Feb. 14, 2007: Poor Knights

I worked this morning, went to Lourdes this afternoon and then taped again from 4~7. At Lourdes we made something I had never made before: 'Poor Knights.' This is, apparently, a recipe that dates back about 500 years. The Knights of the Realm (which realm? I don'™t know.) were not very well paid. They couldn't afford to eat meat much, instead they often had something similar to French Toast. I say '˜similar'™ because mixed in with the eggs, milk and cinnamon was some white wine. A more fancy version was a sandwich filled with assorted goodies which was then dipped in the egg-milk-wine mixture and fried. After doing a bit of research on the net, I came up with this:

4 eggs
350 mL milk
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 ½ loaves bread, crusts trimmed
Assorted fillings: cream cheese, raisins, jam, brown sugar, sliced bananas, peanut butter, Nutella:  whatever appeals to you!

It's best to use bread that is a couple of days old (but not stale! Yech!) If you have fresh bread as I did today, dry it out for a few minutes in a warm oven.
Make a sandwich using the fillings of your choice. This afternoon we made two kinds: cream cheese/raisins/brown sugar and cream cheese/jam. Whisk with a fork the eggs, milk and cinnamon. Dip the sandwiches in the egg mixture then fry in a pan with some melted butter until golden, turn over and fry the other side (just like French Toast.)
Cut into quarters and share with your friends. Yum! Here's a photo that Sister Teresa took of us. The guys were all standing around me, smiling broadly and posing. Sis T tried to shoo them away without success. They wouldn't un-pose. Then she said they couldn't stand next to me for this photo as it was going to be published in the annual report. That's ok, they all said. No, she insisted, we can't have photos with your faces in. That's ok, they repeated. Let me tell you, Sis T is not a woman to be thwarted. So I suggested they turn around and do manly Chippendale-esque poses (but with clothes on~please!) This photo was the compromise we reached, a little fuzzy but charming! One guy was recognisable by his profile so I very inexpertly fuzzed it out. If you think the tall guy on the right looks weird it's my fault!

LW is becoming more feisty: yesterday evening and this evening he came downstairs when I arrived home and demanded his dinner in No Uncertain Terms. Yea, LW!
Tomorrow I am working in the morning only. I'll come home for the afternoon, then back to the city for dinner with friends. This dinner will mark the beginning of the Lunar (Chinese) New Year celebration: I will be off for nine glorious days. Hooray!