Chestnut Soup, Pickled Rice And Chicken: A Meal For A Marquis

Thanks to my friend Martin Townes, I spent the day with the Marquis de Lafayette (he hasn't aged a day!), Governor and First Lady, the VA250 Commission, James Monroe Memorial Foundation, French-American Cultural Foundation, and the wonderful volunteers and staff of Capitol Square who are so integral in sharing and preserving Virginia's vibrant and multilayered history. I deeply appreciated absorbing the latest art installed at the Governor's Mansion with the curator and historian! What an opportunity!!! I am so grateful for meeting and making new friends.

Back on the farm, I wondered what I might serve the Marquis if he visited us, off-grid, in our tiny town of 40. I paged through my Williamsburg and White House cookbooks (the White House, while official, was a little late - 1880s recipes, but still provided inspiration and insight). I acknowledged gingerbread, Martha Washington’s nutmeg chicken and rice, and Jefferson’s peanut soups.

I have foraged a lot of nuts this fall, and have plenty of chestnuts, which the French adore. The Marquis did like bacon-wrapped chicken on his last visit, why not turkey bacon for we alpha-gal allergies? That *would* go well with the chestnut soup! Colonial Virginian homes served chicken, rice and, like we off-grid today, had a pantry full of canned, pickled produce to add to meals. Paging through the old cookbooks, it’s interesting to note the non-local ingredients and reflect on how they were procured without planes or grocery stores, but slow, sporadic ships.

We headed to UVA for Parents’ Weekend. There, we watched something called football, and had a delicious outdoor lunch which further inspired my Marquis meal.

We watched "football."
At least there was a horse!

Chestnut Soup: 

Most people roast chestnuts but I score them, add a little water to a pan, steam them a few minutes, remove the shell, then toss the chestnuts into the soup to cook. In a pot add onions, buttr and gently cook the onions (add broth as needed) until softened. Splash in a little sherry, swirl around, then add an equal amount of chestnuts, then broth, and cook until done. Turn off the heat and cool slightly, then non-allergic people can spoon in a little sour cream (make sure it’s not too hot or it will curdle!). For we allergic people we will have to make do with… let’s see what I was able to secure in a rural area… today it was NOT vegan sour cream but vegan cream cheese.
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I let it sit and soften. Drizzle in a touch of molasses (it goes great with the sherry!). Grate in a little nutmeg, add sea salt. Blend. Phew! The vegan cream cheese worked fine!

Chicken with (Turkey) Bacon Like the Marquis Enjoyed Last Time: 

Sautee onion, chicken, (turkey) bacon, and celery in a favorite savory fat (today, Duke’s). I miss the days I collected and used bacon grease, daily… The last time the Marquis was here I’m sure he was served the chicken roasted whole or as a proper breast wrapped with bacon, but today I chopped everything in bite-sized pieces as it will be served to eat with rice like the rice bowls we had in Charlottesville this weekend. C’mon Marquis, a well-traveled, modern gentleman must keep up with the times! Like your last visit, your hosts want to impress, and rice bowls are all the rage!

Pickled Rice:
Steam rice, sticky. Add to the plate. From the pantry I pulled out a jar of pickled squash, chopped it, and served it over rice with a little raw onion. If there were radishes in this year's garden, I would have sliced and added that, too. Like in Colonial days, we don’t often know when guests will arrive, so just rustle up some pickled, raw, and cooked things!

Mix a little peanut butter and juice from the pickle jar with something sweet (Hmmm… rose jam syrup? What’s open in the fridge? You could do sweet pepper relish, I did!) and drizzle that over. Sadly I did not have smooth peanut butter, but crunchy. But it’s ok, this meal is just for the Marquis and we, and we’re easy! You could add some sweet, spicy hot sauce if you don’t have Amish pepper relish on hand (which most people don’t).

Christoph: “This is a holiday meal fit for a King!”
No, a Marquis.