Though the pickled plums show up in the Michaelmas chapter I like to eat them at Michaelmas. Since they are supposed to pickle for at least a month that means we are entering plum pickling season.
I’ve been foraging so much this year that it seems weird to be pickling something from the grocery store! Around Michaelmas I’ll be using this same recipe to pickle wild persimmons, though. In my research this morning everyone was saying not pickle American persimmons—they are too astringent. But I was tickled with mine turned out? 🤷♀️
So this is a casual announcement that I plan on doing a Michaelmas challenge. I’ll post up an actual invitation in a couple weeks to give a month’s notice this time.
I think I’m going to keep the rules relaxed again and encourage everyone to do at least one porters recipe, but not require it.
Upon Barra (Outer Hebrides, Scotland) the opening of the harvest was celebrated in the early nineteenth century at the Catholic feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, La-Feill Máire, on 15 August. Allowing for the calendar change of 12 days in 1752, this would put an original festival very close to Lughnasa. The rites, however, were not very similar to the Irish set. People would rise early to pick the first of the newly ripened corn and make it into Moilean Máire, the fatling-of-Mary bannock. Each of the family would then take a piece and walk sunrise around the household fire singing lollach Mhaire Mhathas, the Paean of Mother Mary (above). The embers of the fire were then out in a pot, and the procession was repeated around the house and farmland, singing the paean again.
—From Ronald Hutton’s Stations of the Sun
Bannock recipes I have tested:
💬 1 🔁 16 ❤️ 33 · Irish Bannock for St. Brigid Eve · Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
💬 2 🔁 10 ❤️ 28 · I cheated a little in my Michaelmas celebrations due to my work schedule. I made my Struan Micheil/St. Michaels bannock
I’m taking care of two invalids right now (three if you count the blind, elderly dog who I have to carry in and out of the house to do its business and around the house on bad days to finds its food and water)—so the intention is there, but we’ll see if it happens.
Meanwhile tag @portersposse with bannocks past, present and future and I’ll be happy to share them with the posse for inspiration.
So official submissions don’t start until October 17th, but if anyone makes the pickled plums—which have to be made a month out—we’re reblogging them now! Bits of the recipe were just a little bit vague and people might want to ask questions!
Michaelmas Pickled Plums from Porters Seasonal Celebrations Cookbook
I substituted some sprigs of the winged sumac berries I found the other day for lemon rind since I forgot to grab lemons and the sumac gave the syrup a similar sour tartness.
I never worry about my peels splitting. I think it happened to all of us who made them for the @portersposse Michaelmas cooking challenge ayear or two back, and they still turned out tasty.
I almost tripled the recipe because the only plums I find at the store are much larger than the ones in the recipe.
Note: Leftover sweet plum pickling brine can be reused for pickling more vegetables, creating flavorful sauces and dressings, or even as a unique addition to cocktails and other dishes. It can also be used to tenderize meat, enhance the flavor of soups, and add a tangy twist to potato salad or deviled eggs.
Porters suggested serving pickled plums alongside meat or meat pies. I went with homemade Salisbury steak and mashed potatoes. The tartness and spiciness (lemon rind, cloves, cinnamon stick and ginger root) went very nicely with the sauce. While Salisbury steak is an American recipe my sauce recipe uses originally British ingredients like ketchup and Worcestershire sauce which have a similar tartness and spiciness.
Toad in the Hole with Pepperweed, Mushroom, and Onion Gravy
For my entree for the @portersposse First Fruits challenge I made toad in the hole, which is basically sausages with Yorkshire pudding poured on top. I hadn’t made Yorkshire pudding in an age and was struck by how similar the cooking method is to pfannkuchen, which as one of my husband’s favorites, I cook at least once a week. One thing that I did that was not mentioned in the recipe was to heat the milk before mixing it in the batter. I do this with pfannkuchen and the heat supposedly helps it puff up.
I made a gravy by sautéing 1/2 a large sliced onion, and adding a couple cups sliced mushrooms. Once the vegetables were browned I added the pepperweed sprigs (for flavor, but also to symbolize my own personal harvest this year). Then I added a little garlic and splashed on some red wine. Once the wine reduced I added some flour and stirred it into the vegetable mixture. I slowly poured over 4 cups of broth and whisked it all together. I let in simmer while the toad in the hole cooked. I added a little resurrection salt at the end (I also used some in the pudding batter).
I based this ritual on both English (below) and Scottish charms, walking sunwise around our house and stopping at each corner to leave a quarter of the flat hlaef (loaf) that I experimented with earlier this week.
While preparing the batter I blessed the ingredients with a treasured corn dolly made by one of the practitioners I respect the most in the world, @msgraveyarddirt . I included some resurrection salt in the dry ingredients. I also asked Děduška for his blessings (I can’t seem to avoid syncretism in my rituals as I’m descended from a multitude of Northern, and Central European cultures).
I recited the Lord’s Prayer eight times as I cooked each side of the hlaef.
At dusk on Lammas Eve I went sunwise around the house at each corner reciting a charm I developed on St. Agatha’s Day, based on one in the Carmina Gaedelica (see below).
At the north-eastern corner I left a quarter of the hlaef under the hazel tree I’ve been working with this year, topping it with a little resurrection salt and a little hátová water (more syncretism) holding Granny Lorraine’s rosary while reciting the charm. I repeated this at the oak tree on the south-eastern corner that shelters my primary sheep sorrel patch, the mimosa tree on the south-western corner (a supplier of my favorite blossom tea), and lastly the oak tree on the north-western corner which shelters the flying dragon orange trees I plan on making jelly from around Michaelmas.
Porters Posse First Fruits / First Harvest Round 2: Harvest Beef
It's traditional to bake from the 'Porter's Seasonal Celebrations Cookbook' for Porters Posse events. That's the whole point of the events and the bulk of the fun; seeing how everyone does the same recipes from the same section of the same book — what everyone gravitates towards, how they change it to make it their own, and how they dress it up. I love it so much.
I couldn't figure out what to make from the 'Harvest' chapter, though; it took me a second to settle on something ... At first I wanted to make the Cornish Caudle Pie, but I decided it was too much work. Then I wanted to make the Game pie, but I decided it was too difficult to change up the meats, since I didn't have access to most of them. Finally I settled on Harvest Beef: Easy, with little fuss.
Stew Meat is stupid expensive around here right now, unfortunately, however. I wasn't about to buy a near $20 pack of it for the recipe. So I chose to use one of the nearly 6 pound Pork Roasts we managed to snagged months ago at a discount food store for $15 instead. And instead of doing it in the oven- which would have required me climbing the stairs frequently to check on it, and would've made the house hotter on an already hot day- I did it in the crock pot.
There were a few other changes that had to be made, simply because we were using a 5 pound roast instead of the 2 pounds of meat called for. But really that was just doubling all of the other ingredients in the recipe to account for the fact there was twice as much meat. And we chose Guinness Extra Stout for the beer; it's the only Beer my Husband will let me cook with, ha.
Past that we didn't change anything else.
The result was an absolutely tender, sumptuous roast with what's quite possibly the most unique flavor we've ever had. I don't know if it'd replace our usual roast. Probably not. But it was definitely fantastic for a rare treat. I've certainly never had anything that tasted like it before!
We both also agree it was definitely better as a Roast, even, and we probably wouldn't've actually liked it as a stew, as it was originally supposed to be made.
My Husband requested Baked Potatoes to go with it, and I pan fried some Portobello Mushrooms with Thyme and Tarragon to go with as well. There was still so much roast left over, even though we shared it with my Father in Law, too. We'll probably be eating this for days, ha.
We loved harvest beef when I made it a couple of years ago. I almost did it again this year, but forced myself to make something different. Thanks for participating and encouraging me to start back up. I’ve had so much fun whether we get much participation or not. ♥️
I like pork better than beef so I think you’ve inspired me to try the substitution sometime between now and Michaelmas.
