I built a manor in the Middle Ages

Chapter 41 No One Can Refuse Lamb Stew with Radish

On the way back, Luc found some wild leek seedlings nearby and secretly took note of them. When he returned to the cabin, he drove out the pheasants that had been almost tamed and left the fence for the goats.

The four goats huddled together, a little afraid of the unfamiliar environment. The hungry lambs crawled under the ewes to drink milk, while the ewes kept staring at Luc and the others.

"Lian, go find a piece of wood and build a trough for the goats."

These goats will be Luc's property from now on and need to be taken good care of.

Ryan let out a sigh and went to look for wood. Goat troughs are easy to make. All you have to do is dig a groove on one side. Goats' food is also easy to obtain. As omnivores, they can eat grass, vegetable leaves, fruit peels, shrub leaves, and even wheat straw. Of course, wheat straw tastes bad, so you can't eat too much.

After a while, the two men dug out a trough and used a sickle to cut a pile of hay and placed it in front of the fence. Luke turned around and went to deal with the body of the head sheep, while Ryan began to build a sheep pen.

The chicken fence was too small after all.

There is actually not enough space in the fenced yard. There is a wooden house in the middle of the open space, and a part of the east side needs to be reserved to connect with the new house in the future.

To the southwest of the wooden house is a cellar and a chicken coop, and to the southeast is a wooden shed for drying meat and a woodshed.

Fortunately, there were only a few goats and they didn't take up much space, so we managed to squeeze out a piece of land on the east side near the fence gate to build a sheep pen.

The sheep pen was almost as high as a person's chest. It was made of randomly cut tree trunks with bark on and thin wooden boards. It was square and had a fence behind it, which saved the trouble of building a wall on one side.

While Ryan was working, the goats on the other side waited for a long time and finally started to eat the grass.

Seeing this, Luc breathed a sigh of relief. As long as they were willing to eat feed, it meant that he could slowly tame them.

In fact, after the head sheep dies, the other ewes in the flock will become very nervous. This is a very normal behavior, especially the two ewes that were forcibly caught by Ryan. They kept barking and jumping around violently as soon as they entered the fence, and they didn't eat a single bite of the grass that was given to them.

However, after the lambs started drinking the goat's milk, seeing that Luc and the other man ignored them, the ewes, who were in the lactation period, could not bear the hunger after all.

On the other side of the cabin, out of sight of the goats, Luc turned around and skillfully peeled off the sheepskin and left it for tanning. He patted the firm mutton, and his stomach growled unconsciously.

After eating dried meat for so long, Luc has long wanted to eat fresh meat to change the taste!

After removing the four thighs and taking out some of the internal organs, they threw them to little Charlie who was waiting at his feet. Little Charlie wagged his tail with joy and swallowed the liver in a few bites. On the contrary, little Charlie liked the mutton smell very much and was much happier than eating chicken breast.

After chopping off the sheep's head with a knife, Luc smacked his lips. It was a pity that there was no onion, otherwise he would have been able to experience a new way of eating it.

After cutting the rest of the lamb chops and other meat, Luc did not plan to marinate or air-dry them this time. The head sheep produced about 50 kilograms of meat, and he would try his best to eat it all within a few days.

Throwing the sheep's head to little Charlie, Luc turned around, took out the unripe turnips from the wicker basket, and peeled off the leaves. Luc planned to make turnip stewed with lamb tonight!

He picked out some lean pork chops and brought them into the house along with the chopped turnips. Ryan was still building the sheep pen outside, and Luc had already picked up the pottery to prepare the meal he had been longing for.

Compared to pork chops stewed with apples, lamb stewed with turnips really suits Luc's appetite.

There weren't too many seasonings, and it couldn't even be stir-fried and then simmered in water, but it was enough to make Luc swallow his saliva.

First cook the animal oil, then chop the wild garlic sprouts dug earlier and some slightly seasoning plants and throw them into the pottery. Wait for the aroma to waft out, then put the chopped lamb chops in, shake it twice with your hands, and finally pour in water and salt, cover it with a lid leaving a slight gap, light the charcoal and simmer on low heat. Finally, Luke goes out and takes out a leg of lamb, cuts it diagonally, sprinkles it with coarse salt and applies oil, and puts it on the fire rack to slowly smoke it.

The sizzling oil poured down the lamb leg onto the fire.

The strong aroma of burnt smoke mixed with the rich and delicious smell of stewed lamb broth filled the air and drifted into Luc's nose.

In order to avoid constant stomach cramps, Luke stood up and helped Ryan build the sheep pen completely. There was no need to build a roof for the sheep pen for the time being, and then he drove the sheep and chickens into their respective territories.

"Master, it smells so good!" Turning his head, Ryan, who had been hungry for a long time, immediately started drooling at the aroma. After eating dried meat for a long time, Ryan wanted to change his taste, so as soon as he opened his mouth, his saliva flowed out uncontrollably, and he hurriedly wiped the corners of his mouth and smiled awkwardly.

"Even if you're hungry, you'll have to wait. The mutton needs to be stewed for a while to become tender. While I'm here, I'll give you a new task."

"Build another wooden barrel, but this time I need it to have small holes all around except the base."

"Xiao Kong?"

Ryan squinted his eyes as he contemplated the appearance of the new barrel, nodded, and said, "No problem, this is not difficult. But sir, why would we build a leaky barrel?"

Luc smiled slightly: "What I want is a leaky barrel!"

"Just do it, it will be useful in time."

After giving Ryan the instructions, he saw him carrying tools to the woodshed. Luke then took out the sheep bladder that he had saved when he dealt with the head sheep, burned a pile of ash, and then went to the river, soaked it in the river and rubbed it constantly, trying to clean the urine in the bladder.

After the obvious smell of urine disappeared, he walked back to the wooden house against the sunset and placed the bladder on the roof to dry for a few days.

It and Ryan's leaky barrel will be Luc's next useful tools.

After washing his hands, he stirred the mutton soup again. By the time Ryan had prepared the basic materials for the wooden barrel, the rice was ready.

He quickly called Ryan back, and each of them held a ceramic bowl, and put radish, turnip and mutton into the bowl. There was a thin layer of oil floating on the surface of the mutton soup. He blew away the oil and Ryan sipped into the mutton soup. Suddenly, the fresh and delicious taste of these two completely opposite but coexisting flavors immediately filled Ryan's taste buds.

The sweetness of the turnips neutralized the mutton's mutton smell, making the mutton soup even more delicious. Ryan's pupils instantly dilated after taking a sip. He didn't have time to say anything to praise it. He just drank it all in one gulp, grabbed the well-braised lamb chops and ate them in two bites, then quickly served another bowl.

With the mutton in his mouth, Ryan mumbled after a while: "Master, I swear, this is better than apple stewed pork chops!"

Luke, who was also enjoying his meal, laughed and said, "What's that? Wait until the harvest is good, and we can go to the blacksmith shop and have him make us a suitable iron pot and cookware. Then we can get all the ingredients together. Only then will the meal we make be truly delicious!"

"Mmmmmmm!"

Ryan gnawed on the lamb chops, then used a wooden knife to cut off a piece of lamb leg and put it into his stomach. The dagger had been used as a butcher knife by Luc and was not suitable for eating.

"By the way, you will join me for martial arts training tomorrow. I see that you have grown quite well during this period. Don't waste your talent. Once you have mastered your sword skills, I will teach you archery."

"It's a pity that I can't read. It would be great if I had the chance to learn to read someday."

Ryan did not refuse Luke's swordsmanship instruction, but after hearing the second half, he looked up in surprise and said:
"Master, do you want to learn to read?"

“It seems a bit difficult.”

"As far as I know, only priests can read. My lord in Provence can only write his own name."

"Even the nobles can't read, why do you need to learn this, sir?"

In the early Middle Ages, there were many illiterate knights, and the situation was only different for the wealthier nobles. The middle and lower-class knights received more military training than cultural education since childhood.

There was no improvement until the late stages.

Luc threw a bone to little Charlie:
"You're right, but that's exactly why I want to learn to read!"

Things are rare.

(End of this chapter)