Canada Day Cooking with Cats

Cats spent all morning running around with the Canadian Flag so I had to indulge him and prepare a full scale Canadian Meal.

So I picked up my favourite Canadian cookbook that I have had since the 90s - Anita Stewart's Country Inn Cooking featuring recipes from Inns and Bed & Breakfasts from coast to coast.


Lamb Stew with Sherry from The Sherwood Inn, Muskoka, Ontario

A simple recipe where lamb pieces are marinated in sherry and garlic for half a day. They are then sprinkled with salt, pepper, caraway seeds and flour, fried with onions, then simmered in the marinade for an hour.

Very tender, somewhat sweet tasting, and filled the kitchen with beautiful aroma for Canada Day.


Potatoes Romanoff from Victoria Village Inn, Victoria-by-the-Sea, P.E.I.

Not low in cholesterol for sure, but it is a holiday and feasting is on the agenda.

A simple bake of mashed potatoes, mixed with an egg, garlic, parsley, cottage cheese and sour creme and sprinkled with Canadian Cheddar cheese. All are baked until the cheese is melted and golden.

The owner of the Inn, with the name of Anne, apparently serves this recipe frequently to enhance the taste of what she refers to as a bland vegetable.

It is boiled cucumber that is then cooked with butter and dill. 

Not sure this enhances the taste of cucumbers, but it was worth the fun.

Bannock from Salmon 'n' Bannock Bistro, Vancouver, BC

Discovering something called Bannock and reading up on it couldn't have been more of a Canadian thing to do on Canada day.

The recipe from the Bistro was very simple and all worked smoothly and in less than 15 minutes.

They were nice, fluffy, a bit sweet. But are they supposed to be served with savory or as a sweet treat?


Overall, a fun meal to make. The potatoes were the highlight. I'd rather eat the cucumbers fresh and next time the Bannocks may have icing sugar sprinkled on them or served with sugar syrup (now that is probably not very Canadian, eh?)
 

This is a view of the jardin sky from the cat's point of view sitting on the picnic table the end of a nice warm Canada Day evening. Happy Canada Day. More celebrations coming up throughout the weekend, stay tuned!