Twelfth Night; or 'You mean there was actually an event going on there?'
It's my own fault really, I mean no one held a gun to my head and told me that I had to do a daylong buffet for 12th Night, and no one told me that I had to do 63 different dishes. I was also completely aware of the fact that there was no kitchen on site, and that we would have to bring our own grills, stove tops, smoker, and even a fryer... In fact the only idiot to blame for the entire feast would be me, since I didn't even let anyone see the entire menu until the week before the event. If I had to do it all over again? I wouldn't change a damn thing as far as how the feast itself went. The week before would be a different story, though...
I would rethink the whole schedule in terms of precooking... The Xmas season makes it hard to coordinate schedules in order to get the group together to do prep... I ended up doing way to much by myself simply because I didn't plan better or ask for help earlier.
Fortunately Jana was willing to spend 14 solid hours over two days doing nothing but scooping meatballs and sticking meat on skewers- by far the most mind numbing and tiresome job of the entire feast. Fortunately, there were more than enough people on site who were eager and willing to help out, and because of them we put out one hell of a feast...
Best of all is the fact that my wife is the most awesome woman on the planet. She somehow managed to not only keep herself from killing me in the weeks leading up to the event, she also managed to keep everyone who helped out busy, kept the operation running on time, and managed to translate my exhausted mumblings into coherent direction for everyone who helped out.
I have been a professional Chef for over twenty five years now, and I have always been ultra paranoid about buffets; They can either be incredible, mind blowing extravaganzas or the culinary equivalent of the Black Death... and there was no way I was going to allow my Barony and my home canton to have their name associated with a fiasco like that... so that was the main reason I actually put so many dishes on the menu, with so much variety, as long as the cooks involved were diligent (and everyone who helped out was), there was much less risk of food sitting out in the temperature danger zone for too long. (I've taught too many Food Safety courses, and I have too many certifications associated with it- if, god forbid, I made some one sick, well Sepoku would be the only answer, I would have to throw myself onto my sharpest chef's knife....)
By Saturday night I was pretty well convinced that I would NEVER feastocrat an event again... By Sunday morning I woke up thinking that the food was great but next time I want to work on more period methods of presentation... Aluminum foil pans, and wire chafer racks are definitely not very Ottoman... But needs must when the devil drives...
My favorite part of the whole event was the fact that there people just showed up and started helping out, not only the rest of the Soutenoirs, but a bunch of other people as well. Aside from Jana and my Wife, I am deliberately not naming people for fear of forgetting someone, but you all know who you are... You guys made this an awesome feast and you all are welcome in kitchen of mine anytime... I'll even try to get some sleep within the three days before the event next time...
When I was first planning thew feast I was concerned that some people might be put off by the fact that the hosting Baronage of a kingdom level event would be completely unavailable for the entire event, as they would both be in the kitchen cooking.
The very next thought I had, however, was that if anyone thought that they wouldn't be from the Barony of Nottinghill Coill; because THAT is how our Barony rolls... (Makes Nottinghill gang sign to the computer monitor.. then spends five minutes trying to untangle fingers from knots....)
BTW, here's the feast menu, we started serving at 11:00 a.m. and continued through 8:00 P.M.
Atlantian Twelfth Night Menu
A Gift from the Sultan to the Doge of Venice
Twelfth Night 2010 Feast
Table 1: Beverages:
Water, Iced Minted Tea, Coffee, Hot water & Tea
Table 2: Soups, Salads, Breads, and such:
Soups:
Sehriyeli Tavuk Corbasi (Chicken soup with vermicelli)
Mercimek Corbasi (Red lentil soup)
Lettuce/leaf based salads:
Havuclu Yesil Salatasi (Green Salad with carrots)
Kirmizi Lahana Salatasi (Red Cabbage Salad)
Anadolu Ispanak Ezmasi (Spinach with Yogurt and Pine Nuts)
Grain/Legume based salads:
Yeşil Mercimek Salatasi (Lentil Salad)
Kisir (Bulgur salad)
Kuru Fasulye Piyazi White Bean Salad
Zeytinyağlı Barbunya Pinto Beans with Olive Oil
‘Miscellaneous’ salads:
Cacik (Cucumber yogurt salad)
Havuc ve Turp Salatasi Carrot and Radish Salad
Yesil Zeytin Salatasi Green Olive Salad
Mixed Pickled Vegetables:
Karisik Tursu Mixed Pickles
Breads:
Pita, Lots of pita, Lavesh
Table 3: Meze, Pilafs, Vegetables, and Condiments:
Dolmas & Sarmasi:
(Dolmas= Stuffed veggies, Sarmas (Sarmalar) are wrapped dishes such as grape leaves or enchiladas)
Zeytinyalgi Yaprak Sarmasi (Grape leaves stuffed with rice, currants, and pine nuts)
Etli Lahana Sarmasi(Stuffed Cabbage Rolls with Ground Beef)
Pilic Sarmasi: (Chicken thighs stuffed with Rice, Pistachios, and herbs)
Boreks:
(Boreks are savory stuffed pastries)
Kirma Borek (Shirred Borek)
Cig Borek (Ground meat pastries)
Peynirli Sigara Böreğı (Cheese / Cigarette Rolls)
Kolay Pogaca (Turkish cheese pastries)
Gozleme (Stuffed, grilled flatbread)
Vegetable Dishes:
Begendi: (Creamed Eggplant)
Sarmisakli Mantar (Spicy Garlic Mushrooms)
Zeytinyagli Pirasa (Leeks and Carrots)
Nohutlu Pilav Rice Pilaf with chickpeas
Condiments, Sauces, Dips & Compotes:
Humus (Chick Pea Dip)
Zeytinyagli Salata Sosu Olive Oil and Lemon sauce
Ege Salata Sosu Aegean Sauce
Sogan Piyazi Onion Relish
Cacik (Cucumber yogurt sauce)
Suzme Yogurt Ezmesi (Thick Yogurt spread)
Beyaz Peynir Ezmesi (Spicy Pureed Feta Cheese)
Sarmisakli Yogurt Sosu (Yogurt Garlic Sauce)
Muhammara (Walnut Garlic Spread With Hot Sweet Peppers)
Table 4: Main Dishes:
Kebabs:
Doner Kebap (lamb kebabs)
Osmanli Kebabs (Basic Lamb kebabs)
Izgara Tavuk sis Kebabi: (Grilled Chicken Kebabs)
Kofte:
Köfte (Turkish Meat Balls)
Kadinbudu Kofte Lady's Thigh Kofte
Izgara Kofte Grilled Kofte
Tavuk Koftesi Chicken Patties
Inegol Kofte (Inegol’s Traditional Meatball)
Mercimekli Kofte Red Lentil Kofte
‘Red Meat’ Dishes:
Dugan Yahnisi Wedding Stew
Koyun Yahnisi Lamb ragout
White meat dishes:
Tavuk Sote (Sauteed Chicken)
Cerkez Tavugu (Circassian Chicken)
Vegetarian Dishes:
Mualle (Eggplant and Lentil Stew with Pomegranate Molasses)
Mucver (Zucchini & cheese Fritters)
(In Addition to the three dedicated vegetarian dishes, there will be quite a few vegetarian Meze, Borek, and etcetera.)
Table 5 Desserts and Sweets:
Baklava Walnut pastry
Zerde Saffron rice pudding
Lokum (Turkish delight candy)
Sekerpare (almond sponge cakes)
Saray Lokmasi Fried pastries
Nougat Nougat with pistachios and apricots
Candied Oranges
I did the entire menu except for the desserts, Elizabeth did those because she's better at them than I am...
I'm sorry about the fact that this post borders on the incoherent, but I still ahven't caught up on sleep, and my entire bady is killing me-- Arthritis Chemo tomorrow, then the chiropractor...
TTFN
I would rethink the whole schedule in terms of precooking... The Xmas season makes it hard to coordinate schedules in order to get the group together to do prep... I ended up doing way to much by myself simply because I didn't plan better or ask for help earlier.
Fortunately Jana was willing to spend 14 solid hours over two days doing nothing but scooping meatballs and sticking meat on skewers- by far the most mind numbing and tiresome job of the entire feast. Fortunately, there were more than enough people on site who were eager and willing to help out, and because of them we put out one hell of a feast...
Best of all is the fact that my wife is the most awesome woman on the planet. She somehow managed to not only keep herself from killing me in the weeks leading up to the event, she also managed to keep everyone who helped out busy, kept the operation running on time, and managed to translate my exhausted mumblings into coherent direction for everyone who helped out.
I have been a professional Chef for over twenty five years now, and I have always been ultra paranoid about buffets; They can either be incredible, mind blowing extravaganzas or the culinary equivalent of the Black Death... and there was no way I was going to allow my Barony and my home canton to have their name associated with a fiasco like that... so that was the main reason I actually put so many dishes on the menu, with so much variety, as long as the cooks involved were diligent (and everyone who helped out was), there was much less risk of food sitting out in the temperature danger zone for too long. (I've taught too many Food Safety courses, and I have too many certifications associated with it- if, god forbid, I made some one sick, well Sepoku would be the only answer, I would have to throw myself onto my sharpest chef's knife....)
By Saturday night I was pretty well convinced that I would NEVER feastocrat an event again... By Sunday morning I woke up thinking that the food was great but next time I want to work on more period methods of presentation... Aluminum foil pans, and wire chafer racks are definitely not very Ottoman... But needs must when the devil drives...
My favorite part of the whole event was the fact that there people just showed up and started helping out, not only the rest of the Soutenoirs, but a bunch of other people as well. Aside from Jana and my Wife, I am deliberately not naming people for fear of forgetting someone, but you all know who you are... You guys made this an awesome feast and you all are welcome in kitchen of mine anytime... I'll even try to get some sleep within the three days before the event next time...
When I was first planning thew feast I was concerned that some people might be put off by the fact that the hosting Baronage of a kingdom level event would be completely unavailable for the entire event, as they would both be in the kitchen cooking.
The very next thought I had, however, was that if anyone thought that they wouldn't be from the Barony of Nottinghill Coill; because THAT is how our Barony rolls... (Makes Nottinghill gang sign to the computer monitor.. then spends five minutes trying to untangle fingers from knots....)
BTW, here's the feast menu, we started serving at 11:00 a.m. and continued through 8:00 P.M.
Atlantian Twelfth Night Menu
A Gift from the Sultan to the Doge of Venice
Twelfth Night 2010 Feast
Table 1: Beverages:
Water, Iced Minted Tea, Coffee, Hot water & Tea
Table 2: Soups, Salads, Breads, and such:
Soups:
Sehriyeli Tavuk Corbasi (Chicken soup with vermicelli)
Mercimek Corbasi (Red lentil soup)
Lettuce/leaf based salads:
Havuclu Yesil Salatasi (Green Salad with carrots)
Kirmizi Lahana Salatasi (Red Cabbage Salad)
Anadolu Ispanak Ezmasi (Spinach with Yogurt and Pine Nuts)
Grain/Legume based salads:
Yeşil Mercimek Salatasi (Lentil Salad)
Kisir (Bulgur salad)
Kuru Fasulye Piyazi White Bean Salad
Zeytinyağlı Barbunya Pinto Beans with Olive Oil
‘Miscellaneous’ salads:
Cacik (Cucumber yogurt salad)
Havuc ve Turp Salatasi Carrot and Radish Salad
Yesil Zeytin Salatasi Green Olive Salad
Mixed Pickled Vegetables:
Karisik Tursu Mixed Pickles
Breads:
Pita, Lots of pita, Lavesh
Table 3: Meze, Pilafs, Vegetables, and Condiments:
Dolmas & Sarmasi:
(Dolmas= Stuffed veggies, Sarmas (Sarmalar) are wrapped dishes such as grape leaves or enchiladas)
Zeytinyalgi Yaprak Sarmasi (Grape leaves stuffed with rice, currants, and pine nuts)
Etli Lahana Sarmasi(Stuffed Cabbage Rolls with Ground Beef)
Pilic Sarmasi: (Chicken thighs stuffed with Rice, Pistachios, and herbs)
Boreks:
(Boreks are savory stuffed pastries)
Kirma Borek (Shirred Borek)
Cig Borek (Ground meat pastries)
Peynirli Sigara Böreğı (Cheese / Cigarette Rolls)
Kolay Pogaca (Turkish cheese pastries)
Gozleme (Stuffed, grilled flatbread)
Vegetable Dishes:
Begendi: (Creamed Eggplant)
Sarmisakli Mantar (Spicy Garlic Mushrooms)
Zeytinyagli Pirasa (Leeks and Carrots)
Nohutlu Pilav Rice Pilaf with chickpeas
Condiments, Sauces, Dips & Compotes:
Humus (Chick Pea Dip)
Zeytinyagli Salata Sosu Olive Oil and Lemon sauce
Ege Salata Sosu Aegean Sauce
Sogan Piyazi Onion Relish
Cacik (Cucumber yogurt sauce)
Suzme Yogurt Ezmesi (Thick Yogurt spread)
Beyaz Peynir Ezmesi (Spicy Pureed Feta Cheese)
Sarmisakli Yogurt Sosu (Yogurt Garlic Sauce)
Muhammara (Walnut Garlic Spread With Hot Sweet Peppers)
Table 4: Main Dishes:
Kebabs:
Doner Kebap (lamb kebabs)
Osmanli Kebabs (Basic Lamb kebabs)
Izgara Tavuk sis Kebabi: (Grilled Chicken Kebabs)
Kofte:
Köfte (Turkish Meat Balls)
Kadinbudu Kofte Lady's Thigh Kofte
Izgara Kofte Grilled Kofte
Tavuk Koftesi Chicken Patties
Inegol Kofte (Inegol’s Traditional Meatball)
Mercimekli Kofte Red Lentil Kofte
‘Red Meat’ Dishes:
Dugan Yahnisi Wedding Stew
Koyun Yahnisi Lamb ragout
White meat dishes:
Tavuk Sote (Sauteed Chicken)
Cerkez Tavugu (Circassian Chicken)
Vegetarian Dishes:
Mualle (Eggplant and Lentil Stew with Pomegranate Molasses)
Mucver (Zucchini & cheese Fritters)
(In Addition to the three dedicated vegetarian dishes, there will be quite a few vegetarian Meze, Borek, and etcetera.)
Table 5 Desserts and Sweets:
Baklava Walnut pastry
Zerde Saffron rice pudding
Lokum (Turkish delight candy)
Sekerpare (almond sponge cakes)
Saray Lokmasi Fried pastries
Nougat Nougat with pistachios and apricots
Candied Oranges
I did the entire menu except for the desserts, Elizabeth did those because she's better at them than I am...
I'm sorry about the fact that this post borders on the incoherent, but I still ahven't caught up on sleep, and my entire bady is killing me-- Arthritis Chemo tomorrow, then the chiropractor...
TTFN