Ketchup aux Fruits

In Quebec, one of the most beloved relishes is Ketchup aux Fruits. Not smooth nor nearly as red as commercial burger-topping ketchup, Ketchup aux Fruits is more like chili sauce - only with late summer fruits in partnership with tomatoes. It's the sauce every grandmother made, each with her own little variation on the tomato, peach, pear, apple, celery and onion theme.

Ketchup aux Fruits is not the only artisanal fruit product at the market in Quebec City.

Just how a relish that calls for peaches, not a commercial crop in Quebec, came to be so much part of a Quebec culinary repertoire is a mystery. But how good it tastes with tourtiere is no mystery - it's sweet and tangy, with a touch of spice providing a perfect foil to rich pastry and meaty filling.

The other place where Ketchup aux Fruits or Fruit Chili Sauce is a tradition is southern Ontario, a part of the country where peaches from the Niagara are an every summer experience. In both places, visible chunks of fruit are part of the relish's charm. Given that recipes for Fruit Chili Sauce have been being published for decades, it's no surprise to now find this bicultural bilingual recipe shared across Canada.

Here's the recipe that make me think of the jars in my grandmother's fruit cellar on a farm near Mitchell Ontario. The Quebec counterpart may have included celery for texture, possibly using white vinegar and brown sugar. Some even fiddled with the fruit, using plums to replace some of the peaches.  But it all ended up as Ketchup aux Fruits or a good Fruit Chili Sauce.

Ketchup aux Fruits (Fruit Chili Sauce)

8 cup (2 L) peeled chopped ripe tomatoes

2-1/2 cups (625 mL) peeled diced onions

2 cups (500 mL) peeled, pitted and diced peaches or pitted diced  nectarines

2 cups (500 mL) peeled cored and diced pears or apples

3/4 cup (175 mL) seeded diced sweet red pepper

2 cups (500 mL) cider vinegar

1-1/2 cups (375 mL) granulated sugar

2 tsp (10 mL) salt, regular or sea salt

1/4 cup (50 mL) mixed pickling spice

.  In a large heavy-bottomed Dutch oven, stir together the tomatoes, onions, peaches, pears and sweet pepper. Stir in the vinegar, granulated sugar and salt. Tie the mixed pickling spice in a 6-inch (25 cm) double thickness square of cheesecloth. Nestle in the pan. 

. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring often. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring often, until thick, the chunks are tender and the liquid is no longer watery, about 1-1/2 hours. Remove the spice bag, pressing its juices back into the pan. 

A wide relatively shallow Dutch oven is perfect for cooking relishes, especially it it's like this one with a thick cast aluminum pad under its bottom.

This is a satisfying thickness. The Ketchup aux Fruits (Fruit Chili Sauce) has boiled down to about two-thirds of its initial volume.

. Pour into prepared 1-cup or 2-cup (250 or 500 mL) preserving jars, leaving 1/2-inch (2 cm) headspace. Seal with prepared discs, and bands. Boil in boiling water canner for 20 minutes. (See Canning Basics below). 

. Makes about 9 cups (2.25 L) Ketchup aux Fruits (Fruit Chili Sauce).

Canning Basics: 

. Ensure that you have enough preserving jars in perfect condition. Wash, rinse and air dry. 

. Always use new lids. Place in a bowl and five minutes before filling jars, cover the lids with hot, not boiling water to soften the sealing compound. 

. Before starting to cook the Ketchup aux Fruits, fill a boiling water canner about two-thirds full; add the preserving jars, letting them fill with water. Cover and start to heat about 30 minutes before preserve is ready to jar. 

. Using canning tongs, move the jars from the canner to a tray beside the stovetop. Increase heat under the canner to bring the water closer to the boil while filling the jars. 

. Using a funnel and a 1/2 cup (125 mL) metal dry measuring cup, fill the jars to within 1/2-inch (1.25 cm) of the top. If you've used the funnel and scoop chances are there won't be any salsa on the rim of the jars. Or, not much. But inevitably, some will slop over; wipe any off using damp paper towel.

This method of filling jars is so much neater than using a ladle, or filling a big pitcher and pouring into the jars.

. Place the prepared discs on the jars, and with a firm but not forced motion, screw on the bands until resistance is met, then tighten just to finger-tip tight. Note the lids in the red bowl in the background. They are covered with hot water.

Canning tongs in action, gripping the jar and its hot contents safely.

. Use canning tongs to transfer the filled jars safely to the rack in the canner. Lower rack into the water. Add more boiling water  if necessary so that the jars are covered by 1 inch (2.5 cm).

. Cover the canner; bring the water to a vigorous boil. Time the boiling from this point. 

. At the end of the boiling time, turn off the heat. Remove the cover and let the boiling subside. Lift the rack and with canning tongs, transfer the jars to a rack or folded thick towel.

. Let stand for a day; wipe, label and check each jar. Properly sealed jars have lids that have curved down. Jars with lids that didn't snap down need to be refrigerated and relished within 3 weeks. But before you think you'll lose half your preserves, note that if you have used new lids, real preserving jars and respected the headspace and sealing gospel given above, it will be extremely rare that a jar doesn't seal properly. 

In wild blueberry country the blueberry plants are like a carpet on the fields and hills, a carpet of blue and green. The photo is courtesy of the Wild Blueberry Association of North America.

I have had the pleasure of picking wild blueberries - and who wouldn't want to pull the dusty berries off low-slung bushes like the ones above. Most of my picking, however, has been in Ontario where the season starts early - mid to late July and involves sweaty hours under the sun, an ear cocked for the rustle of black bears engaged in some berry harvesting, all the while swatting flies and mosquitoes. Blueberries picked under those conditions have incomparable flavour.

The Ontario harvest is tiny compared to berries gathered in blueberry fields in Quebec, especially the Lac St. Jean area, and in Atlantic Canada, notably around Oxford in Nova Scotia. In these areas the harvest is later, finishing in early September. While much of the blueberry harvest goes to frozen blueberries, wild blueberries have become more and more popular fresh in season, and for a price, consumers can dig into a bowl of wild blueberries - or sprinkle a few on ice cream or yogurt.

Blueberries, like apricots, take on another dimension when cooked - hence all the blueberry muffins, pancakes and handsome double-crust pies that are icons of Canadian home cooking. But wild blueberries, special in themselves, deserve a dish that shows them off - hence the Wild Blueberry Bundt Cake. 

It all starts with a bowl of fresh wild blueberries. 

 Wild blueberries tend to be small and intensely flavoured. 

Wild Blueberry Bundt Cake

Whether you're using one of the handsome decorative bundt cake pans, or a tube or angel food cake pan, this cake is simply a stunning looking dessert. The important aspect of the pan is the volume of batter it holds - 11 to 12 cups (3.75 t 4 L) are the figures that matter.

The finishing touch? More wild blueberries snuggled into the centre of the cake.

Let the eggs, orange juice and butter all come to room temperature before starting the cake.

Note that the butter and flour needed to coat the cake pan is extra to the ingredients listed below.

1 cup (250 mL) butter, softened

1-1/2 cups granulated sugar, divided

4 large eggs, separated

1 tbsp (15 mL) finely grated orange rind

3 cups (750 mL) all-purpose flour

1 tbsp (15 mL) baking powder

1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt

1 cup (250 mL) fresh blueberries

Glaze:

1/4 cup (50 mL) granulated sugar

1/4 cups  (50 mL) orange juice

. Using a pastry brush and soft butter, grease a 10-inch (3 L) Bundt pan or angel food cake pan.

Soft butter is ideal for coating all the ins and outs of a decorative cake pan.

Sprinkle about 1/3 cup (75 mL) flour over inside of pan. Rotate the pan, tapping as you turn the pan until the entire surface of the inside of the pan is covered with flour. Turn pan over and tap smartly to remove caked flour and leaving the thin film of butter and flour over the entire surface of the pan. Return any excess flour to the flour canister. 

If when you tap out excess flour you find a spot that missed the initial greasing, use you pastry brush to lightly grease that spot; dust the area with flour again and tap out excess.

. In a large bowl, beat the butter and 1 cup (250 mL) of the sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks, 1 at a time, then the orange rind. 

. In separate large bowl, and using clean beaters, beat the egg whites to soft peaks. Beat in the remaining sugar, 1 tbsp (15 mL) at a time, until firm glossy peaks form. Set aside.

. In separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. With wooden spoon, or mixer set a lowest speed, mix dry ingredients into butter mixture, alternating with orange juice, making 3 additions of dry ingredients and 2 of juice. The batter will be quite stiff.

. Stir one-third of the egg whites into the batter.  

To fold in, cut down through the centre of the batter, and bring your spoon back up along the inside of the pan. Your spoon should always be in contact with the batter while folding.

. Fold in remaining egg whites. Sprinkle blueberries over the batter; gently fold into the batter using as few strokes as possible.

.Scrape into prepared pan, pressing batter into the crevices; smooth the top. Tap the pan smartly on the counter to make sure the batter is well gets into all the pan's nooks and cranies. 

. Bake in the centre of a 350°F (180°C) oven until a cake tester or skewer inserted into centre comes out clen, about 55 minutes. Let cool on rack for 20 minutes to firm up the cake structure.

. Glaze: Meanwhile, in a small saucepan or in glass measuring cup in the microwave, bring the sugar and orange juice to the boil, stirring. Boil for 30 seconds; let cool. 

. Loosen cake from edges of pan. Place a rack over the cake pan; gripping the rack and pan firmly with potholder-proteced hands, turn the cake over and onto the rack. Let cool.

Just waiting to lift the cake pan to see if the cake is intact!

. With a pastry brush, brush glaze evenly over cake. Transfer to cake plate. If desired, fill centre with fresh blueberries - you will need about 2 cups (500 mL). 

. Makes 12 slices.

The glaze adds an appealing sheen to the cake - but if you're in a hurry, skip the glaze and dust the cake lightly with icing sugar.

Ricardo Larrivee has the kind of boy next door look and charm that has made him a print, radio and tv star. But his work is not just personality and appearance, his recipes are rigorously tested and edited.

Ricardo Larrivee is a neat guy. Passion to burn. Talent to project his love of food and its importance in the lives of Canadians. He wants everyone to know how to cook, and he wants everyone to sit down together and eat.

No time! Too much going on! You counter. According to this father of 3 whose successful Ricardo and Friends plays on Food Network Canada, whose magazine Ricardo and cookbooks are bestsellers, everyone deserves an hour to have dinner with family. About  half of it to cook, the rest to eat and spend time with these people you love most. Sitting around the table, Ricardo recounted, there might not be a lot of talk at the beginning. You know the situation: "What happened at school today", parent asks. Child's answer: "Nothing" and so it goes, but after a few minutes, real conversation began as food gets passed around and everyone relaxes. Kids learn how to help and to enjoy food, even as they take the requisite "one bite" of something new.

Ricardo was in Toronto recently to promote his newest cookbook, Ricardo, Meals for Every Occasion (Whitecap, $35), and together we had a public conversation as part of the arts program of First Canadian Place. He talked about how eating together generates conversation not just with family. For example, the idea for the handsomely photographed book, came out the kind of glow-time around the table at the end of a dinner with friends. They found themselves discussing the sometimes awkward, sometimes challenging entertaining situations they found themselves in and needed solutions. What do you do, for example, when people arrive before dinner and stay on? Or, stay over. What do you serve people who come from Europe and think Canadians eat wild food all the time. What's on the menu when the guests are always late, or when someone important, say your boss is coming for dinner, or when it's men only and they can't be trusted to follow a recipe?

Ricardo takes a lighthearted approach to these situations and the food, but the solutions are practical with just that touch of inventiveness that gets someone turning  the pages of the book have regular "Great idea" moments, as she patches a sticky onto the page.  Here are a couple of "Great idea" stickies you too might enjoy too.

A quick and easy appetizer tray with Dukka in the bowl at the top, and the Red Bell Pepper Spread bottom left. Good bread, olives and extra virgin olive oil give guests something to nibble on while you, the host, gets cracking with dinner.

Red Bell Pepper Spread

When friends and family drop in...and stay, a few quick recipes go a long way to keeping you smiling and still happy to see them. You love them, after all. Ricardo claims this recipe is too simple to be a proper recipe and tried adding all sorts of things. Eventually he gave up and went back to the original 4 ingredients. "Sometimes, simpler really is better."

4 red bell peppers, halved and cored

1/4 cup (50 mL) olive oil

Salt and pepper

1 With the rack in the top position, preheat the broiler. Line a baking sheet with foil.

2 Place the peppers on the baking sheet, skin-side up. Brush lightly with some of the oil. Broil until the skins blacken, about 15 minutes.

3 Place the peppers in an airtight container. Let cool and slide the skins off.

4 In a food processor, puree the peppers with the remaining oil. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with mini pitas, spread on slices of baguette as hors d-oeuvres or as a dip for crudites. 

. Makes 1-1/2 cups (375 mL).

Dukka

Strange name for a seed and nut combo originally written about by Claudia Roden in her landmark book, The Book of Middle Eastern Food  back in the late '60s. The book introduced North African and Middle Eastern food to a world that knew very little of its delights. In England, it created an enormous interest  and caught on in Australia. When she and I were both in Adelaide, Australia for the first Tasting Australia conference/celebration in 1998, she was intrigued to see one of her recipes from the book, the recipe for dukka, so popular and widespread, with so many variations - and so far from its origins. Ricardo tasted dukka in New Zealand, and comments that it's a way better paired with olive oil than the usual oil and balsamic.  "Super classy" is Ricardo's description.

2/3 cup (150 mL) whole blanched almonds

2 tbsp (30 mL) sesame seeds

2 tsp (10 mL) turmeric

1 tsp (5 mL) onion salt

1 tsp (5 mL) celery salt

1 tsp (5 mL) cumin

1 tsp (5 mL) ground coriander

Cayenne pepper to taste

Olive oil

Cubed bread for dipping

1  Using a mortar and pestle or a small food processor, crush the almonds into small pieces. Add the remaining ingredients except the olive oil and bread and mix well. Transfer to a small bowl. Pour the olive oil into another bowl. Serve with bread cubes that diners dip first in the oil and then into the dukka. 

Serves 6 to 8

.

Volunteers behind Phil Goodwin are planting shrubs on a wetland by the Don River.

Phil Goodwin is a publisher, and as a naturalist, a passionate supporter of the Don River. Flowing south through Toronto into Lake Ontario, the Don, like many rivers in Canadian cities has been in pretty rough shape over the last many decades. Deforestation, development, industry, pollution, carelessness and simple neglect have turned the river from a place to swim and catch salmon to a run of water in great need of recussitation.

Goodwin, tall and with an engaging smile is a key figure with the East Don Parkland Partners, the organization working to bring back the Don. While the health of the whole Don is Goodwin's passion, he and his supporters have taken on the replanting along a stretch of the river south of Cummer Avenue in North York. And that's where I headed on Saturday with my sister Janey Davis to help Goodwin's neighbours, friends, locals, colleagues, interested students and a whole Scout troop to plant native shrubs on a newly recreated meadow and wetland.  In early June, Goodwin will again assemble a group of volunteers to plant wild flowers and herbaceous plants in the same area.The Partners work with staff from the parks department who position the shrubs and trees, and bring the shovels, gloves for all size hands from kids to big and burly, mulch to keep the ground around the newly planted species moist, and planting know-how. There may be a better way to spend a spring Saturday, but I've yet to find it.

Saturday was cool and slightly overcast - perfect for planting. The one thing I thought I could provide besides the energy to plant, was homemade cookies to keep the planters energized. I chose Oatmeal Cookies found on page 35 of The Complete Canadian Living Baking Book (Transcontinental Books, $34.95). Because the group was big, my sister and I made two batches, one with white chocolate and dried cranberries, the second with pecans and maple chunks I had bought a few weeks ago at a store called Canadian Maple Delights in Old Montreal. 

Funny thing, just as the last cedar was in the ground, the last cookie went into tummy of one of the young planters. Couldn't be in better places.

Tree Planting Oatmeal Cookies

These are absolutely delicious oatmeal cookies, and you don't have to plant trees to earn one. I like to add cranberries and white chocolate, but you can accent the dough with any number of interesting add-ins. Raisins or currants are traditional as are chopped walnut halves. Regular chocolate chips of course. In all, your additions should measure about 1-1/2 cups (375 mL).  Feel free to add a little cinnamon or nutmeg if you like too. Or, some grated orange rind. 

2/3 cup (150 mL) butter, softened

1 cup (250 mL) packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 tbsp (15 mL) vanilla

1-1/2 cups large-flake rolled oats

1 cup (50 mL) all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp (2 mL) each baking powder and baking soda

1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt

3/4 cup (175 mL) chopped white chocolate

3/4 cup (175 mL) dried cranberries, dried cherries or raisins

. Line 2 large rimless baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats, or grease; set aside.

. In a large bowl, beat butter with brown sugar until fluffy; beat in the egg and vanilla. In a separate bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; stir into the butter mixture in 2 additions until blended. Stir in the chocolate and cranberries.

. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Scoop by tablespoons (15 mL) into mounds, set 2-inches (5 cm) apart on prepared baking sheets. Roll each mound into a ball; with a fork, press down to about 1/2-inch (1.25 cm) thickness.

Rolling the dough into balls rather than just scooping the dough on the baking sheet helps make uniformly round cookies. Press evenly with a fork.

. Bake in bottom and top thirds of 350°F (180°C) oven until cookies are golden brown underneath and edges are crisp, about 12 to 15 minutes. Switch and rotate the baking sheets halfway through the baking to ensure even cooking.

. Let cookies rest on the baking sheets to firm up, about 3 minutes, before transferring to racks to cool. (Make-ahead: Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to a week. Freeze for longer storage - up to 1 month if nobody  in the house knows about them.)

Cooling cookies on a rack helps keep them crisp.

. Makes about 24 cookies. 

Variation: Pecan Maple Oatmeal Cookies. Replace the cranberries and white chocolate with 1-1/4 cups (300 mL) chopped pecan halves and 1/4 cup (50 mL) maple chunks. 

The Oatmeal Cookies look more subtle with the chopped pecans and maple chunks, rice-sized pieces of hard maple sugar. A nice burst of natural maple flavour.

.