SC - Re: sca-cooks V1 #423

[L Herr-Gelatt and J R Gelatt]

>L Herr-Gelatt and J R Gelatt wrote, vaguely in connection with standing
>pottages and mortrews, I think:
>
>> Well, they both make me want to spew. And Ragnar, that Brotchan Foltchep we
>> made last Sunday was a waste of good leeks. And me an Irishwoman, too. At
>> leat now I know why I hated it----it's a race memory of day-old mortrews!
>
>I respectfully submit that if cream of leek soup, slightly thickened
>with oatmeal, has anything in common with mortrews, I suggest that the
>redaction of either or both needs to be re-evaluated. Or are oats being
>classified as a legume, thereby invoking the Ancient Prejudice of Aoife?
>

Well, I suppose we must have done something wrong then. The recipe used 2
ozs. oatmeal, 1 pint of milk, and 1 lb. leeks. It stood like cold gelled
oatmeal and was very bitter. Do you have a recipe that's period? I vaguely
remember you discussing this a while ago, which is what made me go looking
for the recipe in the first place. You see, I do listen. If I had to
re-invent this dish I'd use meat broth and cream, would saute the leeks in
butter, then puree them, and I would add copious amounts of salt and
pepper....white pepper. I would use less oatmeal and I think it need
something else savory in it. Is that what it's *supposed* to be like? In my
own defense, I didn't actually make this dish, but the fella who did is a
durned good cook. I did supply the suspect recipe, though.

>>The corned beef,  cabbage with boiled bacon (no tatties), however, worked
>> like a charm. Devoured instantly by the ravening hordes. Even the ones who
>> "don't like corned beef". 
>
>Yon men who don't like corned beef have a lean and hungry look; such men
>are dangerous. Just out of curiosity, what were you using for bacon?
>

My mum has a best friend whose sister is a British Butcher, relocated to
York County, PA, and now retired. She used to have a shop in the Camp Hill
Farmer's market, though, and still serves her favorite customers from home.
Luckily, Mum is one of them. I'll get some real green bacon, unsliced if we
do the dish at Investiture. This time we used the leanest el-cheapo bacon we
could find, and it worked out fairly well. We threw in some carrots and
onions for the hell of it.

Aoife

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