Cakes/fritters/crackers

This page has a bunch of varieties of things that meet the following criteria:

1. made of grains

2. cooked on the griddle

There is a big, flat, rock next to the hearth in lots of the Viking Age hearths found, we interpret this as an excellent place to bake small cake-like things.

Recipe #1, crackers

Ingredients:

Sour cream

Barley flour

Salt

(finely chopped seaweed, optional)

Directions:

Get the griddle hot. We cook some bacon on it to get it nice and greasy, but that isn't necessary.

Take some sour cream. Add flour until it is, um, solid-ish? You'll have to mix with your hands and try it until the consistency is right to make little cracker things. Add salt and any other small things you like. Pat into thin rounds about 3-4 inches across, and less than 1/8 inch thick. Toast on the griddle until they are light brown and delicious.

Version 1. Mixed with finely chopped dulse. High in iron, protein, and vitamins, there is evidence that Viking Age people ate the seaweed, but the Atlantic dulse we had tasted FOUL by itself. Concentrated ocean with hints of blood and stale fish, foul. However, a whole LOT of the stuff can be mixed into the crackers/flatbread, and people like it. As a matter of fact, we started handing it out to anyone who got too close :)

Teenagers, fighters, foodies, random passers by, everyone liked them, and no one commented on any bad tastes. They were best when we also added salt. Really yummy with sour cream spread on them, or when eaten with kippered herring. Somehow complimented the fishy taste, yum!

I think this was our biggest breakthrough of the day, as we had NO idea how to use dulse when we started, and this stuff was great!

Version 2. Plain. Barley flour, salt, sour cream. Yummy. We spread them with honey and dried cherries or plums. Also made a plate with sour cream and kippered herring on it. Even the Pelicans ate it (grin).

Version 3. Barley flour, sour cream, freshly ground coriander. Also very good, not much to say, other than yummy :) 

Logic:

These are quite portable, and great for using as crackers with "dip". Barley is a common grain in early Northern Europe, and this gets back to the whole "lived on dairy and fish" thing. These are simple, delicious, and easy to make with available equipment. However, flour (see logic further down the page, as our understanding evolved)

As an extra, one of my favorite "dips" is sour cream and fresh cheese (cottage cheese would work well) with ground coriander and sweet-hot mustard (vinegar, mustard, horseradish, and honey).

Recipe #2, fritter/cake things

Ingredients:

Boiled barley

Eggs

Flour

Salt

(shredded or chopped cheese, optional)

(other ingredients, optional. For example, we tried these with smoked salmon, they are very good with onions or leeks)

Directions: The barley needs to be pretty soft, but not totally cooked. I'll give some approximate measurements below, but you have to mix it until the dough is a good texture for fritter things.

Get the griddle hot. Drain the barley. Add eggs, salt, and cheese. Slowly add the flour until it holds together. This is usually much looser, it is dropped onto the griddle by the spoonful, and spread out with the back of the spoon. It then rises and holds together in an amazing fashion. These are REALLY good.

Approximate measurements:

3/4 cup barley, before soaking. Soaked overnight, or boiled until softish.  

2 large eggs

1 cup flour

1 tsp salt

1 cup cheese

1/2 of a small onion, finely chopped

Logic:

My plan was trying to make something with less ground flour. Grinding flour by hand is SLOW, so flour would be expensive. This makes a LOT of fritters, with a relatively small amount of flour. These are thick fritter/cake things, like a crab cake but made all of grains. These can take quite a strong flavored cheese, and also a bunch of herbs if you feel like adding them. They are filling, and really quite delicious.

We made two really delicious version of this for a party, as they are both really easy to pick up and eat out of hand, and very attractive to people who have been drinking: Samples/Demo foods

The seasonings I used in that case were: 

Vegetarian filling: I added finely chopped onions, garlic, and cilantro.  

Meat filling: I cooked ground pork with salt, and ground cumin and coriander.  This was mixed with shredded fermented carrots, and more cumin and coriander. 

Version #2 of fritters (no egg)

Boiled grains (wheat in this case)

A tiiny bit of flour

Sour cream

Salt

This isn't as solid as either of the others, but they still work fine and are DELICIOUS.  These are the ones in the photos. 

Version #3 of fritters (no flour)

Boiled oats

Sour cream

Fried kale

Salt

LOTS of eggs

These are more like pancakes, and take some practice.  Without the flour, they are much less forgiving. You have to watch and turn them very carefully.