Wheat and Honey

semola

Period: 1200s, Spain, Morocco Sources: About Morrocan Food, Medieval Spanish Chef

2 cups fine semola flour 3 Tbsp coarse raw sugar ¼ tsp coarse salt ½ cup soft or melted butter ½ – ¾ cup milk

In a mixing bowl, stir together the semola, sugar, and salt. Stir in the melted butter until the mixture is like damp sand. Stir in ½ cup milk. The dough needs to be very soft, like very wet cookie dough. Add more milk if necessary. It will look too wet to a baker's eye.

Let the dough rest for a few minutes. It will stiffen as the semolina absorbs moisture.

Meanwhile, preheat the frying pan over high heat, then turn heat to medium-low.

Prepare a pressing folder by cutting open 3 edges of a plastic storage bag, or cutting a rectangle of baking parchment and folding in half into a square.

Form a small ball of dough, place on one half of the pressing folder, fold over the other half, and use a flat-bottomed plate to press the dough into a circle about ¼” thick. Peel off the top half, flip the dough onto one hand and peel off the other half of the folder.

Cook them over medium-low heat for several minutes on each side until each side has patches of deep golden brown. try to flip it only once.

Serve with toppings as with pancakes or scones, such as butter, syrup, jam, cream, or savory with cheese and meat.

#biscuit #butter #historical #milk #salt #semola #side #sugar

(Medieval-inspired. Medieval-probable.)

Use a 9” deep dish pie tin. You also want a meat thermometer.

Pie crust:

¾ cup butter 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour or semola flour ½ cup water ¼ tsp salt beaten egg whites

Filling:

2 Tbsp honey ½ cup dried fruits, minced (such as raisins, blueberries, prunes, cherries) 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon 3 egg yolks 2 Tbsp minced nuts 1 cup carrots, finely chopped ¾ cup fennel bulb, finely chopped 2 cups chicken, cut into about 1” cubes ½ tsp salt ½ tsp pepper 1 tsp thyme ½ tsp mace

Crust: Cut the butter into the flour until it is crumbly and there is no more dry powder. Dissolve the salt in the water, and stir into the flour to make a soft dough. Knead it a bit to get it all together. Form a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and place in fridge to chill until hard.

Mix the chicken pieces, salt, pepper, thyme, and mace. Set aside, let chill.

Stir together the rest of the filling ingredients.

When the crust dough is hard, divide it in half. Place a piece of waxed paper on the counter, and sprinkle with flour. Roll out half the dough to a circle big enough to fit in the pie tin. It should be somewhat thick crust. Place the tin upside-down on the dough, and flip it over with the dough and waxed paper to get the dough inside. Remove the waxed paper and press the dough down into the tin.

Around this time, set the oven to preheat to 350° F.

Stir the chicken mix into the rest of the filling. Spread the filling into the pie tin.

Roll out the rest of the crust in the same way, using the waxed paper to lift it and place it on the top of the pie. Trim the edge of the crust and pinch the top and bottom together.

Brush the beaten egg whites onto the crust. Make a cool design on the top crust with the remaining dough! Make sure there are some cuts in the top crust. Brush the design with egg whites as well.

Bake for about 1 hour, until the internal temperature reaches or exceeds 165° F.

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