Seasonal Ontario Food

Still looking for low-carb alternatives to pasta, and this certainly works well for that. Unfortunately Mr. Ferdzy is becoming more lactose-intolerant as he gets older (and lactose-free dairy products are a bad choice for pre-diabetics) so this is not going to be something I make often. Pity. It was good.

Sadly for Mr. Ferdzy, it took three tries to get this right. I kept hoping I could use less flour than actually turned out to be required, so not quite as low-carb as ideal. Still, it was delicious, quick and easy (oh how I like that phrase) and half of it amounts to 2 out of the 5 carbohydrate "servings" I allot myself each day, which is quite proportionate for a main meal. 

Spaetzle are now officially a part of my life; I even bought a spaetzle maker. Not the traditional kind, but a simple edged circle of stainless steel with holes in it, which sits on the top of the pot so the batter can be pressed through it. I like the simple design, and it can double as a strainer and possibly, with the right lid over it, a steamer.

As ever, the two of us ate it all, and it was all there was. You could serve it as a side dish with meat and it would go further, serving up to 6 people. The amount of ricotta cheese used was exactly 1/3 of a readily-available brand's oddly-sized 475 gram container. On one occasion that I made it, I served it with Poutine Gravy and we really liked that. The cheese does make this a fairly soft spaetzle, and it's a good idea to serve it with something that brings a little crunch.

2 to 6 servings
10 minutes to mix the batter, not including rest time
15 minutes to cook, including bring the water to a boil
10 minutes to finish in the pan 


Make the Spaetzle:
160 grams (6 ounces) pressed cottage or ricotta cheese
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
a few scrapes of nutmeg
2 to 3 tablespoons finely minced fresh herbs
2 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup barley flour

Remove the cheese from the packaging carefully, discarding any accumulated liquid - if it seems quite moist it will not hurt to measure it a little generously then let it drain for a while. Mash it with a fork and whisk in the first egg. Add the seasonings, and the fresh herbs, finely minced. Green onion, parsley, chives, chervil, and dill will all be very appropriate. Mix in the Parmesan cheese. Beat in the remaining egg.

Stir in the flour to form a smooth, stiff batter. It should almost but not quite want to come together in a soft ball of dough. Set the batter aside to rest for 20 minutes to an hour before cooking.

To Serve:
3 or 4 medium shallots OR green onions
4 to 6 medium-large button mushrooms
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups thawed frozen peas

Put a large pot of salted water on to boil.

Meanwhile, peel and sliver the shallots, or trim and chop the green onions. Clean and slice the mushrooms. (Don't forget to have the peas thawed and standing by.)

Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat just as the water begins to bubble for the spaetzle. Add the shallots and cook, stirring once or twice, for several minutes.

Press the batter through a large-holed colander or spaetzle maker into the boiling water. Cook until they float and are firm; just 2 or 3 minutes. Drain well.

Meanwhile, add the mushrooms and peas to the shallots, and cook until the mushrooms are softened and slightly browned. Add the hot, well-drained spaetzle and continue cooking, and turning and mixing the contents of the pan gently, until well amalgamated, hot through, and perhaps the spaetzle are slightly browned in spots. Serve at once, sprinkled with a little more of the chopped herbs you used, if you like.

Ingredients for this fast and easy way to prepare carrots fall very much into the realm of "however much you want", but I've listed about what I used. Feel free to adjust quantities, and if you don't have all the seeds, oh well. I find them so useful, I do always try to have all of them around the place.

You may get your seeds pre-roasted in which case they are likely also pre-salted, and you should be a bit wary of adding much more. Especially if you add a bit of stock to cook the carrots and that, too, is salted.

Not much more in the way of local carrots now, and soon they will disappear until later in the summer when the new crop comes in.

4 servings
20 minutes prep time


2 to 3 tablespoons toasted pumpkin seeds
2 to 3 tablespoons toasted sunflower seeds
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1 tablespoon ground hemp seed
4 cups peeled and grated carrots
1 tablespoon mild vegetable oil
1 little water or stock
salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

If the seeds need to be toasted, do so in a dry skillet over medium heat; toast until just lightly browned and turn them into a bowl at once to cool as soon as they are done. Add the other seeds and set aside.

Peel and grate the carrots.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the carrots and cook, stirring frequently, until softened and slightly reduced in volume. If you prefer your carrots a little more well-done, add a couple of tablespoons of water or stock and cook, stirring regularly, until the liquid has evaporated or been absorbed, and the carrots are just about done to your liking.

When the carrots are almost cooked, add the seeds and mix in well. Season with salt and pepper to taste - you could also add a little lightly crushed cumin seed, caraway seed, or fennel seed.

When the seeds are well mixed in and everything is hot through, transfer the carrots to a serving dish and serve at once.





Last year at this time I made Chinese Steamed Spareribs.

This is almost - but not quite - the national dish of Denmark. Mr. Ferdzy and I joke that everything is better with bacon, unless it's better with whipped cream, with the exception being a few dishes - usually Danish - better with both.

Whipped cream is an exaggeration, but this is pork belly (i.e. uncured bacon) and it is traditionally served with a cream sauce with parsley in it. I could not quite face the idea and while I still made a parsley sauce, I toned it down and left out any cream. You could put in a bit if you like.

It seems to get translated as fried, but in fact the method of cooking is roasting, although this is such a fatty cut of pork that the difference in results is trivial. The pork should be sliced thicker than bacon, anywhere up to about an inch thick, although I would think half that thickness would be ideal. Since the outside should get nice and crunchy in the roasting, I don't think the time for cooking will change much, but do start checking it about 10 minutes earlier if yours is thin, just in case I'm wrong. 

2 to 4 servings
45 minutes - 20 minutes prep time


Cook the Pork: 
500 grams to 1 kilo (1 or 2 pounds) sliced pork belly
salt & freshly ground black pepper
sweet paprika

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Put a rack on a good deep roasting pan. Pat the pork dry, and season on all sides with salt, pepper, and paprika. Lay the slices in a single layer, spaced a bit, on the rack.

Roast for 25 to 30 minutes on the top rack of the oven. Turn the pieces over (with tongs) and return to the top rack. Roast for a further 10 to 15 minutes until the meat looks crisp and browned. Remove it to a serving plate and serve with the parsley sauce.

Make the Parsley Sauce:
1 tablespoon pork fat
1 tablespoon barley or other flour
3/4 cup chicken OR ham stock
1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons sour cream OPTIONAL

When you turn the pork, lift out 1 tablespoon of the fat to a small saucepan. Once the pork is back in the oven, stir the flour into the fat and heat until bubbly all through, stirring a bit. Slowly mix in the stock to form a smooth sauce. Let simmer gently for a few minutes until thickened.

Just before the meat is ready to be served, bring up the heat again and add the parsley, stirring it in until it is just wilted. Add the lemon juice and sour cream, if using, and stir them in. Remove from the heat and put in a gravy boat or drizzle over the pork. Serve at once.




Last year at this time I made Roasted Rutabaga Fries. Boiled potatoes are more traditionally served with this, but Rutabaga Fries cook at the same temperature as the pork and would be a good choice!

I've never much explored the borderlands between omelettes and pancakes. Crepes might be there, given their high egg content, but somehow they are firmly in pancake territory. This Turkish egg dish, on the other hand, is much more ambiguous about its identity.

If you look on line, you will see all kinds of Kaygana, some of which are clearly omelettes and some of which are clearly pancakes, and some, the ones that caught my attention, rather hard to call.

I used 2 tablespoons of chick pea flour. I read that corn flour was the traditional flour used, but most people seem to be using wheat flour these days. Being an omelette (or a pancake?) it is probably more flexible than most pancakes (or omelettes?) At any rate, I tried a second time with 3 tablespoons of potato starch, and thought that was even better. But either works, and both quantities gave me Kayganalar that were still fairly omelette-like, but a bit pancake-y.

People put all kinds of things in their Kayganalar and you can too, but at this time of year the first spring herbs are showing up, green onions for sure and maybe a very little spinach or sorrel. At any time I am apt to think those are the best things to put in omelettes, but dill, cilantro, parsley, and mint are typical Turkish herbs and would all be good too.

2 to 3 servings
20 minutes prep time



2 green onions or similar in fresh herbs
2 to 3 tablespoons chick pea OR corn flour
freshly ground black pepper to taste
Aleppo pepper to taste, or similar mild red chile flakes
salt if needed (see: cheese)

5 large eggs
2 to 3 tablespoons milk OR yogurt
1/4 cup drained and crumbled feta cheese
butter for cooking

Wash, dry, trim, and very finely chop 2 green onions, or a small handful of other fresh herbs such as parsley, cilantro, or dill, or some combination of the above. 

Measure the flour, seasonings, and prepared green onions and/or other herbs into a small mixing bowl. Break in the eggs and add the milk.

Heat a skillet or griddle over medium heat - a little lower than you usually cook your omelettes, but not by much - and add a bit of butter to the pan; let it melt and heat through.

Meanwhile, whisk the eggs and milk into the rest of the ingredients until well blended. Crumble in the cheese. You may wish to heat the oven to 200°F to keep the finished Kayganalar warm as they are cooked.

Use a gravy ladle to form each omelette; in other words, make them fairly small. You should expect to get about 6 little omelettes. Cook them until set and very lightly browned on each side. Handle them carefully; they are a bit delicate. I found it helpful to pop a lid over the pan while they cooked. Be sure they are completely loosened and firm enough to hold together before you flip them.





Last year at this time I made (ha ha, very funny) Turkish Celeriac Salad.

Versions of this seem to be popular in Great Britain (especially Scotland, perhaps no surprise) but also in northern Europe; France and Denmark in particular. What's not to like? It's full of greasy, tasty bacon and cheese, and carb-y potato goodness. Green onions, if you can get them (recommended!), or regular cooking ones if you can't, give it some pep. Look for as lean bacon as you can get; even so, this is going to be pretty rich. A nice green salad served on the side will help tone things down a bit and round out the menu.

As is now usual I par-boiled and chilled the potatoes the day before to reduce their impact on my blood sugar. Even if that is not something you worry about, it helps break up the work. As usual, even with the parboiling, potatoes take much longer to bake than seems reasonable, but otherwise this is a fairly simple thing to put together and looks quite fancy, at least until it is cut.

I'm calling for a little salt. I get a good local bacon which is not too salty at all, but if your bacon is salty, you may want to leave it out. There is the cheese to consider too. People can always add a little more at the table if they must, after all. 

4 to 6 servings
2 hours - 30 minutes prep time NOT including parboiling the potatoes


900 grams (2 pounds) large round baking potatoes
125 grams (1/4 pound) old Cheddar cheese
6 green onions OR 2 medium cooking onions
1 teaspoon rubbed savory
1/4 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 teaspoon sweet Hungarian paprika
2 tablespoons potato starch
450 grams (1 pound) thinly sliced good lean bacon

Scrub and trim the potatoes, and put them into a pot with plenty of water to cover. Bring them to a boil and boil them for 10 minutes, then drain and cool them, and keep them refrigerated over-night. (You can use them as soon as they are cool enough to handle, if you like.)

Grate the cheese and put it in a mixing bowl. Wash, trim, and chop the onions finely. Add them to the cheese with the seasonings and potato starch, and mix well.

Arrange the bacon in a radiating pattern out from the centre of a 10" glass pie plate. About half the bacon will be hanging over the edges; excellent.

Slice the potatoes as thinly as you can, discarding any peel that comes off of them. Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Arrange a single but slightly overlapping layer of potatoes over the bacon, then sprinkle on half of the cheese and onion mixture. Arrange another layer of potatoes over the cheese - this is the spot to use up the smaller and oddly shaped slices - then sprinkle the remaining cheese and onion mixture over them. Finish with a final layer of sliced potatoes.  Press the mixture down firmly and compactly. Fold the overhanging bacon back over the pie.

Bake for 1 hour and 10 to 20 minutes, until the potatoes test done when pierced with a fork. Allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving. It looks better unmoulded onto a serving plate, which it should do with careful handling. I found the slices I cut held together, but not particularly beautifully.





Last year at this time I made Beet, Lentil, Red Cabbage & Sprout Salad with Feta, Walnuts & Cranberries.

I've always loved desserts that consist of fruit and meringue or similar spongy textures and custard, and it turns out that if I am going to eat dessert now, I could do much worse. Apple Snow and Prune Whip are classics, but my freezer is still full of strawberries, so I bring you this next installment in the series of Great Desserts Made Even Better with Strawberries. I also had a go at making this dessert without gelatine, so it is now vegetarian, if that's something you want. 

It is, of course, too soon for field strawberries, so I augmented my frozen ones with some greenhouse ones. I intend to make it again in proper strawberry season, though.

The steps below add up to 40 minutes, but they can't really be done all in one smooth action, as each step requires some cooling time after it is done, so you will need to allow for that. I would also think you could put in twice as much sugar as I did, anywhere along the line where I call for it. As usual, I have adjusted and found this satisfactory, but I can see that other people could like more. You will need three large eggs in total, just in case there is any question about that.

6 to 8 servings
20 minutes to make berry sauce
15 minutes to make Swiss meringue
15 minutes to make custard


Make the Strawberry Whip:
2 cups sliced strawberries (can be frozen)
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons arrowroot
a pinch of salt
2 large egg whites
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup sliced strawberries (fresh)

Slice the berries and put them in a pot with the water, arrowroot, and salt. Stir well to dissolve the arrowroot. Bring to a simmer and simmer until the berries are soft and the sauce has thickened and turned clear; stir frequently. Remove from the heat and let cool.

When the berry sauce is cool, put the egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar in the top of a double boiler. Bring the water up to a steady simmer. As it gets warm, begin beating the egg whites, etc, with an electric mixer. Continue to beat them until they are very stiff and firm (cooked). Remove them from the double boiler at once and fold them gently into the berry sauce. Transfer the resulting berry whip into a serving bowl or individual serving dishes. Chill until serving time. 

Make the Custard:
1 tablespoon arrowroot
2 tablespoons sugar
a pinch of salt
2 large egg yolks
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups whole milk or light cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Put the arrowroot, sugar, salt, egg yolks, and egg into the top of a double boiler. Whisk well. When smooth, whisk in the milk or cream a little at a time before beginning to bring the heat up. Continue to whisk frequently, until the custard thickens. Remove it from the double boiler at once to cool. It can be just warm or room temperature when served with the chilled strawberry whip.




Last year at this time I made Turkish Minty Lamb Meatball Soup.

It's been a while since I made Sweet Potato Waffles. The last time - and the time I posted them - my waffle iron was in the process of dying. Consequently the waffles failed to get really crisp, and the photo showed it, with them lying there like dead, floppy, fish. The sweet potato means they are still somewhat soft and tender, but also really delicious.

When I made them this time I left out the sugar and used whole spelt flour, making them suitable for an occasional treat. Changes at the linked recipe.

When I went looking for barley based quick breads, I soon came across Finnish Rieska. Rieska is simply the word for bread, but it appears to mostly apply to fairly rustic flat-breads these days. There seems to be a lot of variation in the breads themselves, from simple mixtures of barley flour, water, and salt cooked somewhere between crisp and chewy, to fairly elaborate multi-grain versions with butter, eggs, and sugar, leavened with yeast or baking powder.

I have gone for a middle way with mine, and essentially used this northern Scottish barley scone recipe. It's from Orkney, which has strong Scandinavian connections so they are certainly related recipes and I am left with the impression that this could be a Finnish Rieska very easily. I've upped the salt, and the leavening, and the buttermilk; the last probably because I am using slightly different flours. I also baked mine in the oven, although there is no reason not to cook them on a griddle and I will probably try that out as the weather gets warmer and I am less enthused about putting on the oven.

Possibly I will continue to play around with other versions of barley flat-breads, or possibly I will find myself making this regularly. I was very pleased with how this turned out. I expected it to be a bit heavy, and it is; but it's light enough that I would rate it as sturdy rather than stodgy. One piece will go a long way to filling you up!

8 servings
40 minutes - 15 minutes prep time


2 cups barley flour
1 cup whole spelt flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup buttermilk plus a little

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.

Measure the barley flour, spelt flour, salt, and baking powder into a mixing bowl and mix well.

Stir in the buttermilk. At some point you will likely need to abandon the spoon and mix it with your hand. You should get a smooth, stiff, but pliable dough. You shouldn't knead it, but it can be turned out and worked enough to get it smooth. You may need to add a tablespoon more of buttermilk to get the last bits worked in.

Once you have a smooth ball, flatten it out and put it on the prepared parchment. Keep flattening and shaping it until it is round and evenly about 3/4" thick. Score it into eighths with a pizza cutter or knife, but not all the way through. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until firm. Since there is no fat in it, it won't really colour up.

Let it cool to warm before cutting it into wedges and serving. Excellent with butter, cheese, jam, etc.




Last year at this time I made Cheddar Cheese Crackers. 

This is a fairly simple chicken-in-a-creamy-sauce-with-mushrooms kind of a dish, but take a look at that spice blend. It's based on one I found in a Polish grocery store (one of the few highlights of having had to drive to Mississauga every N days this winter was the shopping) and I liked it enough to reverse-engineer it. I've been using it a lot, in all kinds of things, and in particular I thought this gave an unusual and delightful flavour to the proceedings here. It goes well with pork and fish, too.

Like the original beef version of Stroganoff, this is quite fast and easy to make but the slightly luxurious ingredients make it, well, slightly luxurious.

4 to 6 servings
1 hour prep time


Make the Spice Blend:
1 tablespoon mustard seed
1 tablespoon coriander seed
4 teaspoons caraway seed
4 teaspoons sweet Hungarian paprika
1 tablespoon rubbed thyme OR savory
1/2 teaspoon Aleppo or similar hot chile/paprika

Grind the mustard, coriander, and caraway seeds. Sift them and regrind anything that didn't go through. When all is ground finely, mix with the remaining spices. Keep sealed in a jar in a cool, dark spot until needed. This makes more than you will need, but don't worry. You'll find a use for it.

Prepare the Ingredients:
6 shallots
4 - 6 cloves of garlic
125 grams (1/4 pound) shiitake mushrooms
125 grams (1/4 pound) oyster mushrooms
225 grams (1/2 pound) button mushrooms
500 grams (1 pound) skinless, boneless chicken pieces

Peel and chop the shallots. Peel and mince the garlic. Clean, trim, and cut all the mushrooms into bite-sized pieces. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces. 

Cook the Stroganoff:
1/4 cup unsalted butter
2 tablespoons soft unbleached flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 cup unsalted chicken stock
1 cup yogurt OR sour cream
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
dill pickles, if desired

Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat until melted and sizzling. Add the chicken pieces and cook until seared all over; stir a few times. Add the shallots and mix them in well, then follow with the mushrooms. Cook for a few minutes, turning occasionally, until they are softened and slightly browned in spots. Add the garlic and mix in; cook for another minute.

Mix in the flour, 2 tablespoons of the spice blend, salt, and pepper. Cook until there is no white flour left showing. Slowly mix in the chicken stock to make a smooth sauce. Let simmer for a few minutes, until thickened and you are confident that the chicken is cooked. Mix in the yogurt or sour cream, the mustard, and one or two dill pickles finely chopped (if you like) and allow to heat through to steaming hot, but do not allow to simmer or boil. Serve at once, over noodles or steamed rice.




Last year at this time I made Butter-Infused Beans in Tomato Sauce.

There isn't too much to say about this; it's a winter vegetable purée soup, with some sweet and slightly zingy flavours and a lovely colour. (And brrr, it seems to be a winter week.)

At two servings, it will be a big bowl of soup to go with salad or bread and cheese; four servings would be fairly small portions as a starter to a meal.

Anise seed is an under-used spice, I think. I keep meaning to use it more often. This is a start.

This was quite a thick soup; you might want to add a bit more broth to make it soupier.

2 to 4 servings
1 hour - 30 minutes prep time


2 cups diced peeled rutabaga
4 cups unsalted chicken OR vegetable broth
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 medium carrot
2 large apples
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon anise seed, ground
1 teaspoon ground ginger
the juice of 1/2 small lemon
1 tablespoon sherry
1/3 cup light cream

Peel and dice the rutabaga, and put it in a soup pot with the broth and bay leaf and salt. Bring to a boil and boil steadily for 40 minutes, until tender. As soon as it is in, peel the carrot and cut it into dice. Add it to the pot of rutabaga to cook along with it.

When the rutabaga and carrots have about 15 minutes left to cook, peel, core, and slice the apples. Heat the butter in a medium-sized skillet over medium heat. Cook the apples gently until quite soft and slightly browned. A few minutes before they are done, sprinkle them with the ground anise seed and ginger. Mix in well.

Transfer the cooked carrots and rutabaga to a blender or food processor. Add the apples and process until smooth. Return the soup to the pot, add the lemon juice, sherry, and cream and re-heat just up to the point of being steaming hot, but do not allow it to boil. Serve at once.




Last year at this time I made Chick Pea Choux Pastry. 

The world may be going to hell in a handbasket, but spring is coming regardless. We are champing at the bit more than usual to get out and start gardening, what with having spent ridiculous amounts of time inside, and it looks like the weather is being reasonably co-operative.

We have three beds covered in plastic at the moment. The far one holds - we hope - some spinach and lettuce that was seeded in the fall. We did not get good germination and we are waiting a week or so to see if we get some now with an assist. If not, we will re-seed, and in fact we have started some lettuce and spinach in flats to be transplanted out either way. The two nearer ones cover our two beds of early peas. Most of them are the variety Knight, but there is a section of Norli and a section of Strike, as well.

We ordered some new 6-mil vapor barrier as we threw some old sheets of it out last fall. When we first bought it we hoped it would last 5 or 6 years; in fact, it seems to have lasted 10 years and would have done even better if the deer had not stepped on some of it. Ordering it involved what is now the usual furtive exchange in a semi-deserted parking lot, and letting it sit the garage for 3 or 4 days before opening it. However, it will be nice to have some better hoop-house covers this year.


We transplanted some leeks out of what are now the pea beds. The spot they are in now will be between some tomato plants eventually, and that is turning out to be a good place to put leeks, onions, and carrots to go to seed.

This is our strain we have been saving from the seeds that overwintered in the garden; my hope is that eventually we will end up with a variety that is particularly good in the spring. I'll be looking for clean plants with the outer leaves in good condition, and late to go to seed. The tips are quite frozen and tatty on these but I won't worry about that; they are usually trimmed off anyway. However, I am not wildly impressed by them this year - it looks like it will take some more years of selection to improve them. 


There are sprouting greens from garlic, shallots, and other oniony things around the garden, and some overwintered but flattened parsley and chervil. Other than that the sorrel, in the photo above, is the greenest thing out there. I think I may be able to pick some by the end of the week if the weather stays nice. Forecast is for some chilly weather, though, so we'll see.

Inside, the usual eggplants and peppers have been started, along with onions, leeks, shallots, celeriac, potato seeds, and the aforementioned lettuce and spinach. This week we will start the tomatoes. There are a few herbs too. Other than that, I think everything else will be planted directly outdoors, although I know the brassicas will do better started in pots. If I decide to do that, they will get planted in about 3 weeks.

Next up outside will be barley - a new crop for us, I'm quite excited about it - chick peas, maybe some rutabagas for greens and some rapini, and the next round of peas. There is lots of garden clean up to be done - we did half the asparagus, but the other half still needs to be done. It all sounds daunting, but somehow it always gets done.

Clapshot is a traditional dish from the Orkney Islands of Scotland, and versions of it abound in Ontario too now. Usually Clapshot is made with boiled and mashed potatoes, rutabaga, and carrots, and I love it that way, but it occurred to me to take the same ingredients and roast them instead. Yes! Very good. And since I let the vegetables cool overnight before roasting them, I figure much better for the blood sugar.

4 servings
1 hour 45 minutes - 20 minutes prep time


225 grams (1/2 pound) rutabaga
225 grams (1/2 pound) carrots
450 grams (1 pound) potatoes
2 to 3 tablespoons mild vegetable oil
salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste
freshly grated nutmeg to taste

Peel the rutabaga and cut it into fairly small dice. Peel and trim the carrots and cut them into similar dice. You can peel and cut the potatoes into just slightly larger dice now, or wait until after they have been cooked.

Put the rutabaga and carrots into a pot of water to cover. Add the potatoes now (they still should be covered with water) if they are whole or in larger chunks. (You should cut them into approximately 1 x 2" chunks if they are large; leave them if that is close to their natural size.)

Bring the vegetables to a boil and boil for 10 minutes. If you have cut the potatoes into dice already, don't add them until the others have cooked for 5 minutes.

Drain the partially cooked vegetables well. You can let them cool completely or finish cooking them now. If the potatoes are still in large pieces, they should be cut into dice slightly larger than the others.

Preheat the oven to 375°. Toss the vegetables with the oil in a 9" x 13" or similar shallow roasting (lasagne) pan. Season with the salt, pepper, and nutmeg and toss again. They should be just lightly coated in oil.

Roast at 375°F for 1 hour to 1 hour and 20 minutes, until the vegetables are cooked and looking a little browned around the edges. Serve at once.




Last year at this time I made Claypot Chicken - in the Romertopf.