The Weekly Feast – A Springtime Feast in 1750

I’m at the Fort this weekend (if you’re in the area, come on over and visit!), presenting life in the early spring in a cold environment. I’ll be staying all weekend, with no running water (it’s turned off until all danger of frost is gone) and little electricity (the gift shop has some). I decided that the food I was going to make should reflect the environment I’ll be in, and so these meals are ones that conceivably could have been served at the Fort in the spring of 1750.

Soup Meagre

I’ve adapted this from Hannah Glasse’s recipe of 1765. I find it amusing how closely it resembles the Green Soup that I made a couple of weekends ago for a Viking reenactment I did. There’s never much food in the spring, and what you can get your hands on has to “make do” until you can plant and harvest crops. It’s a tough time of year! This is a very plain soup, but with the seasonings, would probably have been quite the treat. Early greens in New England would include ramps, asparagus, watercress, fiddleheads, dandelion greens, and things we consider weeds like stinging nettle, onion grass, and dock.

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 celery stalks, cut into 1- to 2-inch lengths (“half as long as your finger”)
• 6-8 oz mixed greens, (spinach, lettuce, arugula, etc), chopped if large
• 3 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp flour
• 2 to 4 cups broth
• 1/2 tsp salt, plus more to taste
• 1/2 tsp black pepper, plus more to taste
• 1/4 tsp ground mace and/or nutmeg

Melt the butter in a large kettle or Dutch oven over medium heat. When the bubbling has subsided, add the onions and cook for about five minutes, until transparent.

Add the celery, greens, and parsley, stir, and cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the greens and stir to blend. Add the broth, salt, pepper, and mace, and stir well. Simmer the soup over medium-low heat for about 30 minutes.

Taste and add more salt and pepper, if desired. Serve warm, with bread if you have it.

Notes from Mistress Allyson: If you want to add a bit of protein to this meal (something that would have been in high demand in the 1750s in spring), try some beans or a bit of salt pork. Beans get added right before simmering. Salt pork should go in with the butter at the beginning.

Baked Mushrooms

Mushrooms are not usually out until May in New England, but we’ll fudge on the recipe because they’re just so darned good! This recipe is adapted from one on Mt Vernon’s website.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs mushrooms, cleaned and stems removed
• butter as needed, about 3 tbsp
• bread cubes from day old bread, about a cup
• seasonings: salt, pepper, nutmeg, garlic, etc.
• milk

Clean and remove the stems from the mushrooms. Place the caps neatly on a baking sheet or in a flat bottomed pot.

Mince together the stems and bread cubes, and moisten slightly with milk. Season well to taste, and stuff the mushroom caps. Drizzle a bit more milk or cream over the stuffed caps in the pot, and then put over a moderate heat until the mushrooms are cooked through and the liquid has simmered mostly away.

Notes from Mistress Allyson: If you’re unable to stomach dairy, like myself, you can use “extra creamy oat milk” to replace regular milk in any recipe. Or use your usual dairy replacement.

Dressed Turnips and Force-Meat Balls

This is based on a couple of recipes created by Amelia Simmons in 1796 in America.

Ingredients for Turnips:

• 2 lbs turnip, swede, or rutabaga, peeled and diced
• butter as needed, about 3 tbsp
• 1/3 cup cream
• seasonings: salt, pepper

Ingredients for Force-Meat Balls:

• 2 lbs ground veal
• 1 lb ground pork
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• 1-1/2 tsp dried marjoram
• 1 tsp dried savory
• 2 tsp finely chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground mace
• 1 tsp freshly grated lemon zest
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• oil (for frying)
• flour (for coating/dredging)

Put the turnips in a large saucepan, barely cover with water, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 10 to 12 minutes, until the turnips are fork-tender. Remove from the heat and drain thoroughly.

Return the turnips to the saucepan, and set over low heat. Add the butter and stir until melted. Stir in the cream, and season with salt and pepper. Stir until well blended and heated through.

To make the meatballs, combine the veal and pork well. Add the thyme, marjoram, savory, parsley, nutmeg, mace, lemon zest, salt, and pepper, and blend into the meat thoroughly. Add the eggs, and mix well. Shape the forcemeat into small balls or cigar-shaped pieces by hand.

Heat your oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat (it should measure about 1 inch deep). Dredge the forcemeat pieces in flour, and then cook in the hot oil, turning once or twice until well browned and cooked through. Drain well on paper towels.

Serve the forcemeat balls on a bed of parsley sprigs. Pour the turnips into a serving dish, and send to the table with the forcemeat balls.

Notes from Mistress Allyson: If you’re in a hurry, you can use frozen meatballs from the store. When you have time, try making them on your own, though!

When cutting up your turnip, make sure all the pieces are fairly close to the same size. They will all cook at the same time, and the results will be better.

Remember that you can replace breadcrumbs or bread with gluten free options if you wish, and milk and cream can be replaced with a bit of oatmilk, soy milk, or other milk substitute.