Kloten en Honaer (clods in chicken)*
One should boil an old chicken whole, and take another raw chicken and cut it very small, and add thereto bacon, cut as small as peas, and ground cumin (and make therof small balls, and place them in the broth of the boiled hens. And add cumin,) saffron, and wine, pork lard, and salt to taste, and egg yolks so that it thickens evenly. This is called "kloten en honaer."
{the words between () are missing from the Icelandic MS}
Ingredients
| 2 c. | broth |
| 1/4 tsp. | cumin |
| 2 Tbs. - 1/4 c. | white wine, the smaller ammt for fortified wines |
| saffron (optional) |
| salt as needed |
| 3 | egg yolks |
| |
Meatballs
| 1/2 lb. | chicken meat, finely minced |
| 1/2 tsp. | ground cumin |
| 1/8 lb. | bacon, cut small (tiny peas) |
| |
Steps
- Heat broth to boiling with saffron, cumin, salt, and wine
- Blanch the bacon in a little boiling water (this may not be strictly necessary, but it starts the bacon cooking and separates all the little pieces and keeps them from sticking together).
- Beat the meat, bacon and cumin together with a big spoon. Form into small balls (of about 1/2 TB) on a plate.
- Drop several at a time into the boiling broth (as soon as they hit the liquid and roll over they will be cooked enough not to stick together and you can add more) until they are all in. Simmer 20-30 minutes.
- Beat the egg yolks. just before serving, carefully beat several ladelfuls of hot broth into the eggs. Remove the pot of broth from the heat and stir in the egg-broth mixture. The heat of the soup will cook and thicken the egg in a few minutes.
Note
I used canned broth, modern sliced bacon, and finely ground chicken meat from the store rather than mincing my own. Of these substitutions, the second is the most likely to affect the character of the dish. (I used very good canned broth, which has better results than a home-made broth from anemic, effete, factory-produced fryers.)(as for the mincing-an experienced cook with a good chopping board and a heavy sharp cleaver can do an excellent job of mincing a raw chicken. Armed only with a paring knife, I cannot.) The bacon gives the soup and meat both fat and flavor. Modern bacon gives more than enough fat (i left out the extra "pork lard"), but the flavor of commercial bacon is not at all salty, not very smoky, and rather sugery. It also stained the meat around it light pink.
saffron is optional, really, it gets a nice color without.
salt will vary a lot depending on broth used.
Broth: 3$, chicken 50ยข, bacon a quarter.
4 or 5 meatballs and a couple tablespoons of broth make a nice serving: this is not a main dish.
