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Cranberry Bread Pudding

Cranberry Bread Pudding

A different kind of bread pudding, with cranberries!

Cranberry Chiffon Pie

Cranberry Chiffon Pie

Very light cranberries mousse pie – would make an outstanding Thanksgiving dessert!

Scalloped Oysters

Scalloped Oysters

Another recipe from the Maritimes in Wartime, this dish is meant to stretch your small amount of oysters into a meal for a family, and it does so pretty darn well!


Ingredients

125 g egg noodles
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
1.5 cups milk
2 tbsp chopped parsley
1/4 tsp mace
salt and cayenne pepper
4 hardboiled eggs, sliced
12 oysters (I used frozen)
buttered breadcrumbs

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400F and butter baking dish. Cook the egg noodles in salted water for 6-8 minutes and then drain. 

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add flour and cook for 1 minutes. Add the milk, stirring to remove lumps. Simmer while stirring, until thickened. Add parsley and seasonings and remove from head. 

Alternate layers of sauce with layers of noodles/oysters/eggs. (I just mixed them all together). Cover with breadcrumbs. Bake for 15 minutes. 

This was pretty easy to put together – noodles, white sauce, boiled eggs and raw oysters (yes, they cook fully in the 15 mins this dish bakes).

I fully drained the oysters. I think I might try saving the oyster juice once they thawed, and adding that to the dish. Currently, it’s not very oyster-y.


The verdict

I really like this dish! It was a nice casserole, and I liked the egg and oysters. Given that we are not currently living under wartime rationing, I’d probably double the oysters, leaving the rest of the recipe the same.

Also, do use the cayenne – it really goes surprisingly well with the oysters.

Traditional Recipes of Atlantic Canada

Traditional Recipes of Atlantic Canada

I don’t think this is done anymore, but back in the 80s gas stations would give out/sell for nominal prices cookware and other things with a fill up. My parents patronized the Ultramar in our town, and not only got a set of pyrex baking 

Hodge Podge

Hodge Podge

This is the best dish for the first vegetables of summer.

Oeufs au pain (bread pudding soufflé)

Oeufs au pain (bread pudding soufflé)

Another recipe originating in From the Hearth, this one is a bread pudding with a difference. Not your typical dense bread pudding, it’s light and airy due to the addition of beaten egg whites. This is another dish using candied peel, which you can make yourself.


Ingredients

4 cups bread, cubed
4 cups milk
1 cup sugar
6 eggs, separated and beaten
salt
1-2 tsp orange flower water
2 tbsp candied peel, chopped fine

Instructions

Bring the milk to a boil. Pour over bread and mix in sugar, salt, orange flower water and candied peel. Let sit for 20-30 minutes. 

Preheat oven to 350F. 

Run through a sieve (I didn't do this). 

Add the beaten egg yolks. Then fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites. 

Pour into a buttered dish (or two - expect to need two medium-large oven-safe bowls), and place in a bain-marie (water bath). 

Bake about 1 hour, or until tester comes out clean. 

Option: sprinkle top with sugar and brown under the broiler until golden. 

This made a LOT. I had to use two baking dishes, and two bain-maries (neither of which was deep enough). I feel like my kitchen is pretty well stocked, and I was a little stumped as to how I’d arrange big baking dishes into other even bigger baking dishes. I will cut this in half next time.

I decided not to try and sieve the bread post-soaking – it was almost all broken up anyway (with the exception of a few bits of bottom crust), and I like my bread pudding with some texture.

The result was really light and airy and moist. You expect the moist part from bread pudding, but honestly I would not have predicted this texture from a dish with 4 cups of bread in it.

The dish, with some strawberry sauce

The recipe book suggested pureed fruit or cream sauce to go with it – I went for strawberry.


The verdict

This was really, really excellent. Super light. Just the right amount of citrus/floral from the peel and orange flower water. Not too sweet. Overall, fantastic. I will make this again. Just … less of it.

Grandma’s Strawberry Shortcake

Grandma’s Strawberry Shortcake

A strawberry shortcake with a different type of base – absolutely the best!

Bannock/Biscuits

Bannock/Biscuits

A versatile recipe for a quick bread.

Blueberry Grunt

Blueberry Grunt

This is a down-home Nova Scotian dessert which is WAY better than it sounds. Great way to use up blueberries that need using!


Ingredients

1 quart blueberries
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1.5 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp butter
2/3 cup milk (approx).
Whipped cream for topping (optional)

Instructions

Put blueberries, water, and 1/2 cup sugar in a sauce pan and start heating (medium heat). Simmer while making dumplings

Combine flour, baking powder, salt and 1 tsp sugar. Cut or rub in butter. Add enough milk to make soft dough. 

Drop dumpling dough in tablespoon amounts into blueberries, letting them sit on top. Cover tightly and cook for 15 minutes without opening lid. 

Serve hot. Optional - top with whipped cream. 

This is a fast, easy dessert that still has some of the features of desserts that take longer. It’s got both fruit and dough, both liquid and solid, both tart and sweet.

The berries go on, and then you don’t really have to take care of them (beyond maybe stirring a couple times).

The dumplings are pretty quick. With the small amount of butter, it was easier to rub the butter into the flour mixture than to cut it in.

Once you’ve got the dumplings in and covered, again it basically requires no attention.

The name of the dish is supposed to come from a “grunting” sound made while the dumplings are cooking. My kitchen is too loud to verify the “gruntiness” of this cooking process.

The final product!

The Verdict

Easy, fast, and delicious. Great for using up those blueberries that are on their way out that you don’t want to eat fresh (as ours were in this dish). A great Nova Scotian dessert.

Toastaroons

Toastaroons

Super easy and quite nice! A great recipe for kids to make with minimal help.