The Canadian Farm Cook Book Talks About Meat

"Meat is the flesh of animals used for food. The flesh of more mature animals is more nutritious and more easily digested than that of the younger.

Beef is the most nutritious meat, mutton ranks next. Pork is difficult to digest. Lamb is tender, but less valuable than mutton. Veal is the least nutritious and is indigestible.

Good meat is firm and bright red when first cut. The fat is firm and light yellow. Lean meat is muscle. Much used muscle makes rich, juicy good-flavoured meat, but is not always tender.

Cooking of Meat. - Meat is cooked: 1. To improve the flavour and appearance. 2. To kill any germs which may be present. 3. To soften the fibre. 4. To retain the juice by boiling, pan boiling or roasting"

Thus spake Gladys Harris, 109 Park Street, Buffalo, N.Y., but I'd take that with a grain of salt, myself. She wasn't even in Canada; I don't know how she muscled in on this. But anyway, lets look at some actual recipes, now that we know everything we need to about meat:

"CANNING BEEF. - Cut the beef in pieces as you would to fry or stew, fill your sealer as full as you can, putting the fat and pieces that are not so nice on top. Put the lid on tight and put the sealers in the boiler in cold water and boil 3 hours. If the beef is old, boil longer. Don't let the water come over the top of the jars; when done take sealers out and tighten as tight as you can; when cold it should be jellied. Keep in a cool place. - Mrs John Raymer, Sunnidale Corners, Ont."

Oh, dear Lord! Saints preserve us! You are all most straightly forbidden to even think of attempting this so-called recipe, which breaks every rule of safe canning. Sunnidale Corners no longer really exists as a village, and this may very well be the explanation. Yeesh!

"JUGGED BEEF. - Into a brown stewing jar put 2 pounds thin beef, or stewing steak, cut into convenient sized pieces, add 2 onions cut in slices, 1 medium-sized carrot cut in cubes, 1 teaspoon mixed herbs, 1 small onion stuck with 1/2 dozen cloves, a little Yorkshire relish; dust all with 1 tablespoon of flour; pepper and salt to taste; do not quite cover with water or stock; put on the lid and set jar in the oven; let it cook for 2 hours. Boiled potatoes should be served with it.. - C.T. Ganong, "The Cedars," King's Co., N.B."

That looks distinctly possible; it might even be good. But then we're back in the realm of the somewhat scary:

"TO CORN BEEF. - 1 pound salt, 1 pound brown sugar, 1/4 ounce saltpetre to each gallon of water, boil and skin, and when cold pour over meat. First sprinkle and rub beef with coarse salt, and let stand 24 hours, then wash off and pack in tub or barrel and pour pickle over it. Will be ready to use in a week. Does not need to be soaked, simply washed off and put on to cook. - Mrs. G. H. Allen, Garden Creek, Fredericton, N.B."

And also:

"TO FRY DOWN PORK. - Take fresh pork, slice and fry as for table use, pack in crocks and cover with the hot dripping; be sure it gets well around the slices in each layer, cover and weight to keep the pork well under the dripping. Have kept it for summer use for years, and find it quite as nice as if freshly cooked. Mrs W. H. Warner, Forest Rd. West, Cobourg, Ont."

I'm speechless, so I guess I'd better just give another recipe:

"STEWED KIDNEYS. - Boil kidneys the night before, until very tender, turn meat and gravy into a dish and cover over next day, boil a few minutes, thicken with flour and water; add part of an onion chopped fine, pepper, salt and lump of butter."

That was submitted by Mrs L. Harvey, who was not prepared to divulge her whereabouts, and who shall blame her? Can you stand anymore? Sure you can:

"TO COOK SALT PORK. - Parboil in buttermilk and water, then dip in sweet cream and fry. This makes it like fresh meat. - Mrs. Ross Pollack, Keswich, Ont."

You think? Okay, lets finish up with something that actually sounds interesting or I will turn you all into vegetarians, if you aren't already:

"IRISH POT PIE. - 4 pounds fresh beef, 4 carrots, 1 turnip, 1 dozen potatoes, 2 onions, dough made as follows: 2 quarts flour, 2 teaspoons cream of tartar, 1 of soda; mix with milk or cold water, same as for biscuit, no lard in it; roll about 1 inch thick, cut into 4-inch squares, cut meat in small pieces, then put in a layer of beef in bottom of pot, then a layer each of carrots, turnip, potatoes and dough and meat in alternate layers; add salt, pepper and a little summer savory; add water until you see it through the vegetables; cook slowly 3 hours. - Mrs. Fred Smith, Upper Falmouth, Hants Co., N.S."

Enough there to feed an army. The result, I would think, would be a kind of beef stew with dumplings more than a pot-pie, but at least it sounds edible and even tasty. Next week I will peruse this book for a selection of desserts, which are likely to be the best things in it.

Shepherd's Pie

I'm generally more inclined to make a shepherd's pie with a lot more vegetables than this, but I guess that's my summer or fall shepherd's pie. Since it's late winter, I made something more traditionally Canadian: one with creamed corn in it. I've seen recipes as simple as browned meat, canned corn and mashed potatoes, but it doesn't take too much more to take it up several notches.

You can use beef instead of lamb if you like - that's the more traditional Canadian version - but I'm a snob and think you should call it cottage pie in that case.

4 servings
1 hour 30 minutes - 30 minutes prep time


4 large potatoes (700 grams; 1 1/2 pounds)
2 to 3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup buttermilk
salt & pepper

450 grams ( 1 pound) ground lamb
salt
1 medium onion
1 large carrot
1 teaspoon savory
1 teaspoon dried mint
1 to 1 1/2 cups frozen corn
1 398 ml (14 oz) tin of creamed corn
paprika

Wash the potatoes, and cut them into chunks, discarding any nasty bits. Put them in a pot with water to cover and boil them until tender. Drain them, and mash them with the butter and buttermilk, and season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, peel and chop the onion, and peel and dice the carrot. Heat a large skillet and break up the ground lamb into it. Cook until it begins to brown, then season with a bit of salt and add the onion and carrot. Cook, stirring regularly, until the lamb is browned and the onion soft and translucent. Sprinkle with the savory and mint and mix in well.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Put the two corns into the bottom of a large casserole dish (2 1/2 to 3 quarts) and spread the meat mixture over them. When the potatoes are ready, spread them evenly over the top. Dust with paprika, and bake for about 45 minutes to an hour, until lightly browned and bubbling.





Last year at this time I made Carrot Soup with Three Variations and Lemon Sponge Pudding.

Celeriac & Beet Salad

This recipe came from Epicurious, and as I often do with recipes from there, I have reduced it in quantity; otherwise it is much the same, although I thought it needed a touch of green.

Celeriac is a much under-used vegetable, and when you see the price of them at the grocery store you understand why. You can get them at farmers markets, where they typically seem to run about $2; but at the grocery store they are sold by the pound and often end up costing up to 4 times as much. Why!?

2-3 servings
2 hours 20 minutes PLUS cooling time for beets - 20 minutes prep time


2 medium beets
1/4 medium celeriac
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon minced shallot
2 tablespoons olive or sunflower seed oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
black pepper
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
broccoli sprouts (optional)
2 or 3 lettuce leaves (optional)

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Wrap the beets in foil, and roast them for about an hour, until tender. Let them cool.

Meanwhile, peel the celeriac, and cut it into matchsticks. You should have about the same quantity of celeriac as beet. Mince the shallot, and mix it with the lemon juice, oil, salt and pepper. Mix this into the celeriac and let it marinate at room temperature for about an hour. Toast the walnuts in a dry skillet until lightly browned, and set them aside to cool.

When the beets are cool, peel them and cut them into matchsticks. Mix the beets gently into the celeriac, and add the walnuts. Serve the salad on broccoli sprouts or lettuce, if you like.





Last year at this time I made Pasta with a Zingy Mushroom & Sour Cream Sauce.

Pasta with Bacon, Shallots, Shiitakes & Cabbage

It's been a while since there's been any pasta here. Actually, we've been eating tons, but it's nothing that hasn't been seen before. Lots of my canned sauce which has been very handy. Not that this is much different than a number of other things I've done with pasta - it's more a case of noting what's going in it at this time of year. Yeah, cabbage. Surprise! But it goes so well with the other stuff.

I used a bit less than I call for in the recipe as I was also serving a salad, but even so it cooked down a lot and I should have used more.

Anyway, at long last I have a call out to Presto Pasta Nights - at What's Cooking this week. Hi guys!

2 servings
20 minutes prep time


200 grams (1/2 pound, scant) dry pasta
200 grams (1/2 pound, scant) bacon
4 large shallots
1 to 1 1/2 cups fresh shiitake mushrooms
4 to 5 cups chopped cabbage
freshly ground black pepper

Put a pot of salted water on to boil for the pasta.

Meanwhile, chop the bacon. Peel and slice the shallots. Remove the stems from the shiitake mushrooms and slice the caps. Chop the cabbage.

When the water boils and the pasta goes into it, start cooking the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat. When it has rendered some fat, add the sliced shallots and cook them gently for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until soft and slightly browned. Add the mushrooms and stir for a minute, then add the cabbage. Mix well then add a ladleful of water from the pasta. Continue cooking and stirring until the pasta is done.

Drain the pasta and toss it with the contents of the skillet.





Last year at this time I made Root Slaw - surprisingly fresh and spring-like.

Indian Style Rutabaga

I had a friend who came from Newfoundland, and he told me that the only vegetable Newfoundland was self-sufficient in was rutabaga. He did not seem impressed with this fact; indeed I was left with the impression that it was a factor in his having left.

Now me, I quite like rutabaga, and I would think that a dish like this might even have helped to make my friend change his mind. Like yesterdays' cabbage this was inspired by a dish from Modern India restaurant in Cambridge. Lots of bold, lively flavours here to keep you warm and full in the late winter. (I might have known that as soon as I admitted the idea that spring might be on the way it would SNOW! Aaargh.)

4 servings
1 hour 30 minutes - 30 minutes prep time


4 cups diced rutabaga (1/2 medium-large rutabaga)
1/4 cup red lentils
2 cups diced or crushed canned tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger
1 small onion
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
2-3 dried red chiles
2 tablespoons fine unsweetened dessicated coconut

Peel the rutabaga and cut it in dice. Put it in a good sized pot, with the red lentils and water just sufficient to cover. Bring to a boil and simmer until tender, stirring regularly; about 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, peel and grate or finely mince the garlic. Peel and grate the ginger. Set them aside.

About 10 minutes before the rutabaga is done, add the tomatoes to them.

Peel and chop the onion. Heat the oil in a skillet and sauté the onion until soft and very slightly browned. Add the fennel seeds, chiles and coconut, and continue cooking and stirring for another 2 or 3 minutes, until the coconut begins to colour. Add the ginger and garlic, and continue cooking and stirring for another minute or two. Then add the contents of the skillet to the rutabaga.

Continue to simmer the rutabaga for 15 minutes to half an hour, until everything is well amalgamated and the sauce has cooked down to thick soupy texture. Serve with rice.





Last year at this time I made Baked Parsnips Crusted with Nuts & Seeds.

Indian Style Cabbage

When we lived in Cambridge we would often go out to Modern India. This is a rather good little buffet restaurant (although they do have a menu and do take out) which has set up in an old Country Style Donut shop that didn't cut the mustard - their loss is Cambridge's gain. The decor is a bit basic but the food is really nice.

A while back this winter they had a sautéed cabbage dish, and also rutabaga in a spicy tomato based sauce. I thought they were very good, but they didn't stay on offer for some reason. I decided I would try to recreate them, or at least something similar. This is what I came up with for the cabbage, and although it wasn't really all that similar I enjoyed it a lot. Rutabaga tomorrow.

2 to 4 servings
30 minutes - 30 minutes prep time


4 cups chopped cabbage

1 clove of garlic
1 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger
1/4 teaspoon crushed black peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon mild curry powder
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
2 to 3 dried red chiles
1/2 teaspoon cumin seed
1/3 cup water
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Chop the cabbage and set it aside. Peel and grate or finely mince the garlic. Grate the ginger. Put them in a small bowl with the pepper, salt and curry powder, and set that aside.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mustard seeds, chiles and cumin seed when it is hot and cook, stirring, until the mustard seeds pop. Add the cabbage at once, and stir well. Reduce the heat to medium. Add half the water, and stir well again.

When the water is mostly evaporated, add the ginger, garlic etc. Stir well. When it is well blended in and has cooked for a minute or two, add the remaining water and the lemon juice. Continue cooking the cabbage until the second batch of liquid has evaporated or been absorbed, and the cabbage is done to your liking.





Last year at this time I made Lamb Chops with Roasted Tomatoes & Shallots, and Chocolate Pudding.

Another Dip Into the Canadian Farm Cook Book - Vegetables

One tends to look back at the vegetable recipes in old cookbooks with mingled amusement, envy and horror - the envy being very slight, and consisting mainly of the fact that as you read, you realize how many people were pulling fresh vegetables out of their vegetable garden.

The amusement and horror come from the realization of just how few vegetables were generally available, and from the fact that people used to do things like boil asparagus for 20 minutes. This was actually from a chart in a different cookbook on cooking vegetables, and the next cooking time was over 30 minutes, and they went up from there. Grey stringy mush, anyone?

However, the Canadian Farm Cook Book has these wise words about salads:

"The fresh vegetables also include the salad greens or the green vegetables that are eaten raw; for example lettuce, celery, cucumbers, watercress, radishes, etc. These may be used alone for salads or in combination with fresh meat or cooked vegetables. The salad greens should be thoroughly washed and put in cold water to become crisp. After they are crisp they may be folded loosely in a clean, damp towel or put into a covered granite pail and kept in a cool place until needed. In this way they may be prepared some time before using, and with a salad dressing prepared beforehand, a salad for supper can be prepared in a very short time. The oil or cooked dressings may be served with the salad. The dressing adds to the nourishment and flavor of the salad. French dressing is largely used for vegetable salads, but none of the dressingss except the French dressing should be added to the salad until just before serving time. - If added too soon they tend to wilt the crisp vegetables and the dressing becomes watery."

Okay, now I want a granite* pail to keep my salad greens cool in. And an old-fashioned stone cold-room or dairy to keep my granite pail in. (And a maid to scrub it**)... No. Stop. Now.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to spring, and asparagus season. How about asparagus on toast?

"ASPARAGUS ON TOAST. - Cut the tough, hard end from the asparagus, wash carefully, tie in bunches, set the bunches on end in a saucepan of boiling, salted water, having the tender ends above the water; cover and boil gently for 1/2 hour..."

That only takes you 1/3 of the way through the recipe but suddenly I have lost interest for some inexplicable reason. Anyway, asparagus is not here yet, but I do have a cabbage in the fridge.

"CABBAGE, BOILED. - Take off outside leaves, cut in quarters, remove tough stalk, soak in cold salted water, cook in uncovered vessel in boiling water. Change water every 10 minutes; drain. - Mrs. Milton Savage, Elgin Mills, Ont."

Another perplexing one. Just how long did she think it should be boiled, anyway? Myself, I would "change" the water after 10 minutes, by taking the cabbage out and serving it.

"CREAMED CABBAGE. - Boil cabbage in salted water until tender, drain and pour milk enough to almost cover, have flour and cold milk mixed and add just as milk and cabbage boils; cook five minutes, adding butter and nutmeg to taste. An excellent substitute for cauliflower. - Mrs Richard Fleming, Kingston Mills, Ont."

Don't know about that, but it does sound reasonably edible, providing modern definitions of until tender apply. "Cold" Slaw, on the other hand, sounds kind of dull.

"COLD SLAW. - To a small cup vinegar add a well-beaten egg, 1 teaspoon mustard, 1 teaspoon sugar, a small lump butter, season with pepper and salt; let come to a boil and pour over nicely chopped cabbage while hot. - Mrs Ross Pollock, Keswick, Ont."

And of course, this was the start of the long heyday of the jellied salad (which now is so far "out" it's coming back "in").

"JELLIED CABBAGE. - Chop 1 head white cabbage, mix with juice of 1 lemon, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup vinegar and a little salt; dissolve 1 package gelatine in water, mix with cabbage, put in a mould when jellied serve with any salad dressing. - Mrs. C. J. Brodie, Claremont, Ont."

And just to prove that there were other vegetables besides cabbage, how about some baked parsnips?

"Boil parsnips until tender, drain and mash, add a generous lump of butter, pepper and salt to taste; butter a baking dish, cover the bottom with a layer of bread crumbs, put in parsnips, cover with a layer of crumbs and brown in oven. - Mrs. Revd. MacKay, Four Mile Brook, Pictou Co., N.S."

Well, I think that's about enough for this week. I find I am losing my will to live.








*Not actual granite, in case anyone wonders - speckled enamel.

**Who do I think I am kidding? If I had been around 100 years ago, I'd have been the maid, most likely.

Potato-Cheese Muffins

These are not sweet muffins; more like biscuits. They are great with soup or salad, or certainly, I would eat them for breakfast with bacon and eggs.

I used potatoes cooked and mashed for this recipe, but if you use leftover mashed potatoes - and why not? - you may wish to use a little less salt and oil. I'm not saying how much 2 cups of grated cheddar weighs. You can stuff in however much suits your taste, your budget, or the strength of your cheese.

12 muffins
40 minutes - 15 minutes prep time, not including cooking the potatoes


2 cups soft whole wheat flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

2 extra-large eggs
2 cups mashed potatoes
1 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 cups grated extra-old cheddar
1 tablespoon fresh or dried chives (optional)

Mix the flour, baking powder and salt, and set them aside. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Butter or line 12 muffin cups.

Beat the eggs lightly in a mixing bowl, then add the mashed potatoes and mix well. Mix in the buttermilk and oil. Mix in the grated cheese, and the chives, if you want them.

Finally, mix in the dry ingredients, sufficiently well that the flour is all absorbed, but no more. Dollop the mixture out evenly into the prepared muffin cups. Bake for 25 minutes, until firm and nicely browned.






Last year at this time I made Rhubarb, Cranberry & Ginger Compote or Fool.

Chicken Pot Pie with Biscuity Crust

When 2 people roast a 7 pound chicken, it should come as no surprise there are leftovers. Here's where some of them went. The filling was a fairly standard pot-pie filling, but I thought the crust worked out very well. Sort of half-way between a biscuit or dumpling topping, and pie crust. I'm calling for chicken stock here; I assume you put the bones straight into the stock-pot when you put away the leftovers.

4 to 6 servings
1 hour 30 minutes - 1 hour prep time


Make the Filling:
1 medium onion
1 medium carrot
2 stalks of celery
8 to 10 button mushrooms
1 tablespoon sunflower seed oil
1 or 2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon savory
2 cups chicken broth or leftover gravy, or combo
2 or 3 cups cut-up cooked chicken
2 cups frozen peas, thawed

Peel and chop the onion, somewhat coarsely. Peel and dice the carrot. Clean and dice the celery. Clean the mushrooms and cut them in halves. Sauté these vegetables until softened in the oil. Sprinkle them with the flour and savory, and when they are well mixed in, add the broth or leftover gravy. (Use the smaller amount of flour if there is a generous amount of gravy, and the larger amount if you are mostly using broth.) Simmer the vegetables for about 15 minutes, until fairly tender. Top up with a little more broth if it seems to be disappearing. The sauce should be generous, but not soupy.

Meanwhile, prepare the biscuit dough for the crust, and preheat the oven to 350°F.

Add the chicken to the vegetables and heat for another 5 minutes or so. Put the filling and the peas into a large casserole dish, and cover it with the rolled-out biscuit crust. Actually - it now occurs to me - that since I prepared the filling in a cast iron skillet I could have simply applied the crust to the filling in the skillet and put it directly into the oven.

Add the Biscuity Crust:
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup sunflower seed oil
1/4 cup buttermilk, milk or cream
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

The butter should be very soft. Mix it with the oil and milk. The butter can be in fairly large lumps.

Mix the baking powder and salt into the flour. Mix the flour into the wet ingredients. Stir until everything is amalgamated. There should no longer be large lumps of butter, but small lumps or streaks are not only fine, but good.

Put the dough out on a piece of parchment or waxed paper a little larger than the casserole dish, and roll out the dough until it will cover most of the casserole.

When you are ready to cover the casserole, lift the paper to the edge of the casserole, and turn it over so the dough sits on top of the casserole. Peel off the paper and discard it. Poke holes in the dough with a fork to allow steam to escape.

Bake the casserole for 25 minutes, until lightly browned.




Last year at this time I made Vegetarian Lentil Paté.

Slow Roasted Chicken

Mm, chicken. We don't get chicken too often as a good one is hard to find, and not cheap when you do. However we saw this one in the freezer of a tiny Mennonite-run market in the middle of no-where (actually half-way between our old life and our new life) and figured it was bound to be a good one. Which it was. Slow roasting keeps the meat tender and moist.

6 to 8 servings
3 to 4 hours - 30 minutes prep time


Make the Stuffing
4 cups cooked barley
1 medium onion
1 medium carrot
2 stalks of celery
2 tablespoons sunflower seed oil
1 recipe poultry seasoning

You will need about 1 cup raw barley; as ever, I cook it in the rice cooker with 3 cups of water and a pinch of salt.

Peel and chop the onion. Peel and chop the carrot. Wash and chop the celery. Sauté them in the oil until soft and just slightly browned, adding about 2/3 of the seasoning mix when half done.

Mix the vegetables into the barley.


Stuff & Roast the Chicken:
1 6 to 7 pound chicken
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sweet Hungarian paprika

Preheat the oven to 300°F.

Stuff the chicken with the barley mixture. About 1/3 should go into the neck end first; the skin can be pulled over it and then the chicken can be stood on end while the rest of the stuffing goes in, without the first batch of stuffing falling out.

Place the chicken on a small rack in a deep, snup casserole dish and dust it with the remaining poultry seasoning, mixed with the salt and paprika. Add 1/4 cup of water to the pan, and watch the chicken as it roasts. If it looks like drying out, add a bit more water. It shouldn't though; it should be producing lots of juices with the slow roasting.

Roast the chicken for 25 to 30 minutes per pound, until the bird is nicely browned and the leg wiggles freely.

If you want baked potatoes with your chicken, they should go in 2 hours before the chicken is done, because of the low temperature.

Once the bird comes out of the oven, it should sit for a few minutes before being carved. You'll need that time to get the stuffing out anyway. Pour the pan juices into a pot and thicken with a little flour.

Don't forget to make soup with the bones, scraps and any leftover dressing.





Last year at this time I made a Roast Leg of Lamb in a Spicy Sauce.

Poultry Seasoning

In my recipes I often call for spices, ground. This is what I use. It's a granite mortar and pestle from Korea. I used to have an electric coffee grinder to do this, but it was a nuisance to clean and just didn't seem worth the effort for a teaspoon of this and a teaspoon of that. For a while, I had them both, but I got used to grinding bigger and bigger batches of spices in the mortar. Eventually I gave the coffee grinder away.

In general, it makes a huge difference in the quality of your spices to buy them whole in small quantities, to grind them only as needed, and to keep them stored in a dark cool place. Pepper, once ground, goes rancid very quickly but can be stored in the cupboard as long as it is unground. Celery seed goes rancid easily even before it is ground, and might be best kept well wrapped in the freezer.

This poultry seasoning is reminiscent of an old favourite - Bell's seasoning. Whenever we went to the U.S to visit relatives when I was a kid, we would stock up on Bell's. It wasn't available here. I don't know if it's still around or not. I'm pretty happy with this, although I miss the lovely old-fashioned box that it came in.

Enough for one chicken
5 minutes


1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon savory
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon sage
1/2 teaspoon ground dried ginger

Put the first four ingredients in your mortar or grinder and grind finely. Add the remaining ingredients and grind again.

Use the poultry seasoning to season stuffing for chicken, or sprinkle on the skin of a whole chicken or chicken pieces to be roasted. In that case, I like to add a bit of paprika and a bit more salt as well.

Some Old Recipes from The Canadian Farm Cookbook of 1911

Actually, I'm assuming it was 1911. That's the handwritten date in the front cover, along with the name of my great-aunt's mother-in-law; it was her book. The date of printing has been obscured by recipes clipped from newspapers and glued in over the years.

I've gotten hours of entertainment out of this book. It's a fascinating look at what Canadians were eating 100 years ago, and my interpretations of a couple recipes from it have already appeared on this blog. No doubt there will be a number more.

Right now though, I want to share some of the stuff I have abso-freaking-lutely no intention of ever trying.

For example, I am not going to make my own yeast:

"WET YEAST. - Boil 1 large handful of hops in a gallon of water for half an hour, grate 5 medium sized potatoes and strain the boiling liquid over it, stirring well; add a little salt, sugar and ginger; let cool then add 1 White Swan Yeast Cake and put in a warm place to rise; stir frequently. It is best made in a large dish and afterwards put into a jar and corked tight. - Mrs Harry Platts, Alma, Lot 3, P.E.I."

Huh? If you can get White Swan Yeast Cakes, why not just use White Swan Yeast Cakes? I don't get it.

You've got to love the organization of old-fashioned cook books, by the way. The way I figure it, word went out to the women of Canada that a cook book was to be published, they sent in their best recipes, and then they were sorted and organized. Sorted and organized by a man, plainly; and not just any man - certainly not one with any knowledge of cookery - I suspect the printer himself - and the resulting level of organization is approximate at best. I note, for example, the following mixed in amongst the yeasts and breads:

"SCOTCH BREADS. - 2 pounds flour, 1/2 pound brown sugar, 3/4 pound butter, 1/4 pound lard, roll, sprinkle with sugar, cut in squares. - Mrs. Will McKay, Altona, Ont."

Right, should be with the cookies. Should be baked, too, but that's just my opinion. These should have been with the cookies too:

"LEMON BISCUIT. - Take 2 1/2 cups sugar, 1 1/2 cups lard, 1 pint sweet milk, 2 eggs, five cents worth of baker's ammonia in sweet milk, and five cents worth of lemon oil; beat sugar, lard, and eggs together, pulverize and dissolve ammonia in sweet milk, put lemon oil in last, mix in flour until stiff, then roll about as thick as pasteboard, cut in squares or round shapes, and bake in a quick oven; add a little salt. - Mrs C. W. Macklin, Grafton, Ont.

Also sent by Miss Emma Reid, Reid's Corner, Ont.; Mrs. Jas. Symons, Box 26, Craik, Sask.; Mrs. R. Roe, Hawkstone, Ont.; Mrs. John Ferguson, Camlachie, Ont.; Mildred Gearns, Dalston, Simcoe Co., Ontario."

Obviously, this was a popular recipe at the time. But thus is seen the folly of calling for ingredients by their current price or package without reference to size. Future generations will have to guess: just how much baker's ammonia and lemon oil was that, anyway? Still, that was precision of a kind. I suspect this "recipe" was always just annoying:

"CEREAL AND VEGETABLE SOUPS. - Heaping tablespoon of barley, rice, wheat, oats, beans, peas, or whatever you desire; potato, carrot, tomato, cabbage, turnip, celery tops, parsley, onion, or whatever desired to suit taste; season with celery salt (table salt may be used). For bouillon, use excess of turnips and cabbage for flavouring and strain. If you desire to make richer by adding milk, omit cabbage and turnip. Select your vegetables as preferred. Any combination is good. Absolutely no stock or butter is required. - E. G. Harris, 109 Park Street, Buffalo, N.Y."

Well, wasn't that helpful? No? Well, maybe I'll try again next week with some different recipes.