SC - That Elizabethan Luncheon (LONG)

[THLRenata at aol.com]

As some of you might recall, I somehow got myself involved doing a supposedly
Elizabethan lunch for a non-SCA needlework group doing a blackwork project.
That lunch took place yesterday.

Firstly, I must thank all of you -- reading about the feasts you've shared
with the list helped me overcome the many disasters which befell me yesterday.

And a special thanks to Anne-Marie for helping me come up with a wonderful
Elizabethan menu.  Someday I hope to cook it, too, 'cause it ain't what
happened yesterday.  Here's the story:

It seemed like such a good idea...

Back in August when all this started, there were 15 or so involved, including
a well-known (in Caid) chef and kitchen master.  In the begining, he and I
were going to plan and cook the meal, with plenty of help AND a scullery crew
provided by the needlework group.

Well, life has this habit of getting in the way, doesn't it? I had to take
most of November, December and January off from the SCA due to a very sick
cat, a very sick father and then a reprise of the very sick cat.

While I was "away" other peoples' lives also got in the way of this project
and by the time I came back the group was down to 6 and I was head cook!

When I protested to the group organizer that I did not have the experience to
do this, having only worked on one feast prior to this, she (an ex-SCA duchess
with true talent for getting me into trouble) came back with "Nonsense! It's
only 25 people -- you served more than that at Thanksgiving. And you'll be in
complete charge -- just tell us what you want us to do!"

Valuable Lesson (VL) #1 -- When someone says you're in complete charge, don't
believe them.

OK, so with some misgivings I consult with Anne-Marie and come up with a menu.
And am then told that a) it's too much food and b) it's too "weird".

VL #2 -- period food belongs where it will be appreciated.

Soon the menu was whittled down to: Cornish Game Hens roasted with herbs,
Spinach Tarte (Rowen's recipe), Compound Sallet (from "To the Queen's Taste")
and jam tarts for dessert.

We did out shopping the night before (having scoped out the local Costco and
Smart 'n' Final in advance) and actually brought everything in for almost $80
under budget.

Did I mention that by this time there were 40 people to be fed?

Despite my repeated requests, we were unable to scope out the kitchen before
the day of the event.  The needlework group uses the site frequently (it was a
church kitchen, by the way) and described the facilities in glowing terms.
"Big" was used a lot, "3 ovens" was mentioned along with "lots of counter
space."  It was only that morning that I found out that, while the group used
the site a lot, no one had ever actually cooked there!  Their usual fare was
either fancy sandwiches or was brought in by caterers.

VL#3 -- *Always* check out the kitchen yourself. Beforehand if possible.

By this time there was only me in the kitchen, so I drafted the aforementioned
ex-duchess and put her in charge of the jam tarts. There were indeed three
ovens on site -- none of which had a pilot light lit.  So I had a rough and
ready course in how to light the pilot of a commercial oven.  No permanent
damage done...

Leaving my helper to her jam tarts (which she swore she had made before --
there's another VL in here someplace) I prepared the hens for roasting.  They
hadn't defrosted, of course, but I was expecting that  -- my helper was in
charge of that and ignore my suggestion that the hens be purchased 2 days in
advance or left out on the counter overnight.  A cold water bath soon fixed
that, then I cut each hen in half. Thank goodness for poultry shears, and
because I was working in cold water with partially frozen birds I never felt
the huge hole I wore thru the skin on one finger.  Until later, that is.

When the birds were seasoned, I evicted the tart shells from the ovens (did I
mention that 2 of the ovens only had one rack in them?) and put the hens in.
My brother-in-law (a professional chef) had told me that if the ovens were
true the hens would cook in an hour.  Since I didn't know the ovens
personally, I gave myself 2 hours.  And a good thing, too, since 2 of the
ovens were *not* true to temperature and none of them heated evenly.  So I had
to play some musical chicken there, but eventually all were cooked properly.

While the hens cooked, I chopped the ingredients for the salad, except for the
olives (I loath them, and one of my working conditions was that someone else
had to chop the nasty little things.) By this time the program of the day had
started -- we had 3 of our Laurels come in and talk about Elizabethan
clothing, including a "fashion show" where a lord and a lady were dressed from
the chemise out, with discussion of each piece of garb as it went on.

Then I got the spinach tartes ready to go into the ovens as soon as the hens
were done.

As the birds finished cooking, I gave them their final "sharpening" a generous
splash of lemon juice (verjuice or vinegar was deemed "too weird") and double
up the pans and put them in one of the ovens to stay warm, then put the pies
in. Due the uneven heating mentioned earlier, I had to play musical pies as
well, but they finally set, and lunch was served only 15 minutes behind
schedule.

While it was being eaten, my helper and I finished baking and filling the jam
tarts, which came out more like jam short cake. Oh well.

All of the dishes were extremely well received, especially the spinach tartes.
They want the recipe for their newsletter -- is that OK with you, Rowen?

After dessert was served and the kitchen crew got to sit down for a few
minutes and eat, we found out that the promised scullery crew had not
materialized.  Fortunately, my ex-duchess helper has another true talent --
kitchen cleaning (Huette knows who I'm talking about now;) ) so we started at
one end and 2 1/2 hours later were done.  Total time in the kitchen: 8 1/2
hours, including loading and unloading the car. 

Every single one of those needleworkers made a point of coming to the kitchen
afterwards to thank us.  I guess that's what makes it all worth while.

Renata (who is nursing a few burns, a huge blister and sore knee today, but
has otherwise had a pretty good weekend)
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