Juicy Post: A Forlorn Hope Menu

My Introduction To The Forlorn Hope

I first learned about the picturesque term Forlorn Hope when I became addicted to Bernard Cornewell’s series of novels about Richard Sharpe, an orphan  who became a foot soldier in many English battles in the first part of the 19th century. Some of his novels were turned into a very successful British television series distributed here by PBS. The actor, Sean Bean, who played the protagonist, said the series was life changing for his acting career.  

Cornwell was born in London in 1944 and given up for adoption by his biological parents, a Canadian Airman and a British member of the Women’s Auxillary Air Forces He was adopted by a family who were members of  the Peculiar People, a strict sect of Christian pacifists who adopted children in order to save their souls.  He apparently developed his most famous fictional character from an imaginary friend he created as a very lonely  adopted child   He wasted no time in changing is last name to Cornwell, his birth mother’s maiden name after the death of his adoptive fahter and spent much of his life longing to meet his biological family.   According to Wikipedia, he met his father for the first time when he was 58, after telling a journalist on a book tour, “what I wanted to see in Vancouver was my real father.” He joyously met his half-siblings, with whom he shares many traits, and learned his genealogy. And he shares now many happy reunions with his long lost family. 

 

March Is a Battle Of The Seasons

The Forlorn Hope is a long used military term from the Dutch “verloren hoop” or “lost troop” for the bands  of soldiers who were willing (or  were volunteered) to be sacrificed in knocking down the weakened barriers of the enemy’s fortifications. So even if I have digressed in this Kitchen Detail post, I often feel that March represents the season of the Forlorn Hope. It is  Spring battling against the weakened fortifications of Winter It is the first little shoots of early  bulbs that get wiped out in a sudden freeze. It’s the sudden warmth of a a day or two (when you don’t wear undershirts under your sweater and hats covering your ears)followed by a week of sub freezing weather.   It’s the surprise sleet storm when you have run out of de-icer for your walk and doorway. We have forgotten the heat and humidity of August,  so we buy tomatoes four months too early – we just long for Spring and it seems just that much farther away. So I dedicate this menu to our Forlorn Hope of Spring with the realities of Winter. 

Foraging Forlornly

One of the first things you can get in early sring is radishes, French Breakfast, Cherry Belle, Sparkler and White Beauty are a few that I have found. You can split them crosswise almost to the base. Then soak them in ice water to get a nice little flower look or you can get the clever Monkey Business radish cutter and create little Fly Amanita ones. Ravanello is a bit fiddly, but I have had fun using it occasionally. Serve them with fleur de sel or Maldon salt,  and optionally with sliced baguette and butter.

In our first Gift Guide, we featured a fund raising cookbook from the survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire in London.  It’s a gem.  These are all foods that you would cook at home but as many of the survivors are from the Middle East and North Africa, there is lots that will be new to you. One of my favorites is this dip from Munira Mahmud, whose dream is to run a food truck.  I would stand in line for her food truck any time.  Serve this with either crackers or raw vegetables.  I have used it as sauce on grilled vegetables, and lamb too. 

The Italian dish of veal shanks or Osso Buco  surrounded with a tomato sauce  and served with either polenta or rice is one that is delicious from early fall to late spring. This is not the same as Osso Buco Milanese as that has no tomatoes. I posted this version on Instagram and Facebook earlier this year and was roundly scolded for not giving out the recipe!   It is the fortification you need in March.

Some Sauté Thoughts

Personally, I have found that getting a golden, even  sear is not easily done  in enameled cast iron,You can get overly browned meat and an almost burned base that gives an off taste to the final sauce. Pictured here is the classic tin lined  copper sauté pan, which will give you an even, golden sear. Currently Mauviel and Matfer Bourgeat make their professional weight sauté pans with a bonded 18/10 stainless lining, and that works really, really well too. Mauviel makes one that is called a rondeau in France and it works just like a sauté except that it has casserole handles, which makes it easier to slip into the oven.    Well seasoned cast iron would be another  choice, but you will need to watch your timing as it can give you a dark sear easily. If stainless steel is used, it is best to get a sauté that is 18/10 stainless steel with a heat diffusing alloy not only on the base but on the sides sandwiched between. You can special order Mauviel tin lined copper through their domestic distributor, www.mauvielusa.com

Tin lined copper cookware has also had a renaissance from a small group of artisans in the US.  Two that I am familiar with are Housecopper.com and brooklyncoppercookware.com/

Also, rather than wrapping your bay leaf, thyme, parsley stems in cheesecloth, make a sandwich with two pieces of celery and tie with twine, shown at the right.   If you can find marrow spoons, so much the better as the marrow hiding inside each piece of shank bone is the prize. They have a larger spoon on one end to scoop up the bigger pieces of marrow, and on the handle side, a teeny one to get marrow from out from smaller bones. 

Even though we think of raspberries from farm markets in the summer, they are a dependable fruit when you are suffering from the Folorn Hope doldrums. And since, let’s face it, whether they are from the Dark Side of Driscoll or another purveyor, they benefit from being heated.  That said, this gratin makes cheerful use of a fruit other than apples and pears. Winter strawberries with their snow white innards need not apply. I have tried this with blueberries and blackberries, at this time of year, but they are just not as cheerful.  These can be done in individual low sided bakers in ceramic or copper.  I have not seen a difference in the results. You do not have to brush them with butter, the macerated berries will release some juice while in a hot oven. This recipe is a mash-up from Marmiton.org, Christophe Felder and Tamasin Day-Lewis’s cookbook Supper For A Song.