Bread Pudding

For this recipe use either whole wheat or white bread slices. I generally use whole wheat and never throw away end pieces. Bread can always be stored in the freezer until ready to use. When making this use an 8"x 11" casserole dish, lightly greased. Cut the bread into about 3/4 inch cubes. Mix the egg, sugar, butter, milk and spices together. Combine this mix with the bread. Be careful not to over mix. Bake in a preheated oven 350 degrees farenheit for about 35 minutes. This is what you'll need for ingredients:

3-4 cups of bread
3 eggs
1/2 cup of white sugar
3/4 cup of brown sugar
1 cups of milk
3 tbsp of melted butter
1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
1/2 tsp of cinnamon
1/4 tsp of nutmeg
3/4 cup of raisons, raisons should be soaked for about 30 minutes in liquid before use
1/2 chocolate bar, chopped

Linguine Mango Curry with Beef

Okay traditionally beef is not something that i consider traditional. nor is curry. However as a Mikmaq and a Wabanaki Citizen i like to sample many foods of other cultures. So here is the recipe. It is a quick put together recipe. The mango curry was purchased off the shelf but i will eventually offer up a recipe soon. Cook slow in a crockpot so as to make the stewing meats very tender. The way meat should be.

2 lbs of stewing meat
2 tbsp of butter or oil
2 medium onions, quartered
4 celery stalks, medium chop
1 carrot, medium chop
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp of onion flakes(optional)
1 tsp of black pepper
1/4 tsp of salt
1/8 cup of milk
1 cup of mango curry sauce
3/4 cup of sour cream
1 box of linguine

Cook of the stewing meat in a crockpot with either oil or butter for approximately 2 hours. Add onions, celery, garlic and cook off an additional 1 hour. For the final 45 minutes add onion flakes, pepper, salt, milk, mango curry and sour cream. Cook the linguine. When the liguine is cooked strain and let rest for 1 minute. Pour portion of sauce mix over each serving portion of linguine.

Apple Crumble

This is a nice treat. Put it all together and place in a preheated oven set at 350 degrees farenheit for about 30 to 40 minutes. For the first 15 minutes you may want to cover the crumble with aluminum foil. After this time cook the crumble without the cover. Make sure you soak the raisons in water or apple juice for about an hour prior to cooking. This is what you need to get started:

For the mix:
3-4 cups of apples, peeled and sliced
3 tbsp of flour, for the apples
1/2 cup of raisons
1 squirt of lemon juice
1 tbsp of sugar
1/2 tsp of nutmeg
1/2 tsp of cinnamon

For the crumble;
1 cup of brown sugar
1 cup of oat meal
1 1/2 cups of flour
1/2 cup of butter

For the mix combine apples and flour. Strain the raisons and combine the remaining ingredients together and pour into a 9"x 13" casserole dish. For the crumble combine brown sugar, oat meal and flour. Cut in the soft butter into this until it looks crumbly. Spread evenly over the apple and raison mix. There you have it. Hope you like.

Creamy Tomato Peach with Tarragon

This is one of my favorite soups. Very interesting flavor. This is what you need to get started:

1 can of 791 ml of diced tomato
1 can of 791 mil of crushed tomato
1 tsp of minced onion
1 tsp of granulated garlic
2 tsp of tarragon
1/4 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
1 tsp of black pepper
2 cups of chicken stock
1 medium onion, small dice
1 celery stack, small chop
1 chorizo sausage
1 cup of peach yogurt
tabasco sauce, to taste

Combine first eight ingredients and heat in pan. Saute onion, celery and chorizo sausage. Add this to the mixture. Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer. Cook for 15 minutes at a simmer. Add yogurt and tabasco and stir completely. Enjoy

Ground Meat with Tarragon and Mushrooms

A few days back i wrote down the recipe for making a version of soldier beans. This is was the meat side of the dish. I used ground beef, just to be different but i would highly recommend ground moose. Next time i serve up this recipe that is what i will be using to keep up with the traditions of Wabanaki Society. This is what you need to get started:

2 lbs of ground meat
1 tsp of oil
3 medium onions, large chop
4 celery stalks, cut diagonally
2 cups of button mushrooms, whole
1 tsp of tarragon
1/2 tsp of cinnamon
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp of minced onion
1 tsp of oil
2 tbsp of sundried tomato vinaigrette
1 cup of tomato sauce
3 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped

Heat up pan with oil and cook ground meat completely. In seperate pan with oil cook onions, celery, mushrooms. Add tarragon, cinnamon, garlic and minced onion. As it cooks add the remaining ingredients and combine with the ground meat. Serve with soldier beans.

Soldier Beans

These beans go as an excellent side with ground meat either moose or beef. Soak for 1 hour. Rinse well. Combine beans with remaining ingredients and add water and bring to a boil. From boil reduce to a simmer. Keep it like this for 1 hour. After this transfer to slow cooker and cook for about 4 hour or until beans are tender to your preference. Feel free to make adjustments prior to cooking. You may even want to add additional ingredients. Now if you are at this level well now you are really cooking and that is the whole idea. Remember, recipes are only guides. Use them in a way that suits your taste.

1 lb soldier beans
1 medium onion. chopped medium
1/4 cup of celery, small dice
1/4 cup carrot, small dice
1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp of oil
2 tsp of oshi sauce. optional
1/2 tsp of oregano
1/2 tsp of basil
1/2 cup of tomato sauce
1/4 cup of molasses
6 slices of Bacon
salt, to taste(tt)
pepper, tt
tabasco, tt

Scallop Linguine with Bacon and Tarragon

Hey folks. Its beena few days since i've been on the site.But here i am back from travels. Made this dish last night. It was so delicious i thought it would be great to share this scallop dish with you. If you are a scallop fan you're going to love this dish. This is what you need so call you freinds and lets get cooking.

16 scallops
1 tsp of butter
1 box of linguine
1 oz of oil
6 celery stalks
3 medium onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp of minced onion
1 tsp of tarragon
1 tbsp of butter
3 slices of bacon, chopped
2 tbsp of chicken stock of concentrate

This is my fancy smacy get-together-real-quick-to-make dish for a sudden gathering. Pan fry the scallop until there is a slight carmelization or browning on both sides. Set them aside in a casserole dish. They can be placed in a warm oven just to keep them warm as you finish off the linguine. The linguine cooks in nine minutes. Bring water to boil add oil and salt. Thats all there is to cooking linguine. Cut up the vegetables. Cook them in a pan with butter. You can use oil or margarine. Add the rest of the ingredients. The bacon can be cooked seperately. Drain the fat when the bacon is cooked. Now combine the scallops, vegetable mix, bacon and linguine in the casserole dish. It makes about 4 servings.

Quesadilla with cheese and pickle

Here is a recipe that can be easily put together. Its great for the kids and it is great to have with a bowl of soup, chili or just by itself. Here is what you need to get things going.

1 package of soft Tortilla wrap
1 bowl of shredded cheese, Tex-Mex style
9 pieces of cooked bacon, chopped
1/2 bowl of chopped Dill pickles
Canola oil

Heat up a pan with oil. When it is hot place the warp on the pan. Load it up with cheese, pickle and bacon pieces. The best thing to do is to keep the tortilla flat and cook without folding it in half. It is cooked when the cheese has melted. Slide it off the pan onto a plate and then fold the wrap in half. Serve up with salsa and sour cream.
Much can be done with the quesadilla. In stead of pickles if you like you can add diced chicken and sausage with green onion. For another variation you can spread tomato or pizza sauce on the wrap followed up with cheese, peppers and green onion.

Roast Duck

This is a basic recipe for cooking duck. If the duck has been frozen thaw duck for at least 8-10 hours. The thawing process requires the duck to be soaked in water and kept in a cool place such as the fridge. When the duck has been thawed remove the innards, neck,liver and gizzards that have been placed in the body cavity. Rinse well. Here are the ingredients you will need prior to getting the bird in the oven:

roasting pan with rack

1-8 lb duck

1/2 cup of vinagrette

1/4 cup of canola oil

2 tbsp of orange marmalade

salt and pepper for seasoning

1/2 tsp of paprika

Preheat oven to 400 degrees farenheit. Combine vinaigrette, canola, and marmalade. Mix it well and rub it all over the duck. After this has been done season with salt and pepper followed by a sprinkle of paprika. Cook for about 4 hours covered. I like to take my time cooking duck. During the last 40 minutes remove the cover so as to brown the skin.

Duck has a lot of fat and this is the reason for placing a rack in the roasting pan.

Yellow Eyed Beans with Corn kernal

Made this bean recipe today for my duck. Turned out pretty good. I think in cooking beans one has the opportunity to create amazing dishes to accompany the main portion of the meal. I always like cooking my beans in the crockpot. This recipe will take 4 hours to cook. Make sure you soak the beans overnight and that they get a good rinse.. This is what you need to get this dish going.

1 lb yellow eyed beans
1 small onion, diced
1 cup of cushed tomatoes from can
corn kernals from 2 corn on the cob
2 tbsp of vinagrette
1/4 cup of molasses
1/4 tsp of tabasco
4 tbsp of carrots, fine chop
2 tbsp of celery, fine chop
! tsp of salt
1tsp of pepper

Combine all the ingredients. Add water. It should just barely cover the beans. Also keep the crockpot covered when cooking the beans.

Moose Meat Sirloin

This particular moose sirloin was preppedup for the moose meat pasta sauce. The sauce was cooked with blueberries and sweet potatoes. Preheat the oven at 375 degrees farenheit. The sirloin can be seasoned with salt and pepper and sprinkled with Worcestorshire sauce. Bake for 40 minutes. This is what you will need:

1 casserole dish

2-3 pound moose sirloin

1 tsp of Worcestorshire sauce

salt and pepper, to taste

Cattle Bean Nnugw Style

These beans are delicious and are readily available at the supermarkets. Once again beans homemade should be slowed cooked. It takes time to make a good bean and it is endless the recipies that can be created with Beans. Soak the beans overnight. This is about 12 hours for me. Make sure they are rinsed well after the soaking and certainly a good rinse before wouldn't hurt either. Cook them for 3 to 4 hours. This is what you need to get started:

1 crock pot
1 lb of cattle beans
1 medium onion
1 tsp of salt
2 tbsp of butter
1 tbsp of Raspberry Vinaigrette
1/4 cup of wild blueberries
1 tsp of dried minced onion
1 tsp of instant coffee
1 tsp of Worcestorshire sauce
1 tbsp of concentrated chicken stock or chicken bouillion
1/4 to 1/2 cup of molasses
1/4 cup of water

Place the beans in the crock pot and just put enough water just barely enough to cover the beans. Place the rest of the ingredients in with the beans except molasses. Cover the crock pot with its lid. The molasses can wait until the final hour. If it gets to dry add a little water but do not make them too runny.

Whole Wheat Lusginigan

This was originally made for the daycare children in Abegwit First Nation. It went over really well. It serves up to eight people but this recipe can easily doubled to serve 16.

1 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour
1 tbsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp of salt
2 rounded tbsp of butter
1 cup of cool water
1 tsp of oil, for greasing pan

Set oven at 350 degrees farenheit. Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add in the butter and water. Form into a ball. keep hand floured as this makes handling the dough easier. Spread thin layer of oil on the pan. Lay the dough on the pan and and flatten into a round or square shape no more than 1 inch high. Cook for 30 minutes. Each side takes about 15 minutes to cook.

Moose Pasta Sauce with Blueberries and Sweet Potato

I think you've figured out that pasta is one of my favorite dishes in particular spaghetti. I made this dish the other night and i was expecting my sauce to turn blue but not a chance. The first thing i did was bake off the Moose Sirloin in the oven. The temperature was at 375 degrees farenheit. I let it cook completely, well done, for about 40 minutes. It weighed in at about 2-3 pounds. Seasoned it with Worcestorshire sauce, salt and pepper.
From here is proceeded to make the Pasta sauce. This is what you need for this stage:
1-796 ml of diced tomato
1-796 ml of crushed tomato
1-398 ml of meat sauce
3 bay leaves
1 tsp of minced onion
1 tsp of garlic powder
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 small sweet potato, diced
1 medium onion quartered
1 celery stalk, small diced
1/2 cup of blueberries
1 cup of whole button mushrooms
2 chorizo sausages, slices
1/2 tsp of pepper
salt, to taste

Combibe all of these ingredients and cook on low heat for about 2 hours. Initially bring to a boil but be careful not to burn the sauce. The steak once it is cooked and diced can be put into the sauce. The longer it is in the sauce the more tenderized it becomes.
Serve over any pasta of your choice. I served it over spaghetti. Hope you like this dish very much.

White Navy Beans with Dill and Chorizo Sausage

Hey folks here is something different. I love beans. The best way cook beans is let them soak overnight which translates anywhere from 10 to 12 hours. Be sure to rinse them good as well. When cooking beans i always put enough water just to cover the beans. Take your time cooking them. This batch i started cooking at8:30am and by 1:00 pm they were cooked, very tender but not falling apart. Here is what you need to get started:

1 lb bag of white navy beans
1 small onion, sliced
1 tsp of salt
1/4 cup of molasses
3-4 dill pickles, fine chop or minced
1 chorizo sausage
1-spring of dill
1/2 slice of dill pickle
1/2 slice of chorizo

Set the beans in the crockpot. Add salt and onion. Cook for 4 -5 hours. In the last 2 hours add the chorizo sausage. In the last 1/2 hour add the minced or chopped pickle and the molasses. Garnish with a sprig of dill, slice of pickle and a slice of chorizo.
Chorizo sausage originally was a spanish sausage. It is also popular in Mexico. It now has found its way to the north country and is readily available in grocery stores. It has a great smoked flavor and goes well combined with certain other foods such as beans.

Three Berry Tossed Salad with Walnut Raspeberry Vinagrette

This salad was made by my sister-in-law this past weekend. I am just putting my own variation. This is what you need to get it started:

3 handfuls of spring mix, small hands or big hands makes no difference
1 cup of blueberries
1 cup of strawberries
1 cup of raspberries
1 apple, cut into slices or wedges
1/4 cup baby cucumber, diced
1/2 tomato, diced
2 tbsp of walnut
1 oz of Walnut-raspberry vinaigrette

Combine eight seven ingredients but set some berries and walnut aside to garnish the top of the salad. Pour vinagrette over each serving portion. What i really like about this salad is the use of berries and the amount used. We don't eat barely enough of berries in our diet but this is a good start. This changes my perspectives on salads for sure.

Mom's Homemade Biscuits

You know if mom made it the recipe is tried, tested and true. This one has been with our family since before my time I'm sure. Very straight forward.

4 cups of flour
1tsp of salt
2 1/2 tbsp of baking powder
1/4 cup of lard
2 tbsp of margarine
2 cups of water

Mix all the dry ingredeints. Cut ib the lard and margarine. Add the water and roll out the dough to about 1 inch. Use nice round glass to out the dough. Bake for about 15-20 minutes. The oven should be set at 400 degrees farenheit.

Cranberry Sauce

This here is a small batch of cranberry sauce. I don't like putting too much sugar in the sauce when i am cooking them. I tried this batch out with the in-laws this past weekend. So here is the recipe for 2 cups of cranberry sauce.

2 cups of frozen cranberries
2-3 tbsp of water
1-2 level tsp of brown sugar
2 pinches of thyme leaves
1 squirt of lemon juice

Combine all ingredients. Stir while cooking the cranberries. As they start bubbling if you find they are getting to tacky add spoonful of water until you reach the desired consistency. Just as a note if you prefer not to use any sugar you can always raisons or any other dried fruit.

Roasted Turkey, not stuffed

This is the basic recipe for cooking an oven roasted turkey. Most important thing you want to do prior to cooking a turkey is to make sure the turkey is safely thawed. For most of us the turkey is frozen when we purchase it. So give it a whole day to thaw. I generally place the turkey in a containor of very cold water. I continuously change the water. If any doubts place the containor with the bird in the fridge to unthaw for at least 24 hours. Keep it at thw bottom part of the fridge.
Once the turkey is thawed take out the neck and any other parts of the turkey that are placed in the body cavity. Rinse with cold water and pat dry. Season with salt and pepper and place in roasting pan. The oven should have been preheated to a temperature of 375 degrees farenheit for about 4 hours. Now depending on the size you may have to adjust the temperature anywhere from 350 to 375 degrees. the cooking time may need to be extended or shortened slightly but if the internal temperature of the turkey is 185 degrees at it's thickest part then the bird is cooked. For that nice browned turkey generally i cooked it uncovered in the latter stages of cooking.

1-12 to 15 lb turkey
salt and pepper

Pan Fried Toast

Basically this is french toast. Whisk up the eggs and pour in a splash of milk..some folks would use cream but that is too rich for my taste buds. The cream gives it a nice texture but as a diabetic i have to watch my weight. Lightly oil a pan and place the temperature on medium. I prefer a cast iron pan. In the meantime soak up the bread with the egg mixture. Don't let the bread get too soggy. Place the bread in the heated pan and cook both sides. serve up with Wild berries. You can also make a quick wild berry sauce by heating the berries in a sauce pan with a little brown sugar or even maple syrup.

Here is what you need to get started;

6 slices of bread, sliced bread or homemade
4 eggs
1/4 cup of milk
1 tbsp of butter

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

I started having a real appreciation for sweet potatoes this past year. I suppose i attribute this to my search for original foods of the Indigenous Peoples. My favorite way of cooking these root vegetables is to wrap them up in foil and bake them off in the oven. However for our thanksgiving dinner i used to as an alternative to our usual turnip and what a treat. The texture of the sweet potato is so soft and the flavors are not over-powering at all but very complimentary to the turkey dinner. So, this is what you need:

4 medium sized sweet potatoes, medium chop
1-2 tbsp of butter
1/4 tsp of pepper

Here we go. Peel the sweet potatoes. Add them to a pot of water and bring to a boil. No need for any salt but if you like a small pinch will be just fine. Next step once they are cooked is to strain them. Just before you mash add the butter and pepper. from here they are ready to be served. Now if you want to add a whole lot more flavor add some brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Hope you like.

Potato Stuffing

hey folks. just thought i drop a quick line on potato stuffing. a great alternative to bread stuffing and very easy to make. What you will need is the following:

4 cups of potatoes, large dice
1/2 tsp of summer savory
1-2 to a whole piece of bread crust, diced small
1 tbsp of butter
1/4 cup of milk

Well, here we go. Boil the potatoes. As you are cooking the potatoes add the 1/2 tsp of summer savory. Strain liquid when it is cooked and then mash. If you feel you need to add a bit more savory now would be a good time to do so. Add the bread along with the butter and cream and continue to mash. If the consistency is to dry add a bit more milk or cream. Feel free to experiment with other ingredients or other ratios. Instead of the regular potato you may want to try a sweet potato, which is not really a potato but rather a root vegetable.

Crock-pot Moose Roast with Cabbage and Water Chestnuts Photographs

Crock-pot Moose Roast with Cabbage and Water Chestnuts Photographs

Crock-pot Moose Roast with Cabbage and Water Chestnuts

hey folks, it is almost Thanksgiving but i got a few recipes i've been working on this afternoon. Just cooked this one here and i got a turkey in the oven. So there is some fantastic cooking going on in the Larry Clan household. This is what you need to get started.

1 slow cooker
2-3 lb moose roast
5 celery stalks, rough chop
5 carrots, rough chop
2 onions, chop in quarters
2 bay leaves
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
6 slices of turkey bacon
3 large mushrooms, sliced
1 can of 277 ml of water chestnuts
2 tbsp Raspberry vinaigrette
1/4 tsp Tabasco sauce
2 to 3 tbsp of Oishi sauce, optional
1 medium cabbage, sliced
1 pinch of sage
1 pinch of thyme
1 pinch of marjoram
1 pinch of rosemary
1 pinch of black pepper
1 pinch of nutmeg

Set oven at 425 Degrees F and brown the moose meat for 30 minutes.
When this is completed, set slow cooker on high and place moose meat in slow cooker.
Cover moose meat with celery, carrots, onions and bay leaf.
Sprinkle with Worcestershire sauce, then place turkey bacon slices on top of the moose meat.
Slow cook on high temperature for 2 hours.
After 2 hours, place all remaining ingredients in slow cooker.
Give yourself about 4 hours to finish it off at low temperature and ensure that the slow cooker is covered with a lid.
Total Cooking Time: Approximately 6 Hours.
Serve with Mashed Potatoes (if desired)

Duck Stock

Make duck stock a part of your diet. It is great for any kind of soup or sauces and it can be used in combination with poultry stock. Lets start off with the following ingredients.

1 duck,
1 bunch of celery stalks, chopped
12 carrots, chopped
1 spanish onion, chopped
3 bay leaves
3 garlic cloves
1 tsp of red pepper corns
5 springs of thyme or 1 tsp of thyme
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 sprinkle of juniper berry(optional)

Separate the legs, wings, breast and neck of the duck. Keep the skin. Wash the pieces in cold water and then place in a pot of cold water. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a quick boil then reduce to a simmer for the duration of cooking time. The water should just cover the duck and vegetables by about 1 inch. Not necessary to stir. You can keep this on the stove for the better part of the day covered. Cooking time is anywhere from 3 to 5 hours. The key here is to extract as much flavor as you can from the duck and the vegetables. It will take a longer for the duck to give up it's flavors. When cooking time is complete let it rest briefly as it will be to hot too handle. However separate the stock from the duck meat and vegetables while still hot. Take the stock that is in a separate containor and set it in cold water to cool it down. When it is cool place in small containors and store. Some you may use right away for your favorite soup while the remaining stock can be frozen for another time use.

Just as a note as the stock cools it will leave a thick layer of duck fat on the surface. This can be skimmed off or if it cools enough it can be taken of in large chunks. However i find cooking with duck fat is fantastic. As a rule though, like i always say everything in moderation. Also the best stock is made from wild duck. We will explore very soon the many sauces that can be made with duck stock.

Pasta Sauce with Caribou Sausage

You get some interesting flavors with this recipe. The caribou blends combines with the tomato really well. This is what you will need to start:

1 package of sausage ( eight sausages)
1 tsp of worcestorshire sauce
1-791 ml can of diced tomatoes
1-791 ml can of crushed tomatoes
400 ml of canned meat sauce
200 ml of tomato paste
2 bay leave
4 cl0ves of garlic
1 medium onion
1 red bell pepper
4 large button mushrooms
1 green bell pepper
2 celery stalks, fine dice
1 tsp of basil
1 tsp of pepper
1/2 tsp of paprika

Cook sausage and chop them up in 1/2 inch medallions. Set aside. Combine remaining ingredients and just bring to scalding bubble. Reduce to simmer. Keep at low simmer for about 2 hours. In the final hour add sausage.
Pour pasta sauce over spaghetti and garnish with a sprinkle of grated parmesan cheese. And this is the quick pasta sauce.

Slow Cooker Caribou with Cabbage

Hey folks, its been a few days since i've logged in. Wire maintenance i suppose. Here is a little something i pulled together the other evening. Caribou in the slow cooker with cabbage. It is really a great combination. I browned the Caribou initially then i placed it in the slow cooker. Followed up in about 2 hours with the cabbage and remaining vegetables. Cooked it off for about 4 more hours until the meat was very tender. Total cooking time is 6 hours..about 6 hours.

1 slow cooker
1-2 lb of caribou meat
2 tbsp of worcestorshire sauce
4 carrots, medium size and sliced
1/4 tsp of hot sauce, any kind or even a pinch of cayenne will do
1 small turnips, cut into medium size sticks
3 celery stalks, sliced
1 red bell pepper, slices
1 large onion
3 cloves garlic,
1/2 cabbage, slices or julienne cut
8 slices bacon, sliced in halves, cooked till slightly browned
1tsp of raspeberry vinagrette
3 tsp of Oishi sauce(optional)
1 sprinkle of pepper

Feel free to fill the slow cooker to the top with vegetables..more carrots, and cabbage. Also you may want to add some garlic and onion powder for a touch-up. Serve this up with mash potatoes.

Scallops and Curry

This here has to be one of my favorite dishes. i look to serve this in an elongated plate or bowl. Usually the lasagna type of bowl. In any case it goes well on any plate. This dish is so delicious. If you love seafood and scallop i think you'll love this dish. Here is what you need to get started. This equals 1 serving portion.

6-8 large scallops
1 tsp of butter
1/4 cup of cream, 35%
1 tsp of curry sauce
3 tbsp of stewed tomatoes, semi-puree or lightly pureed
1 chopped onion, finely chopped
1/2 tsp of garlic, minced
1/8 tsp of basil
shredded Parmesan as garnish

Pan fry the scallops with butter until you get light browning on each side. Add the cream and is it is about to bubble out rest of the items in. The Parmesan cheese serves as a garnish or you could even add a couple of pinches to the cream as it bubbles.

*tip: you can also use regular milk rather than the 35% cream.

Bean Burrito

Hey folks. Here is a quick and nutritous way of making use of left-overs. Most times in our home we usually have anywhere from 2-3 cups of beans left in the crock pot. So I will base my recipe on 3 cups of baked beans. Last evening we prepared yellow-eyed beans for dinner. The baked beans were already seasoned with salt, pepper and onion. It won't be necessary to apply seasoning again but of course this all depends on your taste buds. So lets get started. Here is what you need:

1 tsp of oil
2-3 cups of baked yellow-eyed beans
2 sausages either moose, caribou or pork sausage, sausage should be removed
1/2 cup of cheese
2 crispy slices of bacon, chopped into small pieces
1/2 tsp of chili powder
1/4 tsp of paprika
1/4 tsp of minced garlic
1/4 tsp of onion powder(optional)
salt and pepper for seasonong
3 tbsp of milk for keeping the bean mix moist
6 tortilla wraps

The first thing that needs to be done is cook the sausage. Peel the casings off the sausage and cook the sausage like ground meat. It should be cooked when it is completely browned. Add your beans and stir. As this mix heats up and becomes more pliable add the cheese and bacon pieces. The cheese should start infusing with this mix. From here add your chili powder, paprika, garlic, onion powder along with the salt and pepper.As this continues to cook you may want to add milk. The milk is to keep the bean mix moist. You don't want to make it to runny though. When it is ready distrubute it equally over 6 warps. You may need more wraps or maybe even less. It all depends on how much you apply to each wrap. Now that we have the wraps ready to go, what would be the next step? Well, we can grill the wraps to bring out more flavor. This is what i like to do. If you got a BBQ grill handy or even a cast iron pan. Just apply some heat. Don't forget to put a lite coating of oil in the pan or if you use the grill apply a little bit of oil on the wrap and watch out it cooks real quick. Hope you like this recipe.

Caribou Stew with Corn Cob Medallions and Sage

Caribou Stew with Corn Cob Medallions and Sage

Hi Folks. This is my Treaty Day Dish, caribou stew. My sister offered the organic sage. The sage comes from Maria First Nation in Gaspegewaq territory. The caribou, further to the north. Here are the ingredients you will need to make this dish:

1 lb of caribou stewing meat
1 tbsp flour
1 tsp of oil
1 tbsp of worcestorshire sauce
3 liters of stock, beef or wild game
1 bay leave
1/4 cup of barley
1 1/2 -2 cups of celery, chopped medium dice
2 cups of carrots, thin slices
1 medium onion, medium dice
7-9 potatoes, medium diced
2 slices of bacon, cut each slice in half
1-corn on the cob, cut in 7-8 slices, each one about 1 inch in thickness
2 tsp of sage
1 tsp of paprika
1/2 tsp of pepper
1 tsp of salt, to taste(tt)

Flour Paste:
1 tbsp of butter
1 tsp of bacon fat
1 1/2 tbsp of flour
1/2 cup of water

So here we go. Heat up in the oil in a saute pan or pot. Dust the caribou meat in flour. What you want to do is to brown the meat. Not necessary to cook through just enough to get some browning on the outside. When you reached this point which is after about 5 minutes on a medium high pan get ready to transfer it to a larger sized pot. Add your stock along with a bay leaf and bring to a boil. reduce after about 1 minute and keep it on a medium to low simmer. Keep it here for about 2-3 hours. The idea is to slow cook the meat because you want it very tender. Prior to your 2-3 hour time frame add in celery, carrots, onion and barley.
In the meantime cook off the bacon. Set the bacon in the stew once it is crispy. Save the bacon fat. It should be about 1 tsp of fat.
Once the bacon has been placed in the pot add the potatoes and corn along with the remaining ingredients, paprika, pepper and sage. When all items are tender it should almost be ready for service. At this point it may be too thin for a stew. You may want to make a flour paste to thicken the stew. The barley can only make it so thick. This paste will help the thickening process to a texture more suitable for a stew.
Making flour paste is very easy. Take your butter, bacon fat and melt it in a small pot. Add your flour and mix with a spoon until very smooth and no lumps. Now here is the tricky part, make sure the paste is hot but not burning. Add a 1/2 cup of cold water to the paste. The cold liquid will prevent lumping. You may need more than a half cup but not much more. From here pour hot stew stock from stew pot with a ladle and pour it into the paste. After about 1 ladle pour all smooth paste into the stew and mix slowly. The stew should now start to thicken beautifully. Serve hot. It is your prefernce but i offer up a portion to nature. Enjoy.

Butternut Squash with Kidney and Garbonzo beans Soup

Hey folks, fall harvest is here. Found some great squash yesterday. Squash soup is traditional this time of year. Here is what you need to get it going.

5 liters of chicken stock
1-6oz chicken breast cooked and diced
1-caribou sausage or moose sausage(optional)
5 cups of roasted butternut squash
2-3 garlic cloves
2 cups of celery, small chop
1 carrot
2 medium onion
14 fl.oz of red kidney beans
19 fl.oz of Garbonzo beans
1/2 cup of rice, cooked
1 apple, core removed and peeled
1 tsp of sage
1 tbsp of summer savory
1 tsp of salt, more or less your preference

Here we go! Set up your pot for about 5 liters of chicken stock and bring to a boil then reduce to simmer. Make you sure the stock has alot of body. With this recipe i had to give my stock a boost with a cooked chicken breast and caribou sausage, But really it comes down to what type of sauasage you prefer and for that matter you may not even want to put sausage nor a chicken breast in your soup. However it really compliments the squash.
Next step is to peel the squash and add some oil to the pan to roast it off. Toss in your garlic cloves at this time. You want to cook for about 20-25 minutes at 425 degree just to get slight carmeling but more so to soften up the squah. Once the stock is ready add your celery, onion ,carrot, kidney beans, garbonzo beans, rice and apples,
After 20-25 minutes stop the cooking of the squah. Remove them from the oven and place in your stock pot with the other ingredients. Cook for approximately 25-30 minutes initially at a rolling boil and then reduce to a medium simmer.
After all the ingredients are cooked puree with either an immersion blender, food processor or blender. Hope you enjoy this. Let me know how it turns out for you. Keep in mind there are so many variations. if you dont prefer garbonzo beans you can always try yellow-eyed beans or another bean combination. It is all up to you so have fun making this soup.

Commentary: Butter or oil

It is important to mention that many of the recipes that I've brought forth call for butter. For example it would be hard for me to imagine cooking Baked Haddock and Corn without butter. However all is not lost. I believe eating delicious foods in moderation along with regular excercise. Most important ingredient combination for any recipe. Some recipes you can substitute the butter with either canola, olive or flavored oil with herb base. As well if you are still looking for that "buttery" flavor there are some healthy alternatives in some margarines. We won't get into brand names in this blog. This is for your own determination. Finally, in any of these recipies i shared i always leave it to you to make your own variation. Should a recipe call for a 2 tbsp of butter the option is there to use less.

Apple Sauce

Well here is one I cooked up last evening. It's great little recipe and the only challenge in making this recipe is peeling the apples thats how easy it is. Here is what you need.

1 bag of apples
3 tbsp of sugar
2 squirt of Lemon or three tbsp,which ever you prefer
1/4 tsp of cinnamon

For this recipe don't worry about the exact measurements. Go with the one bag of apples. Cook on medium high and reduce to medium or low once the apples get extremly soft or pretty much get to the falling-apart-stage. When you reach this stage take out the masher or immersion blender to puree. Give it a smooth texture or rough, your preference. When you get it to the consistency you like, add your sugar. I suggest 3 tbsp but hey thats me..if you like to add more or even less go for it. The same goes for cinnamon add more or less. Got to have fun when you are cooking right. I am not big on following recipes. This goes great with your morning toast and coffee or tea.

Commentary on Wild Garlic of Gaspegewaq

Hi folks. Was on the road for most of the day. I travelled from Burnt Church to Fredericton and from Fredericton to Moncton and from Monction straight on through to Charlottetown. Whew, what a day! I have to tell you though while there was light i saw alot of great sights between Newcastle and Fredericton. Hey, who says New Brunswick is a pass-through province! Alot of fall colors. It was just great. For most part of the trip i kept thinking of food in particular wild garlic. Apparently there is wild garlic in New Brunswick. This is fantastic. Not sure if i will be finding wild garlic anytime soon this year but it is high on my list for next year's explorations. I think i will start in the Pabineau area. When we talk of traditional foods it is important to include plants such as this..to be reintroduce back into our diets. Something to think about. Incidently, Gaspegewaq is the unceded traditional territory of the Mikmaq. It is the land commonly referred to as north-eastern New Brunswick and the Gaspe Peninsula.

Baked Haddock with Corn

This dish is so delicious. We just made this dish for tonite's dinner and we just couldn't get enough haddock. However my rule is always eat in moderation. And in about 15 minutes i am going to take a 15 minute hike! Here is the down sized version that will feed two. To make this dish you will need the following items:

2 haddock filets, approxiamtely 1 pound
1 cup of milk
1/2 cup of corn kernals
1 tsp of parmesan
1/2 white onion
2 tbsp of butter
1 garlic clove, minced
2 pinches of salt
1 pinch of pepper
2 slices of toast

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a casserole dish place the equivalent of 1 tbsp of butter in a casserole dish. Lay the haddock filets in the casserole dish over the butter. Spinkle parmesan over the filets and add milk and remaining items except the toast. Cook in the oven for about 15-20 minutes. In meantime chop toast to as close as fine crumb you can get. A food processor will do the job but not necessary.
When the haddock is cooked take it form the oven and sprinkle the crumbs over the casserole dish covering as much of the fish as possible. By this time the oven should be set from bake at 425 degrees to broil at 500 degrees. Cook for about 2 minutes. The effect we are looking for is to further cook off the toast Be careful not to burn the crumb. Serve with scallop potatoes and creamed peas.

Moose Meat Stir Fry with Chantrells

This an interesting recipe. With this recipe there are two options offered up here. For this dish we can either use ground moose meat or moose steaks. Ground moose is quite common so its best to make use it in any way we can. So lets get started. Here is what we need;

1-1 1/2 pounds of moose meat either ground moose meat or moose steak. steak should be cut in strips.
1 tsp worcestorshire sauce
1 tsp of oil
2 cups of brocolli
2 celery stalks, cut diagonally
1 red bell pepper, cut in strips
1 green bell pepper, cut in strips
1 cup of chantrells or button mushrooms
1 cup of waterchestnuts
4 green onions chopped thinly into rings
1/2 white onion, cut into strips
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 cup of beef stock or moose stock if available
1/4 cup of soy sauce
1/4 tsp corn starch(optional)

Pour 1 tsp of oil in pan and apply heat at medium high and reduce to medium .Cook moosemeat and mushrooms together. Add garlic when meat is almost browned. Sprinkle with a dash of worcestorshire sauce. Once this is cooked set aside and keep warm.
Take 1 tsp of oil in another pan and saute of the remaining 7 vegetables ( brocolli, celery, peppers, waterchestnuts, green onion and onion). vegetables are cooked when tender.
Combine both the moose meat mix and vegetables. Place on medium heat. In another pot combine cold stock, soy sauce and corn starch. Bring to boil and reduce to simmer for 1 minute. Pur over vegetables and cook on medium for one minute. Should you not use the corn starch simply pour heated stock and soy sauce over vegetables. you are now ready to plate. Enjoy

Stir Fry with Chicken

Stir Frys are a delicious way of getting a variety of vegetable in one sitting and they can be as much fun as making soup. Because really anything goes. So lets work with this one today. For this one we will keep it simple as all cooking should be anyway. You will need the following items ot get started. Don't worry if you don't have a wok, a saute pan or pot will do just fine.

1 cup of brocolli florets or tops
1 cup of cauliflower florets tops
3/4 cup of carrots, cut in strips if you can, if not diagnel is just as good
1/2 cup of turnip, cut same as carrots
2 celery stalks cut on an angle
1 bunch of bean sprouts
1/2 cup cabbage, cut in strips or julienne stye..as long as they are thing and stringy looking(optional)
1 red bell pepper, cut into strips
1 green bell pepper, cut into strips
1/2 cup of water chestnut
1 tbsp of chestnut, chopped(optional)
1/2 red onion. sliced into strips as well
1 tbsp of oil
2 chicken breast
1-2 cups of cold chicken stock
1/2-1 tsp of corn starch

The first that needs to be done is to cook off the chicken breast. Remove skins and pour about 1/2 tsp of canola oil on cooking tray. Place chicken on tray. No need to season with salt at this point. Place in a preheated oven set at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. They are cooked when there is no pink in the middle. Desired internal temperature for chicken is 185 degrees. When the chicken is cooked allow briefly to cool so that they can be chopped into bite size pieces. In the meantime prepare the first eleven items. Heat up the wok or your pan adding 1 tbsp of oil. When it is hot add the first 12 items which would be the vegetables and chestnut(optional). Once the vegetables are tender add the chicken pieces. If you find that you stir fry is dry at this point add a bit of liquid. However keep in mind that the next stage will be you chicken stock mix.
In a separate pot we will now make the sauce. The sauce will bring the flavors of the chicken and vegetables together. Pour cold chick stock in pot along with corn starch. Place heat on high and bring to boil constantly stirring. You will see the stock thickening. Bring to boil and then simmer for 1 minute. Pour thickened stock over the stir fry vegetables and chicken. Now you are ready to plate.

Stuffing

This is one of my favorite stuffing recipies. It is based on our traditional family recipe. So i refuse to call it a basic recipe because there is so much spirit and memory. However there are many variations to this in terms of what you want to add. So lets get started and here is what you need to put it all together.

1 loaf of bread(whole wheat, white or combination of both)
1 small onion, diced very small
2 celery stalks, diced very small
1 leek, full length cut in half lengthwise and chopped very thin
1 cup of butter
1 tbsp of sage, rounded spoon

The first thing that has to be done is the bread needs to be toasted off. Once it is toasted it must be broken in small pieces. Either you can use you fingers to break it up in small pieces or use a very sharp carving knife. It should be chopped into very fine dice. I never use the blender or food processor because there is a tendancy to break it apart into crumb size and this is what you want to avoid. Once this is completed set the toasted bread pieces aside and lets work on the vegetables.
Place one cup of butter in a saute saute pan or pot. Melt the butter completely. The temperature should be set at medium high. Stir in your onion, celery and leek. Cover and let sweat until the vegetables are soft. Sprinkle in you herb, You can either use sage or summer savory. Sometimes I use a combination of both. When the onion mix is cooked pour over the toast. Be careful not to burn your hands with the butter so it is best to stir with a large wooden spoon. The trick here is to make sure that the stuffing is moist but not soggy. Should you find it to dry add a little liquid no more than a tablespoon at a time for the right consistency. Your liquid can be either water or chicken stock. i have used apple juice before and it gives a sweet taste to it. But this will be you preference of course.
This stuffing is for either chicken or turkey however with a few modifcation it can be used for either salmon, duck or goose as well as stuffed pork loin. Enjoy.

Lu'sknikn

Here's an old favorite in Mikmaq country. There are so many variations in making this bread. here is what you need to get you started:

4 cups of flour
3/4 tsp of salt
1 tsp of baking powder
1/2 cup of lard or wild game fat
3 cups of milk or water(approxiamtely)
3/4 cup of molasses(optional)
1/2 -1 cup of dried fruit(optional)
1 medium sized pan, greased with lard

Mix flour, salt an dbaking powder in a bowl and mix well. Cut lard or deer fat into the flour mix. Make sure the lard is worked into the flour Make a hole in center of the flour and add your liquid. I prefer milk but water will do just as well. But most definately with the milk the bread has a much more softer texture. Pour the liquid cautiously because you want the dough to be able to form into a ball rather than it looking like a pancake mix. In anycase the amount of liquid used in this measurment should be appropriate for the amount of flour measured out. Knead the dough out to the sides of the pan.

*should you add dried fruit to this bread soak the fruit in a liquid of your choice, cranberry , apple or even water for about a 1/2 hour.
*it may be that you dont want to combine molasses with the dry fruit and this is okay as well.

Pan Fried Mackeral

Pan fried mackeral is an anytime meal. It can be serve up either at Breakfast, lunch or dinner. It can be served up with panfried potoatoes. My only concern is watch the amount of butter. I love butter but on many occasions i use canola. Canola can be used soley in cooking this dish or in conjunction with the butter. In any case use only enough to lightly cover you frying pan. Here is what you need to get started:
4 mackeral filets or 2 whole mackeral
2/3 cup of flour
dash of salt and pepper
1/8 tsp of onion powder(optional)
1/4 tsp of oil or butter

First things first, always select fresh mackeral. If you know of a fisher maybe he/she will be your source of fresh mackeral. If not be sure to select the freshest fish on diplay at you local fish market. i seldom every buy fish that already has been placed in a containor and sealed in a plastic wrap. Rinse the mackeral in cold water and pat dry. Once this has been done set aside briefly while you mix the flour.
Combine the flour with a dash of salt and pepper. You may want to add a sprinkle of onion powder or even some herb. This is purely optional but i can say it brings out some good flavors. Mix all dry items well maybe. Place in a farely good size pan. Something that will hold 4 filets. Now dredge your mackeral in the flour and make sure all parts of the fish have been dusted in the flour.
Place your oil in the pan and apply heat. Medium temperature is good as long as you do not see alot of smoke you should be okay. So once your at the right temperature place the mackeral in the pan. Could each side briefly approxiamately 3 1/2 minutes each side. Slightly more or slightly less depending on you preference. This mackeral dish goes well with some pan fried potatoes and fresh cooked vegetables such as the fiddleheads or brussel sprouts. A little but of lemon juice over the mackeral compliments it very well. Hope you enjoy this dish.

Never-Fail-Pastry

This dough is great for moose meat pies. Here are the ingredients you will need. They are as follows:

5 1/2 cups of flour
1 tsp of salt
1/4 tsp of Baking powder, just shy of a 1/4 teaspoon
1 1/2 cups of lard
1 whole egg
7 oz of water
1 tbsp of vinegar

In a good size bowl mix all your dry ingredients. Once you have it all mixed add your lard and work it into the flour mix. For the next stage place egg in measuring cup and add water along with vinegar. Stir with a fork or whisk until completely mixed and add it to flour and lard mix. Knead the dough very briefly. This recipe makes about three double crusted pies

Moose meat pie-the moose meat mix

Here is a traditional moose meat pie recipe. This is the recipe that we make during the festive season. Here is what you need for ingredients:

1 moose roast
baking powder but not very much, just a dash
salt and pepper
thyme and sage, either one will do or both
1 onion
1 package of beef boullion

The first thing that has got to be done is the moose roast has to be rinsed down good. After this place in cold water with a dash of baking soda. Add the baking soda only this one time. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer for about 10 minutes. After 10 minutes simmering drain the liquid. Once again rinse the moose meat and clean the pot because impurities will have built up around the inside of the cooking pot. Do not be concerned this is normal. Now place the meat in the pot once again and fill with cold water. Add salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer for another 10 minutes. Repeat once again of rinsing and cleaning the pot. Fill with cold water one last time. Add salt and pepper along with either thyme and/or sage. Generally i prefer to use both. Use just enough to suit your taste buds! As well use 1 small onion chopped very fine. It may be you may want to use a little onion powder should you want to boost the flavor of onion in your mix. keep cooking the moose meat on a slow cook simmer. the meat should be so tender that it just melt when pulled apart. When you have reached this stage of the moose meat being cooked place on a platter and chop to a very fine dice. You can also use a blender but do not puree to the point of meat becoming liquid. As well save the cooking liquid. It may be the meat will have become dry and will need just enough to be moistened. The liquid by this time will have lots of flavor. So this is your moose meat mix ready to be place in your pie shells. The pie dough is called Never Fail Pastry. It will follow this posting.

Eel baked in the oven

Here is a recipie my mom actually offered. It is one way of cooking this traditional food. Take five medium sized eels and skin them taking off the heads and tails. From here you cut the fish into good size chunks anywhere from 1 -2 inches. This will be your preference. From here place flour in a bowl approxiamtely 1 cup. Feel free to use 2 cups but 1 cup should do. Season up the flour with salt and pepper. This will be up to you how much seasoning you want to apply but i would go light on the salt because we will be using salted butter shortly in cooking the eels. Dredge the eel in flour making sure that the fish is covered completely. Once this is done heat up a pan and melt some butter but be careful not to burn the butter but it should be hot enough to sear the fish. This is the tricky part. You want to cook the eel in the pan just enough for the butter to stick to the eel. Cook to a slight brown. The browning adds flavor. The eel should not be completely cooked because from here you want to place the eel in in a casserole dish either round or square will do just fine. Add just enough water to barely cover the bottom of the casserole dish but this is optional. The oven should be about 400 degrees. Finish cooking off the eels in the oven for about 15-20 minutes. Serve up with boiled potatoes and corn. This is a very easy way of cooking eel. Enjoy.

Fresh Garden tomatoes

Good morning. Here is a mixture that can go well with either meat or fish. It is something that can be made relatively quick and can be used as an alternative tomato sauce for the pan fried scallop dish from my previous post.mmmm. Fresh garden tomatoes. Seeds in or seeds out.? I like to take out the seeds but i f you prefer to keep the seeds that okay to. But i take one tomato, pull off the green stumpy stem as i like to call it, and cut the tomato in half. Gentley squeeze out the seeds and as they start to protrude out of the tomato half just give it generally one good snap followed by a good shake and say good bye to the seeds..or the other way is to spoon them out. From here dice up the tomato, small to medium is good and add some of these following ingredients to boost flavor. Fresh onions, garlic, herbs and a little salt and pepper. You can puree this if you like but generally when you heat this up in a hot pan it softens up really nice. You can use basil or parley if you prefer this as the herbs. This is great for making a quick sauce right in the pan with either fish or meat. If you want to add a little color use some paprika. But fresh garden tomatoes...you can beat that. Enjoy

Traditional food as part of life and ceremony

Coming to understand traditinal food is in its own right a spiritual journey. Yes, we take pleasure in eating wild game for it is good nutritious food. Our bodies need this particular food for it is part of our ancestry. Many times i have been told by our elders to make food offerings. This is what is important. It is about reaching back to a memory of our past. For me it has never been about how many creative ways of cooking wild game or fish even though everytime i start cooking it is at the forefront of my thoughts. Rather it is eating this food and honoring the food many times either in ceremony or celebration. It brings us back to our original state to a period that will always be inherent and a period that we will continue to pass on to the next generations. Lets take the moose. This animal is so impoartant to our traditions. We have a responsability to this four legged animal. It is also indigenous to these lands. Protecting the moose and other indigenous species brings us to the realization that in protecting them we also protect the habitat of these great creatures. A habitat that contains their foods and medicines as well as our medicines. Thats why i feel strongly that we need to eat food that our ancestors consumed on a regular basis and what we would now refer to traditional food.

Scallops in a tomato sauce

Good evening folks. One of my viewers made reference to the fact they would like to see fish dishes. Well that's great because i love fish, any kind of fish but i offer no apologies...i cook with butter. I think i will introduce the scallop...mmmmmm yummy. Pan frying the scallop is my favorite method and we will explore other methods as time goes by. With this dish i will apply a little heat to the seasoning. Lets call this dish, "Scallops and Herb in Creole Tomato".First, lets make the tomato sauce. Lets use one small can of tomatoes, chop up tomatoes until they are small dice along with a small white onion and one clove of garlic. It should be all small diced at this point.

Next lets make the creole seasoning for the tomato mix. You will need to put this creole seasoning in a jar because trust me you'll have plenty left for other dishes we will be making down the road. So here it is. You will need 2 tbsp of onion powder, 2 tbsp of garlic powder, tbsp of oregano, 2 tbsp of garlic, 1 tsp of thyme, 1 tsp of pepper, 1 tsp of cayenne and about 4 1/2 tbsp of paprika. Mix it all together.

So, lets start cooking the scallop. Get out your favorite pan. Apply some heat that is to say set you temperature gauge to medium high just until the pan is able to melt you butter without burning the butter. Toss in about 6-8 large scallops and season up with salt and pepper. Reduce the temperature to medium if they start cooking to fast. Scallops should only be cooked for about 2 minutes on each side. Remember if you like them cooked very well cook for about 3 1/2 minutes each side. They will get slightly rubbery as time goes on but if that is how you like them then by all means. The scallops when cooked should be seared nicely on outside and tender on the inside but once again it comes down to personal preference. Set scallops aside but keep warm. Using the same pan as the scallops place 3 tbsp of tomato, onion and garlic mix and season with creole seasoning. No more than a couple of pinches. Finally spoon sauce on a plate and place scallops onto the sauce. Serve with vegetables and potatoes or serve up with a tossed salad.

Well there you have it. Let me know what you think. Maybe it is a cream sauce that is preferred or other sauces. We can work on that the next time but try this one out if you like. Enjoy

Slow Cooker Moose Roast

I took a moose roast this past winter and cooked it in the slow cooker for approximately eight hours. However if you want to cook meat in the slow cooker initially brown the meat in the oven or sear the meat in a large pan. Browning the meat adds flavor and natural sweetness. The browned meat is what is referred to caramelized meat When you have finished browning the meat deglaze the pan with a flavorful liquid or with water. Deglazing loosens up those pieces of meat that add the intense flavors to your slow cooked roast. Red wine as a deglazer will do the trick but from my own personal preference, as wine is not reflective of Wabanaki culture, I use a fruit juice and water combination.
Once we have browned the meat and deglazed now it is time to cook the moose meat in the slow cooker. Usually the cooking time is anywhere from five hours to eight hours. This is for you own determination. Generally I cook the meat for 8 hours and this is because i like to have the meat so very tender. It pulls apart so much easier and it just melts in your mouth. But this comes later. When you apply the heat start off at high on your slow cooker and then eventually reduce when you start seeing a boil. From boil reduce to low heat for the duration of cooking time.
There are many ingredients that can be used and we will explore the many variations of herbs, spices and sauces in our journey of cooking moose meat as well as the different methods of cooking. For this particular slow cooked moose meat we can place in the slow cooker fresh fruit and vegetables. Apples and blueberries are my favorite. You may not prefer to use this combination and that's okay. Use any fruit that you would prefer. As a tip do not overwhelm the meat with one particular flavor just yet until you weighed in your other items. Basic vegetables that i would place in this are carrots, onions and celery. These in small proportion can be added very early in the cooking. later another batch of vegetables can be added because the original vegetables after about 8 hour usually disburse flavor. As well they do eventually soften and infuse with the newly created sauce.
Now for the seasoning. Salt and pepper are your basic condiments as well as worcestorshire sauce. I use only minimal amount for salt because salt can be applied after the meat has been plated and this can be seasoned to your preference. You can also add onion powder to boost the strength of the onions. Garlic is another item that can be added either a garlic clove or powder. Now if you apply garlic and fruit together. It may not be the most desired combination however it can still be done. If you are looking for a more fruit flavored moose meat use less garlic or if you want garlic to come out stronger and boost the flavors of vegetables and compliment the moose meat add less fruit. But remember wild berries are more akin to our traditional foods. Here are few more items you can place in the moose meat as it cooks. Green herbs, like parsley, sage, chives,tarragon and thyme to name just a few. It may be you want to add spices such as paprika or cumin. When you slow cook your moose meat add ingredients items that you prefer and how much you want to use is up to you. It is your taste buds so don't be shy about how much and what you put into your cooking. Have fun.

Welcome to the Wabanaki Food, Culture and Lifestyle Blog

Welcome to the Wabanaki Food, Culture and Lifestyle blog, where we will share Traditional Food Recipes and discuss issues that are important to our communities, as well as how we intend to move forward in building healthy communities!