Cess in Lent with Milk of Almonds*
| Categories: | Vegetable 14th Century French |
| Original Source: | Le Menagier de Paris |
| Secondary Source: | Eileen Power translation |
| Cook: | Keturah Bat Yitzchak |
| Meeting Date: | 0000-00-00 |
Item, DE CRESSON EN KARESME AU LAIT D'AMANDES. Prenez votre cresson et le mettez pourboulir et une pongnée de bettes avec hachées, et les friolez en huille, puis la mettez boulir en lait d'amandes; et en charnage, friolez au lart et au beurre tant qu'il soit cuit, puis destrempez de l'eau de la char; ou au frommage et dressiez tantost, car il roussiroit. Toutesvoies, se 1'en y met percil, il ne doit point estre esverdé.
Cress in Lent with Milk of Almonds
(please refer to Power, but omit the comma following "take your cress and set it to parboil" in order to make the translation compatible with the original; the extra comma indicated that you do not have to parboil the beet greens.)
Ingredients
| 1 c. (1 bunch) | coarsely chopped watercress leaves |
| 1 c. (1 bunch) | coarsely chopped beet greens (leaves and stems) |
| 3 Tbs. | oil |
| 2 c. | almond milk |
| 3/4 c. | grated sharp cheddar cheese |
| 1/4 c. | parsley (or 1 tablespooon dried) |
| dash | (salt, if necessary) |
| dash | (nutmeg) |
| (verjuice, lemon juice, or cider vinegar to taste) | |
| Optional: juices from roast meat | |
Steps
- Take the watercress and beet greens and steam them with the water clinging to the greens until they wilt, then sauté them in the oil, until most of the water is gone.
- Add the almond milk, bring the mixture to a boil and lower the heat to a simmer. The mixture will be pinkish; if a plainer color is desired, the beet stems can be omitted and more beet leaves substituted.
- Add the cheese, add a little salt if the cheese does not contain enough, and add the parsley, nutmeg and verjuice.
- Add the cheese, add a little salt if the cheese does not contain enough, and add the parsley, nutmeg and verjuice.
Note
Remove the major stems from the cress.
Ingredients in parentheses are our additions to the Menagier. The salt, as previously mentioned, is only to be included if the cheese does not provided sufficient saltiness. The Menagier did not believe in using nutmeg, and consequently did not recommend it unless truly necessary, but a dash of nutmeg makes the dish taste much better. The verjuice also makes the cress more interesting, and there is precedence for its inclusion in many of the Menagier's other recipes, as well as in other medieval cookbooks.