Scarborough Fair Soup

I have a lot of lentils and barley in the house, along with beans, rice and bulgur wheat. We have all that it takes for lots of high protein vegetarian meals. Still, the usual curried lentils and rice, or baked beans and mashed potatoes meals can seem a bit repetitive. Winter is soup weather, I think, no matter if it is snowing and blowing, or raining and misting. And even on the bright, cheerful days, when we want to be outdoors, it is great to come inside to a warm bowl of hearty soup.

Soup can be made in the crock pot, but I recommend getting it started and at boiling point in a kettle on the stove, and then transferring it. I would give this soup at least five hours in a crock pot, and two on the back of the stove at a low, simmering heat, once it has come to a boil.

I also have dried herbs from the summer garden, and winter storage vegetables - this is a way to use all of that. I added some mild sausage; a vegetarian sausage can be used, or add two tablespoons of olive oil. Legumes and grains don't have much flavour without some fat.

Equipment: Soup kettle or large pot; (slow cooker or crock pot for unattended cooking); butcher's block and knife; measures and spoons.

Ingredients: 2 quarts water or stock or a combination of both; 2 tablespoons dried parsley, one teaspoon dried sage; 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary; 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme (vary amounts according to taste): 1/2 cup lentils; 1/2 cup barley (double if not using sausage); 1/2 pound mild sausage - I used Danish sausage locally made, or add 2 tablespoons olive oil; 1/2 large onion, one cup peeled and sliced carrots, one peeled and diced white potato.

Directions: Bring the liquid to a rolling boil, add the herbs, lentils and barley. Let simmer for at least half an hour. Add the sausage and vegetables, simmer at least one more hour. If using the crock pot, brown the sausage and onion before adding to the soup with the rest of the vegetables.

Cut the sausage into pieces before serving and return to the soup. I served this with homemade Irish soda bread (http://inaplainkitchen.blogspot.com/2011/08/irish-soda-bread.html)  one night, and then with boiled pasta and cubed cheese the next. (Spoon the cooked pasta into a soup bowl, top with a handful of cheese cubes, then pour the hot soup over it.) I did not add a photo of the finished soup because lentils and barley do not lend the most appetising colour to a finished soup. If you are put off by the grainy-gray look of it, sprinkle liberally with fresh or dried parsley.

Are you goin' to Scarborough Fair? Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme.
Remember me to one who lives there, she once was a true love of mine.

Coffee Squares

Sometimes you need a dessert in short notice. Supper is a bit thin and the family is hungry after a day of hard work; friends have dropped in and you want a little tasty treat to go with coffee or tea.

These bar cookies, or squares, are quick to make and bake in less than 30 minutes. They have a delicious butterscotch richness. I put almonds in them because almonds don't overwhelm the buttery-sugar taste, but any other mild cooking nut could be used, or none at all.

I adapted this from an old Ontario Mennonite recipe.

Equipment: Medium mixing bowl and wooden spoon; small saucepan and spoon; 9x9 square baking pan; measuring cups and spoons.

Ingredients: 1/4 cup butter, and use real butter; 3/4 cup brown sugar; 1 egg; 3/4 cup flour; 1 teaspoon baking powder; 1 tablespoon cold brewed coffee; 1/2 cup slivered almonds or other nuts.

Directions: Heat the butter and brown sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat, just until they meld and turn a rich brown, but not until the mixture is melted into a liquid. Pour the butter and sugar mixture into a medium mixing bowl, let cool a bit, then add the egg, mixing in well. Add the flour and baking powder, and beat, then the coffee and nuts, mixing them in thoroughly. Butter the 9x9 pan and spread the batter across the bottom. Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes, just until the top is done and the cookie dough is firm but still moist and a bit gooey. Cut into bars or squares while still warm, and serve. They don't come out neatly, but don't worry about that, as they are so delicious even in uneven pieces. These do not become fluffy like a cake.

Don't neglect to scrape down the saucepan while the remaining butter-sugar mixture is still warm and fudgy. Just don't burn your mouth tasting it. It is sumptuous, and if I lived alone, I would be tempted to make the butterscotch mixture sans other ingredients just to spread on squares of white cake or sugar cookies, or - oh, I'll admit it - eat right out of the pan.

Baked Beans

We used to call these New England Baked Beans. I suppose it is because New England is good bean growing country, has long winters with woodstoves and fireplaces providing heat, and Yankees have a reputation for frugality. Baked beans are a very frugal dish, especially if you grew the beans or bought them in bulk.

Dried beans need to be soaked and parboiled before using. It doens't matter which you do first. Boiling will drive out the starch, which is the cause of the embarrassing intestinal gas that causes some people distress. Soaking gets the beans ready to be slow-cooked, and in some varieties of beans, removes the possibility of a toxic compound that can develop as beans dry.

Equipment: Deep saucepan with lid; beanpot, colander, cutting board and knife. Beanpot or all-metal enamelled or stainless pot with handles, about 8 cup size.

Ingredients: 2 cups dried beans, preferably great northern or white navy beans, sometimes called pea beans; boiling water, about four cups; 1/4 cup fancy or blackstrap molasses, 2 tablespoons prepared mustard or 1 tablespoon dry mustard; one whole onion, peeled; 2-3 strips of smoked bacon, or a small piece of ham, or leftover pork roast, especially the fatty end, or a two inch square of salt pork.

Jacob's cattle or brown field beans can be used, or even dried soybeans. I try to use the traditional white beans, though. The molasses can be light or dark (fancy or blackstrap here). In England you would call it treacle. Dark or blackstrap will have a stronger flavour, less sweet. Any kind of prepared mustard you might have will work, or dry mustard powder. Adjust the amount to taste, as with the molasses. The most traditional recipes do not include tomato sauce or catsup, but if you prefer, add about 1/2 cup.

Directions: Begin the night before. Sort through the beans and remove any small stones, weird things, and strange beans. (This is an important step - I broke a tooth in someone else's kitchen because the child designated to sort the beans didn't.) Put the beans in a colander and rinse under cold water. Place the beans in the saucepan, add about 3-4 cups of water, and bring to a boil. Let boil a few minutes, skimming off the foam. Drain the beans again, and cover with four cups of water. Cover the pot and set aside overnight. In the morning, drain the beans and put into the stoneware beanpot or the covered pot. (Most covered casseroles are too shallow.) Peel the onion but don't slice it. Cut almost all the way through the onion in a cross shape, put into the beanpot and push it down into the beans. Get four cups of water up to a boil. Add the molasses, mustard, bacon/ham/pork, and tomato sauce, if using. If you want your beans to be vegetarian, add two more tablespoons of molasses and a 1/4 cup of olive or safflower oil. Beans are mealy and bland if no fat is used in the cooking. Pour enough boiling water over the beans to cover them by about 1/4 inch, stir a little, cover, and put the beanpot into an oven of about 275F-300F. It will take anywhere from 4-7 hours to cook the beans, depending on the type and how old they are. (Old beans take longer, so try to rotate bean stocks once a year.) Check occasionally to make sure the beans are still covered with water. If not, add just enough hot water to bring up the level. When done, the beans should be nicely brown and soft enough to mash with a fork.

This makes enough for a family or for the two of us to have over three days. Leftovers can be frozen.

Add pieces of kielbasa or Polish sausage the last hour for a heartier meal. My mother always served boiled potatoes, corn or carrots, and tomato slices along with homemade bread. She would sometimes go to the trouble of making steamed brown bread, a true Yankee tradition.

Mennonite Bran Gems or Muffins

While I love to bake, so many homebaked goods are high in sugar and fat. That's what makes them taste so good, right? But there are good homemade treats that aren't all sweet and saturated, and can be served without a dollop of butter or jam. These little bran muffins, for instance, are delicious.

This is another adaptation of an old Waterloo County Mennonite recipe. I like this for a quick bread or sweet to go with afternoon tea, and my husband thinks they are as good as cookies. They aren't very sweet in terms of sugar, but the molasses and bran make them seem sweeter than they are.

Bran is part of the wheat kernel, and when flour is milled, it is removed. Usually it is included in the manufacture of boxed cereals or used for animal feeds. That's a pity, because it is nutritious and adds a good deal of necessary fibre to the diet. Why save it for grape nuts or bran buds, or feed it to the goats?

I buy it in the baking aisle of the store, or at the bulk foods store. It isn't expensive, and sometimes I add a half cup or so to baked products that are just white flour. It adds fibre without changing the taste or texture.

Equipment: Mixing bowl, mixing spoon or electric mixer, mini muffin or "gem" pan, measuring cup and spoons.

Ingredients: 1/3 cup white sugar; 1 tablespoon molasses; 2 tablespoons butter; 1 egg; 1 cup milk with 1 teaspoon vinegar, or 1 cup sour milk or buttermilk;  1 teaspoon baking soda stirred into 1/2 cup white flour; about 2 cups wheat bran.

Directions: Cream (mix thoroughly until soft) the sugar, molasses and butter. Beat in the egg, then the milk. Add the flour mixture, stir well. Add the bran until you have a soft, pourable dough that just starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl.

Butter the muffin tin cups and dollop a tablespoon or more or more of batter into each cup, depending on the size of the cups. My mini muffin pan takes about two tablespoons per cup, and that makes two dozen exactly.

Bake at 375F for 10-15 minutes or so, depending on the size of the muffins. Do not overbake. They should be nicely moist inside, without a crispy crust.

Traditional Apple Pie

"Easy as pie" is apparently a self-contradictory statement. Many people tell me they have never made a pie, or the one they made was such a horror that the dog buried it rather than risk eating it.

One friend tried to impress the man she was dating by making a pumpkin pie. the filling is just a custard with pureed pumpkin it it; that's pretty easy. She'd seen her mother make pie crust many times, and it didn't look like it took an advanced degree in engineering. So she pulled out the ever-faithful "Joy of Cooking" and got started.

First, the dough didn't want to hang together, so she added more water. This made it sticky, so as she rolled it out, she added more flour. And then some more flour. Then it was so stiff she had to bash it with the rolling pin to roll it into a circle big enough for the pie plate. The filling went in, she baked it as directed, and after a couple of grilled steaks and a nice garden salad, she served dessert.

The filling was great, she related. But the crust itself required a hacksaw. The pathetic empty crust had the same texture as an asphalt roofing shingle.

My father makes great pies, much better than my mother did. "Your mother was too impatient with it," he says. "You have to be gentle, gentle with it."

My Dad makes it sound like a Zen meditation, the Yankee equivalent of tea ceremony. Plan. Lay out the utensils and ingredients. Chill what needs to be chilled, including your attitude. Take your time. You can't rush a great pie crust.

Equipment: Mixing bowl, pastry blender, fork, pie plate.

Ingredients: To make a 9-inch double crust pie, 2 cups sifted flour; 1 teaspoon salt (or not if you prefer); 1/2 cup lard or vegetable shortening, cold; 1/4 cup or so of very cold water.

Do not substitute cooking oil for the solid shortening. I use lard because I am wary of how vegetable shortening is made to be solid at room temperature. Lard will make a flakier crust, too, but some people object to the subtle taste difference. Obviously, for a vegetarian pie you would use vegetable shortening. You can use fine whole wheat flour instead of white flour. I don't find a big difference.

Directions: Mix the salt into the flour in a bowl. Cut the lard/shortening into the flour with the pastry blender until it is pretty thoroughly mixed in. (Some people say until the particles are the size of small peas, or rough ground meal. It just needs to be well blended, but not so worked over that it gets warm and starts to melt.) Now add the cold water all at once, stir quickly with a fork to work in most of the flour/fat particles. Don't worry if there is some at the bottom of the bowl. Try not to add more than a tablespoon more, working quickly, if it seems way too dry. This will be a fairly dry dough.

Now turn it out onto a floured pastry board or counter top. Very lightly knead it gently to hold it together. It should look like layers of shale or something flaky, not like bread dough. With a floured rolling pin, and a little flour sprinkled over the top, work half the dough out into a round, rolling from the middle with a light touch. When it is big enough to fit in the pie plate and up the sides, lift it with the rolling pin and slide it in. Roll out the other half the same way, and set aside. I sometimes refrigerate the dough before rolling it out, and if the kitchen is warm, put the rolled dough in the refrigerator while you get the filling ready.

Apple filling:
Peel and core 7-9 medium to large apples. I used yellow transparent for this pie, as the flavour is old-fashioned appley, although the slices dissolve into a wondrous apple butter. If you want visible slices, use a firmer cooking apple. Slice into eighths or so, but not too thin. Toss in a bowl with about 2/3 cup of white sugar or, half white, half brown; 2 tablespoons flour; 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon; 1/4 teaspoon each nutmeg and allspice. Spoon into the prepared pie crust (don't prick the lower crust, though, or you will have a gooey mess), add some dabs of butter, about 4 teaspoon size pieces, then top with the crust. Trim the crusts around the outer edge of the pie plate, and fold the two crusts together inside the plate. My mother always crimped hers along the lip of the plate, and the filling always bubbled out and burned in the oven. Then cut slits in the top crust to vent the steam.

Bake for ten minutes at 400F, then turn down the heat to about 350F for 30-40 minutes, until the crust starts to brown. If you like a nicely browned crust, brush it after the first ten minutes with a bit of milk. My crusts don't brown as much in the wood stove as the heat is even all around and not concentrated at the bottom.

 That's a basic pie. You can use other fruit instead of apples, but berry pies usually need cornstarch to keep them from turning into soups.

Radish Relish, Radish Relish, Radish Relish

I had an excellent crop of radishes. Very few split, none bolted. Lots of radishes! I don't particularly like radishes, except sliced into a salad. My husband will eat a few with a meal. They don't store well, and they can't be frozen. I gave some away, but still had too many.

I found a recipe for radish pickles, but there was a caveat that the radishes tended to get wizened and unattractive. Thanks for the warning. I'm not going to bother with an unattractive pickle, thank you.

Radish relish sounded better, although the recipe seemed to be more celery than radish, and I don't like celery much. So I modified that considerably, using just the proportions given to calculate how much vegetable to syrup I needed.

I used an old fashioned food grinder/grain mill to chop the radishes and onions. If you have or can borrow a food processor that would work well, too. A blender wouldn't work, I think, and the strainer type food mill wouldn't handle the tough radishes. A hand grater would be impossible.

So, equipment needed: Food grinder or processor; medium sized pot; pint or half-pint jars for a total of 2 pints; canning lids for those jars; hot water bath canner and jar lifter.

Ingredients: 3 cups or so radishes, any variety; 2 medium onions; 2 teaspoons salt; 1 cup white sugar; 1 tablespoon brown mustard seed; 2 teaspoons dill seed; 1/2 teaspoon celery seed (increase to 1 teaspoon if you like); 1 teaspoon coriander seed; 1 cup cider vinegar.

Grind the radishes, having topped, tailed and scrubbed them, but don't peel them, as the skin lends the colour; peel and quarter the onions, then grind into the radish mixture. Mix with the rest of the ingredients, cover and let stand overnight. Make sure you are using a non-reactive bowl or pot, not aluminum or non-stick. When ready to can, bring the mixture to a boil and cook about ten minutes. Process in the hot water canner for 20 minutes.

The old fashioned mill I used is like the one my mother had. Once clamped to a suitable tabletop or counter - and it took three attempts to find one the appropriate thickness and stability - be sure to place a pot under it, as the juices run through. I had a puddle of pink juice at first, cleaned that up, got a pot and hastily improvised rags under it, and still had splashes. Canning is not a job that calls for a white apron. The juice did not stain, though. I use a small roasting pan to catch the ground vegetables, as a bowl is too high. Use a heavy wooden spoon as a pusher, especially if you are the kind of person who tends to poke at jammed items in a chute while simultaneously trying to clear the clog by wiggling the handle. Ouch. That nail will have to be removed in the ER. (No, I didn't do that this time, because I had a wooden spoon.)

Toad in the Hole

This is a British invention, with a cute Cockney name. It is Yorkshire pudding poured over sausages and baked until puffy and brown. I found out recently that it is also a Mennonite dish called sausage pudding. Possibly, the Waterloo County Mennonites in Ontario learned it from their English neighbours.

Yorkshire Pudding is not a sweet dessert. The "pudding" part refers, I believe, to the batter. Usually Yorkshire Pudding is made in the roasting pan after the beef comes out to rest before carving. The egg batter is poured onto the still hot fat after the juices are decanted for gravy. Poor Cockneys: (the inhabitants of the working class East End of London), they got the sizzle of Yorkshire pudding but no steak. A bit of bacon dripping, a few sausages, and the egg batter made a supper dish that served a family for a few pence.

Equipment:Skillet, mixing bowl, wire whisk, baking pan about 9" square, or pie plate.

Ingredients: One pound or more of sausages such as breakfast style or links - I buy locally made sausages, as we have two good butchers nearby; 2 whole eggs; 3/4 cup flour; a pinch of salt; 1 cup milk.

Directions: Brown the sausages in a skillet, adding additional fat such as bacon drippings or cooking oil to make 2-3 tablespoons. Meanwhile, make the batter by beating eggs into milk and adding flour and salt, beating well until almost smooth. Pour hot fat from skillet into baking dish, add sausages, distributing evenly. Immediately pour the batter on top, and place in 375F oven for 30-45 minutes, until batter has risen, top is browned, but the center is custardy. A knife inserted at the middle of the pan will come out clean, without eggy strands.

Serve it immediately with seasonal vegetables. It doesn't need much accompaniment, but some like it with a beef gravy. I like it plain. I sometimes add crumbled bacon to the batter. Fry leftover pudding for breakfast.

My husband's mother made this, as well as other Cockney delicacies like bubble and squeak, steak and kidney pie, and trotters.

Irish Soda Bread

I've had good Irish soda bread and some that was hair-raising. One recipe I tried always fell flat for me, although the original recipe, made by someone else, was delicious. I suspect that an important ingredient got left out in the transmission. Another much-vaunted original Irish family recipe was bitter with soda. Another was just a big greasy scone. I had been using a whole wheat recipe from Britain, but it didn't rise much although the flavour was good. I never thought to look in a Mennonite cookbook for a recipe for Irish soda bread.

Edna Staebler had her original recipe from her great-grandmother, and published it back in 1968. So that's how old it is! I've had to modify it quite a bit to work with today's grocery store ingredients. People don't have buttermilk or soured milk sitting around anymore.

Equipment: Mixing bowl, wooden spoon, pastry blender or fork, two buttered cake pans or pie plates, floured board or countertop.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup sugar (or less)
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 cups currants, raisins, dried fruit, or a mix
1/4 cup butter or shortening (I use lard)
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 3/4 cups sour milk - or buttermilk, or milk with 2 teaspoons of vinegar added, or 3/4 cup of milk and a cup of yogurt

Directions:
Combine all dry ingredients, adding the fruit at the same time. Get the fruit stirred in well to the flour. Cut shortening into dry mixture. (Edna used her electric mixer but I use a pastry blender.) Stir the egg lightly into the milk, add to the dry mixture, and stir until blended through. Knead on a flour board for just a couple of minutes, until smooth. Divide in half, pat each half down into a buttered cake tin, slash top with an X and sprinkle with a bit of sugar. Bake at 375 degrees F for about 40 minutes. Good while hot, with lots of butter, or cold with a smidge of butter or peanut butter.

The loaf pictured at the top is whole wheat, no fruit, and I served it with homemade chicken noodle soup. You can modify the recipe in many ways. I love the bread with dried cranberries, golden raisins and the nutmeg. Currants and nutmeg is an excellent combination, too.

Homemade Mennonite Noodles

I can find the "noodles" recipe in my favourite Mennonite cookbook by touch. The page is gritty with flour. Noodle making is a floury undertaking.

I modified this recipe quite a bit as I used it, as ingredients have changed a bit since the 1950s, when it was first written. For one, eggs aren't usually as fresh or as big as farm eggs used to be. Standardization of breeding has changed that. I wonder, too, if flour has changed a bit, with different wheat varieties - there are fewer heirloom types commercially available - and a better drying process.

Noodles are easy but time consuming. It helps to have someone else to aid with cutting and hanging the noodles to dry. I don't recommend doubling the recipe unless there is someone else to spell with the rolling.

The equipment: Mixing bowl, measuring cup, heavy wooden spoon or steel mixing spoon, rolling pin (mine is marble), counter top or pastry board, sharp knife or rotary pizza cutter, floured tea towels or a folding clothes drying rack.

The ingredients: 2 cups flour, 2 whole eggs or 4 yolks, a pinch of salt, 1/2 cup or so of cold water.

Sprinkle the salt into the flour in the mixing bowl, lightly toss with your hands. Make a little well in the middle of the flour, add the eggs, muddle a little, then blend into the flour, adding the water as needed to make a dough that holds together and doesn't leave a lot of crumbs in the bottom.

Turn the dough out onto a floured board or counter top, and knead lightly until it is smooth and all the crumbly bits are worked in. Divide into four balls, add roll out one ball as thin as possible without tearing it. (Here is where a heavy marble pin really helps.) You are aiming for a rough rectangle in shape. You will never get it commercial egg noodle thin unless you have a pasta machine to roll it.

Put the dough sheet on a cutting board, and using a very sharp pointed knife, or even easier, a sharp pizza cutter, cut the rough rectangle the long way into strips about 1/4" wide, or whatever size you want. I toss the ragged edges aside to reroll.

Hang the cut strips on a drying rack - I use my wooden laundry rack, or lay them out on a floured tea (linen) towel or even a clean sheet if you can't improvise a drying rack. Some Mennonite women hang them on broomsticks laid across the backs of chairs. You can hang towels or sheets over the noodles to keep them clean, but it does slow down the drying. I always put a large towel under the drying rack because I will drop some of the noodles, without fail.

Roll and cut the rest of the noodle dough the same way. Leave it to dry at least a couple of hours. Traditionally, noodles were made in the morning for the evening meal. If there are more noodles than you wish to cook at once, let the rest dry overnight and store them in a canister or jar.

To cook: Get the rest of the meal prepared and hold it warm. Bring a pot of water to a boil, throw in some noodles, and cook at boiling for about five minutes. Test a piece for doneness. When it is cooked to your satisfaction, drain in a colander, and wither serve immediately or use in another dish. If you want to keep noodles in the refrigerator after boiling, toss them with olive oil or a bit of butter.

Serve the noodles dressed with butter and pepper, or with gravy. They are also really good with some fresh grated mild cheese, a little olive oil, and some fresh herbs. They can be the platform for Italian style tomato sauces, as well.

My mother would make them evenings my father was working, and we would have them in tomato soup garnished with bacon bits. We still eat them that way. It is a delicious light supper. Use any favourite canned or tetra pak tomato soup, or make your own by simmering tomato juice until it is reduced in volume by about 25%, then add a spoonful or so of sugar, a pinch of salt, and celery seed or other herbs. The bacon I use is smoked locally and is as dense as ham. I don't buy much of it because I use it mainly as a garnish or flavouring. I add fresh herbs to my soup, since I have a miniature herb garden just outside the door. Basil, chives and parsley are good.