My apologies for the delay in posting new recipes. I am in the middle of moving and will likely miss a few more days before things return to an even keel. Here, though, is the rest of the Pity Party I covered previously.
Meat Pastries
First, something playful from Anna Wecker:
Pastries of leftover meat
Take of such (meat) as you have that is no longer suitable for the table , it is good for these things. Cut the meat off the bones and chop it well. Make a dough of fine flour and eggs, a little fat, salt it well, or the way you make it for tarts, as you please.
Take two thin sheets, one as big as the other, shape it as you would like it and as you can, round, triangular, or rectangular, into hearts, roses, or stars. The add good spices to the meat, raisins, and what you like to have sweet or sour, as you please. (Add) enough fat from what is skimmed off soups (Suppenschmalz) or beef marrow, according to how fat or lean the meat itself is. If you wish, you can also add good herbs, with or without spices, or eggs as though you wanted to make sausages that go into the fat-lined part of the large intestine (Klobwürste). You may also take coarsely ground almonds, (but) they are better grated, especially if you also add eggs, and grate a little bit of hard white bread if you please. Always add a little meat broth.
If you want to make them, prepare it (the meat) and put a little of it on part of the abovementioned sheets (shaped) according to whatever you want of animals, birds, hounds , hares, as described above. Shape it with the prepared stuff (meat mixture) and then place the second sheet on top. Press it together according to its shape and close it as artfully as you can.
Give each its form: to the sow, bristles with a pastry wheel, give each one eyes from black dried cherries or juniper berries, (arrange) the skin of an egg around it or of red apples or rose petals, each after its kind. As to what else belongs to them, I have kept the little sheep’s trotters and such things as well as the young hares’ feet, those who are artful do not need much description, to those who aren’t it is in vain. Roughly done does not improve them or detract from them. Close them, brush them with egg as is always done, bake them quickly and serve them warm. They are best without egg, but to each as they like it. Almonds and a little bread makes them good.
In the end, we made them in recognisably distinct shapes because we added leftover onions and dried fruit to the filling to see if it would improve the taste (it did). This recipe occurs twice in the book, in slightly different iteration, but ultimately it seems to be a very generalised technique and an outlet for creativity. Surely the pastries described in the final paragraph would be perfect for a history-themed children’s birthday party.
Plum Tart
And we tried the plum tart from Sabina Welser. The instructions are extremely basic:
A tart of plums, be they fresh or dried
Boil them beforehand in wine, then pass them through with eggs, cinnamon and sugar
It turned out very pleasant, though the flavour was so dominant that it would have gone better with a thicker crust all around, something more buttery or flaky than we used. The topping is leftover meringue from the almond tart. there is no indication it was ever used this way, I added it on impulse and it worked.