Potato Soup

Chopped and boiled potatoes.

3 cups potatoes, chopped into 1" or smaller cubes
1 cup soup stock
1 cup leek or onion, chopped small
1 Tbls. butter
3 Tbls. cream cheese
1/2 cup grated or cubed cheddar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

Over high heat in a large pot, cover the potatoes and leek/onion with water and boil them until the potato pieces are easy to pierce through with a fork. Strain out the water. Turn the heat to low. Roughly mash the potatoes, then add the soup stock, cream cheese, and butter. Stir to melt the cream cheese and butter. Then stir in the cheddar cheese, salt, and pepper. Add more soup stock if a thinner consistency is desired.

Chicken & Leek Pie

Pie crust for double-crust 9" deep dish pie
4 lb raw chicken
2 leeks
salt, pepper, nutmeg or mace; or whatever your preferred seasoning mix is
1 1/4 cups chicken stock, made with bones so there is some collagen content
1/2 cup cream

Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare the bottom crust in the pie pan.

Cut the chicken into small pieces, removing bones and fat. Thinly slice the leeks from the bottom, up through about halfway of the green part (basically until there is no more yellow core).

Make layers in the pie--first chicken, then leeks, then a sprinkling of salt and seasoning, repeating until the pie is full. I used a Moroccan spice mix for medieval flavor. Pour the chicken stock into the pie.

Place the top crust. Cut a small circular hole in the middle, then make a pastry flower to form a lid on the hole.

Bake for 60-70 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the inside of the pie measures 165 F or greater.

Gently heat the cream until hot, not steaming. Remove flower lid from the pie, pour the cream into the hole, and replace the flower.

Socca

1 1/2 cups garbanzo flour
1 1/2 cups water
2 Tbls olive oil, plus some
3/4 tsp salt
black pepper

Stir together garbanzo flour, water, 2 Tbls olive oil, and salt. Let the batter rest for 30 or more minutes.

Put a cast iron skillet in the oven, close to the top, and preheat to 450 F. When it hits temperature, set the oven to high broil. Remove skillet from oven, pour in a small amount of olive oil to coat the bottom, and pour in the batter. Broil the socca for 5-8 minutes, until the top is browned and crispy.

Remove from oven, drizzle olive oil on top, salt, and plenty of freshly ground black pepper.

Lambswool Wassail

Roasted apples.

A sort-of medieval recipe, I haven't found a good primary source, only other people saying that it is medieval. A small verse:

Next crowne the bowle full of
With gentle lambs wooll,
Adde sugar, nutmeg, and ginger,
With a store of ale too,
And thus ye must doe
To make the Wassaile a swinger.

No reference was listed, and it sounds fake; but I haven't had time to investigate further. Anyway the recipe is unusual and delicous regardless of provenance.

3 liters of apple juice or cider (I did part unfiltered apple juice, part carbonated apple juice)
6 large apples
2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground ginger
1 cup brown sugar

Preheat oven to 375 F. Remove wax from apples and cut out the cores. Place them in a cake pan and add about 1/2" of water. Roast the apples for 35-45 minutes, until they are mushy and the skin is peeling off.

Meanwhile, put the sugar in a pan and add enough juice to cover it. Heat over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Stir in the nutmeg and ginger. Keep it over low heat.

Remove and discard the skin from the roasted apples. I found that different varieties of apple peeled differently, and some apple flesh needed to be scraped off the back of the pulled-off skin, but it wasn't difficult.

Puree the apple flesh in a food processor or blender until it is totally smooth like thick apple sauce. If using a blender, add enough juice to get it to blend, but not enough to really liquefy it. It needs to be thick and drier than usual applesauce.

Set a crock pot on high heat. Pour in the apple juice/cider and the sugar mix. Stir together. Then pour in the pureed apple and whisk it. It should float to the top and resemble a wool fleece soaking in cider. Let it heat up to desired temperature, then set the crock pot to low or warm to maintain temperature for the duration of your winter feast.

How to Remove Wax from Fruit Skins

I don't know about the supposed health problems people say are caused by wax on fruit, but I like to remove the wax so that it doesn't cause texture changes in my recipes, especially in baked fruit or fresh juice.

Heat a pot of water on the stove until it reaches boiling, then turn heat to medium to maintain steaming temperature. Place the fruit (apples, pears, oranges, lemons, etc) in the pot for 1-3 minutes, turning them with tongs to get even coverage. Take each one out one at a time and scrub with a rough cloth to remove the wax. Sometimes the wax is visible, but you can feel the difference on the skin of the fruit, the waxed areas will feel tacky.

It will change the color of the skin over the course of a few minutes, but it does not cook the fruit, or change the taste or texture.

Gluten-Free Nutty Pie Crust

1 1/2 cups nut flour blend (needs to be part almond, part coconut, and can have other nuts as well)
1 1/2 large eggs or 2 small-medium eggs
3 Tbls. butter or coconut oil

Stir all ingredients together into a soft dough/thick paste. Press into the pie tin.

To bake alone, bake at 350 F for 15 minutes. Otherwise, follow instructions in the pie recipe.

Old-Fashioned Peanut Brittle

3 cups sugar
1 cup water
1 cup corn syrup
3 Tbls. butter
1-1 1/2 lbs raw peanuts, shelled
1 Tbls. vanilla extract
1 Tbls. + 1 tsp. baking soda

Set the oven to 200 F. Thoroughly butter 2 baking sheets and place in the oven to keep warm.

In a large saucepan, combine the sugar, water, and corn syrup. Prepare a bowl of ice water to test the syrup. Stir over medium-high heat until it reaches soft ball stage, about 15 minutes.

In a small bowl, stir together the vanilla extract and baking soda.

Add the peanuts and butter to the syrup. Stir constantly until it reaches brittle crack stage, about 20 minutes. Signs to look for: syrup spins a thin thread when dripping off the spoon, peanuts get roasted and brown, syrup turns amber colored, syrup audibly cracks when it hits the ice water. Taste test peanut flavor and candy texture after dropping into ice water.

When it reaches brittle crack stage, take out the baking sheets and place them on cooling racks on the counter or table. Quickly stir the vanilla and baking soda into the candy. It will foam up quite a bit. Stir it in thoroughly, but not too much, to preserve the bubbles. Immediately pour the candy onto the cookie sheets. Use a rubber spatula to spread it thinner, if desired (I like it thicker).

Let it cool completely. To check the hardness, try lifting it with a spatula. If it bends, it is still too soft.

Once it is totally brittle, break it into pieces with your hands.