Black and White Wednesday: Lauren's Pale Hot Cocoa

I like chocolate, but I'm far from being a chocoholic. I like a pale, rather insipid, cup of hot cocoa. I mean insipid in the best way possible--comforting but not assertive. It's unashamed nursery food. The most exotic, gourmet hot cocoa blend never charms me quite the way this pale cocoa in its transferware cup and saucer does.

Black (and White Wednesday) Treacle and Baroque Music

Why oh why is black treacle so difficult to find? I believe it's almost identical to blackstrap molasses, but I'm partial to Lyle's and I love its jaunty red tin. I've never seen it in Wichita period (even at World Market) and I used to buy it at Canterbury British Imports in Oklahoma City, but it looked like they'd gone out of business the last time I drove by. Plus, it's expensive on the internet due to shipping costs. Anyone know of a reliable source?

Black Treacle is awesome stuff--it looks like crude oil and tastes like a more-metallic molasses. That's probably totally unappealing but I love it in its unappealingness. It's also rich in vitamins, minerals and iron. It's practically a health food! Not that what I normally do with it is particularly healthful--

Way Back Wednesday: Spiced Pears with Cream

In The Cook's Guide (1664), Hannah Woolley gives instructions "To stew Pippins with cream:"

Take your Pippins, pare them and core them; if you would have them red, bake them first, or else put to them as much water as will cover them and some cinnamon and cloves unbeaten; turn them sometimes and cover them close; set them over the fire till they begin to be tender, then sweeten them with sugar; and boile them when the sugar is in till they are clear, then put sweet cream to them, and let them stew together till you find they be enough; thus you may do with baked pears (58-59).

I decided that baking the pears in a spiced sugar syrup and then pouring the cream over would give better results after attempting to follow Hannah Woolley's instructions, which ended in curdled cream, which wasn't terribly attractive. However, the pears were so tasty I thought it worth my time to rework the recipe:

Black and White Wednesday

Just a quick check-in with a photo of yesterday's Peach Crisp. Happy Wednesday!!!

Susan at The Well-Seasoned Cook hosts Black and White Wednesday.

Way Back Wednesday: Renaissance Herb Tart

While browsing at the library, I found a book on the shelf entitled Shakespeare's Kitchen: Renaissance Recipes for the Contemporary Cook. Naturally, I picked it up and checked it out. It's a really lovely book and has a good variety of interesting recipes that are adapted from some of the earliest printed cookbooks, like Gervase Markham's The English Huswife, from 1615.

I've adapted the recipe for Herb Tart slightly; the biggest change was my switch to golden raisins from currants and adding more of them. This is a good recipe and I enjoyed eating it the first night, but the prospect of eating leftovers was rather daunting. I don't know why that happens with some recipes, but it does. I'd recommend serving this to guests so as to eliminate the chance of leftovers. ;-)

Herb Tart

While we're on the subject of Shakespeare, the Wichita Shakespeare Company is performing Troilus and Cressida (if it doesn't rain, that is) at Riverside Park this Friday and College Hill Park this Saturday. This has been a tough year for the arts in Kansas. Our governor, Sam Brownback, vetoed annual funding for the Kansas Arts Commission. If you're in the area, come out and show your support for the arts in Kansas. Just because we're in the middle of nowhere doesn't mean we can't have some culture.

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Susan at The Well-Seasoned Cook hosts Black and White Wednesday.







Here's a shot in black and white of Monday's Easy Peasy Soup. Both photos were taken on my iPhone using the Hipstamatic app. Monday's used Blanko "film" and the John S "lens." This photo was taken with Claunch 72 Monochrome "film" and the John S "lens." The best part of using the Hipstamatic app is that is takes real, honest-to-goodness black and white photographs. There's no color version of this exact shot that I just converted to black and white, which makes using the app more like shooting with a film camera.

Way Back Wednesday: Hannah Woolley's Poached Fish

Here's another recipe I've adapted from Hannah Woolley's The Cook's Guide. I've borrowed the method from Mastering the Art of French Cooking because (a) Hannah Woolley is totally vague and (b) my kitchen is very similar to a 1961 kitchen and not at all similar to a 1664 kitchen!

The fish turned out very moist and succulent and I really enjoyed the combination of lemon, cloves and mace for the flavor. This recipe is also quick and easy. Neither of us found the shallots terribly fabulous to actually eat, but they give such flavor. You can strain them out when you strain out everything else. You can also use a cut-up onion instead. About the mace--my health-food store only had ground mace, so I added it to the sauce later, but if you can find blades of mace, add them when you add the cloves.
Hannah Woolley’s Poached Fish

Above: You'll want to make sure to use a cooking vessel that can go on the stove and in the oven.  This Le Creuset oval gratin dish works really well.

Below: My kitchen helper (Paul, of course) covers the dish with a waxed-paper cutout before putting the dish in the oven.

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I thought you might be interested in English household items from the time Hannah Woolley's book was published. All are from the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and if you click on the links, you'll find lots of great info from the museum's website.  Don't you just love museums?

Anthony Ficketts: Dish, 1664-65

All my embroidery projects are unfinished, too:

Unfinished Cabinet Panels, ca. 1660

Detail, magnified thirty times

Detail, magnified thirty times

Movement by Ahasuerus: Hooded Wall Clock with Calendar, ca. 1660-65

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I'm always trying to work on my photography, so I like the idea of composing photos in black and white. Takes me back to my high school photography course, although I'm certain I've forgotten most of it! If anyone's interested, this was taken using the Hipstamatic app with the John S lens and Claunch 72 Monochrome film.

Susan at The Well-Seasoned Cook hosts Black and White Wednesday.


My photo is a preview of Friday's post: