Ingredients
3 large pears
300 g dark berries
300 ml red wine
300 ml white wine
25 g sugar
pinch ground ginger
pinch ground cinnamon
Method
Peel and core the pears, wash the berries and drain.
Place fruit in a pan and heat in red wine, turning occasionally to coat evenly. Simmer until tender, then cool in the liquid.
Drain, reserving liquid. Cut pears in half. Sieve the berries and return them to liquid.
Now boil white wine, sugar and spices until they form a syrup. Add the pears and bring back to boil, to simmer for two or three minutes.
Serve hot with the berry/wine sauce.
Note: fresh berries might not be available, so, substitute tinned varieties obtainable from your non-medieval supermarket.
St James’ Church
Our annual service at Anglican Church of St James on King Street, commemorating the Battle of Bosworth, will be held this year on Sunday, 25 August 2019 at 11 am. NSW branch members Rhonda and David will be reading the lessons.
Members will convene for lunch nearby afterwards.
We hope you will be there to honour Richard III.
Tags: Bosworth
Over the last weekend, 9 to 11 August 2019, an Australasian Convention took place in Melbourne, as it was hosted by the Victoria Branch of the Richard III Society. It was a great and enjoyable event. The Victoria Branch has done an excellent job in organising this for the benefit of all members of the branches of the Richard III Society in Australia and New Zealand. A full review will follow in due course, so I won’t give away any spoilers.
In two years, the next Australasian Convention will take place in Adelaide over the Bosworth Weekend, 20 to 22 August 2021. We are very grateful to the South Australia Branch, who will be hosting this important event, for taking on all the work this involves. It would be great if the NSW Branch could show its appreciation by attending in great numbers. So put the date into your diaries already! More details will be available at a later stage.
As two years is a long time, there is also the prospect of another one-day conference in Albury in November 2020. Our experienced Albury Conference Team has agreed to consider organising another of these enjoyable conferences. Thank you, Helen and Denise!
Don’t miss out on these exciting events. It’s never too early to start planning. Therefore –
Tags: Conventions
Our next general meeting will be on Saturday, 10 August 2019, at 2pm at the Sydney Mechanics Institute, Level 1, 280 Pitt Street, Sydney.
We are fortunate to have as our speaker for this meeting the University of Sydney Honorary Research Associate in History, Judith Bonzol, who will speak on her chosen topic of “Cunning Folk: popular medicine and magic in the time of Richard III”.
Dr Bonzol is widely published in the academic press and has a long time interest in the medical attitude towards supposed demonic possession and supernatural illness in early modern England. This will be an outstanding program you should try not to miss!
Ingredients:
10 cups red wine
juice of 3 lemons or oranges
2 cinnamon sticks
½ tsp ground cloves
½ tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup brown sugar
2 lemons or oranges, sliced
4 cups lemonade (optional)
Method
Place all ingredients in a large bowl and heat gently (slow cookers are good).
Serve hot but not boiling.
Note: To dilute or extend hippocras add 4 cups of lemonade 10 minutes before serving and reheat.
Ingredients
20 cm pastry flan (lid optional)
4 chicken breasts
black pepper to taste
4 cloves
150 ml white wine
150 ml chicken stock
50 g mushrooms, chopped
15 g butter
25 g bacon, chopped
3 eggs
½ teaspoon ground ginger
Method
Preheat oven to 175° C.
Place chicken, pepper and cloves in a pan and simmer in the wine and chicken stock for about 45 minutes or until meat is tender.
Saute mushrooms in butter, then add chicken and chopped bacon. Lightly beat the eggs and ginger and extra seasoning if desired and add to the meat mixture.
Transfer to the pastry flan and cover with a pastry lid brushed with a little milk or beaten egg or with foil. Cook in preheated oven for about 30 minutes, a little longer if you have a pastry lid.
Ingredients
1 cup split peas
2 thick slices of ham
1 cup water
Seasoning of your choice to taste
Method
Preheat oven to 135° C and prepare a lightly greased 23cm pie dish.
Wash the split peas and place in the dish. Cut the ham slices into bite-sized pieces and mix with the peas. Add seasoning, then pour the water over the mixture just enough to cover it. Simmer in the oven until peas are dissolved and the mixture springs back when you touch it.
Serve hot to start your meal. (Try it cold with a salad in summer.)
Note
You may find the water has to be topped up to stop the pudding becoming too dry while cooking.
The next meeting of the NSW Branch of the Richard III Society will take place on Saturday, 8 June 2019, at 2 pm at our usual venue, The Sydney Mechanics’ Institute of Arts, Level 1, 280 Pitt Street, Sydney.
The program for our branch meeting in June will be a book discussion!
Everyone who wishes to can actively participate. You can tell us about, or comment upon, a favourite Ricardian (or related) book you have read or a new find you are excited about.
There is so little time over afternoon tea to talk together, so the Executive Committee thought we could try having a meeting where we could discuss books with each other.
For those members undecided about which book to read we had suggested Winter King: The Dawn of Tudor England, (or Isolde Martyn’s The Devil in Ermine which was sadly hard to find). But any book you want to share with us will be warmly welcomed!
Leslie & Doug McCawley will be facilitating the discussion, in a very casual, unstructured and unpressured setting. We hope you will come!
Ingredients
2.5kg apples’
1kg tomatoes
500g pears
1 large onion, chopped finely
1kg chopped dates
1kg soft brown sugar
500ml malt vinegar
1tsp pepper
2 level tsp mixed spice
1 tablespoon salt
Method
Peel and core apples and pears, then chop into small pieces. Plunge tomatoes into boiling water for a minute, then skin and chop roughly. Place apples, pears and tomatoes and remaining ingredients into a large pan and bring to the boil. Simmer gently for about 2 hours until fruit and vegetables are soft and the mixture is thick.
Test by drawing a wooden spoon across the mixture so that it leaves a slight channel for a moment.
Pour chutney into clean heated jars and cover with vinegar-proof covers, ie lids that are made of glass, plastic or coated metal. If a metal lid is used, make sure you give it a vinegar-proof lining.
Ingredient (Serves 6)
1 kg minced beef
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
¼ cup red wine
salt and black pepper to taste
sprinkling of sage to taste
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
½ cup almond milk (see above)
1 teaspoon honey
sprinkling of ground cloves
Method
Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
Combine all ingredients and place evenly in a lightly greased loaf tin, about 22cm x 12cm. Cover with foil and bake for about 1 hour.
When ready, remove and drain off fat carefully before turning onto a serving dish and garnish with fresh herbs.
Note
If serving cold later, cover with foil after draining and place in refrigerator with weights on top (tins from your pantry are ideal).
