Shakespeare

For this adventure, we found a website that listed the foods were in each Shakespeare play.

“All’s Well that Ends Well” was playing that season at CU’s Colorado Shakespeare Festival. So, we chose that play, cooked foods from it, had a picnic outside the auditorium, then went to see the play. We even got a writeup in the Boulder Daily Camera for this one.

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Creamy Truffled Polenta

Gruyere-Saffron Quiche with Squab (woodcock) and Onion

Simple Green Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette

Pear Mincemeat Pie with Dates and Pecans

Cava and Pomegranate Cocktails and Pomegranate Wine

FOODS FROM PLAY (and how we used them):

Cheese (Gruyere in quiche)

Egg (in quiche)

Salad (green salad)

Herb (marjoram in quiche)

Marjoram (see herb)

Rue (garnish and centerpeice)

Nut (pecans in pie)

Onions (in quiche)

Date (in pie)

Pie (see pie)

Porridge (polenta)

Pears (in pie)

Pomegranate (cava and pomegranate cocktails and pomegranate wine)

Saffron (in quiche)

Dough (quiche and pie)

Woodcock (substitute squab and use in quiche)

CREAMY TRUFFLED POLENTA

Inspired by Mark Monette’s “Truffled White Polenta” (Flagstaff House). Use the recipe for the creamy white polenta he gave us when he taught a Cultiva cooking class for our Slow Food Cultiva chef’s cooking class program, and add truffle oil to taste.

1 pint (2 cups) Polenta

1 quart (4 cups) milk

1 quart (4 cups) cream

2 TB butter

Truffle oil (1 TB?) – or maybe 1 TB butter with 1 Tb oil?

Salt

Pepper?

Pour cream and milk into saucepan and bring to a boil.

Whisk in polenta, reduce heat, and ocassinoally stir for approsimately 35 min.

When done, stir in 2 TB butter and Truffle oil and season to taste.

GRUYERE-SAFFRON QUICHE WITH SQUAB AND ONION

Serves 6 to 8.

Adapted from Epicurious.com’s “4-fork” Pure Cheese Quiche. “This is the essence of Madame Quiche's recipe … a very near replica of the small quiches she sells each Saturday at the Louviers market. There are a couple of keys to success here — be sure to let the pastry rest, as called for in the recipe. Don't stint on freezing the pastry — cold pastry that goes into a hot oven becomes extra flaky and delicious. Be sure to fully pre-bake the pastry as well, which guarantees crisp pastry on the bottom.”

One recipe for basic pastry (we’ll use our own or double the one for the dessert)

6 large eggs

2/3 cup heavy cream or crème fraîche

1 cup whole milk (take out a few TB milk, heat up and dissolve the saffron)

Saffron – a good pinch

8 ounces gruyere

salt & pepper (go light on salt, the cheese was very salty)

Marjoram (maybe 1 tsp?)

1 medium-sized yellow onion

1 tablespoon butter

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

Shredded, boned meat from one cooked squab (takes place of woodcock, which we’d never find)

Rue – for garnish only, it’s really bitter (can’t buy, but Laima’s mom and Evelyn have in their garden) If it’s flowering, use some as a centerpiece.

Roll out the pastry to fit a 10-1/2 inch glass or metal pie plate (not removable bottom). Crimp the edges, poke the bottom with a fork or the tip of a sharp knife, and place the pastry in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 425°F.

Line the pastry with aluminum foil and pastry weights and bake in the bottom third of the oven until the pastry is golden at the edges, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and remove the aluminum foil and pastry weights. Return the pastry to the oven to bake until the bottom is golden, an additional 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and reserve.

Dissolve the saffron in a little warm milk. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream, and the milk and saffron milk until thoroughly blended. Season with the salt and pepper, and marjoram then add the cheese and stir until it is blended. (We ended up with extra egg mixture, so we cooked it separately in a buttered ramekin.)

Peel and halve a medium-sized yellow onion. Cut it in quarters then slice the onion paper-thin. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in the bottom of a heavy skillet over medium heat, add the onions and stir, season lightly with salt, cover, and cook until the onions are very tender and translucent, and just slightly browned at the edges, 10-15 minutes. Remove them from the heat.

Spread the onion mixture and the quail meat over the pre-baked pastry before before adding the custard.

Turn the custard mixture into the pre-baked pastry, and spread out the cheese evenly over the bottom of the pastry. Sprinkle the top with nutmeg and bake in the center of the oven until the filling is golden and puffed, and is completely baked through, about 30 minutes. To test for doneness, shake the quiche - if it is solid without a pool of uncooked filling in the center, it is done. You may also stick a sharp knife blade into the center of the filling and if it comes out clean, the quiche is baked through.

Remove the quiche from the oven and serve immediately. (We’ll have to eat cold, or room temp….bake this last.)

SIMPLE GREEN SALAD WITH BALSAMIC VINAIGRETTE

Mixed greens

Balsamic vinaigrette

Balsamic

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Whisk all together

Toss at the picnic

PEAR MINCEMEAT PIE WITH DATES AND PECANS

(adapted from Cooks.com’s Pear Mincemeat Pie)

Makes 1 9 inch pie.

Pastry for a double-crust 9-inch pie (below)

2 c. prepared pear mincemeat, homemade (below)

1/4 c. firmly packed brown sugar

2 tbsp. all-purpose flour

1/2 c. chopped pecans

Roll half of pastry onto a lightly floured surface to 1/8 inch thickness; fit into a 9-inch pie plate. Set aside. Chill remaining pastry.

Combine mincemeat, brown sugar, flour and pecans; spoon mixture evenly into prepared pastry shell. Roll out remaining pastry to 1/8 inch thickness and place over filling. Trim edges; seal and flute. Cut slits in top pastry to allow steam to escape, making a decorative pattern with slits, if desired. Bake at 375 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes (or longer until browned, ours took at least 10 minutes longer). Cover edges of pie with aluminum foil to prevent over browning, if necessary.

PEAR MINCEMEAT:

Makes 2 pints.

Make 25% of this recipe – in parentheses.

1-3/4 lbs. pears, peeled, cored & cut into eighths

1/2 lemon, unpeeled & cut into eighths

1/2 tangerine (we didn’t use orange because Rocky’s allergic), unpeeled & cut into eighths

1/4 c. raisins

1/4 c. dates, pitted

1-1/2 c. sugar

1/4 tbsp. salt

1/4 tbsp. ground allspice

1/4 tbsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tbsp. ground nutmeg

1/4 tbsp. ground cloves

1/8 c. vinegar

Position knife blade in food processor bowl. Add about 1 cup pears; process until finely chopped. Repeat with remaining pears, lemons, non-oranges, raisins and dates.

Combine chopped fruit and remaining ingredients in a Dutch oven. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 30 minutes (or longer until you can scrape the bottom of the pan and see it for a second).

2 CRUST PASTRY;

2 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. salt

10 tbsp. (1 1/4 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into sm. pieces

1/4 c. ice water

1 tbsp. sugar

1 lg. egg yolk

Sift flour and salt into large bowl. Add butter and rub with fingertips until mixture is size of large peas. Stir water, sugar and yolk in small cup until sugar dissolves. Add to flour mixture and toss with fingertips until dough begins to come together. Gather dough into ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 1 hour. (Pie crust dough can be prepared 1 day ahead.)

PROSECCO AND POMEGRANATE COCKTAILS

Prosecco

Pomegranate juice

Mix as desired

POMEGRANATE WINE

Suggested by Liquor Mart so we thought we’d try this too