Summertime Swedish Meatballs: Lamb, Mint, Saffron Cream

Generally speaking, I despise chain restaurants.  I hate the idea of all that  sameness  turning America into one big Land of the Bland. It's depressing. I have no desire to ever visit a Ruby Tuesday or a Panera Bread or a Chipotle.  Twice I have resorted to Boston Market take out in a pinch, and I felt dirty after. Once, many years ago, I ate at a Red Lobster, and I am still trying to scrub the greasy memory of that overcooked scampi out of my soul. I don't think I'm a food snob (well, maybe a little), but mainly I just don't want to be able to get the exact same thing wherever I go. It's boring and lame.

Day 2: Tart de Bry, a Medieval Brie Tart

Doesn't a nice cheese tart seem like the perfect thing for a Medieval feast?

What could be simpler? According to the fourteenth-century recipe collection Forme of Cury, all you have to do is, "Take a crust ynche deepe in a trap. Take yolkes of ayren rawe & cheese ruayn & medle it & pe yolkes togyder."

Got it? Luckily for those of us who aspire to actually try these dishes out,  there are many translations of these old texts available in print and online.  According to Gode Cookery, while the recipe title - Tart de Bry - seems to imply that the tart should be made of brie, in fact the "cheese ruayn" referred to in the recipe is actually rowan cheese, also known as autumn cheese, a semi-soft cheese that's not quite as soft as modern brie.  Oh - and as far as I can determine, it doesn't actually exist anymore.