06. Pioneer Recipes

Perogies

These are potato or potato & cheese dumplings brought to Canada by Ukrainian settlers. The original name, pyrohy, was changed in Canada to make it easier for other pioneers to pronounce.

Filling:

500 ml mashed potatoes
10 ml grated onions
15 ml butter
125 ml grated cheddar cheese
5 ml salt
5 ml pepper

Combine all the ingredients and chill them in the refrigerator.

Dough:

350 ml lukewarm water
25 ml oil
7 ml salt
1 L all-purpose flour
1 egg

Combine the oil, salt, water and the egg. Gradually add flour to make soft dough. Shape the dough into a ball and place it in a greased bowl, turning it to grease the top of the dough. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 1 ½ hours. Roll the dough thinly and cut it into 10 cm rounds. Place 15 ml of filling in the center of each dough round and fold the dough over, pinching to seal the edges. Place the perogies on a floured tea towel and cover to prevent drying. Drop the perogies into boiling salt water and cook them for nine minutes. Drain and keep warm. Makes about 36 perogies.

TOPPING:

500 ml sliced onions
50 ml melted butter

Sauté the onions in butter until golden brown. Serve over the perogies. Top with sour cream if desired.

Grandpères 

Collecting sap to make maple syrup was taught by the Indians to settlers. Grandpères were a favorite dessert of French pioneers.

400 ml maple syrup
20 ml baking powder
300 ml water
2 ml salt
375 ml sifted all-purpose flour
50 ml shortening
200 ml milk

Combine the maple syrup and water and bring to boil. Sift the dry ingredients and cut in the shortening until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs. Stir in the milk to make soft dough. Drop 15 ml measures of dough into the boiling syrup mixture, cover and simmer 15 minutes without removing lid. Serve immediately. Makes 18 dumplings.

Baked Beans

Throughout our early history, Canadian explorers, trappers and lumberjacks, as well as our armies, all depended on baked beans.

500 ml navy beans
500 ml liquid from beans
10 ml salt
2 ml dry mustard
100 g salt pork
125 ml chopped onions
250 ml maple syrup
Dash of pepper

Soak the beans overnight in 1.5 L of water. Drain. Add 1.5 L of fresh water and 5 ml of salt. Bring to boil, cover and simmer 30 minutes or until bean skins split. Drain and save liquid. Turn the beans into a pot or deep baking dish. Chop pork in 3 cm pieces. Add the pork, the chopped onions, 125 ml of maple syrup and the liquid from the beans and the seasonings to beans. Mix lightly. Cover and bake for 5 ½ to 6 hours at 120 degrees C. If necessary, add more of the bean liquid. Uncover; add the rest of the maple syrup and bake for 30 minutes.
Serves 6.

Cipaille

This dish is made with layers of meat, vegetables and pastry. In the early days of pioneer settlement, it was made from rabbit, partridge, duck and other game. The Acadians used it as a special Christmas dish.

1 kg broiler chicken
175 ml shortening
1 kg boneless pork shoulder
375 ml diced celery
20 ml salt
1 kg stewing beef
5 ml pepper
1 kg stewing veal
7 ml savory
500 ml chopped onions
500 ml sifted all-purpose flour
500 ml sliced mushrooms (about 250 g)
15 ml baking powder
500 ml diced potatoes
125 ml milk
500 ml thinly sliced carrots

Bone the chicken and remove the skin. Cut the chicken into 2 cm cubes. Remove the fat from the pork. Dice the fat finely and fry the chicken with it until crisp. Cut the pork, beef and veal into 2 cm cubes and mix it with the chicken. Combine the vegetables and seasonings. Sprinkle pork fat over the bottom of a heavy 5 L baking dish. Arrange the meat and vegetable mixtures in layers until dish is filled. Sift the flour, salt and baking powder; cut in the shortening until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs, then add the milk to make firm dough. Roll out the dough to form a topping for the mixture in the baking dish. Seal the mixture with the dough along the edge of the dish and cut steam vents in top. Chill in the refrigerator overnight to blend the flavors. Cover tightly with aluminum foil or a lid and bake at 150 degrees C for 4 to 4 ½ hours. Uncover for the last 20 minutes to brown the pastry. Serves 10 to 12.

Corn Fritters 

The early settlers learnt about vegetables such as corn, turnip and pumpkin first from their Indian neighbours. Corn fritters were also known as corn oysters to some and were used as a main dish or vegetable.

250 ml all-purpose flour
1 can (199 ml) kernel corn
or
250 ml fresh corn kernels
125 ml milk
2 beaten eggs
15 ml melted butter

Combine the eggs and milk. Sift the dry ingredients together and add them to the egg-milk mixture, stirring occasionally. Fold in the corn and butter. Deep-fat fry 25 ml amounts at 190 degrees C for one to two minutes each side. Makes 18 fritters.

Scalloped Turnips and Apples

Turnip was a delicacy to many settlers, and it became even more important once it was discovered that turnip prevented scurvy.

500 ml thinly sliced turnip (about 300 g)
5 ml salt
5 ml pepper
500 ml thinly sliced apples (about 250 g)
50 ml brown sugar
25 ml butter

Combine the turnip, apple and seasonings. Arrange in a
greased 1.5 L baking dish. Sprinkle with brown
sugar and dot with butter. Cover and bake at 180 degrees C
for 1 ¼ hours, or until tender. Serves 6.

Apple Dumplings

A popular Nova Scotia dessert which came originally from England.

125 ml brown sugar
125 ml raisins
6 medium apples, peeled, cored
25 ml butter
2 ml cinnamon
Pastry for 2-crust 23 cm pie

Roll out the dough 3 mm thick and cut into 6 squares. Place an apple in the center of each square and fill the core cavity with raisins, cinnamon and butter. Draw up the four corners of the pastry and seal the edges. Bake at 220 degrees C until the pastry is lightly browned and the apples are tender (about 25 minutes depending on the size of apples used).

Serves 6.

Tourtière 

This is a distinctively French Canadian main dish made originally with “tourte”, a kind of pigeon once found in Canada, but now extinct. Today’s tourtière is made with wholesome ground meats.

500 ml ground pork
2 ml allspice
50 ml chopped onion
2 ml pepper
3 ml salt
50 ml boiling water
2 ml garlic salt
250 ml finely mashed potatoes
Pastry for 2-crust, 1 L pie (23 cm)

Combine the pork, onion, seasonings and water. Simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally until the meat is cooked. Cool and skim off the fat. Stir in the potatoes. Line a pie plate with half the pastry. Fill with the cooked mixture and cover with pastry. Seal the pastry edges and cut steam vents. Bake for 10 minutes at 230 degrees C; then reduce the heat to 180 degrees C and bake 30 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.

Eagle Cake

This is a recipe of Mary Van Egmond, granddaughter-in-law of Colonel Anthony Van Egmond.

1 cup brown sugar
½ cup butter (scant)
1 egg
1 cup sour milk
1 ½ cups of raisins
1 ½ cups of flour
½ cup rolled oats
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ginger
½ tsp nutmeg
1 tsp soda, sifted in the flour

Icing

1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 good tsp butter
1 good tsp water
1 tbsp cream or milk

Boil until the thread stage.

A main source for these recipes is Agriculture Canada’s publication 5194/B, available from their communications branch.
Agriculture Canada, Ottawa KJA 0C7
Minister of Supply and Services Canada 1985 Cat. No. A73-5194/1985 ISBN: 0-662-53995-8 Printed 1985 Reprinted 1986 35M-9:86