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I love to have our extended family gathered around us, joined together by food at a family feast. That’s how I imagine heaven, all of us together again, around the table. We’d wear silly paper hats. We’d crack up over my brother’s humour and marvel over my father-in-law’s poetic recitals. Roast turkey and my Mom’s Sage & Onion Bread Stuffing would scent the air. My Grandma’s Stained Glass Window Cake and my Nana’s Carrot Christmas Pudding would make a grand entrance. I’d peer through the elbows on the tables, at the smiles of all my loved ones.

I have wonderful memories of my Mom and I cooking our family feast in her kitchen. While my Dad sang Silver Bells in the background (happy to be the errand boy), Mom and I would talk for hours as we wrestled with the bird and happily cooked our way through our family-favourite casseroles and all the fixings of a holiday feast. I loved it when my Mom asked me to taste-test her stuffing: “is there enough butter, onion, broth, sage?” It was just a simple Sage and Onion Bread Stuffing recipe from her Better Homes & Gardens cookbook, but my mom knew how to season it just right.

My Mom was very modest about her cooking abilities – yet to this day, I have never tasted a better Chicken Divan, potato-egg salad, turkey stuffing, or apple crisp. We all have our favourite recipes made by our mothers that we grew to love so much.

My sisters and I have taken over the cooking for my side of our ever-expanding clan. We make the traditional, family-favourite recipes that Mom used to serve: my aunt’s Swedish Potatoes, Mom’s Sage & Onion Bread Stuffing, and Vegetables Supreme (from the first Fare for Friends cookbook). I only recently perfected my Grandma’s Stained Glass Window Cake recipe, which I cooked from a recipe scribbled down too hastily on a scrap of paper – it took me a couple of tries to get it right. I have my Nana’s Carrot Christmas Pudding recipe that I may try to make this Christmas. It’s so important to accurately record these heritage recipes to pass down to future generations.

On that note, I have a really great idea I want to share with you. Why not create your own cookbook of treasured family recipes, photos and stories, and then give copies to family members as Christmas gifts? It’s far easier than it sounds. I have come across a fabulous website – HeritageCookbook – that allows you to easily create your own cookbook on-line, with a minimum order of only four cookbooks. Become a free trial-member for 30 days and invite as many people as you want to submit recipes and photos from their own computer, by logging on to your registration. You’ll have access to HeritageCookbook’s templates, photo library, and support. Most people complete their cookbooks within the free-trial month but if you don’t, the monthly fee is minimal. When you are finished, the cookbooks are printed on quality, coated paper with laminated covers.

Though their customer base is largely American (the pricing on the website is in American funds), the company is Canadian-owned and the books are printed in Toronto. HeritageCookbook has printed over 200,000 quality cookbooks and has been recommended by Oprah, Rachel Ray, and one of my friends. The wheels are turning in my head. Which project shall I start with: a family treasury, a church fundraiser, or perhaps my own Olive to Eat cookbook? I can’t wait to get started.

To both sides of our family – near and far, from the other side of the continent to the other side of the Atlantic, and to those we hold close in our hearts – I’m so grateful for the memories, old and new. Happy Thanksgiving.

Mom’s Sage & Onion Bread Stuffing

This recipe is from my Mom’s Better Homes & Gardens cookbook that she received as a wedding gift back in 1954. She made it every Thanksgiving and Christmas. The key to this simple, classic stuffing is to season it to your taste – but make sure you use lots of butter and sage. We always add more of each ingredient than the recipe calls for but never measure – so start out with the recipe, then slowly add more, tasting as you go along, until it tastes just right.

Since the recipe only serves 4 to 6 people, you will likely need to multiply the recipe for a larger feast. If you are stuffing your turkey, calculate 1 cup of stuffing for 1 pound of uncooked turkey; don’t stuff your turkey until you are ready to put it in the oven; promptly remove any leftover stuffing from the cooked carcass and store separately in the refrigerator. I have heard a lot of talk lately about cooking your turkey unstuffed and cooking the stuffing in a separate baking dish. By the time you get the stuffing in the turkey’s cavity heated to a safe internal temperature of 165°F, you dry out the poor bird. Makes sense to me, so my recipe instructs you to cook it in a separate casserole while the turkey rests.

Ingredients:

4 cups dry bread cubes – “stuffing croutons” that grocery stores bring in for the holidays

3 tablespoons (or more) finely chopped yellow onion

1 teaspoon (or more) salt

¼ teaspoon (or more) freshly ground black pepper

¼ teaspoon (or more) poultry seasoning

¼ teaspoon (or more) ground sage

1/3 cup (or more) melted butter

Hot chicken broth or water, just enough to moisten the bread

Directions:

1. Combine bread, onion, and seasonings in a large bowl; add butter and toss. Slowly add hot broth, bit by bit, until bread is just moistened. Taste and if necessary, add more onion, broth, butter, or seasonings, until seasoned to your taste. Toss gently to mix thoroughly.
2. Place stuffing mixture in an ovenproof casserole; cover and chill until ready to bake.
3. Preheat oven to 350°F. Bring stuffing casserole to room temperature before placing in preheated oven. Bake, covered, until hot throughout and flavours have melded together – about 30 to 45 minutes. Serve warm.

Mom’s Apple Crisp

Makes one 9”-square baking dish.

I have my Mom’s handwritten copy of this recipe. She called it Apple Crisp – Dad’s Favourite and included a little story about the recipe’s origin – it was submitted to St. Andrews United Church in Chatham, by the mother of my aunt’s boyfriend in grade 4 in 1942.

This is an easy – and I think more delicious – way to enjoy warm apple pie without the fuss of the crust. It is packed with tart apples and brown sugar and has a crumbly, cinnamon-scented streusel topping. The butter, spices, apple juices, and brown sugar meld together in a delicious mélange that caramelizes around the edges. It smells so wonderful cooking. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream – or perhaps Belly Ice Cream’s Caramel and Sea Salt.

A note on cinnamon: thanks to some helpful advice from Chef Michael Smith, I have fallen in love with Vietnamese cinnamon. I couldn’t get my hands on the brand that Chef Michael uses but found McCormick Gourmet Organic Ground Saigon Cinnamon at my local grocery store – Longo’s Glen Erin. I compared the taste between Saigon Cinnamon, regular cinnamon, and a third gourmet organic cinnamon I picked up at another grocery store, all very recently. To me, the Saigon Cinnamon is the most aromatic, flavourful, and spiciest of the three cinnamons. Olive it! Thank you Chef Michael Smith!

Ingredients:

Filling:

5 cups cored, peeled, and very thinly sliced apples (about 6 to 8 apples, ask your farmer which available apples are best for apple crisp)

¾ cup packed light brown sugar

Dash of grated nutmeg

Topping:

½ cup packed light brown sugar

¾ cup all-purpose flour (measured by spooning in, then leveling off with a knife)

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon (preferably Vietnamese cinnamon)

Pinch of salt

4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

Directions:

1. Place oven rack in middle of oven; preheat oven to 375°F.
2. In a large bowl, toss the apples with ¾ cup brown sugar and dash of nutmeg until evenly coated. Pour filling into a 9” square baking dish and level gently with a spatula.
3. Add all topping ingredients (except butter) to a medium bowl; stir to combine evenly. Add butter to bowl; blend with your fingertips or a pastry blender to break down the butter into the flour until the mixture becomes crumbly, resembling coarse breadcrumbs without any large chunks of butter. Sprinkle topping mixture evenly over apples.
4. Bake until apples are tender and topping is browned, about 35 minutes. Let rest 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
5. Spoon into pretty cups and serve warm with vanilla ice cream or cold with whipped cream.

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Okay, I admit it: I’ve never been to Myanmar and so…have no memories of it. Instead, I live vicariously through people like award-winning Canadian culinary travel writer Naomi Duguid and CNN’s Anthony Bourdain, who guide us through the doors of a country whose society is now opening up after 50 years of isolation, and introduce us to the seductive flavours of its exotic cuisine.

Anthony Bourdain’s engaging episode on Myanmar (formerly Burma), from his show Parts Unknown, awoke in me an appetite for Burmese cuisine – a distinctive and delicious melting pot of flavours influenced over time by Myanmar’s bordering countries of India, China, and Thailand. I love the concept of Burmese salads: condiments may be sprinkled on bite-by-bite to make each mouthful a different combination of textures and flavours suited to individual tastes. So I created a salad tailored to my taste, loosely inspired by what I saw on the show but simplified, using ingredients I could easily find here.

Since then, I happened upon Naomi Duguid’s gorgeous book Burma: Rivers of Flavor while browsing in Indigo recently. The photographs drew me in and the recipes won me over; I’ve been pouring over it ever since. Warming Beef Curry with Tomato is an easy, comforting recipe using commonly found ingredients. The Red Chile Powder recipe is a cinch to make and has a bright heat that creeps up on you, leaving you blanketed in warmth. Next I am going to make the Paneer in Tomato Sauce and the Tart-Sweet Chile-Garlic Sauce so my husband will stop using the grocery store brand that is full of preservatives (he uses it like ketchup). And doesn’t the Intensely Green Spinach & Tomato Salad with Peanuts sound delicious? If you would like to travel vicariously down the rivers of Burma – “the rivers of flavor” – and want to try your hand at authentic Burmese cooking, Ms. Duguid’s well-researched book is your passport. Thank you, Ms. Duguid, for bringing the flavors of Burma into our kitchens.

Memories of Myanmar: Olive’s Spicy Tomato Cabbage Salad

Serves 6-8

This is the kind of salad that you’ll want to make when you are not in a rush, perhaps on a lazy Saturday afternoon when you have a hankering for something spicy to liven up your Saturday night dinner. We think it’s refreshing and exotic, even if it’s not an authentic recipe.

Naomi Duguid’s book, Burma: Rivers of Flavor, includes an authentic recipe for Burmese Tea-Leaf Salad, the type of salad which inspired my recipe. Yes, the authentic recipe calls for fermented tea leaves (unlike my recipe). Ms. Duguid describes it as a dazzling salad and Burma’s national dish. She included it in her book as “an act of optimism, in the hope that fermented tea leaves will soon become more widely available”. I’m on the hunt! I’ve asked at T&T Supermarket and my little local Indian grocery store and so far, have come up empty-handed. I sent an e-mail to the Myanmar Cultural Association of Brampton, hoping that they can lead me in the right direction. If I find some, I am going to try Ms. Duguid’s recipe.

Salad Ingredients:

12 cups shredded Napa cabbage (1 medium cabbage)

1 bunch fresh coriander (large stems removed), finely chopped

15 fresh mint leaves, finely chopped in ¼ teaspoon coarse salt

1 bunch green onions, sliced thin

2 cups seeded, finely chopped or julienned fresh tomatoes

6 mini cucumbers, sliced

Crunchy Bits:

1 cup roasted and salted peanuts (I use Spicy Peanuts from the nut counter at Adonis Mississauga to add a little extra heat)

2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds (olive the Suma brand that is already toasted – see photo below)

Dressing Ingredients:

2 cloves garlic

2 teaspoon ground turmeric

½ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper or homemade red chile powder to taste

2 teaspoon white sugar

½ teaspoon sodium-reduced soy sauce

2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

Juice of 2 limes

3 tablespoon peanut oil or olive oil

Optional Accompanying Condiments:

Moong Dal (fried salty split green mung bean snack – see photo below)

Extra ground cayenne or homemade red chile powder or your favourite Asian chili garlic sauce.

Extra minced fresh garlic

Directions:

1. Place salad ingredients in an oversized salad bowl. If you don’t have one, divide salad ingredients evenly between two large bowls to give you enough room to toss on the dressing. Once dressed, the salad will fill just one large bowl.
2. Place peanuts in the bowl of a small food processor; chop by pulsing briefly 3 or 4 times, until you have a mix of chopped nuts and ground nut powder; place in a separate serving bowl and set on table. Place the toasted sesame seeds in a separate serving bowl and set on table.
3. Without washing out bowl, place first 7 dressing ingredients in the bowl of the same small food processor; process until garlic is finely minced. Add oil and blend thoroughly.
4. Pour dressing on salad; toss thoroughly. Serve immediately, with bowls of the crunchy bits and optional condiments on the side for guests to add individually, to their own taste.

Sumo brand White & Black Toasted Sesame Seeds are widely available and are usually found at grocery store sushi counters.

Moong Dal (fried salty split green mung bean snack) is available at Indian grocery stores and Loblaw’s).

What better way to celebrate the arrival of summer than under a perigee supermoon (the closest and largest full moon of 2013)…

with an equally spectacular strawberry tart?

My Strawberry Tart is a simple but elegant way to showcase the fragrant, local field strawberries that I picked up at Streetsville Farmers’ Market on Saturday.

Based on the gorgeous fruit tarts popular in France during festival time, my recipe is an easy and relatively healthy summer dessert that looks almost as stunning as a tarte aux fraises from a fine Parisian pâtisserie. After listening to the utterly charming audiobook French Women Don’t Get Fat (read by the author herself, Mireille Guiliano), I learned that the fattening pastry cream, that is often spread over the base of a tarte aux fraises, is not necessary. Great, because I am not crazy about pastry cream, but olive strawberries!

There are a few easy steps to this tart. You can make the simple syrup required for the coulis well in advance. It keeps for 2 to 3 weeks in your fridge and can be used to dress a fruit salad or to sweeten homemade lemonade or ice tea.

Bake the crisp, shortbread cookie crust in the morning, filling your kitchen with a delicious aroma, then set it aside to cool. It has a hint of ground almonds, which you can replace with flour if there are allergy concerns.

Later (at least two hours before you want to serve the tart), fill the tart with a concentric arrangement of the prettiest, similar-sized, scarlet-coloured strawberries you can find. Then make the coulis and glaze the berries immediately. The berries will glisten under the coulis; both will perfume the air with sweetness. Refrigerate the tart for at least two hours to allow the coulis to set. It’s best eaten the day it’s made but it is still good the next day or two, with a softer crust. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream if you wish.

You can use other seasonal fruit instead, such as raspberries, peaches, or apricots (but not kiwi, pineapple, papaya, or figs). Make sure you use the same fruit for the coulis.

Olive’s Strawberry Tart

Simple Syrup:

Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan and heat gently until sugar has dissolved, stirring a couple of times. When the sugar is completely dissolved, bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium. Boil for 5 minutes. Cool before storing in a covered jar in your fridge for up to 2 to 3 weeks. Can be used to dress a fruit salad or sweeten homemade lemonade or ice tea.

Shortbread Cookie Crust:

Preheat oven to 325°F. Lightly butter the bottom and sides of the inside of a 10” round tart pan with straight, fluted sides and a removable bottom.

Mix the flour, ground almonds, brown sugar, and salt in a medium bowl with a whisk until combined. Cut in the butter by rubbing the flour mixture and butter between your fingertips, until the mixture blends into coarse crumbs. Knead gently with your hands to form a ball.

Distribute pieces of the dough evenly onto the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Using the heel of your hand, pat the dough to cover the bottom and sides evenly. Make sure there are no gaps. Bake on the middle oven rack for about 15 minutes, until golden brown. Cool completely before adding the fruit.

Strawberry Filling & Strawberry Coulis Glaze:

2 quarts of strawberries, washed, dried thoroughly, and hulled but left whole

Pick out the best-looking, similar-sized berries and arrange them on top of the crust in an attractive, concentric pattern, with their tips pointing up and their hulled ends pointing down.

Note: You will need approximately 1 ½ quarts of strawberries to fill the tart and for the coulis but buy 2 quarts just to be sure and to allow you to pick out enough of the best berries for the tart. You will need 1 ½ cups of strawberries for the coulis.

Coulis Glaze:

Prepare the gelatin sheets according to package directions, first following the Basic Directions and then the Cold Preparation Directions.

Meanwhile, purée the raw strawberries with a squeeze of lemon juice in a food processor. Add the simple syrup and blend. Strain through a sieve into a bowl, rubbing through with a rubber spatula. Discard the seeds and remaining pulp.

Before the gelatin begins to set, fold the gelatin into the strained coulis; then immediately pour the coulis evenly over the tart to glaze each berry. Refrigerate the tart until the coulis is set, about 2 hours. Store any leftovers in the fridge.

Note: I learned the basics of simple syrup, coulis, and glazes from the Gordon Ramsay Desserts cookbook. He uses many interesting ingredients to whip up different variations of flavoured stock syrups, coulis, and glazes. It’s well worth checking out the cookbook, available from the Mississauga Library. I modified his recipes for Stock Syrup and Coulis to fit the requirements of this recipe.

Sherway Farmers’ Market opened May 3, 2013. Farmers’ markets in Peel region open in June but there are quite a few in Halton opening in May. I am working on a local farmers’ market, farm market, and farm 2013 directory that I will post on my website soon. I’ll let you know when it’s up.

As the season progresses, Sherway Farmers’ Market will continue to grow. Here is a glimpse of some of the wonderful treasures I unearthed while visiting Sherway Farmers’ Market last Friday. There is a delicious recipe for rhubarb at the end of this post.

Sean and Shannon Declerc’s Fresh and Tasty Mushrooms, from Shelbourne, ON

Husband and wife team, Sean and Shannon Declerc, offer an impressive bounty of foraged, wild mushrooms (when in season) and specialty cultivated mushrooms including Portabella, Shitake, Enoki, Crimini, Beech, Oyster, and these beauties, Cinnamon Caps, that are named for their cinnamon colour. Shannon described the Cinnamon Caps as their earthiest mushroom with a beautiful, rich, woodsy flavour. They are delectable in omelets, risottos, or in roasted meat gravies.

Lion’s Mane is Shannon’s favourite. It has a milder, very fresh flavour, and a different texture than regular mushrooms, which Shannon says is appealing even to those who don’t like mushrooms. It’s very versatile and is great grilled, on pizza, or in soups.

Mushrooms are porous and absorb liquid quickly. The Declercs grow all of their cultivated mushrooms on wood chips, so they don’t require washing. If you really feel you must, please just wipe them with a damp paper towel so you don’t disturb their delicate disposition.

Ralph & Emmy Lise’s Farm Fresh Produce, from Holland Marsh, ON

Ralph Lise’s stand was brimming with fresh produce on Friday, including field asparagus,

colourful Ontario greenhouse peppers, and Ontario greenhouse tomatoes. Ralph’s tomatoes are grown in soil and picked at a riper stage, making them more flavourful than most grocery store tomatoes (which are picked under-ripe to make them less fragile during transportation). Having been raised by a mother who grew up on superb Kent County tomatoes, I always search out the finest tomatoes I can sink my teeth into. I did a side-by-side taste comparison between some vine-ripened tomatoes I bought at a grocery store (and left sitting on my counter for a couple of days to ripen) and the Lise Farm tomatoes I bought on Friday. Compared to Ralph’s tomatoes, the grocery store vine-ripened tomatoes were still under-ripe and had a mealy texture. Ralph’s tomatoes were juicier and more flavourful, even though I ate them as soon as I got them home. It was a refreshing snack – a plate of Ralph’s tomatoes (adorned with nothing but a light sprinkle of sea salt) and a little bit of protein just to keep me ticking.

I could not resist this sign, Freshly Dug Small White Potatoes. Doesn’t that sound fresh? These deserve to be boiled in their skin, smashed a touch with a potato masher, then tossed with my favourite extra virgin olive and some fresh mint that has been chopped in a dash of kosher salt to bash it all up and coax out the flavour.

Abraham and Judith Piets’ Quality Bakery, from Norwich, ON 

Abraham and Judith’s tables were laden with lots of delectable looking freshly baked goods including bread, sausage rolls, pies, squares, tarts, strudels, and these Dutch cookies that I have been searching for since my friend first got me hooked on them. They are called “Stroopwafels” (Syrup Waffles), a toothsome cookie consisting of sweet, chewy syrup sandwiched between two delicate waffle wafers. Lovely when placed over a hot cup of tea to soften the syrup.

Bert Nieuwenhuis, Lamb & Wool Producer, from Orangeville, ON

Bring your cooler to the market because Bert offers a great selection of his locally raised and processed, government inspected lamb products. According to a great article on Bert (The Amiable Shepherd: Bert Nieuwenhuis by Nicole Ross, June 19, 2012 http://www.inthehills.ca/2012/06/departments/the-amiable-shepherd-bert-nieuwenhuis/), Bert’s products are popular with chefs and locals in the Headwaters region, so we are really lucky that he brings them down to Sherway Farmers’ Market. He sells lamb shanks, racks, legs, chops, burgers, roasts, organs, and even lamb heads. His lamb liver pâté sounds enticing. Next time I run into Bert, (perhaps at the Orangeville, Inglewood or Caledon Farmers’ Markets) I will be sure to have my cooler with me because olive Ontario lamb.

Andrews’ Scenic Acres, from Milton, ON

I was so happy to see local field rhubarb at the Andrews’ Scenic Acres stand. I can’t wait to visit Andrews’ Scenic Acres farm to pick my own asparagus, on the first sunny day that is available to me. I will tell you all about it on an upcoming post. As we move further into the growing season, the Andrews’ Scenic Acres stand at Sherway Farmers’ Market will be brimming with all sorts of fresh produce. I can’t wait for the berries.

This little gem of a recipe is a delightful way to enjoy rhubarb. The recipe comes from The United Churches in Canada Let’s Break Bread Together cookbook, a compilation of tried and true, treasured recipes submitted from United Churches across Canada.  The cookbook was compiled and published by the United Church in Meadowood, Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1988. It is still available for purchase from Derksen Printers. Please see the full details and the link at the end of this post. It is well worth purchasing and would make a great addition to a novice cook’s library.

The Rhubarb Torte recipe was submitted by Brooks United Church in Brooks, Alberta. It’s an easy recipe that will make a confident baker out of an apprehensive one and a rhubarb lover out of anyone. Olive it!  Thanks very much to the United Church in Meadowood for permitting me to share this recipe with my readers.

Rhubarb Torte

The tartness of the rhubarb is tamed by the creamy custard filling, which sits atop a rich, buttery shortbread crust and is topped with a soft and billowy meringue. The recipe calls for a 9″ x 9″ pan but if you only have an 8″ x 8″ pan, it will still work out beautifully. In that case, you will have to cook only the filling a little longer than directed.

Crust:

Preheat oven to 325°F. Mix, by rubbing between your finger tips, until mixture turns crumbly. Press into a 9″ x 9″ pan. Bake for 20 minutes on the middle rack.

Meanwhile, prepare filling.

Filling:

3 egg yolks, beaten (separate the whites and reserve for the meringue)

1 1/4 cups white sugar

3 tablespoons flour

1/3 cup cream

2 1/2 cups rhubarb, chopped into bite-size pieces

Mix the first four ingredients well. Stir in the rhubarb. Spread evenly over crust. Bake 40 minutes, or longer, until filling is set.

Increase oven temperature to 350°F. Meanwhile, prepare meringue.

Meringue:

3 egg whites

6 tablespoons white sugar

Beat the egg whites, slowly adding the sugar one tablespoon at a time, just until soft peaks form and whites look glossy. Spread gently over filling. Bake for 15 minutes at 350°F until meringue is golden brown. Chill until ready to serve.

Recipe may be doubled for a 9″ x 13″ pan.

Rhubarb Torte, page 169: The United Churches in Canada Let’s Break Bread Together (Compiled and published in 1988 by the United Church in Meadowood, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Printed by Derksen Printers Ltd., Steinbach, MB). Available for order on-line at http://www.derksenprinters.com/store/cookbook_catalogue.shtml

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