Test feast

[msmemory_archive]

Test feast went well. Everything was edible -- though we identified a few tweaks to make. No psychodrama either, yay. I don't think learnedax really meant to have let himself get drafted into a full kitchen afternoon, but it was great to have his help.

Spot feedback:
Preset -- garlic needs to be kept more moist. Bake covered, probably, and likely more olive oil.

First course -- change the herbs on the carrots. Thyme and tarragon were not quite it. Oregano perhaps.
Chicken worked excellently well.
Ember day tart had too much onion, not unusual. I would put more egg/cheese and less onion, but tpau is in charge of those and I'll defer to her opinion.
Cook the frumenty just a tad longer, another 5-10 mins.

Second course -- the lamb was unevenly cooked, perhaps because I had to buy a shank roast with bone, instead of boneless, for the test feast. The people who like rare were happy, the people who like well done thought there should have been more well-done bits. Everybody liked the garlic-rosemary crust.
Mushroom tarts were just fine.
Sauces -- it would be hard to make too much garlic sauce. Eliminate the apple sauce, it's dull and modern.
Pea soup worked for those who like pea soup. Of course it would be better with a nice chunk of bacon, but we're trying for vegetarian.

Watch the timing. Because we were at home, with just one table, we got sloppy about the flow between courses.

Comments

[new-man.livejournal.com]

Were you expecting psychodrama?

Carrots -- dill? Always an herb I like on carrots.

Applesauce -- straight ahead applesauce isn't a bonus. Trader Joe's sells some interesting apple/other fruit sauces that might be a win, if you wanted to keep a fruit sauce.

Pea soup -- yes, it'd be better with bacon. You can get that "smoked" flavor through a judicious application of OOP chemicals (Hickory salt or SmokeMaster), or -- if you're not trying for vegan -- a little smoked cheese.

[elizabear.livejournal.com]

We're signed up on board for Z's first attempt at staying for feast. The menu looks yummy, and veg pea soup is appreciated.

Let me know if you guys need a Friday-day Costco shop or use of my extra fridge/freezer.

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

I'm with new_man on the dill and carrots. My charming daughter has decided that carrots sauted in EV olive oil, dill and cumin are the best thing in the world. The cumin comes from the Apicius recipe (and so does the olive oil) and dill is well known in period. Adding the pair is "plausibly period".)

If you pre-roast the garlic in too much oil, and save the oil, you can be very very very happy. :-) Too much oil might also resolve the dryness issue.

I have no period documentation for it, but plausiby period - my best pea soup is made not with onions, but with leeks. It is much better, by far. If you want some of the flavor of ham in the soup, you can use one of the Liquid Smoke variants. I have found they taste poisonous in pea soups unless used in microscopic quantities - aim to go very lightly and you should be fine. Thyme in the pea soup helps as well.

[mermaidlady]

Old Marian's pea soup recipe from the Menagier is really good and I'm not a fan of pea soup. I think it's the fried onions... What recipe are you using?

[tpau]

garlick may wnat tobe tinfoiled to get moremoist

carrots - oregano, OR dill. fresh dill possibly a bit of dill seed. we shoudlahve dill from the mushrooms leftover if we want.

ember day tart - hm. i thoughtit was ok, but i am strange. i think maybe 12oz rather then 16 of onion but i wouldn't raise the other thigns lowerignthe oonions wil lahve the smae effect.

frumenty wants a parsley o ntop of it for pretty.

pea soup - onions need to be fried mroe i believe.

that was too much plum sauce for ne table, i think half is good.

seemed to be about hte right amountof mushrooms and of green sauce. also of lamb. caue ther ewould have been less leftovers if i could eat mroe of it :)

abutthe right amount of chicken, but maybe more bread for sops?

too much butter for a table.

i think mushroom tart could have used more salt and meber daytart could have used mroe cinnamon...

lemonade definitly needs lemons floating in it

[dreda.livejournal.com]

Mmm...tasty!

I am reminded that Brasserie Jo does a really yummy herbal marinade on their raw carrots. Sadly, I will not be able to do a research trip to refresh my memory before the event, but if you'd like to, I recommend their lunch menu. Also their Croque Monsieur.

I wasn't thinking about presentation until I saw the beautifully presented lamb, and then I thought the frumenty looked a little...frumpy. Tasty, though. I think you're right, too - a boneless lamb will mean no one frets about carving.

I'm looking forward to eating it all again! (And so, so pleased that I feel like we can check this off our list and free up the brain space to worry about other things. ;)

[rising-moon.livejournal.com]

I'll echo dreda (big surprise) and report that the meal was delightful. Thank you for the delicious walk-through!

What was in the garlicky white sauce, again, besides the obvious? It was very tasty.

Also: I'm with the dill crowd. Carrots are one of the few places I enjoy it.

[tpau]

we shopuld also remember that the pea soup was twice hte amount needed per table

[gardenfey.livejournal.com]

I would put more egg/cheese and less onion

Or use a sweeter onion? I'm not sure what would be period, though.

I've recently made an interesting discovery that any beef product cooked with goat cheese comes out tasting like lamb.

[hfcougar.livejournal.com]

I liked the carrots as they were, but dill would make a fine replacement.

I actually thought the ember day tart was great as it was, and I usually hate ember day tart. So much that I almost didn't even try it.

I agree that the garlic was a little dry and the lamb was underdone (or unevenly done). I tend to prefer rare meat, and the inside slices were a bit much even for me. All of the non-applesauce sauces were great.

This may be the first SCA feast I've ever had where there was absolutely nothing on the menu that I didn't like.