I poured the thick, grade A dark amber maple syrup into the pot and reluctantly added a cup of water to thin it out. Even still, the liquid was viscous, sluggish, sweet. Perfect for simmering dough until tender. I clicked on the range and watched as the syrup shimmered, swirled, and eventually bubbled up. Time to make the doughnuts. I mean… grandpères. One by one, I dropped small, sticky balls of dough into the simmering syrup and watched them dunk, then bob back up to the surface. “Are they ready yet?” Keith was breathing down my neck. A moment later his nose was an inch from the molten hot tub of sugary goodness. “You’ll get burned,” I warned, slapping his fork away. “What’s with you and forks for dessert, anyway?” I muttered. He laughed. You see, almost every time we eat dessert he uses a fork. And every time I ask him why. He also wears his socks inside out. The man is a mystery. Canadian Dijon and Maple Grilled Chicken [Recipe] What I liked …
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Serves 4 Hot, sweet, syrupy Grandpères served with two scoops of cold vanilla ice cream. Genius. And we have generations of Canadians to thank for keeping this age-old recipe alive. You can eat this for breakfast or dessert. Or a midnight snack. Ingredients: For the dumplings: 2 – 2 1/4 cups flour 1 Tbsp baking powder 1/2 tsp cinnamon pinch of salt 3 Tbsp butter 3/4 cup whole milk For the cooking liquid: 2 cups maple syrup 1 1/2 cups water Method: In a large bowl, mix together flour… … start with two cups and add more if you need to. Stir in the baking powder… A scoop of cinnamon (or Sin as my mom likes to call it) Whisk together with a pinch of salt. Can you see Keith? Now add some buttery goodness. Cut it into the flour with a pastry cutter. Stop when the butter is pea-sized. Next comes the milk. Mix it together until it forms a loose mass, like wet bread dough. Add water to a pot… make it a …
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Serves 6 If you’re looking for a quick and easy marinade, forget the supermarket bottles, loaded up with high fructose corn syrup and chemicals. Our sweet, natural glaze is made with dijon mustard, crushed garlic and rich maple syrup. Special thanks to Kevin from Toronto whose recipe Maple Dijon Grilled Chicken inspired our version. If you haven’t already checked out his blog “Closet Cooking,” you are in for a treat. This guy is an inspiring cook and photographer. Ingredients: 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 1/2 cup maple syrup 1/3 cup Dijon mustard 2 garlic cloves, crushed Method: For the marinade: 1. In a small bowl, mix together mustard… … maple syrup… … and crushed garlic. I love how the mustard seeds give the marinade a little texture. Pour over the chicken and marinade for a few hours (overnight is best). Turn once to ensure even coverage of the chicken. To Grill: Preheat a clean, oiled grill to high. Lay on the chicken and let cook a few minutes per side, or until done. The maple …
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Serves 2-3 Cherry tomatoes are sweet bursts of summertime. Their flavor deepens when roasted with creamy butter and fresh thyme – a juicy side dish that forgives even the driest chicken and wild rice, while bravely complimenting perfectly cooked meals as well. If that isn’t enough reason to try this vegetarian recipe, these tomatoes actually made my picky husband exclaim “pretty good!” That’s quite the milestone considering the tomato is one of his major food nemeses. Like Batman’s Joker or Superman’s Ingredients: 2 Tbsp butter (or olive oil) 1 pint tomatoes (grape, cherry, or other) 1-2 sprigs fresh thyme leaves Method: Run to your farmer’s market and pick up a basket of beautiful cherry tomatoes. Eat one or two. I won’t tell! When you get home, preheat the oven to 375F Melt some butter over low heat (or you can use olive oil for a vegan version of this dish) Rinse tomatoes and place in a bowl Bathe them in melted butter Sprinkle with fresh thyme – pull the leaves off of 1-2 sprigs. Always pull …
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How to Harvest Canadian Wild Rice: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQBZrTLPgzI Slow Food in Ontario, in the center: The food of Montreal, to the east: The food of Vancouver, to the west:
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Maple Syrup To make 1/4 gallon (1 quart) of maple syrup requires an astonishing 10.5 gallons of tree sap. Traditionally a metal bucket was MacGyvered to a tree to extract the goods. Now a days, a tube connects all the trees into one happy, meandering mess of sap that flows directly into the sugarhouse, where it is finally boiled down into syrup. Dulse Dulse is an edible seaweed eaten in the Atlantic Canada. First it is harvested from the ocean waters, then dried out in the sunl. There are about 250 other varieties of seaweed growing wild on Canada’s shores, but most of them aren’t typically eaten.
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On shopping day, I browsed the bulk bins, hoping against hope that I could find the real thing – Canadian Lake Wild Rice – here, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. As I scanned past basmati, jasmine and wild rice blends, my eye caught something shiny and jet black. I didn’t even have to read the label to know I was in business. The long grains gave themselves away. They look like a pile of runway models in sleek black dresses. Canadian wild rice is all together a different plant than American wild rice. In fact, the long, spindly needles are more related to wild grass than rice. Canadians have dubbed their special grain Canadian Lake Wild rice, a beautiful and apt description of the rice’s growing environment, where the grains billow above the waters. Recipe (Serves 2-3) Making Canadian Wild Rice is easier than almost any rice I can think of. Just remember my tips about hot dog buns and popcorn. Confused? You won’t be. Keep reading! Ingredients: 1 cup wild rice (rinsed and checked for debris) 3 …
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We chose our dessert in .001 seconds this week. What could possibly be better than dough simmered in maple syrup? I like to think of it as deep-frying, but in sugar instead of oil. While this dessert is decidedly sweet, our maple glazed chicken carries a more subtle sweetness, rounded out by garlic and mustard. The rest of the meal showcases farm fresh produce/grains of Canada. Canadian Dijon & Maple Grilled Chicken [Recipe] Chicken coated with a simple blend of maple syrup, Dijon mustard, and crushed garlic, then grilled. Butter-roasted Tomatoes [Recipe] Fresh tomatoes roasted with butter and fresh thyme until tender. Canadian Wild Rice [Recipe] Wild Rice seasoned with fresh thyme makes good use of this Canadian crop. Grandpa’s Maple Dumplings (Grandpères) [Recipe] Drops of soft dough boiled in hot maple syrup. Oh yeah.
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Canada is so much more than igloos and icicles. We’re talking about the second largest country in the world, after all. Canadian food reflects the tastes of a people living in a landscape as varied as it is massive. There are foggy fishing villages on the eastern shore, towering, razor sharp mountains to the west, and a breathtaking expanse of plains within the heart of this great country. Peppered with about two million lakes, there’s no end to the wildlife and fish available. The country is experiencing a similar real food movement to the United States, celebrating local produce, farmers and manufacturers in an effort to support local economy. The effect on the food scene includes restaurants featuring many farmstand delights, such as local cheese, fruits and vegetables, like sweet blueberries, tart cranberries, and juicy summertime tomatoes served in dishes like Butter-Roasted Tomatoes. Some prized locally grown products include wild rice and fiddlehead ferns. Canadian wild rice is black as night and at least three times as long as regular rice (a very distant cousin). …
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I’ve said it before, but this time I mean it. I’m never buying catfish again. Ever. Not in a million, billion years. Store-bought catfish has to be the fishiest, funkiest, stinkiest fish on this planet – which should be a crime because I know catfish is perfectly capable of being sweet and tender. You see, my father-in-law, Rick, catches catfish from deep within the lakes of Oklahoma. Before the water has a chance to drip down the fish’s fins, he fillets, salts, and bags them. Sometimes he freezes them. He packs the catfish in salt to draw out the natural bitterness and to enhance the fish’s more delicate flavors. When he’s ready to get cooking, he rinses and dries the fillets before dunking them in a tasty combination of flour and Jiffy mix (which adds just the faintest sweetness to the crust). When he serves up a platter of deep fried catfish coated in a crackling Jiffy cornbread crust, I get weak in the knees. I eat more than my fair share. Like six fillets. …
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Makes 8 mini Peanut Butter Croissants Peanut butter rolled up into a steamy hot croissant – the ultimate snack, perfect with breakfast, lunch or dinner. While you are welcome to use homemade croissant dough, I had to take a short cut – it was one of those weeks. We’ll call this fast food for the home cook. I guess you could say that my super-cook is giving way to super-mom. There was a time when I made my very own croissants from scratch. And I’ll surely do it again, once Ava gets a little bigger and I can borrow her muscles to roll out the dough. For now, thank goodness for all-natural convenience products, like Immaculate Crescent Rolls. Ingredients: 1 package refrigerator crescent rolls (or make your own croissants with the amazing recipe in Tartine, as recommended by David Lebowitz) 8 tsp of peanut butter (1 tsp per roll) Method: Preheat the oven to the temperature indicated on your Crescent roll tube. Gather your ingredients… Roll out the dough into neat little triangles and spread with a thin layer …
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Makes 3/4 cup Mild heat with a nutty blast, this West African inspired peanut sauce is straightforward. This recipe lacks the bright flavor acquired from a splash of vinegar you might find in Asian peanut sauces. Vegetarian/vegan Ingredients: 1/2 cup peanut butter (natural, not sweet) 1 Tbsp tomato paste 3/4 cup water pinch of cayenne pepper red palm oil Method: Heat oil over medium. Add a pinch of cayenne pepper. You can always add more at the end, if you can handle the kick! Toast the cayenne in the oil for thirty seconds, until fragrant. Then add in the peanut butter. A little water will help you stir things around, and make a smooth sauce. Add in some tomato paste. I’m in love with the squeeze tubes of tomato paste, making it easy to use just a little. Cook on low for a few minutes and season with salt, as needed. Serve on the side in cute ramekins, with a big smile … OR pour directly on your food – chicken, fish, rice, … whatever …
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