Pearl Pirie
Can you believe it? 25th years of The Centretown BUZZ! That coordinated effort for a silver number of years deserves a standing ovation, bringing news to and from the community.
Sweet to see a milestone number that isn’t COVID-related.
This makes a sexy 69 columns of two, sometimes three recipes each. That’s nearly 150 meal ideas I’ve served up since 2014. Since then we’ve moved house, gained a dog. I published two poetry collections. We went off dairy for years, and moved from vegan to restart eating eggs.
Remember the dandelion pesto column? Spoon pudding with endive canapés was a great time. How many of you have been here since drying linguine fell from the ceiling to the cat’s delight? It’s tempting to share again the curry that had chocolate milk added.
In the name of reminiscing, how about those whole beet patties from 2015, years before the A&W got on board? And cookies from 2014, because as the leaves fall, you can’t go wrong with ginger.
Side Dish: Whole Beet Patties
(serves 2)
Mortar and pestle the seeds then let soak 10 minutes:
- 1/8 cup flax seeds
- 1/8 cup water
Add:
- 1 Tbsp each chopped fresh dill, mint, parsley
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- 1/4 small onion
- 1 cup cooked beets, peeled (4 small ones)
- 1 Tbsp sesame oil
- ½ cup garbanzo bean (chickpea) flour
- the zest of ½ lemon or 1 Tbsp of lemon juice
The garbanzo flour and flax work as binding agents.
Form the mixture into small patties and put on the ever-useful indoor grill, or better yet, a cast iron pan if you have one. When browned and crisp, serve on buns or as a side dish.
Snacks: Ginger Crinkle Cookies
(Makes 2 dozen)
This makes a semi-regular appearance around here, briefly.
Mix the dry:
- 2 cups whole wheat flour, stone ground if you can find it
- ½ cup brown sugar (+ more for rolling in*)
- 1½ Tbsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp allspice
- 1/4 tsp cardamom
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- pinch of chipotle (optional)
- pinch of salt
*As good as it smells, remember the brown sugar is for rolling the cookies in, not yourself.
Warm the molasses by setting the container in a bowl of hot water.
Mix the wet:
- 1/4 cup hot water
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1/3 cup melted butter or margarine
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1½ Tbsp finely grated ginger
Add the wet to the dry ingredients.
Add more water if it crumbles but you want the dough to be fairly stiff and firm.
Flour or sugar your hands and palm-roll the dough into small balls, about 1 1/2 inches across. If they’re for later, roughly shape a tube of dough on parchment paper, roll into a tube and freeze to slice anytime.
When ready to cook, roll cookies in sugar and put them on a baking sheet. They crinkle. They flatten. They spread.
You will need two sheets for a full recipe. Bake at 375 F for 8-10 minutes.
The cookies should be very soft when you take them out. They firm up on the sheet when cooled.
Pearl Pirie’s fourth poetry collection, footlights is out(!) with Radiant Press: www.radiantpress.ca/shop/footlights Author site: www.pearlpirie.com. Keep washing your hands and wearing your masks. This could take many months more.