The Historic Foodie's (2nd Annual) Summer Feast- Let the feasting begin!

Dear Readers last left me in a flurry to put the last minute touches on The Historic Foodie's Summer Feast.

I welcomed four fellow members of the recreated 28th Massachusetts and a family member who's shy about photographs.

We were more focused on the food and presentation than on the dining experience (and there wasn't really room to serve), so I laid the courses out in a buffet style separately from the dining table.

Here's an overview of the first course.

First Course

 

In dining order, the Course Premiere is...

Fish Chowder

Chilean Sea Bass with Tomatoes

Fish Cakes

Macaroni Pudding

Fried Chicken

Lively conversation delayed the Second Course, in the best way. :-)
Here's an overview, with guests contemplating the dishes ...okay, they were actually hurrying me along with the photos so they could descend like a plague of locusts.

 



The Second Course, in dining order:

Pot Roast Beef,
garnished a la Jardinere

Baked Potatoes

Succotash

Boston Baked Beans

Apple Pie

The Coffee, Tea, and Dessert was served at table; as was a special treat of Lemon and Strawberry Water Ices.

Here are the guests at table. They couldn't say enough how thrilled they were with the feast and stayed much longer than intended, which is a compliment in itself.

 

The Historic Foodie's (2nd Annual) Summer Feast- Feasting Day

With preparations under way for The Historic Foodie's Summer Feast, feasting day started much like an episode of "No Reservations."
We started the day at the  Reston Farmer's Market at Lake Anne for the elusive salt pork and a breakfast of street food.

  


Valentine's Bakery and Meats had "bacon ends" which I decided would be an acceptable substitute for salt pork. Roomie found some gluten free muffins and cakes in the bakery section, which was welcome.
I had coffee and grabbed pepper-steak empanadas to fuel my hectic day. Roomie had coffee and tacos from her favorite, Lake Anne Deli.

Fortified for my day and with the final ingredients to hand, the cooking could begin in earnest.

Setting the fish to thaw

I started with Fried Chicken with a milk and flour (in this case gluten free flour) batter and oven fried. I would finish up with a butter and parsley sauce closer to serving.

Fried Chicken- batter up!

Next up was a dish that has become a signature, Macaroni Pudding. (Mac-n-Cheese for Mac and Cheese).  Since this was for company, I went all out with cream, butter, and a dash of parsley.

Macaroni Pudding- ready to bake

Moving on to beans. I choose two different recipes with beans, Succotash and Boston Baked Beans. That's a lot of beans. :-p  First up is lima beans for Succotash.

Lima Beans for Succotash

While the beans and corn were boiling, I set the roast in to ...well.. roast.
The glaze was not specified in the receipt, so I used cooking marsala, orange juice, and Lea & Perrins sauce.

Well... that was a disappointment...  the roast is too roasted. Hopefully the gravy saves it from the inedible status.

Moving on to potatoes. It's just not a mid 19th century meal without potatoes. I chose oven-baked with a salt and oil finish. 

Potatoes- ready to bake

Cruising right along for Fish Cakes, in this case salmon.
I made the batter and then formed the cake with a flour dusting.

Fish Cake- batter

Fish Cake- oven frying

  This point in the cooking process was chaos. I was running late and in a flurry to finish up, get my sideboard organized and tables set, and get ready to greet my guests.  My Roomie was again the hero by peeling apples and doing the mountain of dirty dishes. My Hero!

Photos will continue in the next post, showing the finished dishes and happy guests.

The Historic Foodie's (2nd Annual) Summer Feast- Let the feast begin!

The Historic Foodie's (2nd Annual) Summer Feast- Shopping Day

With The Historic Foodie's Summer Feast a mere two days away, it was time to get cracking with my second most hated part of the cooking process... ingredients shopping. I love having a variety of ingredients available locally. I love patronizing small vendors. I don't love the traffic, confusing directions, and crowds in going from store to store to store. My friends in the recreated 28th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, Co. B are worth it, so off I went, with GPS grasped firmly in hand.

 


Well, a trip to Trader Joe's landed my favorite Tuscan melon, almond meal, and of course the wine.
Next to Aldi's and Wegmans for the bulk of the items. No salt pork! What's this madness?
Naturally, something was forgotten. Roomie was a hero and headed to Safeway.  Also no salt pork.
The cooking schedule was rearranged for a trip to the trusty Farmer's Market while I continued on with Cornbread, Lemonade, and Water Ices.

Strawberry Water Ice-
stewing strawberries for syrup

Strawberry Water Ice-
syrup complete, next up is freezing

Lemon Water Ice-
syrup complete

Cornbread-
ready to bake

Lemonade-
It's A-Peeling! :-p

Soaking Beans

The Sous Chef insists we've come far enough. Tomorrow is another day.

The Historic Foodie's (2nd Annual) Summer Feast- Feasting Day

Historic Foodie's (2nd Annual) Summer Feast

I'm BACK!
Dear Readers will recall last year when I spoiled my re-enacting unit with an historic feast. It was so very well received I decided to do another this year.

I began thinking of a theme. Thoughts of summer in the mid-Atlantic turn to seaside adventures and the bounty of the oceans and rivers. With Independence Day recently past, summery thoughts turn also to things distinctly American.
To accommodate the specific guests, I selected a blend of distinctly American surf-n-turf, 19th century style.

Follow along as I prepare and serve The Historic Foodie's (2nd Annual) Summer Feast.

UPDATE:
The Historic Foodie's (2nd Annual Summer Feast- Shopping Day
The Historic Foodie's (2nd Annual Summer Feast- Feasting Day
The Historic Foodie's (2nd Annual Summer Feast- Let the feast begin!