[Sca-cooks] Steppes 12th Night is completed

[Terry Decker]

> To hear that the cherieseye was so popular surprises and amuses me.
> I was rather disappointed in the flavor and texture. The creme bastard
> was supposed to go over it but didn't thicken enough in time for the
> first course. That sucks because I tried it later with the creme and it
> was perfect! Plus the contrast of the burgandy red pudding and white
> sauce appealed to my artist's eye.
>

That would have been a nice mixture of color and flavor.  I'm sorry it 
didn't work out.

> The main reason I kept the thickness of the paste was because I
> didn't want to overload the diners with vinegar. I tasted the paste
> and it tasted right. I didn't want to add any more. (In case anyone
> wonders, it was about the thickness of warmed creamy peanut butter).
> I agree that I find the dish very interesting and agree that it could be
> great with fish!

The sauce could have been thinned with water (or sweet wine) if you wanted 
to avoid more vinegar, however the choice of consistency is yours.  I'm just 
pointing out that the consistency was not quite what I expected from the 
recipe.

>
> Something I was very unhappy with was that we had the chicken thighs
> beautifully roasted but then they were put into the steam table. By
> the time they were served they had become rather dry and mealy. I
> was totally disgusted with them. The breasts were okay, though.

My opinion is the breasts were a little dry, but that is fairly common with 
white meat and not really an issue.  Taste and texture of the chicken 
breasts were fairly normal and might have tasted moister with a thinner 
sauce.  It may be worth a little experimentation.

> Okay. This is very interesting. Because one of the dishes I was happy with
> was the stwd beef.  I felt the texture was perfect and loved the flavor.
> I think maybe it should have been a little sweeter but I was overall happy
> with that product. In fact, I just got through having dinner of that beef
> over couscous.

Our differences of opinion may be a matter of expectations and palates.

>
>>The benes yfryed were interesting, but nothing to write home about. If you 
>>like beans, you would enjoy them. If you don't, you won't. This dish was 
>>also the only visible error in recreating period recipes. Red kidney beans 
>>were used, placing a 16th Century vegetable into an early 15th Century 
>>recipe. Black-eyed peas or other Vignas such as yard-long beans would have 
>>been more authentic.
>
> The benes were another last minute addition. I was worried people might
> not have enough to eat so threw them in. I used the kidney beans because
> the recipe calls for favas or that ilk. Kidneys are easy to get, cheap and 
> not
> far off from favas. The other beans may be more authentic, although I
> would differ on that, but most folk would have hated them.
>
> I liked the flavor and texture of the beans. And was surprised at how 
> nicely
> they came out. But I didn't expect folk to rave over them and only put a
> couple of tablespoons on the plates. Those that like beans did tell me 
> they
> enjoyed them.

In terms of authenticity, the red kidney beans are New World and the 
black-eyed peas are Old World and have been referred to as "kidney beans" 
for a long time, since the recipe is early 15th Centuryand calls for either 
favas or kidney beans, some member of genus Vigna is the most likely 
candidate for the kidney bean in question.

The red kidney beans tend to be more accepted in color and flavor by the 
average diner and are generally less expensive than favas or black-eyed 
peas, so I do understand why you chose to use them.

Since beans tend to be eaten primarily by people who like beans, I'm certain 
you would have had equally good results with with either favas or black-eyed 
peas.

> It was deliberately browned on my part. Not completely following the
> recipe, which calls for just topping the cheese and butter with the
> hot pasta, I tossed them in a hot oven for five minutes or so to meld
> everything together.
>
> This dish was totally amazing and decadant. I feel guilty for even serving
> it, much less eating it.

Bah.  Forget the guilt.  Give me decadence any day.

>
>>This dish was close to the wastels yfarced in popularity.
>
> Yeah. Y'ever notice how often strict diets go out the window at feast?

Moderation is for monks.  Of course, I'm putting Margaret back on her diet 
now that the Holidays are over.  She dropped close to fifty pounds, then 
started putting on muscle and losing some inches.  Now we will try to take 
off another 30 to 50 pounds to get her down close to the weight the doctors 
want.  As for me, I need to drop about 25 pounds to get back to the weight I 
maintained for about 25 years.

>
>>The pork loin (cormarye) was tasty, but a little dry, either from being 
>>slightly overcooked or being held too long. I wonder if one of the ovens 
>>may not have been running 50 degrees F above its set temperature.
>
> Again, differing opinion on that one. I recieve many compliments on the
> texture of the pork. Personally I would have preferred it to be a bit
> rarer, but this was cooked with the mindset of the average non-foodie
> person who feels that pork even close to pink is death. Some bits may
> have been dry but not the pieces I tried. It did hover on the edge of
> dryness so you may have just gotten some of the unlucky pieces. Hell,
> even my extremely picky squire who refuses to eat any pork product
> took home some extra.

Judging from the texture, the slices of tenderloin I had reached an internal 
temperature of around 190 degrees F.  I prefer an internal temperature of 
160 to 170 degrees, thoroughly cooked, but still moist.

> Another thing I was very worried about. I kept stressing that people would
> see just the bits and pieces and feel slighted. But nobody seemed to 
> mention
> any lack or disappointment. And I'm really sad that they could have been 
> much
> bigger judging from the surprising amount of food left over after the 
> service.
> And, even with the smallish portions, with all the dishes per course the 
> plates
> seemed pretty full when I got a chance to oversee the service.
>
>
> Gunthar

You served 10 dishes averaging 4 ounces each.  That is 2 1/2 pounds of food 
per person.  The three meat dishes provided around 1/2 pound of meat and the 
wastels and the mac and cheese provided great filler with some people 
chasing down extra servings.  You shouldn't have stressed at all.  Portion 
control might have been better, but I didn't hear anyone complain about a 
lack of food.

One thing that may have helped was the early start on the feast (about 5 
pm).  If I had realized the feast was going to be that early, I would have 
had less to eat at lunch.

Bear