SC - Horror tales and happy endings

[Kiriel & Chris]

My horror tales for this week both have happy endings.  

The first is of a recent event.  It was a mundane wedding followed by a
'medieval feast'.  The feast was being run as a potluck, and was
attended by a mix of SCA and non-sca folks.  180 people had rsvp'd to
say that they were coming, and most of those brought a dish as they had
been asked to.  

The 145 people who turned up who had not rsvp'd did not bring a dish. 
So we had food for 200 and more than 300 to feed.  The poor feast
steward had a broken toe and was not supposed to be on her feet. She and
I ended up having a lovely if somewhat panic stricken time in the
kitchen together.  I wish I could remember her sca name, I think her
mundane name is Olive.  We had another helper who was brilliant. She
just washed dishes for about 9 hours solid.  

Oonagh O'Neill was the feast autocrat, and she ended up going out and
buying multiple bbq chickens and frozen vegies which we cooked up.  The
whole thing was a logistical nightmare, with an overcrowded hall filled
with hungry people. 

In the end it all seemed to work out somehow, and everyone had a great
time, myself included. I worked and worked and worked, and had the best
fun.  (though I felt most guilty about leaving before the cleaning was
completely finished, but I had other people to transport the 3/4 hour
drive home). 

The second horror story is a more personal, and even more recent one. 
On the weekend just past, we held 'knightschool' here in
Politarchopolis.  It was a huge success all around, and included an open
peers circle, much fighting and collegia and one of the best feasts I
have ever eaten. 

So where is the horror/happy ending story?  It is my own.  I was asked
to assist with the food at the event, mainly in the form of advice. 
However, beyond that advice, I was asked to cook two dishes.  The first
was Bezelye (sp?) a split pea soup - I think that the recipe might be
Cariadocs..

The second was not, as far as I know, a period dish - scotch eggs. Most
people probably know what these are, but just in case, scotch eggs are a
boiled egg wrapped in mince and cooked (traditionally crumbed and fried,
but I can't bear to fry things so I baked mine). These were to go in
lunch bags for the Saturday lunch.  Period or not, they are great for a
high protein lunch for fighters, and were what I was requested to cook. 
I had never made them before, so it was a bit of new fun for me to make
150 of them.  The autocrat had asked that I try to make them 'eastern'
in some fashion, so I did some test cooking with various different herb
and spice combinations, and took them to work for my workmates to taste
test.  Having figured out what spices I should use, over three nights I
made 160 scotch eggs. 

I read up my book on freezing food, and it said that it did not
recommend that you freeze boiled eggs for extended periods as they can
go rubbery. I figured that a couple of days was not a long period so
they should be fine. 

The Saturday morning came.  I had moved the scotch eggs to the fridge on
Friday night so they could thaw safely.  I packed the scotch eggs up and
went to the event at 9.30am.  Unfortunately the eggs were still frozen
and were to be served that day, so I ended up heading home to thaw them
out in the microwave and oven. 

By 10.55 the first defrosted scotch eggs came out of the microwave.  I
decided that I needed to check that they were thawed all the way through
so cut one in half. 

- - At this point let me share something with you.  NEVER EVER EVER EVER
EVER EVER EVER FREEZE BOILED EGGS.  They go really weird.  The white had
separated into concentric circles and the texture was just bizarre. 
They were probably edible, but I would not have fed them to my worst
enemy. 

So, here I am at 11am with 160 inedible scotch eggs.  First thought;
better ring the feast steward and tell her that the main dish of lunch
today is stuffed.  
Second thought; no way was I going to do that - I am too young to die. 
Third thought; what the hell do I do with them?????  I decided that I
should remove the eggs from them all.  So I did.  Great, I now have 160
hollow 'eastern' scotch eggs.  They look very silly.  

It occurs to me that I could stuff them with something else...  Now not
more eggs, I sure didn't have the time to reboil and peel 160 eggs!
Ahah, I know, I shall stuff rice into them.  But how do I keep the rice
from just coming out?  I know, I shall put something sticky in the rice. 

I ended up flying down to the local shops.  Bought three packets of
frozen rice (now I realise there is a use for that stuff!) and 3 jars of
chutney.  When I got home I cooked up the rice in the microwave (still
defrosting and de-egging from the oven).  I added some chopped dried
apricots and plumped up sultanas to the mix, along with the chutney, and
started stuffing.  

I got about 40 done, and then had to go.  Took the rice and hollow mince
with me.  Arrived at the event. Stepped out of the car to hear "Ah and
now that Mistress Kiriel has arrived, we have a pelican as well;
Mistress Kiriel, please come and tell us all who you are, how long you
have been in the sca and why you like it." Que???  So I gave an
impromptu 5 minute talk on the above and raced to the table.  We set up
a bit of an assembly line, I stuffed, another wrapped in wax paper, and
another put them in bags.  

The bags were completed and ready to eat at 12.15.   The not scotch-eggs
were really popular and were inhaled by the hungry fighters.  They
actually tasted really good; the chutney in the rice stuffing
complemented the curry flavour throughout the meat.  Much to my surprise
I received quite a few compliments about them, and my friend Mistress
Francesca said (after I had explained the whole sordid tale) that I
should make them this way deliberately next time!

Phew... 

Not an experience I would care to repeat, but one that taught me a
valuable lesson; don't believe everything you read, and test every step
of your recipe including freezing!

Thanks to Kurgan and Ewa for a fabulous event!

Mistress Kiriel du Papillon, OP
Lochac
West
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