[Sca-cooks] Anything going on ?

[Laura Minnick]

Well, I've been working on this for nearly five years now.

Doing a lot of grains and pulses. I don't care for favas (they give me 
incredible headaches), but black-eyed peas and lentils are available, as 
are peas. Boiled wheat in a variety of liquids, and at Egils I tried out 
farro (cooked it with broth, then tossed it in with some veggies I 
sauteed, and added a dash of vinegar for piquancy). I occasionally cook 
brown rice in broth and add bits of meat- great way to use leftovers. 
Lentils are a favorite too.

Veggies I've been working to keep seasonal. I've added all sort of 
garden herbs and odd greens to our salad (not arugula- it tastes like 
Death to me) I've sauteed fennel, parsnips, and carrots together, which 
was fantastic, and I have cooked chicken with fennel- less savory than 
sweet, and surprisingly good. Cabbage and onions are good with a little 
caraway, but I found that pretty much no one in our camp will eat 
brussels sprouts but me. But everyone loves it when I sautee mustard 
greens with a bit of garlic and a little cumin! (It was unhappy 
throughout our camp when I caught my sleeve and dropped the greens at 
Sport of Kings last year.) No one likes boiled greens, except when I put 
them in black-eyed peas, with a bit of salt pork or some smoked chicken. 
Then the pot is licked clean.

Made chicken with carmelized onions (and some wine, black pepper, some 
saffron, ginger, and a bit of grains of paradise), sausage with apple 
and onion and cider (a big fave!), the chicken and fennel, and chicken 
with plums and a little bit of vinegar. (It might have been verjus, I 
forget.) If James is not there I'll roast some pork (he does not eat 
pork.) Or I'll do a beef roast, in honor of the Great Charles. :-)

Dessert has been apple or pear tart- a layer of chevre on the crust, the 
fruit- which is slightly stewed with a little honey, ginger, and grains 
of paradise- above (arranged pretty if I'm not in a hurry), drizzled 
with a little more honey, and baked. No leftovers. A camp favorite is a 
strawberry tart- strawberries pushed through a strainer or colander, a 
couple of eggs, a dash of breadcrumbs, a little bit of sugar if the 
berries are tart. (It's called Barbie tart because it is that ghastly 
Mattel pink when you cut into it.) And the current fave is a 'cheesy 
goo', made of farmer's cheese or ricotta (made my own in camp this year- 
faboo!), a little sugar, and a generous amount of rosewater. Then we eat 
it with wafers or shortbread or fruit, or spoons if we run out of fruit. 
(I caught Amalric using a finger in it once and had to smack him like a 
little boy. :-) ) And chevre spooned into quartered figs, drizzled with 
a little of the fig vinegar I had, or balsamic, is amazing!

Breakfast is ordinary bacon or sausage and eggs, or multi-grain cereal 
with dried fruit in it, or French toast. If there's any cheesy goo left 
from the night before (Ha!), it is really good on the French toast. And 
REALLY good if the toast and cheese are drizzled with rose syrup. I 
tried offering sliced melon, but to one was interested, and I'm 
allergic, so I won't bother next year. There's always other fruit out.

Lunch is basically "There's a variety of meats and cheese in the small 
cooler, mustard and lettuce in the big cooler, and a couple of kinds of 
bread under the serving table. Dried fruit and nuts are on the table. 
Have at it." Have to let people get their own because they come in from 
classes or the field at random times, and I'm usually busy with prep for 
dinner.

No fancy drink as yet, but there's always wine, beer, or cider. And water.

This year at Egils I fed nine in camp, and I think 15 for the Saturday 
feast.

Questions?


On 8/30/2016 11:38 PM, David Friedman wrote:
> Yes. Thanks. I hope you'll let all of us know what you end up doing 
> and how it turns out.
>
>
> On 8/30/16 5:53 PM, Laura Minnick wrote:
>> Ah! Yes, there's Anthimus. He's 6th c. And then there's a huge gap, 
>> until you start getting the Anglo-Norman books, etc.
>>
>> So I've had to improvise. ...
>> ---
>> Does that answer your question, Your Grace?
>>
>> Liutgard
>>
>>
>> On 8/28/2016 9:52 AM, David Friedman wrote:
>>> Tell us about "Frankish stuff." The only source that occurs to me is 
>>> Anthimus.
>>>


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