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Mr. Green's 18th Century Main Courses |
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Chicken on a String |
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String roasted chicken never fails to fascinate visitors. I think it's more difficult to do with a set of camp fire irons than in a house with a lug pole over the hearth, myself, simply b/c you have to give the chicken a shove more often to keep it winding. But, it can be done. First, catch, kill, and clean your bird. Or purchase one of Mr. Purdue's. Fasten the neck and vent openings of the bird shut using a few thorn apple spines, or splints of wood. Be certain to remove these before serving. Rub bird w/salt, pepper, and spice of your choosing. Using two dowels that have been sharpened at either end, or two nicely peeled pieces of green maple, apple, or cherry wood, similarly sharpened, skewer one through the wings and upper body of the bird (making sure to go between the double bones on the wings for structural support while cooking), and the other through the thighs and rear body of the bird. I like to roast the bird about a foot to a foot and a quarter away from the fire. Measure your string by looping it over your support, whether it's a crane, camp fire iron, or lug pole. You want the bird to hang about six inches to a foot off the hearth, depending on the height of your fire and whether or not you're using andirons. Tie loops on the ends of the strings just big enough to push the dowel through. Pull on them to make sure your knot will hold BEFORE putting the skewered bird over the fire! Saves embarrassment! I prefer to roast the leg end of the bird first, then switch to the breast- so hang it by its wings dowel first. This allows all the juices from the leg end to sink into the breast as it cooks, keeping it moister. Now comes the fun part. Give birdie a gentle spin- the string will coil up, then uncoil itself and re-coil. Just like when you were a kid and spun yourself around in a swing. When it stops spinning, push it again. When the leg end is pretty well cooked, carefully hold the bird by one end of the legs stick and, one by one, move two loops of the string to the leg sticks, then re-hang the bird. Complete cooking the bird with the breast hanging down to soak the juices into the breast. This is very tricky- it's nice if you have another person to hold a plate under the bird while you are transferring the loops on the string. It's easy to drop the bird, when you're dealing with hot sticks, hot bird, grease, etc. etc.! When the juices run clear on both ends, you're done. Usually it takes me about two and a half hours or so for a fryer size bird. I also like to "sear" it first by doing it fairly close to the heat, then moving it slightly further away to complete roasting.
You can do any poultry this way, but it takes almost all day to do a turkey. I find that if I bring in a bird from home to do, and start the process about three hours before closing, the bird is nicely roasted and ready to go home for supper at the end of the day! A chunk of venison, pork, or beef can also be done this way, but truss it well with string before skewering.
Posted by Jane Oakes |
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Roast Loin of Venison with Savory Wine Sauce |
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1 c Olive oil
1/2 c Carrot; finely chopped
1/2 c Celery; finely chopped
1/2 c Onion; finely chopped
4 cl Garlic; minced
2 Sprigs fresh thyme
2 Bay leaves
3 lb Loin of venison, with bone
2 tb Clarified butter
Salt to taste
Fresh ground black pepper |
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Savory Wine Sauce:
3 c Beef stock
2 tb Butter
Reserved venison bones
1/4 c Minced shallots
1 cl Garlic; minced
1 Sprig thyme
2 Tomatoes; coarsely chopped
3 tb Sherry wine vinegar
1/4 c Port
2 tb Red currant jelly
Salt to taste
Fresh ground black pepper |
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Make a marinade of the first 7 ingredients. Bone the loin; trim and discard fat and sinew. With a cleaver chop the bone into 1" pieces and reserve for the sauce. Slice loin against the grain into 6 pieces. Arrange in a single layer in a casserole dish. Pour over the marinade, cover and refrigerate 24 hours. Meanwhile prepare the sauce. Bring stock to a boil, reduce heat and cook uncovered until volume reduced by 1/2. Set aside. Melt butter in a large, heavy saucepan over high heat. Add bones; brown quickly, stirring often. Add shallots, garlic and thyme, cooking until soft and lightly colored. Add tomato; cook several more minutes. Add wines and vinegar, bring to a boil and reduce by half. Add stock and currant jelly. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 1 hour, skimming as necessary. Remove from heat, strain and return to clean pan. Salt and pepper. Refrigerate until needed and reheat before serving. To cook the venison, remove from marinade, pat dry, and season with salt and pepper. Saute in clarified butter, searing all sides quickly. Transfer pan to preheated 400 deg oven for 5-7 minutes until medium rare. Slice each piece against the grain into 3-4 pieces and serve with the reheated sauce.
From the L'Ordre de Bon temps menu in Northern Bounty, A Celebration
of Canadian Cuisine. Posted by Jim Weller. |
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Venison Stew |
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3 tablespoons bacon fat
1 medium onion minced
2 pounds venison cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 cups boiling hot beef stock or water
1 1/2 cups red wine (make it a decent wine!)
2 teaspoons finely minced fresh ginger or 1 teaspoon powdered ginger
1 tablespoon (or more) vinegar
1/2 cup currants
salt
1/2 cup bread crumbs (optional) |
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Melt bacon fat in large saucepan. Saute onion in fat untill transparent. Dredge venison cubes in flour. Brown cubes in skillet, combine with onions. Combine water or stock, wine, ginger, vinegar, currents, and salt to taste. Stir to blend. Pour liquid over meat. Cover and simmer about 2 1/2 hours or until meat is tender. Add bread crumbs to thicken if desired.
Adapted from a 14th century cookbook of Richard II. Posted by Kevin Richard-Morrow. |
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Venison Sausage |
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1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup mustard seed
1/8 cup garlic powder
1 cup salt
1/8 cup black pepper
12 pounds pork, cubed
6 pounds venison, cubed
15 feet pork sausage casing |
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In a large metal bowl, mix sugar, mustard seed, garlic, salt, and pepper with pork and venison. When ingredients are well mixed, grind the meat mixture in a meat grinder. Put the ground meat into a mechanical sausage stuffer. Be sure to push all of the air out of stuffer so there are no air pockets in the sausages. Fill pork casing with ground meat. When casing is filled entirely, find the center of the sausage and fold and pinch in 1/2 on a table. Pinch and twist into sausage links 2 at a time, pulling the "leg" of the sausage through the center each time a twist is made.
Hang sausage in a smoke house or put sausage in a smoker for approximately 8 to 12 hours. |
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Onion Pie |
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This makes a 5 or 6 inch pie. Double to get an 8 inch pie (a normal size). This is sort of like a quiche, but mainly onions, with only enough egg to hold the filling together.
Fry 1/4 pound bacon. Crumble.
Slice thinly 4 medium onions. Saute in bacon grease until browned.
Put onions and bacon into the pie shell. (I sometimes bake the bottom crust empty first)
Beat together 1 egg and 1/2 cup cream.
Season with sage and black pepper, to taste.
Pour egg mixture into pie shell. Cover with top crust.
Bake at 350 degrees till done, and top is nicely browned. I never remember to time anything, but I guess it will be 20 or 30 minutes.
A variation of the recipes from Tidings from the 18th Century and Feeding the Frontier Army posted by Reb Manthey. |
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Potatoes and Wild Mushrooms Boulanger |
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1/3 c Unsalted butter
2 c Onions; sliced
Salt to taste
Fresh ground black pepper
2 tb Dried Porcini mushrooms
1 c Mushrooms; sliced
3 lg Potatoes; peeled and thinly sliced
2 c Chicken stock |
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Soak the dried mushrooms in water till soft, drain and squeeze them dry. Set aside. Cook sliced onion, sprinkled lightly with salt and pepper, in 2 tb melted butter until lightly golden; set aside. in the same pan melt another 2 tb butter; add Porcini and fresh mushrooms and saute until golden. Add to the reserved onions. Arrange 1/3 potato slices in a buttered 9" round cake pan. Spread with 1/2 the mushroom mixture. Salt and pepper. Repeat layers ending with potato. Add chicken stock to barely cover. Dot with remaining butter. Bake, uncovered, in preheated 450 deg oven for 60-75 min until a golden crust forms. Every 5 min press the top of the potatoes with a spatula to keep the Boulanger compact. Keep warm and slice into wedges to serve.
From the L'Ordre de Bon Temps menu in Northern Bounty, A Celebration of Canadian Cuisine. Posted by Jim Weller. |
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Hermit's Pie |
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1 rabbit
4 acorn squash
2 parsnips
2 potatoes
2 cups assorted mushrooms (button, shitake, oyster, etc), diced
1 stick butter
� cup flour
2 tablespoons truffle oil |
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1 cup red wine
1 tbsp thyme, chopped
1 tbsp sage, chopped
1 tbsp garlic, chopped
1 tbsp dried mushrooms, ground
1 tsp salt
� tsp black pepper
1bay leaf |
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Remove the bones from the rabbit, put them in a pot and cover with water. Boil for at least 2 hours adding water as needed. Strain and add salt and pepper to taste.
While the stock is boiling, dice the rabbit and marinate with thyme, sage, garlic, dried mushroom powder, salt, pepper, wine, and half the truffle oil.
Take the acorn squash and cut away just enough from the top near the stem so that each will stand on end. Cut across each squash about � of the way up to make it shaped like a miniature kettle. Partially scoop out the insides, being careful not to put a hole in the bottom of the �kettle�. Place the squash stem side up in a Dutch oven and bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until they begin to soften. Allow them to cool and set them stem side down.
Peel and slice the parsnips and potatoes in half. Boil with bay leaf for 30 minutes or until tender. Remove the parsnips and potatoes from water and mash, adding 1 tablespoon of the butter and salt to taste.
Strain the marinated rabbit and poor the marinade over the diced mushrooms. Brown the rabbit, then set the meat aside leaving the drippings in the skillet. Make a roux by adding the remaining butter and truffle oil to the drippings and, once the butter has melted, sprinkle in the flour. Whisk quickly on medium-high heat until the roux starts to brown. Reduce the heat to low and whisk gently for two more minutes. Mix the roux into the stock. If the mushrooms have not absorbed all of the marinade, strain them and add the marinade to the stock too. Bring the stock to a boil and then cool to room temperature.
Mix the meat and the mushrooms together and then divide evenly into the acorn squash �kettles�, leaving some room at the top. Spoon the thickened broth over the meat, again leaving some room at the top. Put the parsnip-potatoes in a piping bag and make a spiral lid on each squash. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes and then broil for 10 minutes or until the parsnip-potatoes begin to brown.
This is a 21st century receipt of my own creation. It's my version of "Shepherd's Pie". All of the ingredients, except the truffle oil and the store-bought mushrooms, were common in 18th century america. The truffle oil is an indulgence that lets the store-bought mushrooms taste like wild mushrooms that would have been used. |
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