Text 2682, 136 rader
Skriven 2013-07-21 11:12:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av NANCY BACKUS
Ärende: Picnic 905
==================
 ML> As you now know, I was a stupid boy and used fresh mozz,
...
 NB> We should have been more complete, and purchased both...  for
 NB> experimentation, of course...  ;)  It still was quite good tasting,
 NB> even in the limper version... and even there, the edges were nice and
 NB> crispy. 

I should have just got preshredded Weggie's low-moisture
part skim at somewhat less than half the price. The second
one was nice and crispy the way I envisioned.

 -=> Nancy Backus said to Burton Ford <=-

 BF> We had Rose Petal Spread with some flatbread Haffleys sent to the
 BF> Picnic.   Very different and not sweet like I expected.
 NB> And not as rose-y as I'd expected... tasted just like rose petals
 NB> smell, I've had rose-flavored Turkish Delight that just seemed rather
 NB> odd... 

It was plenty rosy and sweet if not rose-colored. Rose-flavored
lokoum can suffer if the confectioner has a too-heavy hand with
the rose water, which is as strong as any other extract.

 BF> We also had a bottle of New Zealand Cabernet Sauvignon... the
 BF> wine Michael has a negative fixation on concerning cat piss and
 BF> grass.  Which I completely forgot when I brought that bottle.
 NB> On the other hand, he felt it would go well with the escargots, so
 NB> that's how we had it...  the McGregors we just sipped, whilst he was
 NB> preparing the escargots and the fake escargots...  ;)

That's Sauvignon Blanc - a white grape with supposedly a
common ancestor with Cabernet Sauvignon, which is red. The
former is one of my least favored wines, the latter one of
my most favored.

 BF> Michael made a variation of steamed buns, to which he added hoisin
 BF> sauce and duck cracklings.  That was tasty!  I  could have had three

The variation, of course, was that instead of subjecting
the assembled company to a huge dose of heat and humidity,
I baked the steamed-bun dough, because the oven is insulated.

 BF> more without blinking, they just begged to be snacked over and over.
 NB> Michael called them Chinese comfort food.  :)  I could easily have had
 NB> more, too...  :)

If I could have bought just a couple duck skins and nothing
else, you'd have had your wish, as that's my favorite part too.
As we had just the skin off four breast halves, the amount of
such deliciousness was limited. I sacrificed and had only three
(3) small ones, whereas I could easily have polished off the
whole plateful. You should (or maybe not) see me making chicken
stir-fry. I skin off the meat and fry it for cook's treat, and
to me it's much better than the main dish. If there's someone
around when I make the food, and if I'm in a generous mood, I
share.

 BF> once she gave lunch, and it was beef tongue sandwiches.  I liked it,
 BF> but never had it again.  Until Nancy served it as the evening meal. 

I don't remember exactly the time schedule for the tongue, as
it spanned several days. I agree that it was good, but then I
have often ordered tongue at a deli, even when burgers or
corned beef have cost less.

MMMMM-----Meal-Master - formatted by MMCONV  2.10

     Title: Torta De Zanahoria - Spanish Carrot Pie, 1599
Categories: historical, spanish, pies, vegetables
  Servings: 6

    1/2 lb carrots, cooked and drained
    1/2 oz candied orange peel,
           chopped
      6 oz monterey jack, shredded
      4 oz mozzarella, shredded
  1 1/2 oz ricotta cheese
    1/4 ts marjoram
    1/2 ts mint
      2    eggs, beaten
  1 1/2 TB butter
    1/2 TB cinnamon
    1/2 c  sugar
           pastry for 2-crust pie
           (preferably made with
           butter)
           cinnamon sugar
           rosewater

As it happens, I'm making carrot pie tomorrow for a 16th century Spanish
feast I'm cooking.  Here's my translation of the original recipe, and my
adaptation.  The recipe is from a 1599 Spanish cookbook, but the author
is known to have plagiarized hundreds of recipes from the Italian cook
Bartolomeo Scappi.  This appears to be one of them.  It appears in a
chapter entitled, "Divers Manners of Tortas, or Tortadas, Which in Italy
are Called Costradas, and in Naples, Copos".

Wash and scrape the carrots, and remove them from the water and cook
them in good meat broth, and being cooked remove them and chop them
small with the knife, adding to them mint and marjoram, and for each two
pounds of chopped carrots [use] a pound of Tronchon cheese and a pound
and a half of buttery Pinto cheese, and six ounces of fresh cheese, and
one ounce of ground pepper, one ounce of cinnamon, two ounces of candied
orange peel cut small, one pound of sugar, eight eggs, three ounces of
cow's butter, and from this composition make a torta with pastry above
and below, and the tart pan with pastry all around, and make it cook in
the oven, making the crust of sugar, cinnamon, and rosewater. In this
manner you can make tortas of all sorts of roots, such as that of
parsley, having taken the core out of them.

Diego Granado, Libro del Arte de Cozina, 1599

Preheat oven to 375 F.  Combine all of the filling ingredients and mix
thoroughly.  Place in the bottom crust.  Put on the top crust, and seal
the edges well.  Brush the top crust with rosewater, and sprinkle with
cinnamon sugar.  Bake for 45-50 minutes, until the crust is brown, and
the filling is set.

I made some substitutions in the cheeses.  I have been unable to
identify Pinto cheese, so I substituted mozzarella, which is a period
cheese (Granado refers to it in other recipes).  Tronchon is a Spanish
variety which is still produced today, but it is rare and hard to
obtain.  Its flavor is supposed to be mild, and I thought Monterey Jack,
though a modern cheese, might work in this recipe.  Fresh cheese is a
soft, newly-made cheese, and Ricotta has a similar taste and texture,
even though it is a whey cheese.

I've made this a couple of times, and it's gone over well.

Robin Carroll-Mann

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