Links to the Recipes
Venison with Wild Berries and Cumin
Rabbit with Fennel and Sweet Wine
Striped Horse with Ale and Onions
Ship of the Desert with Ginger, Dates & Nuts
Strange Jumping Beast from the Southern Parts
Lettuce and Onion Puree with Mint and Lovage
Leeks in White Wine with Marjoram
VENISON with wild berries in a Cumin Sauce
Ingredients: Venison (diced)
Shallots or small onions
Can of Blackcurrants in Syrup
Chicken Stock
Herbs: Thyme, Parsley
Chives (or Wild Garlic leaves)
Ground Cumin
Honey
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
Red Wine or Port
A few fresh berries (if available)
If time available, marinade the diced venison overnight in the wine (port is recommended for a fuller flavour).
Chop the shallots roughly and fry gently until soft. Remove from frying pan and keep warm in a casserole dish. Fry the diced meat, seasoned with salt, pepper and cumin until lightly browned; then turn out into the dish with the onions. Add the can of blackcurrants and a cup of chicken stock; spoon on quite a lot of honey (you can adjust this later); tear the herbs and wild garlic or chives and add. Pour on enough wine to cover the rest of the ingredients.
Cook in a low oven for 2-3 hours. Then taste, adjust the flavourings (may need more honey and/or cumin, to taste) and if desired thicken the liquid with cornflour or ground arrow-root.
Return to oven and turn up to a strong heat so food is properly cooked and hot before serving. For final 10 minutes add some fresh wild berries, and decorate with a few more when ready to serve.
I would usually make this a couple of days in advance and reheat each day - this gives a deeper flavour. The cumin gives a mild curry-flavour - it was a spice used very often by Roman cooks, sometimes to disguise the taste of meat that was past its best!
Rabbit in sweet wine with Fennel
Ingredients: Rabbit
Shallots or small onions
Fennel bulb
Dried Fruit
Chicken Stock
Honey
Olive Oil
Herbs: Parsley, Chives, Savory (or Thyme)
Salt & Pepper
Sweet White Wine (e.g. Muscadet)
Chop about 3 small onions /shallots, and most of a bulb of fennel. Fry gently in a little olive oil until soft. Chop filleted rabbit into chunks (filleting your own rabbit gives a sense of achievement, but is rather time-consuming - and messy!), and add to the frying dish. Season with salt and pepper. When rabbit has browned a little, turn the ingredients so far into a casserole dish.
Tear some herbs (parsley, chives, savory (or thyme)) and add to the pot; add a couple of handfuls of dried fruit (sultanas, orange peel etc), several table-spoons of honey and a cup of chicken stock. Add enough sweet white wine (eg muscadet) to cover the larger chunks.
Put into a hot oven until the liquid begins to boil, then turn down the oven and slow-cook for a couple of hours. Test for flavour and add more seasoning or honey to taste. Thicken the liquid with arrow-root or cornflour and boil up again for 15 mins before serving.
The sweet honey and hint of fennel, along with the 'expanded' dry fruit, go very well with the rabbit.
WILD BOAR MEAT with Apples and Sage
Ingredients: Wild Boar (I always use sausages - specialist butchers often stock these)
Apples
Sage
Salt & Pepper
Olive Oil
Apple Sauce and/or Apple & Cider Jelly
In a suitable casserole dish, fry the sausages in olive oil until browned. Chop them into pieces. Season with pepper & a little salt.
Add sliced apple and plenty of torn-up sage leaves: continue to fry together until apple is softened and coloured but not disintegrating!
Before serving, stir in a small jar of apple sauce and/or some apple & cider jelly; reheat and serve hot, decorated with a little more torn sage.
The sauce at the end adds a little extra sweetness and finishes the dish nicely.
WHOLE SALMON stuffed with Herbs and Lemon for the BBQ.
Ingredients: Whole Salmon (ready cleaned)
Lemon
Olive Oil
Herbs: Lemon Thyme, Chives, Parsley, Lemon Balm
Liberally stuff the prepared salmon with handfuls of the herbs.
Drizzle (into the inside) some olive oil, and squeeze in plenty of lemon-juice. Add the remains of the squeezed lemon pieces too.
Roll the whole fish in grease-proof paper (when cooked, this will peel away taking the skin with it - the Romans would have used vine- or fig-leaves, with the same result) and then also wrap it in tin foil.
Allow the lemon and herbs to infuse for a couple of hours (the lemon-juice will begin to "cook" the fish); BBQ (both sides) over hot coals, or actually in the embers themselves.
OSTRICH with Plum Sauce
Ingredients: Ostrich Steaks
Red Plums
Honey
Chicken Stock
Herbs: Chives, Parsley
Celery-seed
Salt & Pepper
Olive Oil
Splash of Red Wine Vinegar
Red Wine
Cut ostrich steaks (the Romans really did eat ostrich!) into fairly small chunks (to make them easier to barbeque) and season with pepper and a little celery-seed.
Stone plums and chop roughly; place in a saucepan. Add a little stock and olive oil (too much makes it rather too greasy); tear herbs and add to pan, sprinkle on a spoonful of celery-seeds and a pinch of salt. Add a couple of large spoonfuls of honey. Splash in a lid-full of vinegar, and pour in a decent glug of red wine (enough liquid to reduce ingredients without going too thick or burning).
Bring to the boil and leave to simmer over a low heat, stirring occasionally, for about half-an-hour. Allow to cool (it should thicken naturally as it does so.)
Paint some of this sauce onto the meat before barbequing, and serve the rest as a 'relish'. Ostrich burgers, anyone?
Striped horse stewed in Ale with Onions
Ingredients: Zebra steaks
Onions
Stout or strong Brown Ale
Rosemary (or herb of your choice!)
Salt & Pepper
This is obviously not an actual Roman recipe - but I'm sure they would've tried it!
The zebra meat can be tough, so cut into chunks and marinade overnight in the Stout.
Slice the onions (not too finely) and fry until coloured; add the zebra meat and brown together in the same pan with a little fresh rosemary leaves (or a herb of your choice! I would love to hear of anything that works well!) Season with salt and pepper.
Combine once again with the stout, and cook quite slowly in the oven for an hour or so. Taste and adjust seasoning, and thicken with cornflour or arrow-root if desired.
ROAST QUAIL with Rosemary
Ingredients: Quail (boneless if possible)
Rosemary sprigs
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
Drizzle the quail with oil, and then plainly roast (bake) them with the sprigs of rosemary and plenty of salt & pepper. Drain excess liquid from the baking dish periodically.
Keep warm, and cut in half to serve.
SHIP of the desert with ginger, dates and nuts.
Ingredients: Camel steaks
Ginger (crystallised works better than fresh!)
Dates
Ground almonds
Honey
Salt & Pepper
Powdered Ginger
Ginger Wine
Hazelnuts (for garnish)
Another recipe in the 'Roman style'! All the ingredients were actually available, and ginger was a prized spice - I'm not sure whether or not they ever attempted to crystallise it…!
Chop the camel steaks into pieces and marinade in the ginger wine, along with the crystallised & powdered ginger and the dates, in a casserole dish.
Add seasoning. Bring to the boil, then turn down oven and cook slowly for an hour or so. Taste and add as much honey as desired. Thicken the sauce with the ground almonds (cook them into the liquid).
Serve garnished with parsley (or coriander) and some chopped hazelnuts.
MEAT of strange jumping beast from the Southern Parts
Ingredients: Kangaroo Steaks
Olive oil
Ground and fresh Coriander
Pepper
Yes, I'm sure they'd have tried this one too!
Slice the kangaroo quite thinly and marinade with the rest of the ingredients.
Cook on the Barbie!
Lettuce & Onion Puree with Mint and Lovage Sauce
Ingredients: Romaine Lettuce
Finely chopped onion
Olive Oil
Chicken Stock
Cider (or white wine) Vinegar
Pepper
Ground Lovage Root (or celery seed)
Roughly chopped sprigs of Garden Mint
Tear the lettuce roughly, and steam with the chopped onion until both are soft. Two hints: use some bicarbonate of soda to retain the lettuce's green colour; and… it's a lot quicker to do this in a microwave…!
Chop the vegetables finely (no need to actually 'puree'!)
For the sauce: combine about 4 tablespoons of oil and chicken stock with 2 of the vinegar. Add a teaspoon of ground pepper, and two (or more) of ground lovage root. Only use celery seed if you have been unable to beg, steal or borrow the lovage root as this is the key flavour for this exceptional sauce. Tear in plenty of mint.
Heat in a saucepan until simmering and allow to reduce a little: add a little more fresh mint and pour over the chopped-up lettuce and onion.
This one really is Ancient Rome on a plate.
LEEKS in White Wine Sauce with Marjoram
Ingredients: Leeks
Olive Oil
Dry White Wine
Chicken Stock
Fresh Marjoram
Chop the leeks into circles and boil until tender. Drain and dress with the sauce.
To make the sauce: In a saucepan, combine about half a cup of stock and another half-cup of wine with a dessert-spoonful of oil. Season with a little pepper; tear leaves of fresh marjoram into the sauce and simmer over heat until reduced by half.
Tear a little more fresh marjoram over the leeks when serving.
CARrots with Cumin and Lemon
Ingredients: Carrots
Ground Cumin
Fresh Lemon Juice
Chop the carrots into thin finger-batons and cook until just tender. Drain; sprinkle with ground cumin (enough to give a proper flavour). Stir together over a very low heat (a small amount of oil may be added if desired) until the cumin is properly mixed in.
Squeeze plenty of fresh lemon juice over the carrots before serving.
