Desserts for East Kingdom 12th Night (recipes)

I was asked to make the dessert course for East Kingdom 12th Night. For those of you who had stayed and were able to enjoy the feast and end your evening with the dessert, here are the recipes for each part.

Honey Mousse
Makes about 4-5 cups of mousse

1 1/4 cup honey
4 eggs

Separate all eggs. Gradually beat the yolks and the honey together. Once blended, cook over a slow fire, stirring constantly, until they are thick. Put yolks aside. Beat egg whites until they are stiff, but not dry. Gently and gradually fold the whites into the yolk mixture a little at a time until fully blended. Chill until firm.


Pyramid Cakes (From the El Cid cookbook and documented to: Gran, Mark. Roman Cookery. London: Serif Cookery, 1999. 43. Print.)
Makes about 40 small pyramids

1 cup water
1 cup honey
2 cups semolina flour
3 sticks of butter - room temperature
1 tablespoon coriander

In a small pot, bring the honey and water to a slow boil. Once boiling, remove from heat and set aside. Put semolina flour in a large skillet over medium heat and toast it, stirring often, until it changes color. Add the butter and continue stirring, sautéing the semolina until it is golden brown in color. Add the syrup to the semolina and stir until well mixed (you can use a food processor if necessary). Heat everything over medium heat until it sets up and becomes like a firm cookie dough. Remove from heat and press into molds. Chill and remove. Freezes excellently. Serve at room temperature.


Apple Kisses (Toomre, Joyce. Classic Russian Cooking: Elena Molokhovets' A Gift to Young Housewives. Indiana University Press, Bloomington & Indianapolis: page 393.)
Makes about 40 cookies

5 apples
3/4lbs of sugar
1 egg white

Bake apples until they are no longer firm and press them through a fine sieve. Add to the strained apples the sugar and egg white. Mix in a bowl surrounded by ice or snow, stirring for 2 hours until thick and a spoon stands up straight in it (I used my kitchen aide with a whip attachment and the volumes I was working with took about 20 minutes). Spoon heaps onto paper and bake in a low oven (200 degrees for 3 hours, until fully dry).


Honey Apples (Savelli, Mary. Tastes of Anglo-Saxon England. Anglo Saxon Books, Norfolk, England: 2002. page 52.)
Serves 9

6 slices wheat bread
1 cup milk
1/2 cup apple cider
1/2 tsp clove
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup honey
1 cup raisins
1 medium apple

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cube the bread and then let it soak in the milk and cider for about 15 minutes. Peel, core, and chop apple and mix that, and all remaining ingredients together. Add the apples to the bread and mix. Place everything into a pan set inside a larger pan with an inch of water in it. Bake for 45 minutes.

Recipes for Knowne World Dance and Music Symposium

Save for the cookies, baklava, and purchased items (bread, fruits, herring), here are the recipes from the event with some minor notes added for convenience sake.

Mushroom Caviar

Single batch serves 8.

12 oz of mushrooms, finely chopped (the more variety, the better the flavor)

1 onion, finely chopped

1 stick of butter

1 tbsp dry sherry

3 oz curd cheese

3 oz cream cheese

2 oz parsley

1 oz tarragon

1 oz marjoram

Saute the mushrooms and onions in butter. Add sherry and remove from heat. In a bowl, beat together cheeses and herbs. Stir in mushrooms, onions, and juices and beat until just combined. Chill overnight in a crock.

Notes: Use dried mushrooms for best varieties and just reconstitute and drain before starting the recipe.

 

Melon in Vinaigrette

Single batch serves 24.

1 honeydew melon

½ cup vegetable broth

¼ cup vinegar

1 tsp pepper

1/8 tsp mint flakes

¼ cup pomegranate juice (reduced)

¼ cup passum

Wash, open, and scoop melon. Cut melon in thin slices and place in a large bowl. Mix all other ingredients in separate bowl and pour marinade over melon and cover. Put in fridge and stir occasionally.

Notes: I had to look up passum, which is a raisin wine. I had to speak to a brewer to see what I could use that would be close or at least similar. They suggested a nice sweet sherry, so I used a cream sherry in its place.

 

Lobio

A single batch serves 4.

½ cup of dried kidney beans

½ tsp of salt

1 tbsp white wine vinegar

2 tbsp finely chopped onion

¼ cup fresh parsley

¼ cup fresh cilantro

Some pepper

2 tbsp vegetable oil

Bring an abundant amount of water for the beans to boil. Add the beans, remove from heat, and cover for ten minutes. Put back on the heat and bring back to a boil for ten minutes, while covered. Remove from heat again and keep covered for 20 minutes or until beans are the consistency you want. Meanwhile, combine all other ingredients in a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Drain and pat the beans dry before adding to the bowl and tossing. Let sit for flavors to meld.

Notes: Can use one can of beans in place of the tried beans, but again, make sure to drain well before tossing. This dish is fantastic cold. But can also be room temperature.

 

Lotus Root Salad

Single batch serves 8.

1 lotus root

4 cups of boiling water

¼ tsp salt

2 tsp sesame oil

1 tbsp white vinegar

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp sugar

Peel and thinly slice the lotus root – keep it soaking in cool water to keep from discoloration. To blach, drain and lay the root in a roasting pan and pour boiling water over top. Let sit for five minutes before draining and patting dry. Meanwhile, combine all dressing ingredients. Sprinkle root with dressing and chill at least one hour before serving.

Notes: I find the longer it sits, the better it tastes, so I make it the night before the event for peak flavor.

 

Peas in Herb Sauce

Single batch serves 5

2 leeks

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp cilantro

½ tsp cumin

10 oz frozen peas

1 tsp dill

1 tsp basil

¼ tsp pepper

2/3 cup vegetable broth

1/3 cup white wine

1 tbsp cider vinegar

Slice white part off leeks and mince cilantro. Cook leeks until soft in oil with cilantro and cumin Add rest of ingredients and set aside. Let sit as long as possible to blend flavors. Reheat and adjust spicing.

Notes: I served this dish cold and it was fantastic. The longer it sits, the better it tastes.

 

Shashlyk

Single batch serves 15.

5lbs of meat (lamb, beef, whatever you prefer)

2 onions

2 bay leaves

2 cloves of garlic

A handful of peppercorns

2 cups pomegranate juice

Layer cubed meat with onion and spices, the top layer being onion. Pour pomegranate juice over the meat. Let marinate before grilling.

Notes: Meat can be made ahead of time and frozen in the marinade – works fantastic. No matter how you need to cook it, it tastes fantastic: baked, grilled, kabob’d, stir fry’d, etc).

 

Azerbaijan Pilaf

Single batch serves 6.

½ cup sliced almonds

2 tbsp butter

1 cup rice

2 cup vegetable stock

½ tsp sesame seeds

¼ tsp ginger

¼ tsp salt

Pepper to taste

Melt butter. Add rice and stir until white and opaque. Stir in sesame seeds and then pour in stock, ginger, salt, and pepper. Stirring constantly, bring to a boil. Put in tightly covered dish and bake for 20-25 minutes until rice is tender. Sprinkle almonds over top and serve.

Notes: I added the almonds in while cooking and also did it on the stove top instead of baking. As long as the rice absorbs the stock, whichever method is preferred will work.

 

Marinovannye Griby

Single batch serves 6.

1 cup red wine vinegar

2 cloves

½ cup water

5 peppercorns

½ bay leaf

2 tsp salt

2 cloves garlic

1 lb mushrooms

1 TBSP vegetable oil

Combine vinegar, cloves, water, pepper, bay leaf, salt, and garlic in pan. Heat on high until boiling and drop in mushrooms. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove garlic and pour contents into jar, topping with oil. Marinate for at least one week.

Notes: I never take out the garlic because I like pickled garlic. I like using a variety of fresh mushrooms, if I can find them. I save the marinade for marinating more mushrooms later or using as the base for a salad dressing. You can make these any length ahead of time.

 

Vinegar For Meat

Single batch serves many.

3 cups vinegar

3 ½ tbsp. salt

1 celery root

2 parsnips

2 carrots

2 onions

Spices to taste (allspice, bay leaves, mace, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, garlic)

Finely shred all vegetables. Add all ingredients into a pan and bring to a boil. Let cool and bottle.

Notes: Bottle with the veggies and spices in and strain later – adds to the flavor. Vinegar can be used to pour over cooked meat or marinade meat to be cooked later.

 

Dried Beef

Single batch serves 8.

1 oz black pepper

1 oz long pepper

½ oz mandarin peel

½ oz cardamom

½ oz grains of paradise

½ oz galangal

2 lbs lean beef

8 oz ginger juice

2 oz onion juice

50 grams of salt

Grind spices to a fine powder. Mix rest of ingredients. Marinate meat for two days, turning to cover evenly. Remove meat from marinade, drain well, then air dry for a couple hours. Arrange meat strips in single layer on fine wire screen or cooling rack in oven at 200 until meat is dry. Use two forks to shred meat into floss. Store in air tight container.

Notes: I used bamboo skewers to hang the meat in my oven to save space. It worked well. The spices seemed like a lot, so I experimented with a batch with spices, a batch wiped, and a batch rinsed. The rinsed is less peppery, the batch with spices has a lot more flavor. I did not shred the meat into a floss because I wanted easy to access jerky.

 

Kotmis Satsivi

Single batch serves 4

3 lbs chicken

½ stick melted butter

1 tbsp vegetable oil

½ tsp salt

Pepper to taste

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp finely chopped onion

2 tsp tinely chopped garlic

1 tbsp flour

1 ½ cup chicken stock

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

1/8 tsp cloves

1/8 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp cayenne

1 bay leaf

1/8 tsp turmeric

1 tbsp parsley

¼ tsp salt

3 oz ground walnuts

Coat chicken in mixture of melted butter and vegetable oil. Cook in a pan on a rack, basting with butter oil, at 475 for 10 minutes on each side. Turn oven to 400, baste and season bird with salt and pepper and roast for 40 minutes, basting every 10. When done, pull out chicken and cube. In skillet, melt butter and add onion and garlic. Cook until soft. Add flour and make a paste before adding chicken broth. Boil until thickened and add rest of ingredients. Pour over chicken before serving.

Notes: Due to allergy concerns, I kept my sauce on the side. The chicken was moist and delicious and the sauce was a very nice compliment.

Recipes

I have had a few people ask me for the recipes of the things I traditionally make for sideboards and feasts.

Units of measurement that may be important:

1 glass = slightly less than 1 US liquid cup
1 spoon = between 3.2 and 3.6 US tablespoons

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Apricot dinner kasha:
3 to 4 cups water
1 cup bulgar
2 carrots, diced
1 onion, diced
1/4 cup of prunes, dried apricots, raisins or other dried fruit cut up
salt to taste
Bring water to boil and stir in bulgar, onion, and carrot. Simmer over low heat, stirring every 15 minutes until the desired texture, approximately 45 minutes (watch carefully so it doesn't burn). Add the apricots toward the end of cooking. Add extra water if needed.

Shashlyk:

Marinade for 5 lb meat (lamb or beef): 
1-2 onions, coarsely chopped
2 bay leaves
2 clove garlic
Pepper corns
2 cups pomegranate juice
Layer cubed meat with onion and spices. Top layer should be onion. Pour pomegranate juice over the meat. Freeze or marinate in fridge. Grill to desired done-ness.

Cabbage Pagach:
1 large onion, chopped
1 medium cabbage (chopped)
Salt and pepper to taste
Enough pie crust for five 9-inch pies.
Saute onion in a large pot until soft and translucent. Add the cabbage and cook covered until soft. Add salt and pepper to taste. Roll out a crust and put into a pie tin. Put cabbage mixture on one half of circle. Fold over other half of dough to form a large turnover and seal the edge, leaving half the pie tin free to hold another pie. This recipe should make 5 pies. Bake in preheated 400 degree oven about 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Flat Breads:
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour 
1 teaspoon sea salt

1 cup water

Mix ingredients with hands. Turn dough onto a floured work surface and knead for 5 minutes.

Transfer to a bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let dough rest for 30 to 90 minutes. Divide dough into 8 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a 7-inch (18-cm) circle. Spray a cast-iron griddle or skillet once with cooking spray and set over medium-low heat. Cook for 1 minute. Turn over and cook 5 minutes on second side or until bread bubbles up. Flip back to first side and cook for 5 minutes.

Marinovannye Griby: (Pickled Mushrooms)

1c red wine vinegar

2 whole cloves

½ c cold water

5 whole peppercorns

½ bay leaf

2 tsp salt

2 cloves garlic

1 lb mushrooms

1 tbsp vegetable oil

Combine vinegar, cloves, water, pepper, bay leaf, salt and garlic in a pan. Heat over high heat to boil and drop in mushrooms. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove garlic from marinade and pour contents of pan into 1 quart jar. Pour oil over top. Place plastic wrap over top and cover jar tightly. Let marinate about one week.

Hen with prunes:

1 large hen (or equivalent of chicken)

2 spoons butter

1 carrot

1 parsley root

1 onion

2-3 bay leaves

1 spoon flour

vinegar or ½ a lemon

1-2 pieces of sugar

½ lb prunes

10-15 allspice

Clean and salt hen. Place ¼ lb butter, root vegetables, and spices in a stew pan. When butter starts to bubble, add the hen and stew, covered, until tender, turning and adding a little water. When cooked, remove and cut into pieces. Return to pan and add 3 glasses (a little less than 3 cups) bouillon – cook for ½ an hour.

Meanwhile, fry 1 spoon (3.5 tablespoons) flour in butter, dilute with hen bouillon and add vinegar and sugar. Bring sauce to boil, strain, pour over hen. Add prunes that have been boiled in water, covered, left to stand 1-1 ½ hours, and removed from water with a slotted spoon. Bring everything to a boil. Serve chicken and prunes with a little sauce on top and rest of sauce separately.

Turnip pudding with ham:

2 1/12 spoons butter

6 eggs

2lbs turnips

½ lb ham

1/6 lb cheese

½ spoon butter

Cream ¼ lb butter until white. Beat in 3 eggs and 3 egg yolks and 1 ½ glass mashed/boiled turnips and 1/2lb finely chopped ham. Mix thoroughly and pile into a mold greased with butter. Set in oven and, when pudding is ready, turn it out onto a platter. Strew with cheese and pour on hot butter.
(Can be made easily without the ham and is well received.)

Mushroom Caviar:

12oz mushrooms finely chopped

1 medium onion finely chopped

4 oz butter

1 tbsp dry sherry

3 oz curd cheese

3 oz cream cheese

2 oz parsley

1 oz tarragon

1 oz marjoram

Saute mushrooms and onion in butter. Once soft, add sherry and remove from heat. In a bowl beat together cheeses and herbs. Stir in mushrooms, onion, and juices. Beat until combined and transfer into a crock. Chill overnight or up to three days.

Creamed Beets:

3lbs beets

1 spoon finely chopped onion

1 1/2 spoons butter

1/4 spoon flour

3/4 glass sour cream

salt

2-3 spoons vinegar

Boil beets. Peel and chop. Fry onion in butter and add flour and beets. Mix. Add sour cream, salt, and vinegar. Bring to boil. Some people add sugar or honey.


Most requested sideboard items (to continually be updated):

Shortbread

My recipe is always the same. Mix together 1 cup of flour, 1/2 cup of powdered sugar (or sugar that has been pounded in mortar/pestle or pulsed through a food processor). Rub in one stick of butter, cut into cubes, until a firm cookie dough is formed. Roll and cut or shape cookies with hands and then cook at 325 for 15-20 minutes. As shortbread is so easy to experiment with, it is no wonder I use it to make mock springerle or add various other flavors. A recent event I was at I ended up making a special type of cookie and wanted to share that recipe here:

1 cup flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar (there was only granulated at the event, so I made do, but MUCH better with powdered)
1/2 cup (or one stick) or cold butter
1/ teaspoon orange zest
2 tablespoons lavender
pine-nuts

Sift together the flour and sugar. Add the orange zest. Cut the butter into cubes and (trust me on this) rub the butter with your fingers into the dough. When dough begins to resemble crumbs, add the lavender. Keep rubbing until a nice firm cookie dough forms. Shape however you like using cookie cutters or just shape with fingers. Decorate using the pine-nuts. Bake at 325 for 15-20 minutes until lightly golden. Cool on a rack for best results.