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Back to October, 2002 Archive Index
Columns Mamuq October 4, 2002 - Pasta that's easy, not cheesy Mamuq Pasta that's easy, not cheesy A few years ago, my boyfriend and I visited Australia for five weeks. He was attending a conference and I was wrapping up my first year of teaching in Montreal. Following his conference, we discovered there was an optional trip to Heron Island to visit a marine station. We took a three-hour boat ride to the tiny island in the middle of the Great Barrier Reef. It took 25 minutes to walk around the island — slowly. We stayed in a university dormitory and had a few roommates for the days we were there. Carlos, a friendly, dry-humoured man from Italy was one of them and he offered to cook us some pasta one night. It was one of the best, yet most simple pasta dishes I’ve eaten and it’s great if you have limited ingredients and a tight budget. It’s one of those suppers that hits the spot when we’ve run out of ideas. I often have to remind myself not to add more ingredients as it’s the simplicity that makes it so good. Carlos’s Pasta Ingredients 2 tbsp olive oil 1 big can tomatoes Directions: Bring a large pot of salted water to boil (don’t add oil). Add the pasta and cook until slightly firm. How long this takes will depend on the kind of pasta you use. Carlos used spaghettini and that’s the kind I prefer. While the pasta cooks, heat the olive oil in a frying pan and add the big chunks of garlic. Let this fry on medium-low heat until the garlic is well-roasted but not burned to a crisp. Remove the chunks of garlic (Carlos did, but sometimes we keep them in) and add the can of tuna. It’s best to remove the pan from the burner and carefully add the tuna because if it’s packed in water, it will react with the hot oil and splash everywhere. (I use tuna packed in water because it’s a way of cutting out extra fat without cutting out flavour). Break up the tuna and add the can of tomatoes. Return the pan to the burner to bring the ingredients to a gentle simmer. Break up the tomatoes and add some fresh black pepper and oregano. Once the pasta is cooked, drain it and drizzle some olive oil over it, tossing it to coat. Pour the sauce over the pasta and mix. Serve immediately. This is also a great recipe with char instead of tuna. Berry delicious harvest pie We returned from Igaliqtuq just in time for berry season. I went berry-picking a few days after getting home and was very excited when I came across some cranberries. I hadn’t expected to find them so close by. After three hours, my fingertips were blue from the berries and numbed by the cold. The recipe this week is one that my mother often made with different seasonal fruits she picked and froze. It was always such a treat to have a raspberry cake in the middle of January made from berries we had picked the previous summer. Baffin berry upside down cake Ingredients: 3 tbsp butter 3 1/2 tbsp margarine or
shortening 1/2 cup of milk Directions: In a glass or ceramic pie plate, melt the butter and then add the brown sugar. Mix and spread evenly over the bottom of the dish. Pour the berries over mixture and set aside. In a medium-sized bowl, cream together the margarine and white sugar and beat by hand until fluffy. Add the egg and beat it into the creamed mixture. Add the milk and set aside. Preheat the oven to 325 F °. In another bowl, measure in the flour, baking powder and salt and combine well. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and stir until all ingredients are well combined and the batter is smooth. Spoon the batter onto the fruit and spread evenly using a fork or a rubber spatula. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes until the cake is nicely golden on top. I’ve made this cake many times and sometimes I serve it from the pie plate without turning it upside down. If you want to flip it, use oven mitts or a dish cloth and place a serving platter on top of the pie plate. Holding the two tightly together, carefully turn them over so that the cake falls onto the platter with the fruit side up. All the juices from the berries will be absorbed into the cake. It is best served warm with vanilla ice cream. Great balls of caribou Ragout de boulettes is a French recipe for meatballs in rich gravy that my mother often made. She generally used beef, veal and pork; however since moving to Nunavut, I’ve replaced the veal and beef with caribou or muskox (or both) for a delightfully tasty and nourishing main dish. It’s perfect after a day spent outside on the land or sea when you want something delicious and warm. Garlic mashed potatoes, fresh bread and a salad would be great with this dish. For the garlic mashed potatoes, simply throw in two or three garlic cloves as you are boiling the potatoes. I’ve also included a recipe for a basic salad vinaigrette and ways you can add to it. Nunavut ragout de boulettes Ingredients: 1/2 lb ground caribou 1 egg 1/2 cup white flour finely chopped celery leaves
(about a handful) 2 tbsp vegetable oil Directions: In a medium-sized bowl mix together the meat, egg, onion, allspice, salt and pepper. Form the mixture into balls and roll the balls in the white flour. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and fry the meatballs in batches so that they roast a little on the outside but do not cook all the way through. Once all the meatballs have been roasted, put them back in the pan, and cover them with water. Add the chopped celery leaves, bay leaf and mushrooms. Turn the heat down low and let simmer for at least an hour. I sometimes add in a few carrots at this point as well. Simple Salad Vinaigrette Ingredients: 1 cup vegetable oil 1 tsp. Dijon mustard Directions: Put all ingredients in a jar and shake. This dressing will keep for a month or more in the fridge. Vinaigrettes gather flavour as they age and are best used at room temperature. I love vinaigrettes because you can easily create new flavours by adding a variety of ingredients to the base. Here are some additions to choose from: Herbs: Try 2 tsp dried oregano, parsley, basil, herbes de province or thyme (or 1/3 cup fresh). Sweeteners: Adding 1 tbsp honey or maple syrup makes a sweet, tangy dressing. Fruit: Add 1 tbsp orange juice and 1/2 tsp finely grated orange rind. Seeds: Use 1 tbsp poppy or sesame seeds. Vinegars: Try mixing part wine, cider or any fruit vinegar you have to make up the 1/3 cup needed. Oils: Mix peanut, olive and vegetable oil — or any flavoured oil you have. Back in September, I described what I hoped this column would become. I wanted it to be a place to share old and new recipes, cooking tips and to discuss food. With that in mind, I invite readers to e-mail me at mamuqcolumn@yahoo.ca. Send me your recipes, along with stories about how you use them or how you developed them. Please make sure to include your name, the community you live in and a little bit about yourself. If you do not have access to a computer, you can send your recipes to Nunatsiaq News by fax at (867) 975-4763 or by regular post to Box 8, Iqaluit, Nunavut X0A 0H0.
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