SC - Oogy gingerbread problem

[Karen O]

Steven Cowley wrote:
> 
> Well its off to the races for me.  Time for our baronial birthday feast
> and revel.  It also happens to be the investiture for a new baron and
> baroness.  You know the type...King and Queen, all of the baronial
> cousins, etc.
> 
> Historically, this has been a potluck event...no worries, just come, eat
> and enjoy.  And, oh by the way bring a period dish that feeds eight
> people.  Result, a potluck feast with quasi period food at best and fun
> was had by all ;-)
> 
> Well the new baron wanted a semi prepared feast (i.e. the barony
> provides the meat and the populace brings potluck side dishes).  "I
> signed up for this?  What was I thinking of?"  Well, cooking that much
> meat for that many people isn't a problem, a little bit of beef, poultry
> for those who don't eat red meat and wahlah...dinner is served.
> Everything will be cooked on site, the feast coordinator deals with the
> cleanup and I am left with a dozen dutch ovens to clean (no small task
> in and of itself, but no one touches my dutch ovens).
> 
> Now for the dilemma.  The new baron secured about 35 lbs. of venison (a
> donation from a brother-in-law) and all of a sudden its a three meat
> affair, venison, beef and peacock.  Now, I have eaten  venison a time or
> two, but I have never cooked it.  Is venison one of those meats that is
> better if cooked on the rare side like beef or the well done side like
> pork?  Hmm...I guess I could chop it up, throw it all together in a pot
> and make a stew <wicked smile>.
> 
> But seriously, any suggestions would be a big help.
> 
> Steffan of the Close

Being that venison is a game meat, you should avoid rare due to
the possibility of parasites.  We usually do our steaks and
roasts to medium... a bit of pink in the center is fine as long
as you don't have "bloody" juices. Because the meat is so lean,
"well done" is too dry.  

If by chance they've given you the tenderloin (it's a pair of
muscles about 8-10 inches long and about an inch and a half to
two inches in diameter, found on either side of the backbone
behind the kidneys when you butcher deer), slice it into scallops
and panfry with butter and a bit of garlic and black pepper...
This is the absolutely most tender cut of venison in existence.
:)  

If you are going to roast it, be sure to wrap the roasts in fatty
bacon because otherwise the meat will be too dry.  I'm not sure
if it's a period method, but I've found that braising the meat,
and cooking the liquid down to almost nothing, gets you very
tender, moist meat plus a great deglaze to make a sauce. I
usually put the meat on a warm platter and pour in a cup of apple
cider (I'm told wine works well too but I don't do alcohol),
dissolve the pan drippings, bring to a boil, and thicken with
seived breadcrumbs and finely ground almonds.  Season to taste
with salt and pepper. 

The latter is not taken from any specific period source. I did
the sauce based on some of the saucemaking techniques I've seen
mentioned on this list.  So it's more "peri-iod" rather than
period.

Bernadette
============================================================================

To be removed from the SCA-Cooks mailing list, please send a message to
Majordomo at Ansteorra.ORG with the message body of "unsubscribe SCA-Cooks".

============================================================================