Pantry and Palate – Simon Thibault
October 12, 2017 by Jenny
In the process of
writing Pantry and Palate: Remembering and Rediscovering
Acadian Food, Simon Thibault explored his roots and
scoured old family recipes, ladies’ auxiliary cookbooks, and folk
wisdom to locate 50 of the best-loved recipes of Acadians past and
present.
Recipes range from the art of pickling beets to old-fashioned
foodways such as rendering lard and cooking with head cheese (this
brings back memories of my grandmother and her butchering days), to
staples like Classic French Canadian tourtière and Seafood chowder,
along with a delicious assortment of desserts from Rhubarb custard
pie to Acadian panna cotta.
While this book is packed with lovely recipes the preserving
chapter is my favorite – Salted green onions – who knew you could
preserve green onions for up to a year. Thank you, Simon, for that
technique! Pantry and Palate has an heirloom quality to
it. The chapters on preserving and homemade breads gives off
a homespun feeling and the importance of family and traditions
shines throughout its pages.
Special thanks to Nimbus for sharing a classic dish with our members today as well as providing two copies of this title in our contest open to members in the US and Canada. Scroll to the bottom of this post to enter.
Les Dames Patronesses tourtiére
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Makes one pie – Serves 4 to 6
The first recipe is another of those I found in the Les Dames Patronesses collection. It is attributed to Mrs. Robert Belliveau and is a no-nonsense recipe. I’ve changed a little bit of the wording to make the directions a bit more clear. I’m somewhat surprised that it asks for veal, which isn’t always the easiest meat to gain access to – let alone in 1960s rural Nova Scotia – but it adds much in terms of lusciousness to the finished pie.
For the filling:
- 1 pound diced pork shoulder
- 1/4 pound ground veal (or diced)
- 3 tablespoons chopped onion
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon cloves
- pinch of summer savoury
- pinch of thyme
In a skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the pork, veal, and onions and cook about 25 minutes, stirring often. Season the mixture with with cloves, thyme, summer savoury, salt, and cinnamon. Taste for seasoning, and adjust if necessary. Allow to cool completely-preferably overnight-in the fridge before preparing the dough.
For the pastry:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup shortening
- 4 tablespoons ice-cold water
To make the pastry, measure the flour into a large bowl, then sift in the salt. Cut in shortening finely until pea-sized. Blend in cold water and mix with fork until the dough comes together. Wrap the dough in wax paper and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Divide the dough in two and roll each portion to 1/8-inch thickness. Place 1 layer on a 9-inch pie plate, fill with meat mixture, then cover with other layer of dough with cut eyelets.
Cook 10 minutes at 450˚F and then for 25 minutes at 350˚F.
Allow to cool slightly, about 30 minutes, before serving.
- 1/4 pound butter, divided
- 1 large onion, minced
- 2 pounds of potatoes, diced into 1/4-inch cubes
- at least one pound haddock, cut or shredded into pieces
- at least one pound scallops
- at least one pound lobster meat, shredded
- 1/2 pound crab meat (optional)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons seafood seasoning/old bay seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/4 teaspoon salted onions
- 500 ml blend cream (10%)
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped chives (optional)
In a large saucepan, melt 1/4 cup of the butter over medium-low
heat. Add the onion, and cook until softened. In a large pot,
just barely cover the potatoes with cold water. Bring to a simmer
and cook until they are about two-thirds done. You should be able
to pierce them with a fork, but not all the way through.
In another skillet, warm up the shredded lobster in the remaining
1/4 cup of butter. Add a touch of paprika for colour, the
seasoning, and then the cream. Bring the potatoes down to a gentle
simmer, and add the haddock. Cook for 1 minute. Then add the
lobster and cream.
Add the scallops, crab meat if available, and the salted onions. Bring the temperature to low, just enough to keep it warm.
Serve immediately, garnished with fresh chives. And don’t forget to have buttered rolls or bread on the table.
Excerpted from Pantry and Palate by Simon Thibault © 2017, Text by Simon Thibault. ©2017, Photographs by Noah Fecks. All rights reserved. Published by Nimbus Publishing
The publisher is offering three copies of this book to EYB Members in the US and Canada. One of the entry options is to answer the following question in the comments section of this blog post.
Which recipe in the index would you try first?
Please note that you must be logged into the Rafflecopter contest before posting or your entry won’t be counted. For more information on this process, please see our step-by-step help post. Be sure to check your spam filters to receive our email notifications. Prizes can take up to 6 weeks to arrive from the publishers. If you are not already a Member, you can join at no cost. The contest ends at midnight on November 19th, 2017.
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