RHUBARB MATRIMONIAL CAKE

This summer, I have good intentions of trying rhubarb in savoury dishes, but I still seem to be stuck on desserts, like this one. It's a matrimonal date cake without the dates -- rhubarb instead. The recipe is from "Mrs. Marr's Rhubarb Recipes," the cookbook of the historic Marr Residence in Saskatoon. Rhubarb is apropos for a pioneer house since it was one of the easiest, quickest, most versatile vegetables in the prairie garden. Be sure to check out the annual Rhubarb Festival at the Marr Residence on the August long weekend.

Nat's Rhubarb Dessert
8 cups rhubarb
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup tapioca (I used flour)
pinch salt

Crumb mixture:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups rolled oats (I used 2 cups)
1 1/2 cups brown sugar (I used 1 cup only)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup butter, melted

Mix the first four ingredients and let set for 1 hour. Mix remaining ingredients together until crumbly. Place half the crumbs in 9"x13" pan. Cover with rhubarb. Top with remaining crumbs. Bake at 350F for about 40 min., until the crumb is lightly browned.

Check your pulse - CHICKPEA CHOCOLATE COOKIES

This column appeared in the Saskatoon Star Phoenix on 20 Jan. 2008

The farmers of Saskatchewan want you to eat more lentils, beans, dried peas and chickpeas. Why? Because they want to grow more lentils, beans, dried peas and chickpeas. In the past 25 years, Saskatchewan has become one of the world’s largest producers of these foods, second only to India.

The problem is, the market is saturated. World consumption has actually dropped from nine kilograms per person in the 1960s to about six kilograms per person today. Just think, our farmers went from zero to 25% of the world market in 25 years, even as that market was shrinking. That says a lot about the hard work and superior product coming out of Saskatchewan. So what’s up for the next 25 years?

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That was the topic last week at the annual Pulse Days in Saskatoon. (Pulse is the name given to this class of edible seeds of the legume family.) The goal is to double production of pulse crops in Saskatchewan from about five million acres per year to 10 million acres or more. Once that mark is reached, one-quarter of all crops in the fields will be pulses.

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But if pulse farmers are going to increase production, they need to convince more people to eat their lentils, beans, dried peas and chickpeas. To aid their effort, I’ve compiled a list of reasons why we should do just that:

1) Pulses are good for you. They’re chock full of fibre, protein, vitamins and minerals such as iron. They have a low glycemic index, which makes them good for people with diabetes.

2) Pulses are good for the environment. Pulses take nitrogen from the air and put it into the soil. Nitrogen is a natural fertilizer which all plants need to grow. Most farmers use an artificial fertilizer created from natural gas. With concern over greenhouse gas emissions, growing more pulses is a natural way to cut the carbon footprint of farming and the food we eat.

3) It’s easy to sneak pulses into the diet. Pulses can be ground to a flour and used in baking and other processed foods, so you get the health benefits without a single “bean” in sight. With consumer demand for healthier foods, processing companies such as General Mills are looking at the possibility of including more pulses such as pea fibre. It’s easy to include pulses in home baking, too.

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4) Pulses are diet food. Low in fat and calories, high in nutrients and good carbs. Pulses make you feel fuller so you eat less.

5) Few people are allergic to pulses. People who cannot eat wheat flour do not suffer the same ill effects when eating pulse flour. Also, toasted chickpeas are a nice alternative to nuts. For instance, the University of Saskatchewan has created a fabulous chocolate full of crunchy bits of chickpea. You’d never know!

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Try the chickpea-chocolate combination in this recipe from Saskatchewan Pulse Growers. You'll find more desserts with pulses here and here.

Chocolate Chickpea Cookies
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup soft butter or margarine
2 large egg whites
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 (15 oz) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 cups flour
1/2 cup old fashioned oats
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Beat the sugar and butter until smooth. Mix in the egg whites, vanilla, chickpeas and chocolate chips. Add the flour, oats, baking soda and salt, mixing on low speed to form a thick dough.
Line two baking sheet with parchment. Drop dough by the tablespoonful, spacing cookies 1 inch apart. Flatten slightly with fork. Bake at 350F for 11-13 minutes.

Newspaper Column - ANNE'S APPLE CAKE

Published in the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, 18 August 2008.

Call me a sour puss, but I love crab apples. Growing up on the farm, I ate buckets of crab apples. I wasn’t permitted to touch the apples on the “pie” tree, which were larger and sweeter with yellow skin, but I could eat all the crab apples I could stomach. Now, I get my fill of crab apples from my neighbour’s tree which hangs over my back fence in Saskatoon.

While crab apples would make a nice pie, they are awfully small to peel and chop enough for a filling. So, I’m looking for a good source of Saskatchewan-grown apples for fresh eating and pies.
Apples have a long history in Saskatchewan, and it’s not always a happy one. The pioneers planted apples and several farms, such as that of Seager Wheeler at Rosthern, had enough apples to sell to the public. With the growing popularity of automobiles “a drive to pick fruit at a local orchard was seen as a good fall outing for the family,” according to a history of apple production published on the University of Saskatchewan website.

However, these apples were not bred for our climate and many orchards were decimated by the harsh winter of 1942. Plant scientists began work to breed new varieties of apples that could withstand the prairie cold. One of the early results, called Norland, helped to revive apple orchards in the 1980s. Since then, other new varieties have been released by the U of S, such as Prairie Sun and Prairie Sensation.

In a happy twist of fate, the cold climate is now seen as a benefit—winter kills many of the bugs that plague apples, so fewer pesticides if any are needed in the orchards, making Saskatchewan one of the best places in Canada to grow organic and pesticide-free apples. However, while the Saskatchewan apple industry shows potential, it is not yet ready to hit the commercial market. It will be very hard to break into the grocery stores, which require large quantities of perfect uniform apples with a long shelf life, but hopefully, within a few years we’ll see more u-pick orchards, farmers’ markets and family farms selling bushels of their homegrown apples.

According to Mike Noel, owner of the Petrofka Bridge Orchard north of Saskatoon, many local orchards were hit this spring with cold, hail and high winds, seriously reducing their harvest. Still, he’ll have enough apples to make and sell his Petrofka Bridge Orchard apple cidre. The Saskatchewan Fruit Growers Association lists several apple u-pick orchards on its website. Perhaps a drive to an apple orchard is still a good fall outing for the family.

Last week, I picked “pie” apples from my friend Judith’s tree and have already made this cake twice. The recipe comes from Anne Daeger of Muenster, who I met at the Humboldt Oktoberfest. She’s had the recipe for so long she can’t remember where it originated. Thanks for sharing, Anne!

Anne’s Apple Cake
For the cake:
5 large apples, peeled and sliced
1 cup soft butter or margarine
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 3/4 cup flour

For the topping:
1 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
2/3 cup cake dough
2/3 cup flour

For the cake: Cream the butter and sugar. Add eggs and mix well. Stir in vanilla, salt, baking powder and flour. Remove 2/3 cup of cake dough and reserve for the topping. Press the remaining dough into a greased 9x12 inch pan. (I use a 9x9 inch pan for a thicker cake.) Cover with sliced apples.

For the topping: Sprinkle the apples evenly with sugar and cinnamon. Mix the reserved cake dough with the flour until it resembles crumbs. Spread over the apples. Bake at 350F for 40-45 minutes or until the top is light brown. Anne suggests serving it with cream.

CBC Radio calling - Berry Recipes

Here are some of my favourite ways to serve Saskatchewan berries, including this delighful dessert which I call Strawberries Between the Sheets.

Prairie Berry Clafoutis
Lingonberry Pinwheels
Wild Rice with Dried Cherries
Bumbleberry Pie
Saskatoon Berry Cobbler

CBC Radio Calling

It was terrific fun to take part in the CBC Christmas Open House on Dec. 7 in Regina. We talked about many wonderful holiday foods, and here are two of the recipes we mentioned.

Snow Drift
3/4 cups soft butter
1/2 cup icing sugar
1 cup flour
1/2 cup corn starch
1 tsp grated lemon rind
Homemade jam or jelly
3 eggs whites
1/3 cup icing sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Cream the butter and 1/2 cup icing sugar until light and fluffy. Sift together the flour and cornstarch. Blend into the butter mixture with the vanilla. Form the dough into a circle on a piece of wax paper, wrap tightly and refrigerate for one hour or more.

Flour the work surface. Place the dough on the flour, cover with the wax paper and roll with a rolling pin to a thickness of 1/4 inch (about 1/2 cm). Cut the dough with a 3-inch round cookie cutter (about 8 cm) and place each cookie on a baking sheet. Bake at 300F for 15-20 min., until the dough is cooked but not browned. Remove from oven and cool slightly. Cover each cookie with a layer of homemade jam or jelly.

Whip the egg whites until frothy. And the vanilla. Whip until stiff peaks form. Scoop some meringue onto each cookie, swirling with a spoon to make peaks. Bake at 300F for about 10-15 minutes, until meringue starts to brown.

Muesli
3 cups rolled oats
½ cup sunflower seeds
½ cup hemp seeds
¼ cup pumpkin seeds
¼ cup flax seeds
3 tbsp honey
3 tbsp canola oil

Mix together the oats and seeds. Stir together the honey and oil. If they are too stiff to stir, heat them in the microwave. Pour the honey/oil into the oats and mix thoroughly with your hands. Spread the mixture onto a big cookie sheet and bake at 200F for about two hours, stirring now and then to prevent burning at the edges. Remove from oven and cool on cookie sheet. Add dried fruit of your choice. Store in an airtight container.

MERINGUE NESTS WITH FRESH BERRIES

This is a great dessert to serve after a patio barbeque.










4 large egg whites at room temperature
1 cup icing sugar
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cup whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla
Fresh raspberries

Heat oven to 325F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon mat.

Beat the egg whites on medium speed until soft peaks form. Turn the mixer on high and add the icing sugar one spoonful at a time, beating for ten seconds between each addition. When the whites are stiff, sprinkle in the cornstarch and vanilla, mixing well.

Scoop the meringue into 12 small mounds on the cookie sheet, using the back of a spoon to create a depression in the centre of each meringue circle. Bake 5 min. Turn down the heat to 200F. Bake for one hour. Turn off the heat and leave the meringues in the oven for another hour or two, until very dry. (The amount of time needed to fully dry the meringue will vary depending on the humidity that day.)

Whip the cream with vanilla. Just before serving, spread whipped cream onto each meringue and top with fresh berries.

Newspaper Column - LINGONBERRY PINWHEELS

Published in the Saskatoon Star Phoenix, 20 February 2007.

I have been reading about the health benefits of Saskatchewan berries. And there are many. Berries are full of antioxidants which are credited with preventing cancer, reducing heart disease and even slowing the affects of aging. According to many studies, berries are better for you than most other fruits. Even strawberries have more vitamin C than oranges. So, if berries are such a wonder food, it’s a wonder that we don’t eat more of them.

My husband and I got hooked on berries during our all-Saskatchewan diet, during which we tried to eat only foods that were grown or produced in Saskatchewan. Berries were an important part of that. With few other fruits grown in Saskatchewan, we stocked up on raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, saskatoons and sour cherries. We picked most of the berries ourselves, either in the wild, in backyards (with permission, of course) or at U-Pick farms.

One day last August, I took a drive up to La Ronge to hunt for wild mushrooms but instead found an abundance of blueberries on the forest floor. I sat and picked for hours. I also made a trip to St. Walburg for the annual Wild Blueberry Festival. It was amazing to see so many people having so much fun in one little town. The lineup at the blueberry tables began well before 9:00 a.m., when the town clock signaled the start of sales. In some years, the blueberries are sold out quickly, but this was a good year for blueberries and there were plenty to go around.

One summer a few years ago, while canoeing north of La Ronge with friends Tom and Magda, we camped on an island that was blanketed in low bush cranberries. So, while the guys pitched the tents, the gals picked as many cranberries as we could by the fading light. Back in Saskatoon, we turned the berries over to Tom’s wife Eva, who made a delicious preserve she calls by the Polish word, borowki. In Europe, they are also known as lingonberries, the national fruit of Sweden.

Thankfully, residents of Saskatoon no longer have to drive north for wild blueberries and lingonberries. Tony Kustiak of Shellbrook is now selling them at the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market and the Steep Hill Co-op. He says the berries are picked around Turner Lake and La Loche beginning in mid-September. He sells them fresh in summer and frozen in winter.

"An older gentleman from Germany who came to Canada many years ago said he hadn’t seen lingonberries since he was a little boy. He bought a big bag of them," says Tony. My husband puts Tony’s blueberries on his cereal every morning and on Valentine’s Day, he made blueberry pancakes for breakfast. I usually cook a "red" dinner on Valentine’s Day. Last year, we had a beet salad with rare steaks and a Saskatchewan sour cherry pie. This year, it was a berry red dinner: leg of lamb with Eva’s borowki preserves, wild rice salad with dried sour cherries, and for dessert, lingonberry pastry pinwheels.

Lingonberry Pastry Pinwheels
1 half package puff pastry
1/2 cup frozen lingonberries
1/2 cup walnut pieces
3 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tbsp. honey
pinch of grated orange rind

In a spice grinder or food processor, grind the berries and walnuts until they are roughly chopped. Mix them with the sugar, honey and a small pinch of orange rind. You can taste it and add more orange rind if you like. Roll the pastry in to a rectangle. Spread the berry mixture over the pastry. Roll the long sides of the pastry toward the middle, so that the two rolls meet in the middle. Using a sharp knife, cut the roll into 1/2-inch (1 cm) slices. Place the slices flat on a cookie sheet. Since it was Valentine’s Day, I shaped the bottom of each roll into a point, so that they looked like hearts. Bake at 400F. for about 12 minutes.

Newspaper Column - SNOW DRIFT

Published in the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, 22 January 2007.

It was mighty cozy at my house during the blizzard last week. The wood stove was crackling, keeping warm a big pot of soup. If the power had gone out, we would have pulled open the sofa bed and slept near the fire. Food and fuel – we’ve got plenty of that on hand at our house. I’ve been stockpiling food staples for a couple of years. Not because I’m worried about survival, but because I discover such wonderful Saskatchewan foods that I want to make sure I have a good supply.

For instance, we have enough lentils and split peas to serve a small village for a week. Jars and jars of canned fruit. Half a pig and half a lamb. A sack of rolled oats. A ton of frozen tomatoes. A bucket of wild rice. But it makes you wonder… What if a blizzard or an ice storm closed the grocery stores for a few days? Or, prevented the food trucks from arriving in the city? Almost everything we buy in the grocery store comes from far away. A study in Chicago a few years ago found that most fresh produce travelled more than 2,000 km from the field to the store, and we are quite a bit further north of Chicago.

One day this past fall, while driving to Delisle, I counted all the trucks on the highway that were transporting food. The trucks were either refrigerated, labeled with a food company logo or involved in agriculture. Close to 75% of the transport trucks had something to do with food.

The evening of the blizzard, I was scheduled to give a talk for the Environmental Society on the environmental benefits of eating local food. Shipping food by truck is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, so it stands to reason that eating locally-produced food is better for the environment. It’s also good for the environment in that local food often requires less refrigeration, less packaging, fewer sprays and fewer non-food additives. There is less wear-and-tear on the roads and less going to waste. Many environmentalists are now concluding that eating local food is better for the environment than eating organic produce that is shipped in from distant farms in California, New Zealand and Mexico.

Perhaps we could all make a New Year’s resolution to eat more food produced right here in Saskatchewan. A local food potluck would be a great way to start. Here is the local food menu of my day-after-Christmas dinner: potato casserole, wild rice salad, stuffed goose breast and a funny-looking dessert that I call Snow Drift. I thought I might try to bag my own goose, but in the end it was provided by my hunting friends Sue and Vance (and their bird dog Belle). It was complimented by some Dolgo crabapple jelly from Boris and Anne.

I found the goose recipe on the internet attributed to celebrity chef Mario Batali. The recipe for the wild rice salad is here. Here’s that crazy-looking dessert, adapted from Food and Wine Magazine.

A light touch - PEAR SOUFFLE

I I cracked open a jar of my canned pears and they are yummy! The pears came from a tree on Temperance Street here in Saskatoon. It was a good hot summer and the pears were ripening on the tree and sooo juicy. My canned pears are wonderful eaten on their own, but I tried something new:

PEAR SOUFFLE
1 cup of canned pears
1 cup of pear syrup
1 cup water
1/4-1/2 cup sugar (if the pears were canned without sugar, use the larger amount)
pinch cinnamon
4 eggs separated at room temperature

Butter four to six oven-proof ramekins. (Since I don’t have ramekins, I used cappuccino mugs.) Dust each one lightly with sugar.

Combine the pear syrup, water and sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and stir to dissolve the sugar. Turn heat down to a simmer. Chop the pears and add to the simmering liquid. When the pears are very tender, strain them from the liquid. Purée the pears with the cinnamon. Boil the liquid until it is reduced to 1/3 cup. Cool syrup completely.

Whisk the egg yolks with 2 tbsp. of pear syrup in a metal bowl. Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and whisk the egg yolks until they thicken. Stir the egg yolks into the pear purée and blend well.

Beat the egg whites until firm. Add 2 tbsp. of pear syrup. Continue to beat the egg whites until stiff and glossy. Fold the egg whites into the pear purée, folding together just until blended. Don’t overdo it.

Spoon the mixture into the ramekins (or cappuccino mugs) and bake at 375 F. for about 20 minutes. Souflées will be golden and nicely risen. Remove from oven and serve at once. It think they would be even nicer drizzled with chocolate – next time!




Chop and simmer the pears in pear syrup and water until very soft. Strain pears from liquid.

Fruit + fruit = more fruit flies - PEAR TART

My kitchen is full of apples, pears, plums, cherries, blueberries and... fruit flies. Tonight, JB and I were peeling apples for apple butter and it seemed as if the fruit flies were multiplying right before our eyes. Fornicating and birthing right there in the compost bucket. When we were done, I swabbed the counter with ammonia and put every scrap of fruit in the fridge. For the curious, here is where I obtained this luscious Saskatchewan fruit:

Apples, cherries and plums from the Yoanna U-Pick orchard at Radisson. The last of the fruit will be picked this long weekend, so if you want some get there fast. By the way, this orchard does not advertise and has no road sign - word of mouth sells out its product every year.

Blueberries from three sources: 1) the Saskatoon Farmers' Market, 2) the Wild Blueberry Festival held last weekend in St. Walburg and 3) picked myself in the forest outside La Ronge.

Pears came from a big old tree in a back yard on Temperance Street (Dick and Verna's house). It is a very good year for pears - they are as large and as ripe (er, riper) than any you get in a grocery store. The moral of this story is: Saskatchewan has prolific fruit trees and prolific fruit flies.

PEAR TART
4-8 ripe pears, depending on the size
juice of one lemon
2 tbsp. brandy
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
purchased puff pastry, thawed

Peel and core the pears and cut into quarters or fat slices. Heat the oven to 350.

In a medium cast iron skillet (9 or 10 inches), melt the butter and stir in the brown sugar. It should be bubbling. Toss in the brandy; let it sizzle and evaporate. Remove from heat. Place the pear pieces, core side up, into the caramel. You can toss them in at random or arrange them in nice circles.

Place the skillet back on the heat until the caramel bubbles. Using a small spoon, scoop up the sauce and pour a little over each piece of pear. At this stage, you want the pears to be warm in the sauce but you don't want it to brown and burn.

Remove from heat. Roll a piece of puff pastry into a circle roughly the same size as the skillet and place it neatly over the pears. Tuck the edges into the caramel sauce. Don't worry if the pastry isn't exactly round, just fold over the edges to make it fit in the pan. Cut vents in the pastry. Bake for about 20 minutes.

Remove the skillet from the oven. Put it on a low-heat burner to loosen the pears from the bottom of the pan. Place a plate tightly over the crust and, using oven mits, flip the skillet so that the tart is on the plate. The pears are now on top. Serve with ice cream or creme fraiche.

Berries galore - BUMBLEBERRY PIE

Last week, I spent a couple days at a Benedictine Monastery at Muenster, Saskatchewan, where the monks fill their days by keeping marvellous gardens. Brother Basil, the chief farmer, showed me around the grounds on his golf cart. Later, I walked out past the cemetery to the raspberry patch and picked a pail of amber raspberries.

I had never tasted amber raspberries before. They are sweeter and more delicate than the common red raspberry, and so delicious. Now I’m eating them every day (or twice a day!) before they go soft. This Bumbleberry Pie is a good way to use a variety of berries and fruit when you don’t have enough for one pie on its own. In addition to the amber raspberries, I used raspberries (picked at Don's house), lush strawberries from the Strawberry Ranch, my own rhubarb, my mom’s saskatoon berries and crabapples we picked over our neighbours' fence.

BUMBLEBERRY PIE
5 cups of fruit, of which 1 cup is tart apple
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
dash of salt
a bit of butter
prepared pastry crust

Peel, core and chop the apple. Chop the other large fruit like rhubarb and big strawberries. Combine all the fruit in a bowl and toss with the flour to coat. Mix in the sugar and the salt.

Roll the pastry so it will have an overhand of at least one inch when placed in the pie plate. Place it into the plate and scoop in the fruit. Dot here and there with bit of butter. Fold the loose edges of pastry over the top of the filling so that it forms a rough circle around the edge of the pie; the centre remains uncovered. (This method uses less pastry crust and allows everyone to see how pretty the fruit looks after it’s cooked.) You can sprinkle the crust with sugar, if you like. Bake at 375 for about 30-40 minutes, until the crust is cooked.

Newspaper - STRAWBERRY MILLE FEUILLE

This column appeared in the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix on 24 July 2006.

Sometimes, we can trace our talents directly to our parents. From my mom, I get my collecting-old-dishware gene. From my dad, I get my talent for berry picking. My dad is a terrific berry picker. He is in early, picks steadily, eats little and doesn’t quit until the pails are full. There is a legend in our family that he broke the all-time record for the most cherries picked in one day at a certain U-Pick in BC. That’s my dad.

When I was growing up on the farm, late July was time for the annual saskatoon berry expedition to Findlater Valley or Lake Manitou. I learned early to wear white (to stay cool), long sleeves (against the brambles) and a belt (to loop the handle of the bucket so both hands were free). We packed the bug spray, a picnic and lots of ice cream pails.

I have always loved picking berries. I love the rhythm of it, like a mantra, a single action repeated but not without challenge, since the berries must be examined as they are picked and discarded if wormy. I love the solitude in the bush, the heat and the buzzing insects. I love the feeling of accomplishment, pride in picking clean and thorough, the gratification of watching the pail fill slowly to the top.

Of course, I love to eat berries, too. Considering all this, it’s a good thing I was born in Saskatchewan where berry picking is a cultural pastime from way back. It’s getting even easier now to pick berries with U-Pick farms popping up all over the place. The website of the Saskatchewan Fruit Growers Association has a map showing more than 70 U-Picks around the province and lists 16 different fruits!

Last summer, I discovered the Yoanna Orchard U-Pick at Radisson. They have 50 different varieties of apples, but I was ga-ga for the cherries. These are small, tart cherries perfect for jams and pies, developed at the University of Saskatchewan for our dry summers and cold winters. In two visits, my husband and I picked nine buckets. This summer, I am already satisfying my itch to pick. A few weeks ago I went to the Strawberry Ranch with a couple of girlfriends and their kids. I spent the rest of the morning canning fruit and making jam. Then some other friends let me loose in their raspberry patch...

I am so passionate about Saskatchewan fruit because I am passionate about Saskatchewan food overall. For one full year, my husband and I ate almost nothing but Saskatchewan foods at our own dinner table. We made an effort to try new things and to really make the most of what this province has to offer. Now that year is up and we have a new challenge. Everyday, I want to eat something procured by our own hands. It might be herbs or fish or, you guessed it, lots of berries.

STRAWBERRIES MILLE FEUILLE
(or Strawberries Between the Sheets)

In France, mille feuille means a thousand sheets of paper or a thousand leaves. It is often created by layering fruit and cream between thin layers of cake or sweet crisps. This version is even easier, but it looks just as impressive. This recipe makes four desserts. For larger amounts you can double the pastry cream.

phyllo pastry
1/3 cup butter
1 cup fresh sliced strawberries
icing sugar for dusting

Pastry Cream
1/2 tbsp vanilla
1 cup milk
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
3 tbsp flour
1.5 tbsp soft butter
1/3 cup whipping cream

Cut the phyllo pastry into roughly four-inch squares. You’ll need seven squares per person, but do a few extra incase some break. Melt 1/3 cup butter until it foams. Remove from heat and skim off the foam with a spoon. Spread the pastry sheets in a single layer on a clean cooking sheet. (I covered the cookie sheet in parchment paper.) Brush the pastry lightly with melted butter and bake in a 300-degree oven. Watch carefully – it takes just a few minutes to crisp and turn brown. Store the pastry sheets in an airtight container.

Heat the milk and vanilla on medium heat until it boils. In another bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the flour and mix well. Add one-quarter of the hot milk and whisk until fully incorporated. Whisk in the remaining milk and pour through a strainer into a clean saucepan. Heat the mixture on medium, stirring constantly, until it boils. Remove from heat and whisk in the soft butter a bit at a time so it is completely smooth. Cool. This can be made ahead of time, pressed with plastic wrap and stored in the fridge.

Before serving, whip the cream and fold it into the cold pastry cream. Place three pastry sheets on each plate. Cover with a layer of pastry cream. Dot with strawberries. Add another three pastry sheets, more cream and more fruit. Top with one more sheet. For decoration, you might place a half strawberry on the top of each one. Dust with icing sugar and serve.

Ode to Rhubarb - RHUBARB MUFFIINS

I love any plant in my garden that can survive a Saskatchewan winter and spring back up in... well... spring. Rhubarb fits that bill. Even if you don’t eat it, it just looks great. Some friends were talking recently about green rhubarb. Apparently that was more common before this upstart red variety cornered the rhubarb market. Somehow, I just don’t think it would be as pleasing to eat.

My nieces were recently visiting from the metropolis of LA and I got them hooked on raw rhubarb dipped in sugar. Mmmmmm. One of my favourite ways to eat rhubarb is a Rhubarb Up-side-down Cake (see recipe at 30 May 2005), but these muffins come a close second.

RHUBARB MUFFINS
2.5 cups flour
1 t. baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups chopped rhubarb
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla

Topping:
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup rolled oats
1 tbsp melted butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Mix in the rhubarb and coat the pieces in flour. In another bowl, mix the sugar and oil. Whisk in the egg, buttermilk and vanilla. Blend this liquid mixture into the flour mixture, stirring just and until it is incorporated. Spoon the batter into a greased muffin tin. Sprinkle a bit of topping on each one. Bake at 350 C. for 20-25 minutes. (It makes 18 muffins in my muffin tin.)

Newspaper - CLAFOUTIS

This column first appeared in the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix on 17 April 2006

Every now and then, my husband and I go on the egg diet, during which we try our best to eat eggs three times a day. For instance, we may have pancakes for breakfast, egg salad sandwiches for lunch and an omelet for supper. Or, scrambled eggs for breakfast, a spinach salad for lunch and Spaghetti Carbonara (an Italian dish made with eggs and bacon) at the end of the day.

When you think of it, it’s amazing how many different ways there are to eat eggs. Few foods can make the transition from breakfast to dessert as easily as eggs. When we talk about incompetent cooks, we say they can’t even boil an egg. When we talk about gifted cooks, we may think of the perfect, un-deflated soufflé.

My husband and I buy free-range eggs from a farmer, which means the eggs are laid by hens that eat grass and bugs and get their daily exercise. These eggs range in shades from pure white to fawn beige, and range in size from regular to double-yolk big. Every three or four weeks, the farmer arrives at my door in Saskatoon with 20 dozen eggs. I use what I need and resell the rest to my city friends who appreciate this little taste of country. Sometimes my friends don’t need eggs and so we have a couple dozen left in the fridge when the farmer is due to arrive again. Thus, the egg diet. We need to use up what we have before the new batch arrives.

It’s kind of funny that I should turn out to be an Egg Lady because my mother was an Egg Lady when I was growing up on the farm at Craik. We kept a pen of laying hens and mom sold the extra eggs to her friends for 25 cents a dozen. As children, we had to gather the eggs. Twice a day, we would slip into the chicken coop, shoo the chickens off their roosts and scoop up the warm eggs. I didn’t particularly like doing this and would often trade with my brothers – I’d do their dishes if they did my eggs. We all thought we got the best of that deal.

Many people will be eating hardboiled eggs this week, leftovers from the Easter celebration. However, eggs have been associated with spring festivals since long before Easter was inspired 2,000 years ago. The ancient Persians gave out coloured eggs to celebrate spring. The goddess of fertility was known, over time, as Ishtar, Ostara and finally Eastre in old Europe to denote her association with the sun rising in the east on the morning of the spring equinox. Her symbol was an egg.

One of my favourite ways to eat eggs is Clafoutis (kla-foo-tee), a sweet flan from France often served warm for breakfast or brunch. Unlike some French delicacies, it is wonderfully simple and easy to prepare. It is traditionally made with cherries, but I give it a Saskatchewan flavour by using a mix of prairie berries.

PRAIRIE BERRY CLAFOUTIS
2 tbsp. butter
3 eggs
3 tbsp. sugar
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup flour
2 cups mixed berries (sour cherries, raspberries, strawberries, saskatoons)
1 tbsp. flour

Heat the oven to 350 degrees C. In the oven, melt the butter in a 10-inch cast iron skillet (or a similar sized baking pan), making sure the butter doesn’t brown. In a blender mix the eggs, sugar, milk, vanilla and salt. With the blades running, gradually add the flour and mix well. Pour the batter into the buttered skillet. Toss the berries with a tablespoon of flour then scatter the fruit over the top of the batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the centre of the custard is set (test by inserting a knife). Serve warm, perhaps with a sprinkling of icing sugar or a drizzle of maple syrup.

Newspaper - OATMEAL JAM JAMS

This article first appeared in the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix newspaper on 20 March 2006.

Have you ever tried a new cookie recipe and loved it so much you made it over and over again for several weeks running? It’s quick and easy. Your family loves it. And best of all, it’s made with your favourite vegetable. I recently found just such a recipe on my doorstep in Saskatoon. Well, in the mailbox, to be exact. Somebody (and you know who you are) placed a little green cookbook in my mailbox called "Zucchini: You can never have enough."

Readers of this column may know that zucchini is my favourite summer vegetable. Strange choice, you say? Consider the versatility of the zucchini. You can eat the vegetables when they are very small or very big, and in many different ways from grilled to stir-fried. You can even eat the flowers. In the garden, it grows fast and furious whether or not you have a green thumb. Have you ever heard of a zucchini crop failure? And the flowers are so big and beautiful, I feel sunny just looking at them.

Up until now, I have tended to eat my zucchini as a vegetable and not as an ingredient in desserts. I’ve never made a chocolate zucchini cake, primarily because grating zucchini seemed such a tedious task. All that changed with this little cookbook. It arrived in February at a crucial moment – I had just discovered one large green zucchini still in storage in the basement.
This zucchini was picked last fall and had obviously escaped detection in the garden for a long time because it was really, really big. Perhaps it was the sheer size that helped preserve it all these months.

The flesh was a bit soft and had passed its prime as a vegetable, but I hated to throw it out (ie: compost it). As it turns out, it was perfect for grating. The recipe I choose was Zucchini-Oatmeal Cookies, which were so good I made several batches before that zucchini expired. With ingredients like oats, honey and zucchini, it was perfect for my Saskatchewan-only diet. For the past year, my husband and I have been trying to eat nothing but Saskatchewan-made foods in our own home.

Our Saskatchewan desserts have included cherry pie, carrot cake, oatmeal jam jams, bread pudding, berry cobbler and rhubarb upside-down skillet cake (the recipe for which was included in this column last May. You can look it up at homefordinner.blogspot.com). Although we are eating a Saskatchewan diet, we do permit ourselves some "foreign" ingredients like sugar, raisins and cinnamon for a mostly-Saskatchewan recipe.

Our friends and family often help us along with gifts of Saskatchewan foods that have included venison, moose, fish, apples, wild rice, fruit preserves, potatoes and honey. Usually I know our benefactors, but this little cookbook remains a mystery. I would like to share the recipe for Zucchini-Oatmeal Cookies but it would be inappropriate to print it here without permission from the author, John Butler. I’m sure his book is in the stores.

Instead, here is the recipe for my Grandma Jo’s Oatmeal Jam Jams. I used organic rolled oats from the Daybreak-Scheresky Mill at Estevan and filled them with a thick preserve of lingonberries (better known here as wild cranberries) made by a friend.

Oatmeal Jam-Jams
2 cups flour
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup sour milk

Grandma’s instructions simply say, "Roll these." To elaborate, mix everything together, form it into two balls, wrap it in plastic and place it in the fridge to cool down. Using a floured counter and a rolling pin, roll each ball of dough to a thickness of 1/8 inch (3-4 cm). Cut out circles with a cookie cutter or a glass. Bake on a cookie sheet for 8-9 minutes at 350 degrees. Transfer the hot cookies to a rack to cool. Spread a dollop of jam or preserves on one cookie and press another cookie on top. These cookies are crisp when they come out of the oven but the filling will soften them up.

Week 48 - PRAIRIE BERRY CLAFOUTIS

Saskatchewan Menu of the Week – 15 March 2006

Breakfast – Yogurt and cherry sauce.
Lunch – Lentil soup. Clafoutis.
Dinner – Spaghetti Carbonera. Green salad.


PRAIRIE BERRY CLAFOUTIS
Clafouis (kla-foo-tea’) is a sweet "pancake" from France, often served hot for breakfast or brunch. Unlike some French delicacies, it is wonderfully simple and easy to prepare. It is traditionally made with cherries, but I like to use a mix of Saskatchewan berries such as strawberries, cherries, raspberries and saskatoons.

In the summer when the berries are fresh, I freeze them individually on a cookie sheet, then pack them into airtight containers. This prevents the juicy berries from freezing into one solid block, making it much easier to remove just a handful at a time.

2 T butter
3 eggs
3T sugar
1c milk
1/2t vanilla
1/4t salt
1c flour
2c mixed sour cherries, raspberries, strawberries and saskatoons (you can also include some fresh rhubarb in the mix.)
1T flour

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. In the oven, melt the butter in a 10-inch cast iron skillet (or a similar sized baking pan), making sure the butter doesn’t brown. In a blender mix the eggs, sugar, milk, vanilla and salt. With the blades running, gradually add the flour and mix well. Pour the batter into the buttered skillet. Toss the berries with a tablespoon of flour, then scatter the fruit over the top of the batter. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the centre of the custard is set. Serve warm, perhaps with a sprinkling of icing sugar or a drizzle of syrup.

Week 46 - PIE CRUST

Saskatchewan Menu of the Week – 27 February 2006

Breakfast – Toast and lingonberry jam
Lunch – Corn chowder
Dinner – Pike fillets. Wild rice. Coleslaw. Cherry pie.

PIE CRUST
I learned to make pie crust from my mother-in-law, Alma Bertolini. She learned it from her mother, who made pies for a diner. As the story goes, a young man came to the diner because he loved the pies and ended up marrying the daughter. After Alma passed away, I taught her son, Jim, how to make her pie crust. (This is not the son I married but his younger brother.) As she taught me, technique is very important in making a successful pie crust. The ingredients must be at fridge temperature and worked swiftly so they don’t warm up. Always refrigerate the dough at least an hour before rolling – it keeps in the fridge for several days and freezes well.

3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup lard
1 tbsp. white vinegar
1/2 cup ice water

Fill a cup with water and drop in a couple of ice cubes.
Sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Cut in the cold butter and lard with a pastry blender. Using your fingers, continue to work the butter and lard into the flour until it is no larger than squished peas. Work quickly.
Measure 1/2 cup of ice water. Briskly stir in the egg and vinegar.
Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the liquid. Stir briskly with a fork, incorporating the flour and water as best you can. Using your hands, press the dough into a ball, pressing in the flour in the bottom of the bowl (if you don’t get all the flour incorporated, that’s okay). Do not knead like bread.
Cut the ball into quarters. Press each quarter into a round shape, wrap in plastic and refrigerate until you are ready to use it.

Week 39 & 40 - SASKATOON BERRY PIE

Saskatchewan Menu of the Week -- 14 January 2006

Breakfast -- Leftover Saskatoon Berry Pie.
Lunch -- Leftover pasta.
Dinner -- Leftover roast chicken and coleslaw

My husband seems to think pie is an inappropriate food for breakfast. Cake, he's fine with, and I must admit leftover chocolate cake with my morning coffee is delightful. But this morning I walked groggily into the kitchen and there staring at me from the counter was a wedge of saskatoon berry pie, leftover from a family dinner last night. I waited until he was out the door and I very leisurely enjoyed that piece of pie.

If you are interested in making a saskatoon berry pie, you must first secure a source of saskatoon berries. These grow wild in Saskatchewan and I learned to pick them from a very young age. Nowadays, some orchards are growing saskatoons and you can even buy them frozen in the Co-op grocery store. Outside of Saskatchewan, it is called a June berry or a service berry, but I don’t hear about people using them for pies. (Correct me if I’m wrong.) Here, they become pies, jams, syrups, sparkling juice and even covered in chocolate.

To make a saskatoon berry pie, mix four cups of berries with 1/2 cup sugar, 2T of tapioca and a dash of salt. If the berries are frozen, let them thaw a bit to blend with the sugar. Sprinkle in 1 tsp of almond extract. Spread into a pie shell. Place a few dabs of butter on the berries and cover with the top crust. Brush the crust with milk and sprinkle with sugar. Bake the pie at 450 degrees for 15 minutes, then turn it down to 375 degrees for about half an hour.

Week 38 -- HONEY BISCOTTI

Saskatchewan Menu of the Week -- 3 January 2006

Brunch -- Honey Nut Biscotti and café au lait.
Dinner -- Baked beans. Scalloped potatoes.

Biscotti means twice cooked in Italian, as these cookies are.

Sift together and form a well in the center:
2.5 cups flour
1.5 cups sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Into the well, add:
4 big eggs
1 tbsp. honey
1 tsp. vanilla

Gradually stir the ingredients together. When it’s almost mixed, work in:

1cup whole toasted almonds

Divide the dough in two. The dough will be somewhat sticky so flour your hands. Grease a baking sheet. On the baking sheet, form each half of dough into a log about 2-2.5 inches wide. Bake at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes. Before removing from oven, make sure the dough is no longer raw by pressing a finger into the middle of the log. If it is still gooey, bake a few minutes longer.

Remove the logs from the oven and slide onto a cutting board. Cut each log into diagonal slices 1/2 inch thick. Place the slices on their side on the cookie sheet. Bake a second time at 325 degrees for about 10 minutes. Place on a cookie rack to cool. Keep biscotti in an airtight container so it doesn’t go soft.

Week 36 - APPLE TARTE

Saskatchewan Menu of the Week -- 22 December 2005

Brunch – Ricotta pie with rhubarb salsa
Dinner – Pork and Fruit Stew with biscuits. Apple Tarte.

APPLE TARTE
This is skinnier and therefore less filling than an apple pie, but no less tasty. I make it in a tarte pan, which has short fluted sides (as opposed to a deep pie dish). Serve it with whipped cream, if you like. In late summer, when apples are abundant, I make this with Saskatchewan apples instead of Granny Smiths.

1.5 cups applesauce (made with Saskatchewan apples)
2 big granny smith apples
a single pie crust
cinnamon, sugar to taste
3T jelly (I used local gooseberry jelly)

Heat the applesauce in a saucepan. Spice it up with cinnamon to your taste and add a few tablespoons of sugar to make it less tart. Roll the pastry and place it in the tarte pan, crimping the edges around the rim. Spoon in the applesauce in a smooth layer.

Peel and core the granny smith apples, and slice them thinly. Lay the apple slices on top of the applesauce, forming a circle of closely overlapping apple slices. Repeat with an inner circle of apple to cover the pie. Melt the jelly until it is liquefied and brush it onto the sliced apples. (Sometimes I add a thimble of liquor such as brandy to the jelly, but I did not this time because there was a child coming for dinner.) As a final touch, I brushed the crust with milk and sprinked it with sugar.

Bake the tarte in 375 degrees until the crust is brown and the apples are soft, about 30-35 minutes.