with time to fix side dishes or perhaps work on writing her cookbook.

Success!