Notes about Recipes in this book

• Sautéed acorn squash with maple syrup

  • Barb_N on January 04, 2022

    I subbed Kabocha squash (thinking it was Kuri, which I love for it’s deep red flesh). I also omitted bell peppers as we don’t eat them, and skipped the frivolity of the scallions. So, red onion, winter squash, spices and maple syrup- as part of a multi-dish meal from this cookbook I made it a couple hours ahead, then reheated. The maple syrup flavor was indiscernible.

• Sautéed fiddleheads with apple

  • meggan on June 02, 2023

    Apple is a nice touch

  • EmilyR on May 17, 2024

    a great little special side dish - classic Native American New England Spring.

• Steamed manoomin rice with thyme

  • Barb_N on January 04, 2022

    Unable to source manoomin rice, I used wild rice from the grocery store. This is a basic preparation to serve as a side dish. Will make a salad with leftovers if there is any duck meat left.

• Stewed beef with golden beets

  • Acarroll on September 11, 2022

    Delicious stew. It's a lot of effort, but worth it. I used 2/3 the amount of meat called for, and only 1/4 the amount of beets, but that ratio seemed perfect. Next time I would do a better job at trimming the fat from the meat. I wondered if some kind of acidic topping would be nice, like pickled onions, but my husband thought I was crazy. I served on top of garlic and olive oil couscous.

• Grilled duck with apple and sage

  • Barb_N on January 04, 2022

    This was the crowning dish of our ‘end of holidays’ meal. I purchased 2 thighs and 2 breasts as whole duck was not available. Instead of grilling I used cast iron on stovetop and in oven. It was a bit of a 3 ring circus to cook- confit the legs for 90 minutes, add apples half way through; sear duck breasts stovetop last minute until fat rendered (and poured off, avoiding 3d degree burns and a little dog underfoot), then a brief sear of the meat side then into the oven for a few minutes. This is definitely the best way to get duck breasts that are rare/med rare- a disappointment I’ve had when cooking whole duck. The trade off is there is little extra meat and no carcass for making stock. I used cooking directions from online site ‘Duckchar’, the timing was perfect.

• Steamed Indian corn pudding

  • Barb_N on January 04, 2022

    This is admittedly an adaptation by the chef of a colonial (New England) recipe. My memories of this dessert from childhood are similar, in the dominance of molasses flavor but the proportions are very different. Referencing my New England source- Ruth Wakefield’s Toll House Tried and True Recipes, the amount of butter is excessive. While the 5th edition 1946 of RGW’s cookbook has only ‘Steamed Pudding’ with no cornmeal, the 6th edition from 1948 forward has a recipe for Indian Pudding which would be approximately a half portion of this recipe- except the butter. RGW calls for “butter the size of a walnut” and this recipe uses an entire stick of butter. We made this to cap off the holidays along with other recipes from this cookbook, but I wish I had looked at other versions. The butter congealed around the edges of the pudding. The 12 “ pan also makes enough to serve a family of 4 for several days, if so inclined. Pudding steams for 90 minutes.

• Warm apple bread pudding

  • HeyHosers on August 26, 2022

    double the apples and halve the sugar. who needs that much sugar? that's too much sugar.