[Sca-cooks] beef per gallon

[Lonnie D. Harvel]

Greetings and many thanks!

Your responses have been most helpful. From your input, and some 
changing information about the event, I have made some modifications to 
the plan (but not to the actual menu). The event is Castle Wars in 
Meridies on the weekend of 11/19.  One of the lead-up events, Chalice 
Challenge - the Consortium Championship Tourney was scheduled to happen 
on September 18th but was postponed due to Hurricane Ivan. So, they will 
be having it as a torch-lit tourney on the Friday night we are preparing 
the meal. So we will be fixing for far more people than originally 
planned. I have decided to increase (double, actually) the amount of 
beef in order to 1) keep the soup on the hearty side, and 2) make it 
easier to stretch the soup if necessary. There is also the Cabbage Soup, 
which I also find to be quite filling.  I will not know the final 
guestimate (based on reservations) until later this week. But currently, 
we are looking at around 175-200.

There is no kitchen at this site. I considered taking the opportunity to 
do some "real" medieval cooking, but as the numbers are growing and the 
picture is uncertain, I have decided on a more cautious course. I have 
enjoyed cooking over open fire in the past, but never done if for the 
masses!  Maybe next year...

For the Beef Soup, I am slow cooking the beef in advance with salt, 
black pepper, a touch of garlic, and a touch of cinnamon. (15 pounds so 
far). I then freeze it with its juice. The complete soup is made with 
onions, carrots, parsnip, beef stock and kasha.

The Cabbage soup should look familiar, at least to Cariadoc, for it is 
taken from his excellent Miscellany, after picking up a reference from 
Stefan's Florilegium. "Clean and cut up 3 medium-sized turnips, 3 
medium-sized carrots, and the  tender part of 1-2 leeks. Cook them 
gently for a few minutes in 1 generous  tablespoon butter, stirring 
constantly. Add 6 to 8 cups boiling water and  simmer slowly for about 
an hour, or until the vegetables are tender. Add 1  small cabbage, 
finely chopped, to the soup, together with 1-2 cloves garlic, finely 
chopped, and simmer for 30 minutes longer." The recipe calls for it to 
be mashed, but I plan to only partially mash it, since I like chunks.

The recipe for the Pickled mushrooms is also taken from those archives:

10 lbs small mushrooms
6 2/3 c red wine vinegar
10 small bay leaf
60 whole peppercorns
30 whole cloves
7  Tbs salt
10 Tbs vegetable oil
Clean mushrooms and remove stems. Put caps in a saucepan with lightly 
salted water to cover. Bring to a boil and simmer 5 minutes. Drain and 
cool. Spoon into a jar. Put vinegar, bay leaf, peppercorns, cloves, and 
salt in saucepan, and bring to boil. Pour over mushrooms. Spoon oil over 
them and cover jar tightly. Leave at least 3 days before serving. Remove 
from marinade to serve. Normally serves about 60, but we will offer it 
up as a taster, not as a real side dish.

I am still playing around with the recipe for the small spice cakes. 
Stefan just provided references to several more possibilities. I will 
have to decide soon, since it will take a while to back 200 or so. :)

Thanks again for all your advice. Any suggestions, ideas, or warning are 
still greatly appreciated!

In Service,
Aoghann.