Category: Food & Recipes

Writing on Breakfast

1/5/2021

It's a brand new year, but I'm not feeling too perky about it. Where did last year go? It feels like the pandemic lockdown has sucked all the good vibes and turned them into molasses.

Molasses? I hardly even feel like baking. Now that's a sorry state of affairs.

A few days ago, we took possession of a 50 lb sack of raw rolled oats. That's like the size of two big pillows put together. In other words, a lot of oats. They came from an organic mill at Yorkton SK. Did you know Saskatchewan produces more oats than anywhere in the world except Russia? Amazing.

So, oats were the first thing I baked in 2021. Not oatmeal cookies or oatmeal porridge, but a cheerful batch of museli chock full of nuts and dried fruit. 2021, you feel better already ☀️

Muesli
3 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup chopped nuts, your choice
3/4 cup seeds such as pumpkin, hemp and sunflower
3 tbsp honey
3 tbsp vegetable oil
3/4 cup chopped dried fruit (optional)

1. Stir together the oats, nuts and seeds.

2. In another bowl, mix the honey and oil. If the honey is too stiff to mix, melt it in the microwave. Stir well.

3. Pour the honey-oil into the oats and toss it thoroughly to spread the honey-oil evenly.

4. Spread into a rimmed cookie sheet. Bake at 200F for two hours. Stir the mixture every half hour so it cooks evenly.

5. Remove from oven. If using dried fruit, add it now. Store in an airtight container.

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Sweet as Pie

12/18/2020

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I made my own Christmas cards this year. I guess I had some time on my hands, pandemic and all.

In 1883, there were just six houses in Saskatoon. One of them, home to the Trounce family, still stands. That year, they hosted a community Christmas dinner. The menu included beef pie, boiled and roasted potatoes, current biscuits, bread and butter, blanc mange (custard) and a jam tart.

(Sorely missing in fresh vegetables in the middle of a prairie winter.)

We know this because Mrs. Trounce wrote a letter home to her family in England describing the dinner. This letter is now in the collection of Sask Archives.

I looked up a recipe for jam tart in an old timey British cookbook. Only two ingredients, what could be simpler or prettier? Wishing sweet and sparkly holidays to you all 💝

Jam Tart
Pastry for one pie crust
2 cups of jam

Note #1: Do not use a low sugar or artificial sugar jam as I can't vouch it will set properly.

Note #2: If you have two pie crusts, you can cut decorative shapes with a cookie cutter to top the pie. This is optional.

1. Spread the jam evenly in the pie crust. Top with decorative shapes (optional).

2. Bake at 375F for about 30 minutes, until pastry is lightly brown.

3. Cool completely before cutting. Jam Tart is nice by itself or served with whipped cream.

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L'il Sprouts

11/17/2020

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Several years ago, when I was writing a food column in the Star-Phoenix, I was invited to take part in a Food Bank Challenge. Each of us was given a regular food hamper to live on for a week. To be honest, it wasn't great food. Old white bread, cheap "no name" garlic sausage, plain yogurt with a broken seal. Food I would never buy myself. I'm big on quality ingredients from local sources, and this hamper was not that. Except...

There was a container of Saskatchewan lentils.

Those lentils were my lifesaver. The first thing I did was start sprouts. It takes 5 days to get edible sprouts, so there was no time to waste. They were my vegetable. The green in my sandwich. The crunch in egg salad. The fresh in the bland. The grand in finale.

While waiting for my sprouts, I discovered another great use for lentils I had never tried before. Spaghetti Bolognese but instead of using ground meat, I used lentils smashed up with a potato masher. It was delicious.

I know a lot of folks had a hard time with the Food Bank Challenge, especially those with children at home. There were no easy convenience foods, nothing quick or pre-prepared. I survived the challenge because a) I like to cook from scratch and b) I like lentils.

Sprouting is easy. Here's how:

1. Put 2 - 4 tablespoons of lentils in a jar. 2 tbsp in a small jar, 4 tbsp in a big pickle jar.

2. Cover with water and soak for an hour or two. Pour off the water.

3. Every day, cover the sprouts with water, give them a shake and drain. By day 5, you'll have edible sprouts.

The lentils will be soft enough to eat and the sprouts will be fresh and crunchy. A bit of welcome green growing on the counter or the windowsill on a frosty winter's day. After 7 days I put them in the fridge. Try it!!

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A Sticky Situation

11/6/2020

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November 7 is National Kladdkaka Day in Sweden. AKA National Sticky Cake Day. AKA the bestest easiest gooey yummy cake day ever. "Klad" is short for "choklad" aka chocolate. "Kaka" means cake.

Lucky for me, National Kladdkaka Day lands on the first winter blizzard of the year (predicted for Saskatchewan this weekend) so I predict I'll light a candle, pour a cup of coffee and cozy up to a nice slice of kladdkaka.

Since discovering I have Swedish ancestry (through my grandma's grandma) I have been happily channelling my inner Swede one bite at a time. But you don't need to have Swedish genes or a winter blizzard or even a special day to get sticky with kladdkaka.

Kladdkakka – Swedish Sticky Cake
1/2 cup butter for melting
+ extra to butter the the pan
1 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
pinch salt
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence

1. Prepare your baking dish. Use a 9 inch/23 cm cake pan or tart pan. Cut a circle of parchment paper (or regular paper) to fit in the bottom of the pan. Butter the pan, set in the paper, then butter the paper. Also butter up the sides of the pan. If you don’t do this your sticky cake will stick. Heat oven to 350F.

2. Melt the butter in a saucepan or the microwave oven. Let it cool.

3. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder and salt.

4. In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar until pale and fluffy. Whisk in the vanilla. Stir in the flour with as little mixing as required.

5. Pour on the melted butter and fold into the batter until mixed. Pour into the baking pan and level the top.

6. Bake 18-20 minutes. The cake is done when the edges and crust are cooked but the centre is still jiggly.

7. Cool cake before removing from the baking pan. Sprinkle with icing sugar (with or without a paper snowflake stencil) and/or serve with whipped cream, a sliced strawberry or a few raspberries. Ice cream is good, too.

This recipe is from The Little Book of Fika by Lynda Balslev. It's a wonderful little book for anyone wishing to get their fika on.

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Finding my Scandinavia

9/22/2020

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I only know one Swedish word but it's a good one. Fika. Fika is a cultural institution. A coffee break. A pause in the day. A time to slow down, enjoy good company (including your own) and (usually) a sweet bite to eat.

I first had fika (fee-ka) while visiting a friend in Stockholm three years ago. At the time, I did not know I had Swedish heritage. I have since discovered that I have Swedish genes through my paternal grandmother's grandmother. In other words, through the female line.

Foreseeing a long cooped up covid winter ahead, I have decided to embrace my inner Swede. Warm quilts, flickering candles, winter walks and, of course, fika.

Today I made a fika favourite ~ kannelbullar ~ Swedish cinnamon buns. Since they are best on the day made, I gave most of them away. Fika is for sharing, even in pandemic times. I feel more Swedish already. Note to self ~ October 4 is National Kanelbullar Day ☕️☕️

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"How do I get back to that?"

8/27/2020

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Somedays you wake up and find yourself smiling back at you...

Thank you Julia Peterson and the Saskatoon StarPhoenix for publishing this feature article on my local food passion as a writer, eater and advocate. Julia touched on my two previous books Prairie Feast: A Writer's Journey Home for Dinner & Out of Old Saskatchewan Kitchens, as well as my current writing project on the history of wheat. Tap the picture 👇 to read the article. And eat local!

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Easy as Pie

8/23/2020

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I've been making pies and thinking about the saying "Easy as pie." Why do we say that when so many people find pies difficult to make?

In pioneer times, pie was the go-to feed-a-crowd dessert. Pastry requires just a few simple ingredients and can be filled with almost anything. It's as easy as... pie!

The fact is, there's more to pie than the recipe itself. Pastry is technique pure and simple, and practice makes perfect. The trick is to keep all ingredients chilled and to work the dough as little as possible. Never knead pie pastry.

I got apples this week from my brother's farm at Craik (where I grew up). Today we made three apple pies ~ my husband cutting apples, me rolling and assembling. They are now in the freezer waiting for a special occasion.

I also made a rustic berry galette for dinner tonight with a mix of blueberries, saskatoons, haskap, raspberries and a bit of rhubarb. Proof it's always easy to fill a pie, no matter what the season.

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Pandemic Picnics

6/8/2020

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Restaurants are re-opening from pandemic lockdown, but still, when I eat "out" I prefer a picnic. As I always say, anything that tastes good inside tastes even better outside.

(Well, I'm saying it here anyway.)

I first learned of the cookie called jodekager while researching recipes for my historical cookbook Out of Old Saskatchewan Kitchens. It was mentioned by Danish settler Julie Feilberg, who homesteaded with her husband Ditlev and their children near Nokomis, Sask.

Julie wrote many letters home to Denmark, in one describing a picnic outing in 1915. This picnic included egg sandwiches, bread and butter, citron marmalade, rhubarb pudding with cream and jodekager cookies. It gives a pretty good idea of what foods were readily available to settlers on the prairie at that time.

I researched the jodekager cookie and learned it's still very popular in Scandinavia, especially at Christmas time, but it's also quite at home in a summer picnic basket.

Jødekager
1 cup soft butter
1 cup sugar, separated
1 egg
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 egg white, lightly beaten

1. Cream the butter with 3/4 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg.

2. In another bowl sift together flour, baking powder and cardamom. Gradually mix flour into the butter mixture until well blended. Form into two balls, wrap in plastic and rest in the fridge for one hour.

3. On a well floured counter, roll one ball of dough to a scant 1/4 inch thick. Cut with a cookie cutter. Place cookies on a baking sheet. Repeat with the second ball of dough, then gather up and roll the scraps.

4. Mix the cinnamon and remaining 1/4 cup sugar. Brush the cookies with egg white and sprinkle with the sugar-cinnamon mixture.

5. Bake at 375F until the edges are just starting to brown, about 10 minutes.

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Flat Out Delicious

5/25/2020

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We've known for a long loooong time that Saskatchewan is flat out delicious ~ and now we have it in writing with this fabulous new Saskatchewan food guide by my friend (and fellow Craik-ite) Jenn Sharp. It's part road trip, part arm chair traveller, part celebration, part salivation, of all things good to eat and the folks who grow, raise, collect, cook and market it on this land.

I snapped this pic today of Jenn celebrating the launch of Flat Out Delicious with moi and another food writing (and cooking) pal Dee Hobsbawn-Smith. I brought a bottle of bubbly and Dee brought these pretty teacups so we could celebrate in style while social distancing al fresco in a city park. So proud of you Jenn ♥

Buy this book!! Buy it here!!

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Comfort Food in Pandemic Times

5/6/2020

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I don't know about you, but I found myself cooking the same things over and over during this time of home-bound isolation. Partly because I had the ingredients on hand when the lockdown began, and partly because these recipes became a source of comfort and familiarity during troubled times.

Here are 6 recipes that brought me joy and nourishment during the pandemic spring. They are pretty hearty fare, since winter seemed to last forever here on the prairies, and rely heavily on the bounty of my homeland in Saskatchewan.