Cazuela de Salmon - Salmon Casserole
A thousand thousand thank yous to Eliska z Jalava for her incredibly generous donatation to the feast of the frozen silver salmon that her father caught. It would have been far too expensive without her great magnanimity
Additional thank yous to Dona Juana Isabella de Montoya y Ramirez for donating all the bitter Seville orange juice she had in her freezer.
ORIGINAL
Diego Granado, Libro del Coch, 16th c.
trans. by Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
You must take the clean and well-washed salmon, and put it in a casserole with your spices which are galingale, and a little pepper, and ginger, and saffron, and all of this well-ground, and cast upon the fish with salt, and a little verjuice or orange juice. And let it go to the fire of coals, and then take blanched almonds, and raisins, and pine nuts, and all herbs. That is, moraduj, which is called marjoram, and parsley, and mint. And when the casserole is nearly half-cooked, cast all this inside.
MY VERSION
13 to 18 lb. salmon
1/3 cup ground galingale
1 Tb. + 1-1/2 tsp. ground pepper
2 Tb. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground saffron
2 Tb. salt
1 quart Seville orange juice
2-1/4 cups blanched almonds
2 cups pine nuts
2 cups raisins
small quantity of fresh marjoram, leaves torn off stalks
2 bunches of fresh flat-leaf (Italian) parsley, leaves torn off stalks and chopped
2 large bunches of fresh mint, leaves torn off stalks and chopped
1. Put salmon in baking dish.
2. Sprinkle the fish with salt and spices, then pour on orange juice.
3. Bake in oven at 350 degrees Farenheit.
4. When the casserole is nearly half-cooked (15 or 20 min), add almonds, raisins, pine nuts, and herbs.
5. Finish cooking - don't let the salmon get too dry. Test by breaking a piece of two. The mint will blacken.
Alternately, you could sprinkle with the green herbs when the salmon comes out of the oven. Toss gently to spread greens throughout fish.
NOTE:
Because i wasn't sure how much Seville orange juice we would have, i bought freshly squeezed grapefruit and orange juice. In fact, we had enough Seville orange juice, but this allowed me to see what would be a possible substitute if we hadn't. A blend of about equal parts *fresh* grapefruit and orange juice with about half a part fresh lemon juice would make an acceptable substitute for flavor, although the color would be different.
Cazuela Moji - Chard Frittata
Thanks to Carol for cooking this from my recipe, even though she was unable to attend.
ORIGINAL
Diego Granado, Libro del Coch, 16th c.
trans. by Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Take eggplants, neither very big nor very small, but middling, and open them in the middle and cast them to cook with your salt; and when they are well-cooked, drain them with a cloth which is rough; and then chop them a great deal, and cast them in a frying-pan or kettle and cast in a good deal of oil; and take toasted bread and grate it, cast it there within, and cast in aged grated cheese; and when it is stirred for a good while over the fire, have ground dry coriander, caraway, and pepper, and cloves, and a little ginger, and stir it over the fire; and cast in some eggs, and stir it over the fire until it is hard; and then take a casserole, and cast in a little bit of oil, and place it in [the casserole]; and beat some eggs with pepper, and saffron, and cloves, and some of the same toasted bread that is contained in the casserole, and some of the grated cheese; and make it thick and place it on top in the manner of a facing (94) and put your yolks on it; and coagulate it in the oven or with a cuajadera, which is an iron pot-lid with coals on top, and when it is coagulated, remove it from the fire; and cast on top of it a dish of honey which is very good and your duke's powder. This same casserole can be made from chard or carrots.
MY VERSION
chard
2 Tb. salt
olive oil, as needed
several cups toasted bread crumbs
several cups grated aged cheese
1 Tb. ground dry coriander
1 tsp. pounded caraway
1 tsp. ground pepper
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. powdered ginger
some eggs
beaten eggs
pepper
saffron
cloves
grated cheese
honey
duke's powder
1. Cut eggplants down the middle.
2. Cook with salt (in salted water, i assume).
3. When they are well-cooked, drain them with a cloth which is rough.
4. Chop them a great deal.
5. Cast them in a frying-pan in a good deal of oil.
6. Add toasted bread crumbs and grated cheese to the eggplant.
7. Stir for a good while over the fire.
8. Add ground spices, and stir.
9. Stir in some eggs over the fire until set.
10. Oil a casserole well, and put in eggplants.
11. Beat eggs with pepper, saffron, cloves, bread crumbs, and grated cheese until thick.
12. Cover the eggplant with the egg-bread mix.
13. Dot with egg yolks.
14. Cook in the oven until it sets, then remove it from the fire.
ON SITE
15. Squiggle some honey on top and sprinkle with Duke's Powder (recipe below).
NOTE: This was a popular dish and hardly any was left.
Polvora de Duque - Duke's Powder
ORIGINAL
Diego Granado, Libro del Coch, 16th c.
trans. by Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Half an ounce of cinnamon, one eighth of cloves, and for the lords cast in nothing but cinnamon, and a pound of sugar; if you wish to make it sharp in flavor and [good] for afflictions of the stomach, cast in a little ginger.
1/2 ounce cinnamon
1/8 ounce cloves
1/4 ounce powdered ginger
1 pound sugar
Mix all together. Store in an air-tight container.
For the feast, i mixed small amounts of cinnamon, ginger, and sugar and sprinkled them over the Frittata.
NOTE:
Dukes Powder is actually a form of Poudre Douce - Sweet Powder.
Escudilla de Mijo - Millet Polenta
Para hazer escudilla de mijo, o de panizo machado
To make a dish of millet, or of chopped panic-grass
Diego Granado, Libro del Coch, 16th c.
trans. by Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Take the millet, or chopped panic-grass, clean it of dust, and of any other filth, washing it as one washes semolina, and put it in a vessel of earthenware or of tinned copper with meat broth, and cause it to cook with stuffed intestines in it, or a piece of salted pig's neck, to give it flavor, and when it shall be cooked, mingle with it grated cheese, and beaten eggs, pepper, cinnamon, and saffron. (You can also cook the said grains with the milk of goats or cows.) And after they shall be cooked with broth, letting them thicken well, they shall be removed from the vessel and shall be left to cool upon a table, or other vessel of wood, or of earthenware, and being quite cold, they shall be cut into slices, and shall be fried with cow's butter in the frying-pan, and serve them hot with sugar and cinnamon on top.
Brighid's Notes: At least half of the 16th century Spanish recipes end with the instruction to sprinkle the finished dish with cinnamon and sugar. De Nola comments (at the end of his noodle recipe) that it is not necessary to sprinkle sugar on various pasta and grain dishes, but that sugar never harms a dish.
MY VERSION
4 cups millet
3 quarts vegetable broth, more as needed
3 cups grated cheese
12 beaten eggs
2 tsp. pepper
1 Tb. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. saffron
unsalted butter or olive oil, as needed
1. Toast millet in a heavy skillet until it just begins to color.
2. Put millet in a pot with broth or milk, and a piece of salted pig's neck to give it flavor.
3. Bring to a boil, then simmer until done, adding liquid as necessary.
4. Beat eggs well, stir in cheese and spices.
5. When millet is cooked, stir in spiced eggs and cheese.
6. Cook on low fire until well thickened, adding more broth as necessary.
7. Remove millet from the pot and let it cool on a flat surface.
8. When cold, cut into slices.
9. Fry slices in butter on the griddle.
10. Serve hot with sugar and cinnamon on top.
MY NOTES:
- I used vegetable broth so that vegetarians could eat it.
- The millet needed to be cooked longer in more liquid. It was soft but it would have been better if it were really mushy.
- It needed more cheese.
- It would be better if made in a smaller quantity and the slices cut thinner, one slice per person. Our "slices" were rather large chunks.
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