SC - Gunther's Laurel's Vigil Feast

[LHG, JRG]

Gunther wrote:
>Okay, we need nice cooking conversation so here's one.

>Evil List Administrator hat <off>
>Student of Period Cookery hat <on>

>I have been asked to cater a buffet for a friend's vigil in a few weeks.
>Since most of his ceremony (Laurel) will be as close to his personna as
>possible I would like to make the foods fit as well. 

>He's Elizabethan English.

>So here is what I'm thinking of so far:

>Potted Venison
>Beef Pudding in Cabbage leaves
>Roasted hens with sauces 
>Pear tart
>Plum tart
>Shropshire cakes
>assorted cheeses and fruits
>Cuskynoles (mainly because he and his lady helped me make so many
	    for my 12th Night Feast and then I never served them.)
>Breads
>Maybe homemade butter

>I may do a small mead or root beer but I'm not sure if I'll be that
>ambitious.

>What I'm looking to make are finger-type foods that people can nibble on
>without much fuss while waiting for their audience.

>Some other considerations: This vigil will be done on Saturday at a rather
>largish event. This site has NO facilities, maybe a couple of water 
>spigots but nothing else. I'm the current Champion of this group and this
>is their 20th Anniversary so I will have some small duties that day and
>evening.

Gunther, I found a recipe that sounds pip-on, from hugh Plat's delights for
ladies. i did something similar to this for an ice Dragon competition once
and won:
To preserve Orenges after the Portugall Fashion

Take Orenges and core them on the side and lay them in water. The boile
them in faire water till they bee tender, shift them in the boiling water
to take away their bitternesse. Then take sugar & boile it to the height of
sirup as much as will cover them. And so put your Orenges into it, and that
will make them take sugar. If you have 24 orenges, beate 8 of them till
they come to paste, with a pounde of fine Sugar, then fill every one of the
other Orenges with the same. And so boile them againe in your sirup: then
there will bee marmelade of Orenges within your Orenges, and it will cut
like an hard egge.

I served mine with the flaky pastry and almond butter from Huswife's Jewel,
and it was quite refreshing and yummy, and the oranges look so nice in a
fancy dish,  whole, glistening with the syrup. They are sliced into 1/4 to
1/2 inch slices, laid upon the flaky pastry rounds, and dolloped with
almond butter when I do this sort of thing. Serve immediately, or set out
an example or two on a tray and then let folks help themselves. If you have
leftover syrup it is good mixed with water.

If you are feeling very naughty, you could use tangerines, which mimic
period sized fruit and are a little closer, in my mind, to the oranges that
would have been available, with their thin skins. They would be less
bitter, tho.

The nice thing is that this will "can" well (tupperware or a covered
ceramic crock in the fridge will also do the trick for about 2 weeks), the
almond butter can be made a few days ahead and the flaky pastry made ahead
and slipped into zip-locks for the freezer. They (pastry) come out nicely,
and can be dried quickly in the oven if there is a need, but I have never
had a need to do so.

Other notes: The potted Venison would be good with some sippets or tostes
or rusks to eat with it (or the crunchy sort of oatcakes), for textural
contrast. Darn.  Now I'm hungry ;^D.

HTH

Aoife




(singing) I'm just a boy who can't say no...

Comments? Ideas? 

Yers,

Gunthar
(Evil List Administrator)

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