BROCKVILLE -- Mary McHugh of Brockville shares her favourite recipes with CTV News at Noon's Leanne Cusack.
Mary’s Nova Scotia Salmon Pie
This is a wonderful recipe for seafood lovers. I found the recipe in 1972 on a Carnation Milk $0.15 cents off coupon!
If you are not an avid pastry maker, you can use pre-made pastries for the shell and lattice work. But I always make my own pastry – the only difference from standard pastry recipes is that I make mine with 2 eggs and 1 tbsp. white vinegar. And don’t handle too much!
Filling:
- 3 cups (I use 4) drained, flaked Clover Leaf Pink Salmon (Note: it is available skinless and boneless – less work!)
- ½ cup of undiluted Carnation Evaporated Milk
- 1 egg (I use 2)
- ½ cup soft breadcrumbs
- 1 cup finely chopped celery
- ½ cup finely chopped onion
- ½ cup drained sliced pitted ripe green olives (Tried Kalamata Greek olives recently and it was good!)
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
Combine all ingredients except pastry. Mix all ingredients well and spoon into 9 inch unbaked pastry shell. Use remaining pastry for lattice crust. Bake in hot pre-heated oven (425F) for 45 minutes. When crust is golden brown during baking, cover with foil to prevent further browning.
Amazing Savory (Cheater) Sauce ��
Heat 1 cup of undiluted Carnation Evaporated Milk, 10 oz. can of Cream of Celery soup, 1 tsp (or more!) of summer savory and 2 tbsp of lemon juice in saucepan. Serve over pie and Enjoy!
You may be speaking with a Maritime accent after 2 servings.
Mary’s Italian Spaghetti Sauce
(Even better than Italian as it has more ingredients including meat…or not if you prefer vegetarian)
- 2-4 Lbs. Ground Beef (depending on how much you want to make)
- Red Wine – Drink while making and keep adding some to the sauce! ��
- 1 large can Tomatoes or 2-3 cups of stewed fresh from garden – mashed well
- 156 ml can Tomato paste
- 1-2 cups of tomato sauce (canned or homemade)
- Fresh Peppers – whatever is in the fridge or garden
- 1 medium Onion (or not) - diced
- 3 stalks celery – cut small
- 1-2 cups Sliced Mushrooms
- 4 tbsp minced garlic
- Herbs – oregano, basil, thyme, parsley – amount is your call…Keep testing, then adding more..or not
- Chili peppers or chili flakes – your choice – and to your degree of “heat” desired!
- Nutmeg – pinch
- More wine!
Saute meat (in butter or oil of your choice – any infused oil is a nice option) in a large dutch oven until well-browned. Medium heat. Drain fat.
Season with ½ of herbs and all garlic.
Add first dose of red wine. Saute for another 5 minutes
Add vegetable mixture, continue to saute (5 -8 minutes), slowly adding tomatoes, tomato sauce chili peppers and nutmeg. And more wine!
Simmer low, slow and long over low heat with regular stirring all day – like the Italians.
Before serving, add some of your favorite cheese.
Serve over favorite pasta – Mary switches between spaghettini, angel hair and linguine. She has even tried gluten free, and it’s good!
Top with cheese – most people prefer grated parmesan; Mary likes shredded mozzarella.
Suggested sides – Homemade garlic bread & Caesar salad. Oh yes, red wine is an absolute side.
Mary’s Comfort Stew
- Lean stew beef – trim all fat and cut into small pieces
- Red wine (or beef bouillon if not wine)
- 2 stalks Celery – finely chopped
- 1 medium Onion
- 3 large Carrots
- 2 Parsnips – peeled and chopped
- 2 cups Rutabaga – good luck cutting it up!
- Worchestershire sauce
- Little HP sauce and bit of ketchup if desired
- Beef bouillon or gravy mix (cheat!) or corn starch to thicken
- More red Wine
Note: There are no potatoes in my stew recipe. I like mashed. Potatoes in stew do not freeze so well so best make potatoes separate from stew.
Saute meat (Mary prefers butter but you can use oil of your choice – any infused oil is a nice option) in a large dutch oven until well-browned. Medium heat.
Add first dose of red wine. Saute for another 5 minutes
Add vegetables, continue to saute (5 -8 minutes).
Simmer low, slow and long over low heat with regular stirring until meat tenderizes. (You can tenderize meat beforehand for a shorter cook time).
2 – 2.5 hours of low slow cooking stovetop
Daughter’s version: Using a crockpot, brown meat then throw everything into the crock pot – cook on LOW for 8 hours or on HIGH for 4 hours.
Serving side suggestions – warm crusty bread for gravy dipping and mashed potatoes. Oh yes, and red wine.
Mary’s (DON’T OPEN THE DOOR WHILE BAKING) Scones
- 2 heaping cups Flour
- 3 (full) tbsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp sugar (recipe calls for ½ cup – I keep them sugarfree)
- 2 Eggs (beaten) – keep some aside to glaze scones
- ½ cup butter
- ¾ cup milk
- Optional: 1/2 – 1 cup currants or raisins
Mix dry ingredients. Cut in butter with knife.
Add eggs slowly to form a crumby moist dough.
Do Not handle pastry very much – just enough to make dough crumbly but able to be formed into a bal before rolling.
Roll out – add more flour if too wet.
Cut into triangles (or whatever shape you choose). Brush tops with egg mixture.
Bake on greased cookie sheet at 350F for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
