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Traditional Foods

Irish Treacle Brown Bread

By Denise Pare-Watson

As much as I enjoy Irish Soda bread (a quick bread method) with a big pot of Lamb and Barley Soup, my favourite Irish bread is actually a traditional yeast-risen bread called Treacle Brown Bread.  Black treacle (molasses) is used to create a dense, dark and slightly sweet bread. It has a satisfying crunch when you take that first bite. A dark brown crisp crust is characteristic of this bread, which is the result of a unique double bake process.   

Irish Treacle Brown Bread | urbnspice.com
Irish Treacle Brown Bread

The Treacle Brown Bread tastes at its absolute best when served simply with a generous application of fresh salty butter.  To elevate the flavour combinations even further, serve it thinly sliced and buttered along with chunks of Old Cheddar and slathered with Brown Pickle relish. You will love this bread!

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Filed Under: Breads, Cheese, My Recipes, Traditional Foods Tagged With: Breads, Irish, Traditional Foods

My Mom’s French Canadian Tourtière

By Denise Pare-Watson

CHC CANADA 150 FOOD BLOG CHALLENGE SERIES

Prelude:  I am a proud Canadian. When the Culinary Historians of Canada invited food bloggers to participate in the “CHC Canada 150 Food Blog Challenge”, I knew that I wanted in! What a great way to celebrate and honour Canada’s 150th birthday by featuring a different Canadian dish or discussing a topic which reflects on what it means to be Canadian.  For the month of May, in honour of Mother’s Day (May 14), CHC invited food bloggers to share recipes relating to mothers, recipes and techniques passed on by our mothers or grandmothers, or from our mother’s culture. I am honoured and proud to share a historical and famous recipe for My Mom’s French Canadian Tourtière.

Food has been such a significant part of my French Canadian heritage and some of my clearest childhood recollections are about food.   It is not only the memories of the food that are so clear but the smells, the tastes and the surroundings that are so vivid.  Holidays would not be the same without Mom’s tourtiere.  In our family, the Christmas Eve menu always included a large tourtiere to enjoy before midnight mass.

Skip to Tourtière Recipe

There are a number of food traditions that are very important to my family, but my Mom’s famous tourtière is the most requested.  I have had many versions of tourtière – from chefs colleagues, relatives and friends, but none can compare to my “Little Mom’s” French Canadian Tourtière. (More on “Little Mom”).

French Canadian Tourtiere | urbnspice.com

My Mom’s version of tourtière is more savoury than traditionally prepared tourtière due to the use of sage and poultry seasoning as opposed to the warm spices typically used (cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and allspice).  Mom always insisted on a mixture of ground meat: beef, veal and pork. This combination makes a huge difference in the overall taste and texture of the tourtière filling. The aromatic fragrance of the tourtière mixture simmering is magical.  Writing about it makes me nostalgic.  Although I have adapted the process somewhat, I follow her recipe method and always make enough to share with family and friends, which was her tradition.

Baked Tourtiere | urbnspice.com

My Mom’s French Canadian Tourtiere

My Mom’s French Canadian Tourtière became quite famous in a small village in Ontario.  Everyone loved it when she made her tourtière pies for church or village social events.  As a matter of fact, the ladies of the village church approached her many years ago for her tourtière recipe to make and sell the pies for the parish fundraising efforts.  She not only generously shared her tourtière recipe – she also taught them how to make it….

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Filed Under: CHC Canada 150 Food Blog Challenge Series, Cooking Techniques, Meat Dishes, My Recipes, Pies and Tarts, Traditional Foods, Vintage Recipes Tagged With: Family Favourites, Family Recipes, Family Stories, Main Meal Pies, Tourtiere, Traditional Foods

Bannock – Have you tried it lately?

By Denise Pare-Watson

Kids in the Kitchen Series

Have you made Bannock lately? Do you know what you are missing?  Bannock is a variety of fry bread.  It originated in Scotland and was passed on to the Indigenous Peoples of Canada by the Scottish fur traders.  Historically, bannock was cooked over an open fire in a cast iron pan or in front of a campfire on a stick.  When I was first shown how to make this traditional bread, I was taught to wrap the dough around a stick.  The stick was then placed in the ground near the fire, and the heat from the fire would bake the bannock in just a few minutes.  It is one of my favourite childhood memories that I enjoy sharing with children.Bannock | urbnspice.com

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Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2017-2018 Urb'n'SpiceAll Rights Reserved
Original content here is published under these license terms:  X 
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Filed Under: Breads, Breakfast Items, Kids in the Kitchen, Muffins & Quick Breads, Scones & Biscuits, Traditional Foods Tagged With: Baking, Bannock, Breads, Kids in the Kitchen, Traditional Foods

WTF!!!??? Wonderfully Tasty Foods!

By Denise Pare-Watson

WTF!  Wonderfully Tasty Foods – Gotcha!!  (What were you thinking?!!)

What can I say?  It was my husband’s idea.  A creative guy he is – a foodie, a great cook, and a sense of humour to boot.

Since food has been such a significant part of my heritage, one of the clearest things in my recollections are food experiences – some from my childhood, and some very recent.  I would like to share these experiences regularly.  It is not only the memories of the food experiences, but what surprises me is how acute my senses are when I recall them – the weather, the surroundings, the smells and tastes and sounds.

Of course, there are food traditions that are very important to families.  On the other hand, there are many food discoveries yet to happen.  The “Bucket List for Foodies”, so to speak.  So many memories, so many discoveries, where to begin?  I can’t think of a better place to start than this:

Plated Tourtiere | urbnspice.com

Traditional Tourtiere

Wonderfully Tasty Foods:  My Mom’s Tourtiere

I have had many versions of  Tourtière.  Some have been made by professional chefs, colleagues, relatives and friends, but none can compare to “Little Mom’s” tourtière.   (More on “Little Mom”).French Canadian Tourtiere | urbnspice.com

My Mom’s version is more savoury than traditionally prepared with its sage and poultry seasoning as opposed to the warm spices often used (cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and allspice).   The aromatic fragrance of the tourtiere mixture simmering away is magical.  Even writing about it makes me nostalgic.  Although I have adapted the process somewhat to accommodate my  “chef-y” way of doing things, I do stick to her recipe and always make enough to share with family and friends, as she traditionally does.

Buche de Tourtiere | urbnspice.com

Buche de Tourtiere is perfect for luncheons with a salad

My Mom’s tourtiere became quite famous in a small village in Ontario.  Everyone loved her tourtiere when she made them for church or village social events.  As a matter of fact, when the ladies of the village church approached her for her recipe to use for fundraising activities, she generously supplied it.  We are proud that our Mom’s family recipe for tourtiere made it possible for the small town to raise enough money to rebuild the church hall.

Wonderfully Tasty Foods.  Do you have a food memory as vivid as this that you can share?

Baked Tourtiere | urbnspice.com

Our French Canadian Family loves tourtiere during the holiday season
Wonderfully Tasty Foods: Gluten Free Tart Shells and Tourtiere Filling | urbnspice.com
Gluten Free Tart Shells and Tourtiere Filling

You can find me on social media (see links below) – just be sure to tag @urbnspice and #urbnspice so I am sure to see it. Enjoy!

Denise Pare-Watson - The Urb'n'Spice Chef | urbnspice.com

 

Denise Paré-Watson

The Urb’n’Spice Chef

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Original content here is published under these license terms:  X 
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License Abstract: You may read the original content in the context in which it is published (at this web address). You may make other uses of the content only with the written permission of the author on payment of a fee.

Filed Under: Main Dishes or Entree Options, Meat Dishes, WTF Series - Wonderfully Tasty Foods Tagged With: Family Recipes, Little Mom, Main Meal Pies, Traditional Foods

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Meet Denise – The Urbnspice Chef

Welcome to Urbnspice - A Taste of Heart and Home. Inspiration in my kitchen is often a trip to the market or an experimental coincidence! Come and join me on this culinary journey where I share my passion for the creative, technical and teaching components of the profession and unravel culinary quandaries for you with fun and easy to follow user-friendly recipes, tips & techniques.
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