[MR] Cooking experiment; request results validation

[Teleri Barod]

Greetings to the tavern!

In the hopes of preparing a period meal at Pennsic, I
have tried my first-ever redaction, cooked and served
it, and come to some conclusions.  I would greatly
appreciate an experienced cook (or six) to perform a
reality check on the conclusions thusly reached!

The Recipie: An early 14th century Anglo-Norman cherry
pottage, translated in Speculum vol 61:4, pp.859-882.

The original:
14. Sirisee.  Let d'alemaundes lye' ou amydoun,
siryzees moudre' sauntz les pieres, partie de sucre
issi qu'il y eit bon savor des syryzees; char grosse;
syryzees plaunte' desuis; colour, vermaille.

The translation:
14.  Cherry pottage.  Almond milk thickened with wheat
starch, cherries ground without stones, a measure of
sugar to bring out the flavor of the cherries; beef,
pork or mutton; cherries set on top; the color, red.

What I cooked:
1 1/4 lb cubed stew meat
oil to brown meat
~ 2 c. almond milk
~ 1 Tb. corn starch in cold water*
1 tsp. cinnamon**
2 c. thawed frozen red cherries

* Yes, should be wheat starch.  Any ideas on how to
get some?
** I neglected to print out the recipie and worked
from memory.  The preceeding recipie for strawberry
pottage had called for cinnamon.  End result still
tasty.

Since the modern cherries were quite sweet and the
commerical almond milk claimed to have some sweetener
in it, I skipped the added sugar called for in the
recipie.

-Browned meat in oil.
- Covered with almond milk, added cinammon and
stirred.  When boiling, added corn starch and stirred.
Simmer 30 min.
- Added cherries.  Simmer 30 more minutes.  Serves 4.

It ended up as more of a beef and cherry stew than a
pottage.  I decided that I ought to grind both
cherries  and meat.  (And now I see that I was
supposed to grind the cherries.  Ah, enthusiasm
without proper planning.)  Reviews from Scadian and
mundane test subjects were favorable, and there were
no leftovers.

Would grinding the meat for a pottage be about right? 
And could I use lean hamburger from the supermarket
for it?

Many thanks,
Teleri
(who still consults her Betty Crocker Cookbook for
things like meatloaf)

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