I love to eat. I also enjoy cooking, though the day-job somewhat impairs my desire to do that on most days. I enjoy most SCA feasts and getting to sample various period dishes (or even the quasi-period ones). On occasion, I even like to test out recipes that SCA chefs or cooking Laurels have posted online. I also enjoy working the kitchen when my boyfriend or friend's are in charge of a feast.
This spring I actually was responsible for the outcome of two dishes at a Viking era feast. One of those was based on a recipe I had provided, but I wasn't actually planning to be the one to execute it at the event!
Note that this is not a fully researched recipe, and not a redaction (because there are no extant recipe books from that time), but it is based on period ingredients and period cooking method and makes a passable dish that people seem to enjoy. I do not plan to devote most of my limited research time to cooking (costuming and fibre arts are my true passions), but I have to say that I think I might be digging into this area just a bit further in the future. I love pulling many things together to better develop a persona and an understanding of how that person would have lived.
I am posting this "recipe" here because I have had friends ask how to replicate it.
Viking Stew (Crock-pot Version)
Coat large piece of beef with flour (no, I cannot document that practice at all, but it is one I typically employ while cooking). I have used sirloin once when it was on sale, but often just use whatever cheap stew-meat they have at the store the day I plan to cook this (1-2lbs typically). Brown the meat in butter over med-high heat then place in the bottom of the crock-pot.
Lightly cook two medium onions (cut in quarters and then segmented) and two or three stalks of celery, chopped in the skillet used for the meat. Add these items to the crockpot. (If you were going to slow cook this on the stovetop or in an oven rather than the croppot, you would keep everything in the same pan.)
Deglaze the skillet with a bit of beef stock and scrape that into the crockpot. Pour additional stock (I use an entire 15oz can) into the crockpot and add a bottle of ale. Add salt to taste and several sprigs of fresh thyme. Add a 2-3 teaspoons of honey and 2 teaspoons of cider vinegar. Lay in carrots, turnips and 2 dozen prunes.
Cook on high in the crockpot for 2-3 hours (or until the meat starts to fall apart). You might need to occasionally stir or rearrange the mixture to ensure that all components cook fully.
This spring I actually was responsible for the outcome of two dishes at a Viking era feast. One of those was based on a recipe I had provided, but I wasn't actually planning to be the one to execute it at the event!
Note that this is not a fully researched recipe, and not a redaction (because there are no extant recipe books from that time), but it is based on period ingredients and period cooking method and makes a passable dish that people seem to enjoy. I do not plan to devote most of my limited research time to cooking (costuming and fibre arts are my true passions), but I have to say that I think I might be digging into this area just a bit further in the future. I love pulling many things together to better develop a persona and an understanding of how that person would have lived.
I am posting this "recipe" here because I have had friends ask how to replicate it.
Viking Stew (Crock-pot Version)
Coat large piece of beef with flour (no, I cannot document that practice at all, but it is one I typically employ while cooking). I have used sirloin once when it was on sale, but often just use whatever cheap stew-meat they have at the store the day I plan to cook this (1-2lbs typically). Brown the meat in butter over med-high heat then place in the bottom of the crock-pot.
Lightly cook two medium onions (cut in quarters and then segmented) and two or three stalks of celery, chopped in the skillet used for the meat. Add these items to the crockpot. (If you were going to slow cook this on the stovetop or in an oven rather than the croppot, you would keep everything in the same pan.)
Deglaze the skillet with a bit of beef stock and scrape that into the crockpot. Pour additional stock (I use an entire 15oz can) into the crockpot and add a bottle of ale. Add salt to taste and several sprigs of fresh thyme. Add a 2-3 teaspoons of honey and 2 teaspoons of cider vinegar. Lay in carrots, turnips and 2 dozen prunes.
Cook on high in the crockpot for 2-3 hours (or until the meat starts to fall apart). You might need to occasionally stir or rearrange the mixture to ensure that all components cook fully.
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