Subj : Today in History - 1616
To   : All
From : Dave Drum
Date : Sun Apr 23 2023 06:04:20

23 April 1616 - WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE DIES ON HIS BIRTHDAY: According to
tradition, the revered English-language playwright is born on this date
in 1564, and he dies on the same date 52 years later. In between, the
Stratford-upon-Avon native is credited with writing 38 plays and 154
sonnets that will outlive him by centuries.

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.06

     Title: Shakespearean Meat Pies
Categories: Pastry, Beef, Fruits, Herbs
     Yield: 24 pies

MMMMM--------------------------PASTRY--------------------------------
     4 c  Pastry flour; use pastry
          - flour for a flakier result
     2 lg Egg yolks
     1 c  Water
     8 tb Butter

MMMMM--------------------------FILLING-------------------------------
   1/2 lb Veal shoulder meat
     1 lb Suet; fine chopped
   1/4 lb Dried currants
   1/4 lb Dates
   3/4 c  Sugar
   1/2 tb Mace
   1/2 tb Cinnamon
   1/2 tb Ginger
   3/4 ts Cloves
   1/2 ts Salt
   1/4 ts Pepper
   1/8 ts Crushed saffron

 In a large pot, cover the veal with cold water. Cover
 pot with a lid and simmer until tender, about 1 1/2
 hours.

 Drain and allow the veal to cool. Then chop it finely
 with the chopped suet or beef fat. Note that suet will
 produce a better texture result; beef fat will make for
 a greasier pie, but it is easier to locate than suet so
 we add it here as an alternative. Add in currants,
 chopped dates, sugar and spices. Set aside.

 Set oven @ 350ºF/175ºC.

 To make crust, first melt the butter in 1 cup of water.
 Heat just until the butter is melted, do not boil.

 In a large mixing bowl, make a well in the center of the
 4 cups of flour. Mix in water/melted butter mixture
 until well combined. Let sit until it reaches room
 temperature. Mix in egg yolks. The dough should come
 together as a ball.

 Allow dough to rest for 10 minutes, then divide into 4
 equal portions.

 On a floured surface roll the dough to 1/16 inch
 thickness, then cut out 24 4" circles. Roll out
 remaining dough and cut into 24 3" circles.

 Place the larger dough circles into the bottoms of a
 greased muffin tin, then spoon in 2 tbsp of filling.

 Top with the smaller dough circles, pressing down to
 make sure that there are no air pockets between the
 dough and the filling. Use a fork to crimp the top and
 bottom edges together.

 Make a vent in the top by cutting a small "x" in the
 center.

 Place muffin tins on a baking sheet, then bake for 1
 hour rotating the pan halfway through, till golden brown
 and baked through.

 If you open the oven and see that fat is draining from
 the pies onto the baking sheet, don't worry, this is
 likely to happen (especially when using beef fat in
 place of suet) and will not ruin the pies.

 Serve warm or at room temperature (we preferred them
 warm). They are similar to sweet mince pies. Note they
 tend to get greasy after sitting for prolonged periods
 of time; keep pies separated by layers of parchment or
 wax paper when storing.

 Adapted from The Good Huswifes Handmaide for the Kitchen

 RECIPE FROM: https://toriavey.com

 Uncle Dirty Dave's Archives

MMMMM

... I finally got eight hours of sleep. It took me three days, but whatever.
--- MultiMail/Win
* Origin: Outpost BBS * Johnson City, TN (1:18/200)