SC - Frumenty for the Masses, revisited

[Anne-Marie Rousseau]

Hi all from Anne-Marie
Kat asks about preparing large amounts of frumenty.

We did it for 150 with great ease. We did the English meat day version,
substituting barley for the wheat (I can provide documentation and
justification on request). We were going to serve it at an outdoor event,
and would ahve very limited facilities. I was desperately afraid that it
would burn or scorch or turn out as a gloppy grey mess.

What we did was two days before the event, cook the barley in the broth and
milk with the saffron. When the barley was perfectly done, we stirred in
the raw beaten egg yolks. We then sealed the slimey mess in boil in the bag
seal-a-meals (NOT ZIPLOCKS!!!). The bags were then stored in coolers with
ice until they were ready to be served.

Right before mealtime on site, we heated up large kettles of water using
monster propane cookstoves, like you get at Costco up here. The bags of
frumenty were dropped in the boiling water bath. The raw egg cooked as the
stuff heated up. You could tell they were done because the cold solid mass
of barley became soft and pliable within the bag. The bags were removed
from the boiling water bath, cut open, and the frumenty dumped into a large
serving dish.

Tadaaaa! no burning, no scorching, no gloppy grey mess. And most tasty with
a big scoopful of Funges (stewed mushrooms and leeks with spices) on top.
Yum yum yum!

Good luck!
- --Anne-Marie

- ----------
> From: kat <kat at kagan.com>
> To: 'cooks' <sca-cooks at Ansteorra.ORG>
> Subject: SC - Frumenty for the Masses, revisited
> Date: Friday, February 27, 1998 10:35 AM
> 
> Folks,
> 
> 	Just finished rereading an old thread (digests #175-180, for those who
are interested) on making frumenty in amazingly large batches. 
Unfortunately, the question I was looking for an answer to was not touched
on then.
> 
> 	So here goes:  How does the reheating process affect frumenty in large
batches?  If you make it along these proportions:  1 c barley, 2 c stock, 1
c almond milk, cook for XX minutes (I'm doing this from memory, please
forgive), stir in beaten egg slowly to achieve creaminess and not scrambled
eggs; are there any tips to reheating it for feast in large batches?  Can
you in fact *freeze* it and reheat it for feast, or is that unadvisable?
> 
> 	Also, advised methods of reheating (boil-in-bag?  Microwave? Etc.?)
> 
> 	(Yes, I'm planning on testing this out myself too in a small batch, but
I'm running short on time, and I'm also keeping in mind that what works for
small batches does NOT always work for large batches, especially when
you're dealing with grain.)  
> 
> 	Anyone want to enlighten me with their experiences?
> 
> 	Thanks much!
> 
> 		- kat
> 
> p.s.  The reason I'm considering making it beforehand and reheating is
that I'm faced with cooking a 3-course feast for 140 in a site that has ONE
oven and ONE **four-burner** Wolf stove.  <cringe>
> 
> 
>
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