A Different Kind of Food Blog

So, this is a different kind of journey.

We were debating about day-tripping to an event with the SCA, not a really
close thing, but Darrell had some ironwork to deliver.
Of course, he didn't announce the decision until we were driving HOME from
the trip to town and the grocery store! So, I had to think fast about some
picnic-y food to take, that would be somewhat period.

Fortunately I had two last boneless chicken thighs. (And having served two a
few nights ago, NOT as part of a larger dish like I somewhat do, had raised
the comment "rationing?", so wasn't at all concerned about using them up.)
So I decided to make Icelandic Chicken. Although this is a later period
dish, 15th c?, without looking I can't quite remember, it's very simple and
very tasty. Chicken wrapped in bacon with sage, baked in a flour and water
pastry crust.

And I had some radishes. (Those who know me, know just how required are
radishes in any menu of mine!) And the tail end of a tin of whole black
olives.
I'm not really in love with tinned black olives, but I'd been making a
pizza a while back....and then I'd used some in some spaghetti sauce... And
since it's not that easy to get REAL olives in town.... So, I took the
olives and mucked about. Bit of olive oil, bit of salt, lemon juice, garlic,
pepper flakes.

I still have some smoked cheese left from smelt weekend, that we'd never
even got around to opening, and a couple of tail ends of other cheese.

There's a bit of smoked fish in the freezer. And I'll haul out a loaf of
bread and muck up some butter...

Then there's some dried fruit and nuts, and some fresh fruit.

That was still seeming a bit sparse, so I've done up some carrots and beans
with an herbed oil and vinegar dressing; dill seed, celery seed, coriander,
& mustard seed.
And right now I'm thinking I could do a couple of little mushroom tartlets
because I still have five little tart shells in the freezer. So, right now
I'm making up some mushroom tartlets a la Menagier de Paris.

(Of course, somewhere in here I have to think up something for our dinner
tonight!)

But on the whole, for not having done any specific shopping for this, and
it having to be easily transportable and servable, I'm reasonably impressed
by how much not unperiod food I'll have, without ripping my hair out at all!

Now, of course, if he'd mentioned this on the way TO the grocery
store.......

anti-v