Prairie Kitchens - Chickpeas and Spinach

Imagine surviving the winter in a sod hut with no electricity, no hot running water (well, any running water) and no fresh vegetables. By early May, you would be anxious to get gardening.

Many of the pioneers who settled Saskatchewan brought their favourite seeds with them from the Old Country. Tomatoes and melons from Russia, chickpeas and lentils from Syria, sweet corn from the United States. Some of their seeds did not fare well in our short northern growing season, however, those that did prosper were saved and shared with neighbours.

For instance, gardeners would note the first tomato to ripen and save its seeds for the following year. By attentive selection, new heritage varieties were created such as the Russian Saskatchewan Tomato and the Cream of Saskatchewan Watermelon.

However, it would be a mistake to think gardening started with the pioneers. During the fur trade era, the Hudson Bay Company distributed wheat, barley, oats, potatoes and garden seeds for planting at fur trade posts such as Cumberland House and Fort Carlton. These early gardens were often tended by Métis, who were the "green thumbs" of the Northwest Territories.

Perhaps the strangest seeds grown in pioneer times were those of settlers from the Middle East such as chickpeas and coriander, which were used in recipes like this one.

Chickpeas and Spinach
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
3–4 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups finely chopped spinach
1/2 cup finely chopped coriander leaves
2 cups cooked chickpeas
2 cups stewed tomatoes and their juice
Salt and pepper

Heat oil in a deep skillet. Cook onion and garlic until soft. Stir in spinach and cook for a few minutes. Add remaining ingredients, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer on low heat for 20 minutes. Serve hot or cold.

Do you have a prairie recipe with at story? Tell me! Follow me at twitter.com/prairiefeast.

(This article first appeared in the Saskatoon Star Phoenix.)

Madly Truly Spinach

The spinach and cilantro in my garden are growing like mad so I'm madly looking for sympathetic recipes. Add to that my recent visit to Buffalo, NY, where I purchased a jar of Maharajah curry powder at the Penzeys store. Throw in an eggplant from the farmers' market and some Saskatchewan-grown chickpeas and this is what you get...













Madly Truly Chickpea Spinach Curry
2 tbsp olive oil, plus more if needed
1 eggplant
1/2 red onion
3 cups cooked chickpeas
2-3 tsp curry powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup water
2 cups finely chopped spinach
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro

Cut the eggplant into a small dice, roughly 1 cm square. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil on medium high in a big skillet. Cook the eggplant, turning frequently, until it's nicely brown on two sides. The eggplant may absorb the oil so add more as needed.

Cut the onion into thin wedges. Toss into the eggplant. Continue cooking and stirring occasionally until the eggplant is nicely browned and the onion is soft.

Add the chickpeas, curry powder, salt and water. Stir well. Mix in the spinach. Turn the heat down, cover and cook until the spinach is done. Check once or twice if it's sticking to the pan and add a bit more water if needed. Stir in the cilantro and serve.

The oil and eggplant create a creamy combination that takes this dish from supper to succulent!

Sources: spinach and cilantro from my garden; eggplant from the farmers' market; Penzeys curry powder; locally-grown chickpeas from Diefenbaker Seed Processors.

Newspaper Column - MILANESE TOURTE

Publsihed in the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, 20 March 2007.

By recent misfortune I discovered a new take on the saying "don’t put all your eggs in one basket." Don’t bake a three-course meal in one oven. Should that oven suddenly conk out, as mine did, you will be stuck with a kitchen full of wonderful uncooked food just as guests are arriving for dinner.

My oven was very sneaky in this matter. While the top element was functioning well, the lower element had taken a hiatus. As a result, the oven got hot, but it only cooked from the top down.
I discovered this while baking baguettes, that long French bread that was to form the appetizer of our meal. That was to be followed by a sumptuous layered dish called a Milanese Tourte and, for dessert, a confection of cake, jam and meringue. All of it cooked in the oven.

I suppose I could have cancelled dinner, but that would be admitting defeat. So, after bawling on my husband’s shoulder, we decided to rise to the challenge of planning and prepping a completely new menu in little more than an hour. This was complicated by the fact that it had to be a Saskatchewan meal – just about all of it, with a few exceptions, had to be local food. Why? I am a big fan of the wonderful foods produced in Saskatchewan, so that is what I like to serve for dinner at my house.

Our guests that evening, Lisa and Ralph, are just as interested in local food. To serve anything else would feel worse than defeat; it would be a betrayal of that local food ethic. As our guests walked in the door, my husband was in the kitchen calmly rolling ravioli. I made the pasta dough with farm eggs and he made the filling of ground pork and lamb (from the freezer) and dried herbs. A tomato sauce was simmering on the stove (made last summer with our garden tomatoes). Instead of fresh bread, I revived a two-day-old loaf by toasting it with olive oil and turning it into Italian bruschetta. For dessert, I opened a jar of local pears I picked and canned last fall.

As for the Milanese Tourte, it is now tucked into the freezer for another meal. As for the oven, it has worked perfectly ever since. The Milanese Tourte is a good dish for company because it can be made ahead of time and baked before they arrive (if the oven co-operates). I adapted this recipe from the cookbook Baking with Julia, where the instructions take no less than three pages!

Milanese Tourte
Eggs:
10 big farm eggs
2 tbsp mixed fresh herbs such as chives, parsley, oregano, tarragon
(or 1 tbsp dried herbs)

Scramble the eggs slowly with the herbs until they begin to set but are still quite runny. Salt and pepper to taste. Scoop into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and cool.

Spinach:
1 tbsp each butter and olive oil
1.5 lbs fresh spinach or 1.5 pkgs frozen
2 cloves garlic, minced
dash of nutmeg

Blanch fresh spinach or thaw frozen spinach. Squeeze out excess moisture. Heat oil and butter in skillet. Sauté garlic. Add spinach, season with nutmeg, salt and pepper, and cook 5 minutes. Cool.
Other layers:
3-4 roasted red peppers, in strips
8 large thin slices of ham
8 large thin slices of Italian cheese, such as Asiago
1 pkg puff pastry

Butter a deep pie plate. Roll out half the pastry and place it in the dish. Spread the pastry with half the eggs. Cover with half the spinach, then half the ham, half the cheese and the roasted peppers. In reverse order, add the rest of the cheese, ham, spinach and finally the eggs. Roll the rest of the pastry and place on top. Crimp and seal the edges, and cut an air vent. Refrigerate for 30 min. Bake at 350F for about one hour, until the crust is nicely brown. Best served warm (not hot) or at room temperature.