[Sca-cooks] Looking for pottage recipe

[Sue Clemenger]

Okay, gang. Since a number of you asked, I figured it'd be easier to
post to the whole list.
A few folk have asked for my pottage recipes/sources, so I'm including
them
here. I gleaned several related recipes from the Florilegium files.  I
am attributing
the original posters when I can.  My adaptation "soup for many" appears
at
the end of the post. Only the stuff after the heading "Maire's soup for
Many" is mine.

I've made my version (recipe at the end of the post) for 2 years
running, now,
for a soup kitchen at one of our larger local events.  It freezes
beautifully,
and reheats with minimal effort.  And there's never any left over! <g>
The original impetus was to provide a soup from period sources that folk
would find approachable, since there was a big brouhaha at the time
about
period vs. non-period vs. perioid food at events and such.


Robin gave a recipe and a redaction:

(This is from a 15th century English manuscript: Yale Beinecke MS 163)

Grewel enforsed

Take merybonys & fresch beef; make good gruell therof, than draw hem
throrow a streyner. Take fayre porke, tendur sodyn; peke out the
bonys & the senowys & do awey the skyn. Grynd hit smal yn a morter.
Temper hit up with the same gruell that ys drawyn; make hit smothe.
Let hit stond resonabely by the flesshe. Sesyn hit up with salt &
saferyn, than sette hym by the fyre. Lete hym boyle a lytyll, and
serve hym forthe.

Hieatt's redaction and comments are:

"Gruel" usually meant oatmeal, but it was sometimes made with barley,
an alternative which produces a pleasing variant of modern barley
broths.

In my adapted version, overleaf, I have included herbs as an optional
addition, since some other recipes suggest adding them.

Meat and Barley Soup

1 c. barley
1/2 lb. beef shin, 'cracked' by the butcher
2 c. cut-up cooked pork
generous pinch of saffron
1/2 tsp. salt

optional additions:
1 onion
2-3 TBS minced parsley
1/2 tsp. sage

Put the barley in a pan with the beef shin, onion (if used), saffron
and salt, cover with 6 cups of water and boil until the barley is very
soft (about an hour). Drain the barley, reserving the broth and the
bone. Cut any usable meat from the beef bone into pieces and put it
into a processor with the barley, pork chunks, and parsley and sage
(if used). Add a little of the broth and process into a fairly
smooth, thick "porridge". Stir this back into the rest of the broth.
If necessary to achieve the right consistency, add a little more
water. Check seasoning and serve hot.


And someone else (Derdiru?) posted several related recipes from Markham:

Subject: SC - Re:Soups with a grain in it

Ruadh asks for a soup with a grain in it. Adamantius points out that
Markham
has several. I just happened (for a change) to have some sources at work
for
research I am doing in the evening.

Here goes:

_Of Boiled Meats Ordinary_ (I am not going to quote the recipe, just the
ingredients)

Mutton or Beef, Water, Violet leaves, Endive, Succory, Strawberry
leaves,
Spiach, Langdebeef (anyone have any idea), marigold flowers (calendula,
not
French marigold), Scallions, Parsley, Oatmeal (half as much as there are
herbs),

_Pottage without the sight of herbs_

Same as above, but you chop the herbs and oatmeal and "with some of the
warm
liquor in the pot strain it as hard as may be"

_Pottage without herbs_

Use the meat, beaten oatmeal, and onions

_Pottage with whole herbs_

Mutton, veal, or kid; Oatmeal; Lettuce; Spinach; Endive; Succory; Leaves
of
Cauliflower (would this be instead of the white flower?); White cabbage
--
insides; Onions; Salt; Verjuice

******************************************************************************
"Maire's Soup for Many"

I wanted this soup to have a fall flavor (since it's a fall event), so
the
leafy greens and herbs I chose to use were more fall-related.  I also
chose to
use only beef, as mutton isn't easily available here, and we have a
number of
individuals who can't eat pork.  And to avoid any potential issues with
"weird textures," I did not strain, beat, or sieve the stuff, but left
it chunky.

5 lbs. beef suitable for stewing or soup
5 med. onions
A head of garlic (optional)
A bunch each, spinach, parsley, endive, kale, and 2 bunches scallions
A head of cabbage
2.5 c. barley or steel-cut oats (I used a 1-lb. bag of pearl barley)
LOTS of beef broth (either homemade or canned)
salt, pepper to taste
olive oil
verjuice (optional)

The onions and optional garlic are respectively chopped and minced.  I
stripped
the visible fat from the beef, and cut it into smaller-than-stew-sized
pieces (about
1/2 inch).  My mundane experience in making soup and stews just
*insisted*
that I brown them (and the beef), so I did so, using available olive
oil.
That step could sure be left out if you wanted to remain truer to the
originals.
The greens I rinsed, removed dead bits and wilted leaves from, and
chopped
into large shreds, except for the scallions, which I just chopped.
The center rib on the kale was really tough, so I stripped the leaf
parts
 off, and tossed the ribs.  Be aware, though...it turns out that I, at
least,
 have a couple of cats who are absolute kale fiends, and they made a
mess
out of the garbage, trying to get to the discarded kale bits.
After the beef and onions and garlic are browned (I usually do it
in smaller batches), I added enough beef broth to cover, and then let it
simmer for a while (maybe 30 mins.?).  I then added the chopped greens,
let
them cook down a bit, and added more broth (or water), and the barley.
Cook it till it's done...<g>....I cooked it over med/low until the
barley
and veggies were tender.  I added salt and pepper to my tastes, although
YMMV, of course.
As I was preparing it in advance, I cooled the pottage, double-bagged it
in half-gallon
zip-loc bags, and stuck them in the freezer.
Ta-da!

--Maire