Mossflower Vegetable Stew with Dumplings

7 cups water or vegetable stock
6 Tbls. corn meal
3 Tbls. oil
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. pepper
3/4 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. thyme
1 1/4 pound potatoes, diced
5 carrots, chopped
3 celery sticks, chopped
1 1/2 medium onions, chopped
1 1/2 cup peas
1 1/2 cup corn
3 cups beans, precooked

Dumplings:
2 1/4 cup flour (whole wheat, white wheat, or whole wheat pastry)
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup butter
1 1/4 cup milk or nut milk
1/3 cup minced parsley
3 egg whites

Whisk the corn meal into the water/vegetable stock. Add the rest of the ingredients. Cover and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes. Let it simmer, but not boil.

Combine flour and salt in a bowl. Cut in butter until mixture is like coarse crumbs. Stir in milk and parsley. Beat in egg whites. Drop dough in spoonfuls into the stew. Cook, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Cover and cook for 10 more minutes until dumplings are done.

Winter Salad

1 cup grated apple
2 cups grated carrot
2 tsp. fennel seeds
1 cup chopped pears
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1/2 cup grated cheese
1 tsp. lavender buds
1/4 cup plain yogurt

Combine all ingredients and chill.

Beetroot Salad

1 pound beet roots
1/2 apple juice, or other fruit juice
2 Tbls. olive oil
4 Tbls. minced chives, mint, or parsley, or a combination
Salt
2 cups, packed, of chopped lettuce and beet greens

Scrub the beets and grate with a large-holed grater. Toss with the lettuce and greens. Combine the juice, olive oil, and salt to taste. Toss with the beets and greens.

Serves 4.

Roasted Wheat Ears

4 cups whole wheat flour or white wheat flour
2 Tbls. oil
1 Tbls. salt
1 3/4 cup warm water, milk, or nut milk

Preheat oven to 450 F. Mix together 2 cups flour, oil, salt, and milk. Gradually knead in the rest of the flour. Roll thin on an oiled surface. Cut about 2" squares, then cut those into triangles. Fold into ears by bringing two of the corners to meet the third corner, open the edges on the top, and gently push the new corners underneath. Place on an oiled baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes. Serve with cheese or dip.

Cold Mint and Apple Tea

8 cups hot water
4 mint tea bags
2 apples, grated

Mix together and steep until cool. Strain. Serve chilled.

White Cheese with Sage / Yellow Sage Cheese

1 gallon milk
2 tsp. citric acid or lemon juice
1/8 - 1/4 tsp. rennet
2 Tbls. sage leaves
a bit of carrot juice or turmeric, for yellow cheese

Pour the milk into a large pot. Dissolve the citric acid in a bit of cool water and stir into the milk, or stir the lemon juice directly into the milk. Stir well. Heat the milk slowly to 90 F (use a food thermometer). Try not to let it get above 90. Once it reaches that point, you can turn off the heat without the temperature decreasing.

Stir the sage leaves into the milk. If you are making yellow cheese, add the carrot juice or turmeric at this point. I haven't measured exactly how much is needed, but it really is just a tiny amount. But it also depends on how strong you want the color to be.

Dilute the rennet in a few tablespoons of cool water. My rennet is extra strength that says 1/8 tsp will work on 2 gallons of milk, so I try to approximate 1/2 of a 1/8 tsp. measure. If your rennet doesn't have a suggested ratio on the container, using 1/4 tsp. should be fine.

Stir the rennet dilution into the milk. Let sit until a curd forms, this usually takes 5-10 minutes. Check the curd by sticking in your finger and pulling it out horizontally. Your finger should come out mostly clean with the curd splitting apart around it. You can also check by pulling the curd away from the edge of the pot and having clear whey fill in the space.

Take a long, sharp knife and cut a grid pattern in the curd all the way to the bottom of the pot. Cut several more lines that slant through the depth of the curd. Let rest for a few minutes. The curd should be thick enough that you see the lines you cut, and the cuts will be filled with clear whey.

Line a large bowl with a large piece of cloth (in my experience the commercial cheesecloth is too gauzy, and normal muslin or light linen works better). Pour all the curd and whey into the cloth. Add salt to taste. Twist the cloth closed at the top, trapping all the curd inside. The whey will pour out into the bowl.

Set up your cheese press. You can have a real one or a ghetto one like mine, where I put a wire cooling rack over the sink, placed the bundle of cheese on that, then put a cutting board on top. On the board I used heavy cans of food as weights to press down on the cheese.

Let sit for about an hour, then check to see how solid it is. I added more salt at this point, molded it with my hands into a thicker shape, folded the cloth around it so it didn't make creases in the cheese, and let it press for another 1/2 hour.

This makes about 1 1/2 pounds of a soft cheese.

Plum 'n' Apple Cider / Cider with Damson

To make 1 pint:

1 lb of apples
1/4 lb of plums, with the pits removed

Run the apples through a juicer. Skim off the foam.

Put the plums in a blender with a bit of the apple juice, and blend until as liquefied as possible. Stir into the apple juice.

Squeeze the juice through a cloth bag to strain. (Squeeze into a bowl or serving vessel).

Serve chilled.


First I want to address the cloth bag thing. You can use what is called a jelly bag, or cheesecloth. What I find works the best is just to make a large, rectangular bag with muslin or fine linen. It's cheap and reusable, you can make it as big or small as you need, and works much better than cheesecloth, which is too loose of a weave.

Other notes. I tried this with two different methods, using apples and plums that were all from the same batches. (Got at a farmers' market, so they were literally each from the same orchards).

I wanted to see if cooked fruit or raw fruit would yield a better flavor. The raw fruit won (which you could have guessed by the recipe above.) You can read all my notes on the matter below.

Ingredients: 1 lb. apples, cored. 1/4 lb. plums, pitted.

Raw method: Put apple through juicer. Skim foam. Liquefy plum in blender. Stir into apple juice. Strain.

Cooked method: Apple and plum in 1 cup water in pot. When water boils, reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for 15 minutes. Apples will be soft. Liquefy in blender. Strain.

Results for raw method: Fast and easy. Easy to squeeze through the cloth. Only bits of plum skin remain from straining. Yields about 1 pint. Thick, but not as thick as the cooked. Sweeter than the cooked. Remained homogeneous after several hours. 12 hours later, slight separation. Top 3/4 was thick, bottom 1/4 was thin, but when drinking there was no discernible difference in flavor or texture between the two liquids.

Results for cooked method: Takes much longer to make, between cooking and cooling before straining. Difficult to squeeze through the cloth. Basically applesauce remains from straining. Thick, creamy texture--almost too thick, like it feels like it needs to be chewed. Yields just over 1 pint. Remained homogeneous after several hours. Mild applesauce flavor. Not as sweet. Can't taste the plums. 12 hours later, still homogeneous.

Maybe better flavor could be had from cooking after making juice, but there's no reason to bother because the raw version is already very good.

Pear Tart

In Eulalia!, the pear tart has a latticed top crust and is served with meadowcream.


1/2 cup flour (whole wheat pastry flour, white wheat flour, whole wheat flour, or oat flour)
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup cold butter, cubed
2 Tbls. cold water

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Mix flour, oats, and salt. Cut in the butter until it's crumbly. Stir in the ice water 1 tablespoonful at a time, then press together into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate or freeze to make it harder.

Roll out the crust between two pieces of plastic wrap or waxed paper. Press into a pie or tart pan. Prick bottom with a fork. Bake for 5 minutes, then let cool completely.

1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tbls. flour
1 cup sour cream
1 Tbls. fruit juice
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
3 cups of pears, cored and sliced thinly

Reduce oven to 350 F.

Mix flour and sugar well. Stir in sour cream, fruit juice, and cloves. Mix well and spread most of it into the cooled crust, reserving about 1/3 cup. Lay pear slices over the cream, then spread the remaining cream on top. Bake for 30-40 minutes until crust is brown and cream is bubbling. Serve warm or cool.

Plum and Pear Pudding

2 Tbls. honey
3 or 4 ripe pears (whatever will fit in the pan)
1 cup chopped and pitted plums
1/4 cup butter
2 Tbls. molasses
2 eggs
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour or white wheat flour
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease an 8 inch, round cake tin and line the bottom with paper.

Drizzle the honey in the bottom of the pan. Cut the pears in half and remove the cores. Arrange the pear halves with the cut side down, in a circle in the pan, leaving an open circle in the middle. Put the plums over the pears, concentrating them in the space in the middle and between the plums.

In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and molasses. Beat in the egg yolks on high speed until creamy.

Warm the egg whites in a double boiler until about body temperature. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites on high speed until they form a mousse with soft peaks. Fold the egg whites into the rest.

Fold in the flour, ginger, and salt. Beat the batter on medium speed for about a minute.

Pour the batter over the top of the fruit, spreading it out to cover the fruit.

Bake for 50-60 minutes. It will look juicy and bubbly, but the cake part will be firm to the touch.

Let cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then turn it out onto a serving plate and remove the paper.

Osmunda's Greensap and Maple Sauce

1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup nut milk
1/4 cup pure maple syrup

Whisk together and refrigerate at least 1 hour. Serve with desserts!

Apple, Blackberry and Plum Crumble with Osmunda's Greensap and Maple Sauce

2 1/2 cups chopped plums, pitted
2 medium apples, cored and chopped
1/2 cup blackberries
1/2 cup spiced apple cider
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour, or white wheat flour, or whole wheat flour
2 Tbls. brown sugar
pinch of salt
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup cream cheese

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Combine the fruit and place in an 8" baking pan or pie tin. Pour 1/4 cup cider over it.

Stir together the flour, brown sugar, and salt. Cut in the butter and cream cheese until it is all crumbly. Sprinkle evenly over the fruit, then sprinkle the remaining cider over the top.

Bake for 45-55 minutes. Serve with Osmunda's Greensap and Maple Sauce.

Sweet Arrowroot Sauce

This batch of sauce was made with homemade grape juice.

1/2 cup water
1/4 cup honey
2 Tbls. fruit juice, or to taste (or other sweet, non-dairy drink)
2 tsp. arrowroot powder
2 tsp. water

Mix 1/2 cup water and honey in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil. Boil steadily for 5 minutes. Add fruit juice to taste. Reduce heat. In a cup, mix the arrowroot with 2 tsp water until smooth. Stir into the hot liquid. Increase heat to medium-high. Heat gently for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly as the sauce thickens. Remove from the heat once the sauce has boiled.

Plum Duff with Sweet Arrowroot Sauce

2 eggs
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup cream cheese
2 cups pitted and quartered plums
1 cup flour, white wheat or whole wheat pastry
1/2 teaspoon salt


Warm the egg whites in a double boiler with a bit of the brown sugar, whisking. When they are warm, remove from heat and beat until stiff peaks form.

Beat egg yolks and a bit of the brown sugar. Cream in the rest of the sugar, cream cheese, and butter. Stir in plums. Fold in the egg whites.

Fold flour and salt into plum mixture. Pour into a well-greased 1-quart mold or bowl, and tie waxed paper loosely over the mold, or cover with foil scrunched around the edges. This is to prevent water from dripping onto the pudding when it condenses on the lid of the steamer. Place mold in steamer and steam for 1 hour or until pudding tests done.

If you don't have a steamer, you can place the mold in a large pot with water. The pot needs to be large enough that the pudding mold doesn't stick out the top. If it floats, that's fine, if not, use something underneath to stabilize it and keep it off the bottom of the pan. Place a well-fitting lid on top of the pan.

When done, remove from steamer and let cool slightly. Loosen the edges of the pudding by running a knife between the pudding and the bowl. Turn out onto the serving plate.

Serve with sweet arrowroot sauce, or other desired pudding sauce, or eat plain.

Wildgrape Woodland Pie

This is supposed to be served with quince and hazelnut sauce, but that recipe will wait for a time when I am able to get quinces.

Crust:
1 1/4 cup white wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup cream cheese
1/4 cup butter
about 1/4 cup cold water

Filling:
2 1/2 cups seedless grapes, stems removed
1 Tbls. butter
2 Tbls. flour
1/3 cup honey

Stir together flour and salt. Cut in cream cheese and butter until it forms fine crumbs. Sprinkle in some of the water and shake the mixture in the bowl. Remove large clumps that form and continue until it is mostly formed into large clumps. Press the clumps and the remaining crumbly dough together, forming a ball. Wrap in plastic and chill.

Preheat oven to 425 F.

Place the grapes in a pan over medium heat. Use a potato masher to gently mash the grapes and separate the skin and pulp. Let cook until about to simmer, and the colors change.

Meanwhile, stir together the honey, flour, and butter. Add the grapes when done, stirring until the butter is melted.

Roll out the crust onto a piece of plastic wrap, waxed paper, or thin cloth. Roll into a thin circle and place into a pie tin. Cut off excess around the edges. Pour the grape filling in. Use extra pie crust to create a crumbled topping.

Note: The filling bubbles and expands while baking. Leave some room for it so it doesn't overflow and burn.

Bake for 25 minutes (or until the crust is done).

Oatloaf

Triss says that this has honey and nuts baked into it.

1 cup boiling water
2 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup honey
2 tbsp butter
2 Tbls. active dry yeast
1 cup warm milk or nut milk
4 cups whole wheat flour or white wheat flour
2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1 egg, beaten
1 tbsp rolled oats

In heatproof bowl, pour boiling water over oats; let stand until water is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Stir in honey and butter.

Meanwhile, in large bowl, sprinkle yeast over milk; let stand until frothy, about 10 minutes. Stir in oat mixture and the nuts. Stir in most of the flour, and salt, to form sticky dough.

Turn out onto floured surface. Knead, dusting with as much of the remaining flour as necessary to prevent sticking, until smooth and elastic, about 12 minutes.

Place in greased bowl, turning to grease all over. Cover with plastic wrap; let rise in warm place until doubled in size, 1 to 1-1/2 hours.

Punch down dough; divide in half. Form each half into a loaf. Put into 2 greased 8x4 inch loaf pans. Cover and let rise in warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Brush loaves with egg; sprinkle with oats. Bake in 375°F oven for 40 to 50 minutes. Transfer to racks; let cool.

Nut Milk

Real milk, butter, and cheese are mentioned in Redwall, so I have no qualms in using them. However, in all of the later books, it's always called greensap milk. I don't know what that would be, exactly, I think it's just a term used to indicate that it's not mammal milk. So I've gone with something that makes sense to me and is historically justified, which is nut milk.

Almond milk seems to be the most common in medieval recipes, but I've heard of other types of nut milk as well. I've even heard of oat milk, which I will try to make sometime with this method, using whole oat groats.

The nuts you can use are almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, hickory nuts, walnuts, and pecans. The first three are the more popular choices because they're not as bitter.

For a much prettier and more detailed tutorial on how to make almond milk, go here. The recipe there also tells you about using sweeteners and spices in the milk.

Now here's my more basic recipe. You can use any of the nuts above, as stated. For simplicity I'm just going to say almonds the whole time.

This makes about 6 cups.

1.5 cups raw almonds
water

Blanch the almonds if desired. The skins make it taste slightly bitter, but I don't usually blanch them because I'll be using the milk in recipes that use honey, so the bitterness doesn't come through.

To blanch them, boil about 2 cups of water. Pour in the almonds. Boil for about 3 minutes, then strain out the water and let the almonds cool. Rub off the skins by hand.

Cover almonds in water and let soak for at least 4 hours. When they are soft, strain off the water and place almonds in a blender. Add 1 1/2 cups of fresh water. Blend until they have formed a smooth-looking puree. Add 2 1/2 more cups of water and continue blending until it is smooth and frothy, 2-3 minutes.

At this point you can strain the milk. If you are planning on drinking it straight, it's more palatable to be strained. For use in recipes, it doesn't have to be strained.

Place 3-4 layers of cheesecloth in a fine mesh strainer, over a bowl. Pour the almond milk through. When most of the liquid has gone through, bundle the cheesecloth and squeeze out the last bit of liquid. You can dry the almond meal that remains, which can be used as almond flour.

Pear Pudding

1/4 c corn flour or corn starch
1/4 c chopped raw nuts
2 c milk, cream, buttermilk, or nut milk
3 pears, cored and finely diced
1/4 c honey
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/8 tsp ginger
pinch of ground cloves
pinch of salt
pinch of nutmeg

Mix the corn flour, nuts, milk, pears, and honey in saucepan and bring slowly to low boil. Boil, stirring for 5-8 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and salt. Can be served warm or chilled.

Corn flour is a more finely milled version of corn meal. It's not the same as corn starch, though I believe in England, corn starch is called corn flour. Either one can be used in this recipe. I wouldn't using suggest corn meal because it is too coarse and strongly-flavored for a pudding. You can use masa harina.

Apple Cream Pudding

I tasted this pudding at an SCA event where they were having a cookoff. I had been looking for an apple pudding for a while and had never been satisfied with what I'd found. The original recipe appears in Pleyn Delit, and I made tiny changes to make it more Redwall-friendly.


‎1/4 c corn flour or corn starch
1/4 c chopped raw nuts
2 c milk, cream, buttermilk, or nut milk
3 apples, cored and finely diced
1/4 c honey
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ginger
pinch of ground cloves
pinch of salt
pinch of nutmeg

Mix the corn flour, nuts, milk, apples, and honey in saucepan and bring slowly to low boil. Boil, stirring for 5-8 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and salt. Can be served warm or chilled.


Corn flour is a more finely milled version of corn meal. It's not the same as corn starch, though I believe in England, corn starch is called corn flour. Either one can be used in this recipe. I wouldn't using suggest corn meal because it is too coarse and strongly-flavored for a pudding.

Honeyed Nutbread

2 cups warm milk, almond milk, or water
4 tsp. honey
2 tsp. yeast
4 cups white wheat flour or whole wheat flour
1/2 cup raw nuts
1 1/2 tsp. poppy seeds
1/2 tsp. fennel seeds
1/2 tsp. caraway seeds
1 tsp. salt
extra honey

Combine the milk, honey, and yeast let sit while working on the rest . . .

Stir together 2 cups flour, nuts, and seeds. When the yeast mixture is nice and foamy, stir that in, then let rest until about doubled.

Add the rest of the flour and the salt to the sponge dough. Knead for about 10 minutes. Place in an oiled bowl, turning the ball of dough so it too gets coated in oil, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes, or until nearly doubled again.

Form the dough into a large circular loaf and place on a baking sheet coated with oil or corn meal. Brush liquid honey all over the top of the loaf. Place a pan of water on the bottom of the oven. Put the dough in the oven. Set the oven to 400 and bake for about 1 hour.

Peace Island Bread

In Triss, this is made into bread and farls. It's served with fresh fruit and pale cider for breakfast.


2 cups warm milk, nut milk, or water
4 tsp. honey
2 tsp. yeast
4 cups white wheat flour or whole wheat flour
1/4 cup raw almonds
1/4 cup raw hazelnuts
1 1/2 tsp. poppy seeds
1 tsp. salt

Combine the milk, honey, and yeast let sit while working on the rest.

Stir together 2 cups flour, nuts, and seeds. When the yeast mixture is nice and foamy, stir that into the flour, then let rest until about doubled.

Add the rest of the flour and the salt to the sponge dough. Knead for about 10 minutes. Place in an oiled bowl, turning the ball of dough so it too gets coated in oil, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes, or until nearly doubled again.

For bread:
Form the dough into a a log-resembling shape and put it in an oiled bread pan. Place a pan of water on the bottom of the oven. Put the dough in the oven. Set the oven to 400 and bake for about 1 hour.

For farls:
Roll the dough out to flat circles about 1/2" thick and 9" wide. Cut into quarters. Grill the pieces in a skillet until cooked through, flipping to brown on each side.

Rhubarb and Strawberry Crumble

For the topping:
1 1/3 cup flour (whole wheat, whole wheat pastry, or white wheat)
3 Tbls. brown sugar
1 Tbls. ground ginger
1/4 cup butter

For the filling:
2 cups rhubarb, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
2 cups strawberries, hulled and quartered
1/4 cup honey
3 to 4 tablespoons cornstarch
Pinch of salt

Heat oven to 375°F.

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, brown sugar and ginger. Cut in the butter until the texture is crumbly. Refrigerate until needed.

Toss rhubarb, strawberries, honey, cornstarch and a pinch of salt in a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate.

Remove topping from refrigerator and cover fruit thickly and evenly with topping. Place pie plate on a baking sheet, and bake until crumble topping is golden brown in places and fruit is bubbling beneath, about 40 to 50 minutes.

Cup of Cheer

Made of rhubarb juice and honey, from Pearls of Lutra.

2 1/2 lb. rhubarb
2 qt. Water
1/2 c. honey

Cut rhubarb in 1 inch pieces. Cook in hot water until soft (not boiling). Strain out the rhubarb pieces. Stir in the honey. Chill.


You can add more honey to taste. I found that 1/2 cup was sufficient, as it sweetened it without overwhelming the rhubarb with honey flavor. However, if you have stronger rhubarb or something, you can add more honey if you want.

The rhubarb can be used again in recipes that call for cooked rhubarb. I made mine into a crumble, but it was more mushy than it would have been normally because it had already been cooked. A simple dessert is to stir honey or sugar and cinnamon into the rhubarb.

Apple Fritters Baked in Honey

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour or white wheat flour
3/4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. allspice
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
pinch of salt
1 egg
3/4 cup plain yogurt, or sour cream, or a mixture
1 Tbls. oil
2 tsp. apple sauce
1 Tbls. honey
1-2 apples, diced small
about 1/2 cup honey

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Stir together the dry ingredients. Add the egg, yogurt/sour cream, oil, apple sauce, and 1 Tbls. honey. Gently fold it together until it is all moistened.

Grease a muffin tin. Spoon 1-2 tsp. of honey into each cup. Put apple pieces into each of the cup (you don't necessarily use all the apple bits or all the honey). Spoon the batter into each cup, dividing evenly.

Bake for 15 minutes.

Oat Scones

In Martin the Warrior, these are served with honey or raspberry preserves.

3/4 cup cold buttermilk
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
2 cups flour (white wheat, whole wheat, or whole wheat pastry)
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp chilled butter, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup oats
1 small egg, lightly beaten
cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375°. Combine the first three ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk.

Combine flour and salt, in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Cut in chilled butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in the oats. Add milk mixture, stirring just until moist.

Place dough onto a floured surface and knead lightly until the dough is all together. Place on a baking sheet that is either greased, or lined with parchment. Form dough into an approximately 3/4" thick, 9-inch circle. Cut dough into 12 wedges all the way through.

Brush the small egg over the dough and sprinkle cinnamon on top. Bake until golden, 18-20 minutes. Serve warm.

Batch Loaves

From what the internet tells me, this is a traditional Scottish/Irish way of baking bread. The point is that the loaves all touch on the sides when baked, so the crust doesn't form on the large sides of the bread (except, presumably, the bread on the ends). I just came up with a basic bread recipe, and I figure the more important point of it is how it's baked.

6 cups warm water
3 Tbls. Yeast
3 Tbls. salt
12-14 cups whole wheat flour or white wheat flour

You probably should do this in two large bowls, unless you have a really huge bowl.

Stir together the flour, yeast and salt. Stir in the water. Knead for a few minutes, adding more water or flour if necessary, to make the dough soft, but not sticky. Cover the outside of the dough with water, place in bowls, cover, and let rise for about 2-3 hours.

Separate and shape into 3 or 4 loaves, coating the outside of the loaves with flour. Oil the inside of a 9x13 cake pan, or similar large pan. Place the loaves side by side in the pan, oil the tops, and let rise again for 1-2 hours. They should be touching along the sides.

Preheat the oven to 350. Cut some slashes in the tops of the loaves. Place a container of water in the bottom of the oven. Bake the bread for 40-50 minutes, or until golden brown on the top. Let cool in the pan, then pull the loaves apart.

Apple Tart

Crust:
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3 Tbls. powdered sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup yogurt

Filling:
1 cup (8 oz) cream cheese, room temperature
2 Tbls. honey
1 large egg

Topping:
2-4 apples, cored and cut into 1/4" slices
cardamom
allspice
honey

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F and place rack in center of oven. Grease 9 inch pie pan. For nicer presentation and serving, a springform pan is good, but a regular pie tin or cake pan is fine.

Crust: Stir together flour and sugar. Cut in butter and yogurt until the dough forms. Press the dough onto the bottom and one inch up the sides of the pan.

Filling: Beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the honey and mix well. Blend in the egg. Pour the filling into the crust.

Toss the apple slices, a small amount of honey, and a sprinkle each of cardamom and allspice together, to coast the apple slices. Place apple slices in a decorative fashion on the top of the tart. You want it to be about double layered with apple slices.

Bake at 450 degrees F for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 400 degrees F and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown (apples are soft when pierced with a fork), and filling is almost set. Remove from oven and let cool before serving.

Wheat Flour

A note on the different flours I have in the recipes.

The goal is to use all whole grain flours. But there are different options for texture, color, and flavor.

Whole wheat flour: This is the basic whole wheat flour that we are all familiar with. It can be used in the yeast bread recipes, and other baked goods except for those requiring a lighter texture, like cake. Milled from red wheat berries, it can be ground to different textures, but it is the densest and heartiest flour.

White wheat flour: This is a whole wheat flour that has been milled from white wheat berries, ground to a finer texture and lighter flavor and color. This can basically be used to replace whole wheat flour in any instance, according to your desires. It's a softer coffee than red wheat for pastries. Sometimes I will specify white wheat flour in the recipe, if the book description specifies that the bread is white, but you can use it basically whenever you want.

Whole wheat pastry flour: Similar to the white wheat flour, it has a lighter texture and flavor. This has less gluten than regular whole wheat flour, so should not be used for yeast bread. This is used mostly in cake and pastry recipes to obtain a texture and flavor similar to using all-purpose white flour.

Other flours: In non-bread, non-pastry recipes that call for flour for the sake of making gravy or thickening soup or anything like that, it doesn't really matter what kind of flour you use. For simplicity I put whole wheat flour in the recipe, but you can use the other kinds, or even non-wheat flours like corn meal.

White Baton Bread with Glazed Crusts

4 cups white wheat flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp yeast
2 cups warm water

Stir all dry ingredients inside a large container. Add the water and continue stirring until it forms a sticky lump. Seal the container. Leave to rise at least 4 hours. (or you can refrigerate the dough at this point to use later.) It should appear very bubbly when it's ready. If you leave it to rise longer than 10 hrs the dough will turn slightly sour. Not true sourdough, but a similar flavor.

Preheat oven to 400. Put a container filled with water in the bottom of the oven. Dust a baking sheet with flour and set aside.

Drop the dough onto a surface covered in flour. Coat the outside of the dough with flour, making sure the outer layer is not wet and sticky, trying to handle it as little as possible.

Shape the dough into a long, narrow loaf. Brush a glaze over the top of the loaf. Cut several diagonal slashes in the top.

Bake in the oven for 45 min-1 hour or until golden brown. You should check on it after 30 minutes, because the baking time can vary a lot depending on your oven and on the size and shape of the loaf.


Glazes:

Egg Wash: Beat together 1 egg and 1 tablespoon of water or milk, and a pinch of salt. This gives a shiny, golden look to the crust. For an extra golden sheen, allow the first egg wash coating to dry, then apply a second layer of glaze immediately before baking. Egg wash can also be used as an adhesive to be applied before a topping.

Milk: For a golden crust, brush the dough with milk before baking. For a slightly sweeter glaze, dissolve a little sugar in warm milk.

Salted Water: For a light shine and a crisp baked crust, brush the dough with lightly salted water immediately before baking.

Honey: For a shiny crust, glaze the dough with honey before baking. For a soft, sweet, sticky crust, brush a baked, still-warm bread with honey. Alternatively, try molasses or corn syrup.

Olive Oil: For added flavor and shine, brush the dough with olive oil immediately before and after baking. Optionally, add salt, pepper, and/or herbs to the oil before baking.

Cornstarch: For a chewy crust, brush the dough with a mixture of cornstarch and water that has been cooked until translucent and then cooled.

Blueberry Cake

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup applesauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/3 cup milk
1 Tbls. honey
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1 Tbls. flour

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour an 8" square pan.

Cream butter and brown sugar. Beat in vanilla, salt, and applesauce.

Separate eggs. Reserve the white in the fridge. Beat the yolks into the sugar mixture, until creamy.

Combine 1 1/2 cups flour and baking powder. Beat into the sugar mixture, alternating in 3 portions with the milk.

Coat berries with 1 Tbls. flour and stir into the batter.

Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Slowly drizzle the honey into the egg whites while still beating. Beat until stiff peaks form. Fold egg whites into batter, and pour into the prepared pan.

Bake for 50 minutes, or until it tests done.

Laverbread

This is somewhat different from the traditional Welsh laverbread/lava bread recipes you'll find out on the net. I'm okay with that because it's not supposed to be a traditional Welsh recipe. It's a Redwall recipe.

1 cup prepared laver, or nori sheets torn up and soaked in water until soft (drain off excess water)
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup corn meal, corn flour, or oat flour
vegetable oil
salt
pepper
malt vinegar

Stir together the laver/nori, oats, and corn flour. It should make a "dough" that holds together, and is not runny or extremely sticky.

Warm the oil in a pan for frying. Form the dough into thin patties about 2" across. Fry them for a few minutes on each side, until golden and crisp. Place on a wire rack over paper towels to drain off excess oil.

Serve sprinkled with salt, pepper, and vinegar.

Makes about 9 patties.


Where I live, it's a lot easier to find nori, seaweed that has been toasted and rolled flat in a sheet. I think I've seen nori that still resembles its natural seaweed form at Asian markets, but it was a long time ago so I don't remember exactly. It is the same species of the seaweed used in Wales, but it's been prepared differently. As stated in the recipe, you can just soak it in water to soften (only takes a minute or so) for good results.

In Triss, this laverbread is served with seastew. And I can imagine it would go very well with fish. After eating it (and I snarfed it down like a madman) I really want some fish now.

Cornbread with Hazelnuts and Apples Baked In

3/4 cup cornmeal
1 1/4 cup milk or nut milk
1 cup whole wheat flour, whole wheat pastry flour, or white wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup honey
2 eggs
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 apple, chopped
1/4 cup hazelnuts, chopped (almonds are a close substitute)

Preheat oven to 400 F. Grease a small pan (like 8x8").

Beat the eggs until they are thick and light yellow and create a ribbon when drizzled.

Mix cornmeal and milk together. Stir into the eggs. Stir in the honey, then the applesauce.

Combine the flour and salt. Pour into the other ingredients and stir just until mixed. Stir in the apple and hazelnuts.

Fill pan. Bake 25 to 30 minutes.

Tussock Hotpot

From The Long Patrol.

1 double pie crust
1 small-med. turnip
3 carrots
3-4 leaves of cabbage
4 cups chopped raw mushrooms
1 onion, chopped
1 cup corn
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup whole wheat flour or corn meal
1 cup water or vegetable stock
1 cup milk
marjoram
sage
dill weed
salt
pepper

Preheat oven to 450 F.

Chop the turnip, carrots, and cabbage. Place in water over heat. When it starts to boil, reduce heat and let sit for a few minutes, until turnip pieces are softer and it all looks brightly colored. Reserve 1 cup (or 2 cups for a non-dairy version) of the water from the vegetables, drain the rest. Set vegetables aside.

In a separate pan, saute the mushrooms and onion with 2 Tbls. oil, seasoning with salt and pepper.

Take out most of the onion and mushroom, leaving some in, plus the liquid from sauteing. Add the flour to that, with the rest of the oil if necessary. Add marjoram, dill weed, and sage to taste. Saute until thick, then whisk in the water from the vegetables. Add more seasoning as desired. Cook that until it's fairly thick, then stir in the milk (or another cup of water/stock) and remove from heat. It will be pretty thin, but will get thicker while baking.

Press the pie crust into a pie pan. Add all of the vegetables (don't forget the corn!) and pour the gravy over the top. If there is too much filling, leave some of the vegetables out. Put the top crust on, crimp the edges and cut some slashes in the top. Place on a cookie sheet (in case it spills) and bake for 30 minutes.