Exploring A New Cookbook

The other day the mailman brought me a package that I wasn’t expecting.  At first, that was exciting- who would be sending me a package?  But when I saw the package it wasn’t so exciting, because it was from The Good Cook, which meant that I’d missed replying to one of the recent featured selections.  I sat and held the unopened package, trying to decide if I should just return to sender or at least check it out.  Curiosity got the best of me, and when I opened it up, I found Country Cooking staring back at me.

So Country Cooking and I headed for the back patio, where the sun was shining brightly, to spend some time getting to know one another.  At first, I wasn’t impressed.  There are very few pictures in the book, and the ones that are there… well, it was like a strange cookbook flashback, it reminds me very much of many of the cookbooks of the eighties.  I started on the recipes, and was instantly struck by the fact that each recipe had a contributor listed- and that made me think that this was going to be like a Taste of Home annual.   I flipped back to the cover, and sure enough, 2,151 recipe from the readers of Harrowsmith Magazine.  A quick Google search revealed that the magazine was a country living magazine for Canadians, and I was instantly intrigued.  Country Canadian cooking?  Do tell more!

I wasn’t disappointed.  While there are plenty of those familiar potluck style salads and desserts, there are also some real gems in here.  Tucked in the chapter on poultry and game were recipes for every game you could imagine- elk, moose, beaver, bear, duck, goose, deer.  And then in the meat section were also plenty of lamb and goat- and in the soup section was a turtle soup!   Scattered all throughout  were plenty of vegetarian and vegan recipes as well, as tofu is a frequent ingredient, as well as other soy products.  I also noticed something about this cookbook.  While there are a few recipes that call for already prepared products, most of them don’t.  In fact hidden within the cookbook are recipes for making your own cream of mushroom sauce, among others.  Overall, this cookbook has the feel of good old down home cooking, yet because it’s from north of the border, there are all kinds of recipes that I don’t think I’ve ever seen around here.  I honestly can’t wait to give a lot of the salads a run through in the months to come!

So I had to test this book with a recipe and see how it fared.  I opted for a simple recipe for Orange Squares.  The recipe didn’t give any indication exactly what it meant by a square, but a quick glance at the ingredients made me think that I was making an orange cake of sorts- like a snacking cake or yogurt cake.  Indeed, that’s what I ended up with.  I ended up with a nice light orange cake, which I studded with Craisins instead of raisins.  I also decided at the last minute to throw on a quick orange glaze to top the cake, but it really didn’t need it- it was nice and moist as it was.  It came together very quickly, baked up quickly, and I think it would be a great cake for taking on a picnic or to a potluck or for serving unexpected company with a spot of tea.  It’s definitely cake though, and needs to be eaten with a fork, fingers just don’t cut it.  I like it, and I like this new cookbook.  I’ll be cooking more out of it, that’s for certain.

Orange Squares

from Country Cooking

1/2 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

1 egg

Juice and grated zest of 1 large orange

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup sour milk

1 cup raisins

Directions:

Cream together the shortening and the sugar.  Add egg and orange juice and rind.

Sift flour with baking soda, baking powder, and salt and add to creamed mixture alternately with sour milk.

Stir in raisins.

Place in greased 9 x 13 pan and bake at 350ºF for 35 minutes.  Let cool before cutting and removing from pan.

Makes 3 to 4 dozen squares