Lese fryes

Two 15th century cookbooks
Ab. 1420 A.D.

Lese fryes
—Take nessℏ chese, and pare it clene, and grinde hit in a morter smaƚƚ, and drawe yolkes and white of egges thorgℏ a streynour, and cast there-to, and grinde hem togidre; then̄ cast thereto Sugur, butter and salt, and put al togidre in a coffyn̄ of faire paast, And lete bake ynowe, and then̄ serue it forthe.

Modern English

Lese fryes (a baked cheese custard/cheese pie)
—Take soft cheese, and pare it clean, and grind small in a mortar, and draw egg yolks and whites through a strainer and cast this in with the cheese and grind this all together; then cast with this, some sugar, butter and salt, and put this all together in a coffin (standing pastry shell) of fair past (pastry), and let it bake enough, and then serve if forth.

"Auter Tartus" (custard/cheese tart)

Two 15th century cookbooks
Ab. 1420 A.D.

Auter Tartus
—Take faire nessℏ chese that is buttry, and par hit, grynde hit in a morter; caste therto faire creme and grinde hit togidre; temper hit with goode mylke, that hit be no thikker þen̄ rawe creme, and cast thereto a litul salt if nede be; And (if) thi chese be salte, caste thereto neuer a dele; colour hit witℏ saffron̄; then̄ make a large coffyn̄ of faire paste, & lete the brinkes be rered more þen̄ an enche of hegℏ; lete þe coffyn̄ harden̄ in þe oven̄; þen̄ take it oute, put gobettes of butter in the bothom̄ thereof, And caste the stuffe there-to, and caste peces of buttur there-vppon̄, and sette in þe oven̄ witℏ-oute lydde, and lete bake ynowe, and then̄ cast sugur thereon̄, and serue it fortℏ. And if þou wilt, lete him haue a lydde; but þen̄ thi stuff most be as thikke as Mortrewes.

Modern English

Another Tart (a baked cheese custard/cheese pie)
—Take fair, soft, cheese that is buttery, and pare and grind it in a mortar; cast into this, fair cream and grind with the cheese; temper this with enough good milk to make it no thicker than raw cream, and cast into this a little salt if need be; And if the cheese is salted, don't cast in too much; colour this with saffron; then make a large coffin (free-standing pie shell), and let the sides (of the pastry) be built up more than an inch high; let the coffin harden in the oven; then take it out and put chunks of butter in the bottom of the pastry, and cast the mixture into the shell, and cast pieces of butter on this, and set it in the oven without a lid, and let it bake enough, and then cast sugar over this and serve it forth. And if you will, let it have a lid; but then the mixture should be as thick as for Mortrewes.

Macrows

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Forme of Cury (by Samuel Pegge)
original text from about A.D. 1390

Macrows
—Take and make a thynne foyle of dowh. and kerve it on peces, and cast hem on boillyng water & seeþ it wele. take chese and grate it and butter cast bynethen and above as losyns. and serue forth.

Modern English

Macrows
—Take and make a thin sheet of dough and carve it into pieces and cast them into boiling water and cook them well. Take cheese and grate it and put this, with butter, layer with the dough as you did with losyns and serve it forth.

Sambocade

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Forme of Cury (by Samuel Pegge)
original text from about A.D. 1390


Sambocade

—Take and make a Crust in a trape. & take a cruddes and wryng out þe wheyze. and drawe hem þurgh a straynour and put in þe straynour crustes. do þerto sugur the þridde part & somdel whyte of Ayrenn.
& shake þerin blomes of elren. & bake it up with curose (eurose) & messe it forth.

Modern English

Sambocade (Elderflower Cheese Pie)


—Take and make a crust in a vessel and take (cheese)curds and wring out the whey and pass this through a strainer and put into the pastry shell, and with this, add a third part(measure) of sugar and a bit less of egg whites and shake elderflowers into this and bake it up with rosewater and serve it forth.

Tart de Bry

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Forme of Cury (by Samuel Pegge)
original text from about A.D. 1390

Tart de Bry

—Take a Crust ynche depe in a trape. take zolkes of Ayren rawe & chese ruayn. & medle it & þe zolkes togyder. and do þerto powdour gyngur. sugur. safroun. and salt. do it in a trape, bake it and serue it forth.

Modern English

Tart de Brie
(Brie the province)

—Take a crust an inch deep in a vessel (line the vessel an inch deep with pastry). Take raw egg yolks and ruayn cheese (cheese made from later season milk, not the same as Brie as it is too soft to grate, see loseyns) and mix this and the yolks together. Add to this, powdered ginger, sugar, saffron and salt and pour this into the crust then bake it and serve it forth.

For to Make Tartys in Applis

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Forme of Cury (by Samuel Pegge)
original text from about A.D. 1390


For to Make Tartys in Applis
—Tak gode Applys and gode Spycis and Figys and reysons and Perys and wan they are wel ybrayed colourd wyth Safroun wel and do yt in a cofyn and do yt forth to bake wel.

Modern English

Apple Tarts
—Take good apples and good spices and Figs and raisins and Pears and when they are well chopped and coloured well with saffron, put them in a coffin (pie shell) and bake well.

(below: not from the same recipe but close)

Herbalade

15th century cookbook
Ab. 1420 A.D.

Herbelade
—Take Buttes of Porke, & smyte hem in pecys, & sette it ouer þe fyre; & seþe hem in fayre Watere; & whan it is y-soþe y-now, ley it on a fayre bord, & pyke owt alle þe bonys, & hew it smal, & put it in a fayre bolle; þan take ysope, Sawge, Percely a gode quantite, & hew it smal, & putte it on a fayre vesselle; þan take a lytel of þe broþe, þat þe porke was soþin in, & draw þorw a straynoure, & caste to þe Erbys, & ȝif it a boyle; þenne take owt þe Erbys with a Skymoure fro þe broþe, & caste hem to þe Porke in þe bolle; þan mynce Datys smal, & caste hem þer-to, & Roysonys of Coraunce, & Pyneȝ, & drawe þorw a straynoure ȝolkys of Eyroun þer-to, & Sugre, & pouder Gyngere, & Salt, & coloure it a lytel with Safroune; & toyle yt with þin hond al þes to-gederys; þan make fayre round cofyns, & harde hem a lytel in þe ovyn; þan take hem owt, & wyth a [leaf 43.] dyssche in þin hond, fylle hem fulle of þe Stuffe; þan sette hem þer-in a-ȝen; & lat hem bake y-now, & serue forth.

Modern English

Herbelade
—Take buts of pork, and chop them in pieces, and set it over the fire; and boil them in fair water; and when it is boiled/cooked enough, lay it on a fair board and pick out all the bones, and hew(chop) it small and put it in a fair bowl; then take hyssop, sage, a good quantity of parsley, and chop it small and put it on(in) a fair vessel; then take a little of the broth that the pork was boiled in and draw (it) through a strainer and cast in the herbs, and if it a boiled (when they are boiled?); then take out the herbs with a peel/skimmer from the broth and cast them into the pork in the bowl; then finely mince some dates and cast them in, and currants and pine nuts, and draw eggs yolks through a strainer into the bowl, and sugar and powdered ginger and salt and colour it a little with saffron, and stir/mix this all together with your hand; then make fair round coffins and harden them a little in the oven; then take them out and with the dish in your hand, fill them full of the stuff; then set them therein again(set them back in the oven); and let them bake enough and serve forth.


Break down:
-Chop pork in pieces and boil in water
-When it is cooked, bring it to a chopping board and remove the bones and chop it finely and put aside in a good sized bowl
-Take some hyssop, sage and a good quantity of parsley and finely chop it (and put in a vessel/bowl)
-Take the pork broth and run it through a strainer (to make a clear broth) and then cast in the herbs
-it seems to suggest boiling the herbs in the broth and then skimming them out and adding them into the bowl with the pork
-Finely chop up some dates and cast these in with the pork along with some currants and pine nuts.
-Strain some egg yolk (this being the binder) into the mixture and add some sugar, powdered ginger and salt to the mixture as well.
-colour the mixture a little with saffron
-mix this all with your hand
(it does not specify using the broth in the mixture, however it would be useful should the mixture end up too dry)

Pastry:
-A standard paste would be made from flour, butter, egg yolk and water though either the butter, yolk or water may be omitted.
-Make as many raised pie shells as you feel will hold the filling (does not specify size) and bake them in a low oven just to harden and dry them out a bit (they should likely still be whiteish).
-Fill the shells with the mixture and bake them until they are done and serve forth
(though many pies could be served cold, this does not specify to do so, nor does it mention if the pastry is to be covered or not so it may be an open/cover-less pie)

Darioles

15th century cookbook
Ab. 1420 A.D.

Darioles

—Take Wyne, an Freyssche broþe, & Clowes, & Maces, & Marwe, pouder Gyngere, Safroun, & lat al boyle to-gederys, & Creme, (ȝif it be clowty, draw it þorw a straynoure,) & ȝolkys of Eyroun, & melle hem to-gederys, & pore þe lycoure þat þe marwe was sothe in, þer-to; þen make fayre cofyns, & put þe Marwe þer-in, & mence Datis, & Strawberys in tyme of ȝere, & sette þe cofyns in þe ovenne, & lat hem hard a lytelle, & take hem out, & put þe lycoure þer-to, & lat bake; & serue forth. 

Modern English

Darioles
—Take wine, and fresh broth, and cloves and mace, and marrow, and powdered ginger, saffron, and let it all boil together, and cream (if it is clotted, draw it through a strainer) and eggs yolks, and mix them together, and pour the liquor (cooking liquid) that the marrow was soften in, thereto (into the mixture); then make fair coffins (pastry shells to close the contents within), and put the marrow there-in (in the pastry), and mince dates and strawberries in time of year and set the coffins in the oven and let them harden a little, and take them out and put the liquor (cooking liquid) into them and let them back and then serve them forth. 


steps:
—Combine in a pot: wine, broth, marrow, cloves, mace, powdered ginger and saffron and let this boil together until the marrow is soft.
—Remove the marrow from the liquid and set aside
—Combine: cream (fresh cream would not have to be strained) and egg yolks in a bowl, then pour the liquid the marrow was cooked in into this mixture. (not mentioned, but stir while combining)
—Make pastry shells and fill them with the marrow
—Mince dates, and strawberries (if you have them) and add them to your pies
—it does not mention to cover the pies, though "coffins" could denote that they are covered. In that (correction, I previously wrote:"this" but meant only in the case of a covered pastry) case, one would cover them now but to leave a hole in the centre-top of the pastry lid
However, they could certainly be made more in the modern sense and possibly be lidless which could stand to make sense, especially if made small like "chewets". The pastry should also be "fine" (a typical short paste made with butter would work well here) if we are to compare to other recipes of the era. The only measurement I could find was for depth, which stated 2 inches. 
-(update 2011)- I neglected to notice another recipe from "A Noble Bokr off Cookery" which states: "put it in the coffyn and bak it in the manner of flawnes", this could very well describe an open pastry. 
—Bake the pies and after the pies have hardened enough, take them out of the oven and pour in the cooking liquid (combined with the cream and eggs) and put them back into the oven to finish. 
-(one way of doing this would involve filling the formed pastry with flour while hardening it in the oven, then removing the flour and adding the ingredients, however with recipes like this, some of the ingredients were added and then the batter part of the recipe was added once the pastry was hardened)




note: 
(added 17/10/2011)
I mentioned that a modern short paste *could* work here, which is true, though to be free standing it would work better to be not too short. If you would like a more structured pastry, use at most half the amount of softened fat (butter is best) that you would normally use for a modern paste, add egg yolk (but not too much... 1 or 2) if you wish and use room temp to slightly warm water to make it into a formable pastry. It should not bee too soft, but should be malleable, often just beating down and working the pastry will cause this to happen. If too stiff add water after working, if too soft work in flour. A little sugar can also be added.