Tag: vegetarian

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Making your own yeast for bread

Looking forward to the upcoming weekends are the Minnesota Renaissance Festival, we will be bringing a lot of period bread recipes to the festival.  Unlike modern bread making, they did not go to the store to buy prepackaged yeast, they would have to either make their own, or find someone who has.

Below are two ways that I know of making yeast from scratch and preparing it for bread.  This is not something that grows in a couple of hours.  It takes days, if not weeks, to grow yeast. I hope you enjoy these techniques.

  • At the turn of the 20th century, yeast was made from boiling grated potatoes with a little sugar and salt until it became translucent. A cup of the old yeast was added to make it ferment faster. This yeast mixture was set on the back of the stove to ferment. It would keep for 2 or 3 days before going sour. The mixture would be the yeast that would be used for breads.  When more was needed, bakers would add a cup of the “old yeast” to a new potato and sugar mixture.

 

  • Combine 1/2 cup unflavored yogurt and two tbsp of flour in a clean bowl. Cover and allow resting for 24 hours.  Remove any liquid that develops over the yeast.  Add two tablespoons flour and two tbsp water and stir every morning for a week. If too much starter grows, throw away half and replace it with an equal volume of the flour and water mixture.  If bubbles develop, begin feeding the yeast every six hours with the flour and water mixture. Continue to pour off any water.   Feed the yeast about an hour before you plan to use.
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Traditional Food Preservation Techniques With A Modern Twist – Part II

Part II: Flavored Salts and Sugars, Oils, and Extracts
In the previous issue of Renaissance Magazine, I wrote about how a well-stocked pantry or larder was essential to any kitchen.  It doesn’t matter the size of the kitchen, but food preserving helped keep food longer.  In this issue, I will focus on flavor enhancements including flavored sugars, salts, oils and vinegars as well as making your own extracts.  Although some of the enhancements were not widely used until well after the Renaissance period, they can complement any dish from any time period.  In addition, they make lovely gifts to your loved ones.

Flavored Salts and Sugars
Many of us are familiar with cinnamon sugar that topped our toast.  This is a similar process, but instead of blending powdered spices with sugars and salts, an older method is to let the sugar or salts absorb a lot of the essential oils from the fresh herbs and spices.

This is a fairly easy process.  You will need a ceramic dish such as ramekins.  Place a layer of salt or sugar at the bottom of the dish.   Sweet things should be applied to the sugar (nutmeg, ginger, vanilla, clove, citrus zest, or cinnamon) and savory things would be applied to the salt (garlic, rosemary, chilies, etc.)  Place the chosen flavor on top of the bottom layer of salt or sugar and begin layering.

Once the layering is finished, place the dish in a low heat area so the flavor infuses with the salt or sugar.  Salt requires a higher heat (200 degrees) for an hour and sugar requires a lower heat (100 – 150 degrees) for two hours.  The flavoring would need to be stirred occasionally within the sugar or salt to ensure thorough blending.  Place in an airtight container and serve as needed; it is important that the flavored sugars and salts are not cooled, as it will halt the flavor from disbursing evenly.

Extracts
Like the sugars, extracts are easy to make.  Finding a sweet spice (nutmeg, ginger, vanilla, clove, citrus zest, or cinnamon) and placing it into a clean bottle that can be sealed.  The ingredients will need to be either cracked (cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, or ginger) or sliced thinly (vanilla and citrus zest.  Add a strong flavorless liquor such as Everclear or Vodka and seal shut in a dark place.  The longer the combined ingredients sit sealed with occasional shaking, the stronger the extract will become. Through this process, I have made vanilla, ginger, and various citrus extracts.

Flavored Oils & Vinegars
Flavored vinegars and oils require heating the liquid before adding the herbs or spices.  By using savory herbs such as rosemary, basil, thyme, or peppers, one can create a wonderful addition to their kitchen. To begin, slowly heat the vinegar or oil.  While it heats up, chop the herbs into large pieces and add them to the mixture.  It is important that you do not let the pot boil.  By simmering it and bottling it in small amounts, it prevents waste.  The flavored oils should be chilled as they spoil very quickly and should be used within 2 – 3 weeks.  The acids in the vinegars will keep longer than the oils and can be kept for months.  The flavored vinegars make a nice addition to olive oil for dressings and marinades.

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Bubble and Squeak – A New Recipe

This past weekend we demonstrated a couple of recipes including pasties, lemon bread pudding, and bubble and squeak.  I’ve posted the pasty and lemon bread pudding recipes before and if you click on the names, you can visit those recipes. 

Bubble and Squeak on the other hand was new.  Traditionally, the vegetables are usually sautéed in bacon fat and mashed potatoes were added later, but we decided to create small patties as it would be easier to cook and eat.  This was a typical meal in England for Sunday and Monday lunches as it would use a lot of the leftovers.  Below is our recipe for Bubble and Squeak.  I am also supplying a slight deviation from the traditional recipe by using olive oil instead of bacon fat for my vegetarian/healthy option fans.

Ingredients:
2 cups of mashed potatoes
1 small onion, diced
1 carrot, cut thinly along the bias
2 leaves of kale, diced
6-8 brussel sprouts, diced
Bacon fat (olive oil may be used for a vegetarian or healthier option)
Crumbled bacon (optional)
Olive oil or butter

Directions:
Begin to thinly cut up the vegetables and combine into a single bowl.  If the vegetables are cut too large, they will not be cooked thoroughly; it is recommended that they are cut rather small.  Add the mashed potatoes and stir until well blended.  If you notice the potatoes are a bit on the dry side, add some butter or olive oil.  The potatoes should be moist, but not wet.  Begin to form the mixture into patties (slightly larger than a ¼ lb. in size). 

Take your bacon fat or olive oil and add to a hot skillet or frying pan.  Once hot enough add the patties and begin to brown.  The goal is to cook and brown the patties.  Once golden brown on one side, flip and brown the other side.  Once completed, remove them and they are ready to be served.   They are best served hot, but they are still tasty when served at room temperature.

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Middle Eastern Pasta

Growing up and attending modern schools, I heard the story about how Marco Polo brought pasta to Europe from the Far East.  In fact, pasta was already established in southern Europe by the time Marco Polo began his journey along the Silk Road.

What I later learned was that products similar to pasta existed during the 1st century AD (the Etrusco Roman era). Made from durum wheat and water, “lagane” was very similar to modern lasagna. However, instead of being boiled, it was cooked in an oven along with chickpeas and spices.

 

Conquered cultures have often adopted languages, foods, sciences, and arts from invading cultures. The Arab invasions of the 8th century were no exception and impacted much of the culinary cuisines along the Mediterranean Sea and this includes what we now know as pasta.

Modern pasta is usually served with a sauce that is tomato-, vegetable-, seafood-, meat- or cream-based.  But that was not so in the early versions of pasta.  The Arab version of pasta contained cinnamon, clove, dried fruit like figs and raisins and it tasted both semi-sweet and semi-spicy.  As time went on, invaded cultures began changing this recipe to fit their own ideals and tastes.  The exotic spices were removed as people began adding their own items to the dish – vegetables, calamari (squid), fish, pork, and chicken.  Sauces were developed when cooking the aforementioned items in olive oil or butter, with wine and, once reduced (cooked-down), they were added to the pasta.

Continue reading “Middle Eastern Pasta”

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Silk Road recipes (Part I)

This past weekend was Silk Road weekend at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival and we cooked up a storm.  My assistants, Nicholas and Rissa, worked very hard over the three day weekend and we cooked and cooked.  We demonstrated several recipes.  I will post the second set of recipes later, once I can compile my notes further. 

This past weekend, our 1:00 pm show demonstrated chicken tikka, curry chickpeas, and samosas.  I hope you like them as much as we did; they made a very tasty lunch.

Chicken Tikka
Ingredients:
3/4 teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted
3/4 teaspoon coriander seeds, toasted
2 cups whole-milk yogurt
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 (1 1/2-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
3 tablespoons vegetable oil plus additional for greasing pan
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon garam masala (Indian spice mixture)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
5 pounds skinless boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes

Blend well the whole milk yogurt and spices together.  Add the chicken and marinate for 8 hours.  Heat up a pan with oil and fry up the chicken or use skewers and grill the chicken until done.

Curry Chickpea Stew
Ingredients:
1 tsp sea salt
1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 medium onion, diced
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp garam masala
2 tsp cumin, ground
2 tsp coriander, ground
2 tsp garlic, minced
2 tsp ginger, dried and cracked (preferred) ground is also acceptable
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tablespoons of olive oil

In a pan with hot oil, add the mustard seeds and cook until they have all popped (like popcorn).  Add the chickpeas and the spices.  Cook until the spices have completely covered the chickpeas.

Vegetable Samosa FIlling  
Ingredients:
1 Potato finely diced
1 carrot finely diced
2 cloves of crushed garlic.
1 Onion finely chopped
1 Cup of frozen peas
1 tblspn vegetable oil
2 tspn curry powder or your own spices according to taste
Salt, Pepper to taste

Dice up the potatoes, carrots, and onions.  Heat up a pan with vegetable oil and the diced vegetables along with the frozen peas.  Add the curry and sauté the vegetables until tender and put aside.

Pastry
Ingredients:
2 cups plain flour
2 tspn. salt
2 tblspb. vegetable oil
1-2 tblspb. warm water

Mix the flour and the salt together.  Great a hole in the mound of dried ingredients and stir in the oil and the water until a soft dough forms.  Create in a ball and let sit for 30 minutes.  After the dough has sat, break the dough off into 12 equal parts.  With a rolling pin, roll out the dough into thin circles and use a knife to cut each piece of dough into half circles.  Add the filling to one half of the dough and fold over the remaining dough.  Seal with water. 

Heat up a pan with 2 inches of oil to 350 degrees and begin to deep fry the samosas until golden brown.  Remove from the oil and serve.

Optional dipping sauce

Blend together 1 cup of whole milk Greek yogurt and 2 tablespoons of garam masala and serve along side with samosas.