Forgotten Feasts

A Feast A Day! Pelt Political Satirists With Flowers!

On this day in 1703, English author Daniel Defoe (Robinson Crusoe) is placed in a pillory for the crime of seditious libel after publishing a politically satirical pamphlet called "The Shortest Way with the Dissenters". Though doubted by scholars, the story goes that Defoe was not pelted with the usual refuse reserved for the occasion but was instead pelted with flowers.The rabble also apparently drank to his health.

So here's to political satirists, let us pelt them with flowers:

Menu:

To be served with Elderflower Water & Flowers Ale

Battered squash blossoms stuffed with farmer's cheese, roasted garlic and herbs

Salad of pansies and marigolds on dandelion greens with Nasturtium vinagrette

Yarrow Soup

Dredged halibut with courgette flowers and pea blossoms in white wine, lemon and orange flower sauce

Breast of pheasant with lavendar and thyme

Roasted leg of boar with rye, onion and sausage stuffing with rose hips

Violet Meringues

Anise, Hyssop Flower Custard with Black Pansy Syrup

A Feast a Day! Open a window!

Happy Defenestration Day!
This feast commemorates the day in 1419 Prague when several Hussite protesters threw the rules out the window, along with the judge, the burgomeister and several members of the city council.

Also, Today is also Emily Brontë's birthday (No, she wrote Wuthering Heights.)
So open a window in her honor! Just don't throw yourself out of it.

Defenestration Day Menu:

To be served with copious amounts of czech beer

Camembert marinated in fresh herbs with grilled peppers and garlic

Mushroom soup with sour cream and a sprig of dill and served in a bread pan
(Shredded cucumber with pickling spices instead of cooked mushrooms for a cold summer version)

Golden-roasted leg of duck sprinkled with fried shallot and bacon with mixed dumplings and stewed cabbage

King prawns sautéed in garlic,wine & basil

Spicy knuckle of pork on bone slow roasted in dark beer with mustard and horseradish
(Which is better than it sounds)

Cream curd cake (which is also better than it sounds. May substitute NY cheesecake.)

So what about Emily?
Original Gothic Romance Chick Menu:

Start with Claret and Elderberry wine

Harrogate Water

Leek and Watercress Soup

Humber Haddock (haddock with tomoto & mushrooms)

Pork roasted in a geranium and herb glaze

Smoked venison with redcurrants

Yorkshire sack pudding or mint pastys

Prosciutto Wrapped Mission Figs with Boucheron and Organic Balsamic Vinegar... en croute

Prosciutto Wrapped Mission Figs with Boucheron and Organic Balsamic Vinegar... en croute
AKA
The Holy Hand Grenade

You'll need:

A baguette of really awesomely crusty french bread (crunchy crust, chewy inside. We get ours from La Brea Bakery.)

A dozen medium sized mission figs (If you accidentally get the jumbos, you'll have to cut them in half)

8 ounces or so of boucheron or plain old misc. goat cheese

1/4 lb. of thinly sliced prosciutto di Parma

A good bottle of organic aged balsamic vinegar or other artisan balsamic

A bottle of good olive oil , I try for first cold pressed, extra virgin and unfiltered if I can get my hands on it.

Pre-heat to 425 degrees. Wash your figs, taking care not to skin them, and pat dry. Set aside. Line a baking sheet with foil and hit it with a drizzle of olive oil. Cut 12 half inch rounds from your awesomely crusty baguette and place on the baking sheet. Hit the rounds with a light drizzling of olive oil and very sparingly drizzle lightly a little balsamic. You'll be doing this again so don't go crazy.

Take your boucheron and carefully cut off the edible rind (Enjoy it with the remaining baguette!) and cut 12 rounds or open your package of miscellaneous goat cheese and cut 12 rounds. Place on the pieces of baguette in the pan and give it an incredibly light drizzling of the balsamic.

Take your prosciutto and give each of your little figs a little schmata.Wrap a piece of prosciutto around each of the figs. Place on top of the goat cheese. Repeat incremental drizzling of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Pop the baking sheet in the oven for 8-10 minutes or until the prosciutto starts to brown. Serve immediately!

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 10 minutes

Not Too Bad!

I unsealed some Christmas punch and it was pretty good! Not as much kick as it had in December but not too bad.

Starting Now I am so laughably behind.

It's July 28th which means that I am exactly 4 days behind in the making my Christmas punch.

The Christmas punch we have is a bit of a take-off from the Dickensian version, combining it with other traditional recipes.

We have some from last year and if kept in the right conditions it theoretically could be used as a base for the new batch. However, the batch from last year doesn't have any fruit juice in it. We mixed that in at the last second. It turned out to be pretty awesome but we made too much. Did I mention that I make a lot of mistakes? So what I really have now is a combo of eau de vie, fortified wine, citrus peel and spices. Essentially I've got an inadvertent half recipe for 4 gallons of homemade vermouth. I guess I'll be making vermouth now.

This Blog

I'm starting to blog because I'm obsessed with old school cooking. Not "rice-a-roni and banquet chicken like your mom used to make" old school but old school like your great great grandma who knew to ask the butcher for fresh leaf lard because she knew it made the best pie crust. That old school. Old school like you read about.

That's actually been part of our problem. My husband and I buy a lot of books. So we eat and we read... and we read about eating. It's a dangerous combo. Oh, and we also cook a Victorian (or earlier) Xmas every year for 50-75 people in our tiny apartment with a vintage 30's stove. Some people refer to it as "Medieval Madness" or "Goosemas" or "Meastfest" or "Kwanzaa". It's become a bit of a to-do over the last 10 years, so I'll be using this blog to chart how laughably behind I am in my preparations. Starting now.