Waste not, want not

One of the things I always try to do in my feast stewarding, is to fully use ingredients. For example, I did a Pink Dish for a Meat Day, and then, used the left over ground almonds (having been used for almond milk) for a dessert. I tend to think that our earlier colleagues would have ensured that every last bit of food was turned into something delicious... (and no, I have not yet tried the brewed stag testicles recipe from Forme of Cury, nor will I eat fish guts).

Ung Roze a chair: A Pink dish for Meat Days - no.191
Grind unskinned almonds well, then take beef broth, wine and verjuice and steep your almonds in it and strain them; then take your meat - that is, breast of veal, or whole or quartered chicken cooked with a knucke of beef, or with some other good cut of beef - fry this meat in bacon grease until it is a russet colour, then take a very small amount of fine cinnamon, white mecca ginger, and lesser spices such as grains of paradise, cloves and long pepper. For colour you should have orchil and alkanet - alkanet is as suitable as orchil, if you can get it, becuase its colour is not so pronounced as is that of orchil; it should be soaked in a little water, which is hot and not just wrm, for three or foru hours; then put it into the pottage after it has boiled, and stir it thoroughly until it has the proper colour for a Pink Dish.
No.	Quantity	Item	Per 50		Per 100
0.5	cup	ground almonds	2.5	cups	5	cups
1	cup	boiling water	5	cups	10	cups
	splash	wine & verjuice
800	grams	beef	4	kilos	8	kilos
0.5	tsp	cinnamon	2.5	tsp	5	tsp
0.25	tsp	ginger (galingale)	1.25	tsp	2.5	tsp
0.25	tsp	ground cloves	1.25	tsp	2.5	tsp
1	pod	cardamom, ground	5	pods	10	pods
1	pinch	Salt
1	tsp	pepper	5	tsp	10	tsp
Method
Make the almond milk - boil the water, and pour over the ground almonds. Leave it sit until it is cool enough to handle, strain. RESERVE the almonds - it is used for the cold almond cream! Add a splash of wine & verjuice to the almond milk. Set this on the stove to simmer gently. I didn't colour it in the test recipe - but a drop of food dye would be nice (see the notes on orchil p. 244). Add the spices - the flavour should be predominatly pepper-ish - effectively this is a medieval poivrade. Correct as necessary and add salt. Leave to warm while frying the beef. The beef should be done at the last minute. Heat skillet and fry the beef in lard until browned (don't over cook). I am choosing to serve the sauce separately to the beef.

Berries with Cold Almond Cream (cold almond cream from Take a Thousand Eggs, vol. 1 p. 227
take almonds, and blanch them, and wash them in fair water, and bray them small in a mortar with fair water. And then take them and the water togther somewhat thick, and draw them through a strainer into a fair pot, And set them over the fire, and let them boil once, and take them down, and cast thereto salt and let stand a furlong-way or two. And cast a little vinegar thereto, then cast it on a fair linen cloth that is fair washed, and the water wrung out thereof; and cast it all about with the ladle, and let men hold the cloth all about; and then take a ladle, and draw under the cloth, and draw away the water all that a man may. And then gather all the cream together in the cloth; and then take the cloth with the cream, and hang it upon a pin, and let the water drop out two or three hours more. And then take it off the cloth, and put it in a bowl of wood, and cast sugar enough thereto and a little salt. And if it wax too thick, take sweet wine and mix it withal; then take raisins of corinth, clean and washed, and put them therein that they are not seen, and when it is dressed in the manner of a mortrews, take red anise in comfit or else leaves of borage, and set thereon in a dish.
No.	Quantity	Qantity	Item	Per 50		Per 100
1		carton	strawberries	5	cartons	12	cartons
Method
Wash and hull the strawberries; refrigerate. The almond 'cream' has already been made from the pink dish from the first remove. Strain it; squeeze in a cloth, let it hang for several hours. Either mold the almonds around the currants, or poke some currants in the molds. The variation is instead of a sweet wine, I've got excess rose cordial or lavendar cordial - which will be ladelled around the almond cream. The berries either will be plated with the cream, if possible or served in small bowls separately .