Cottage Cheese Loaf

One of my favorite meals is Cottage Cheese Loaf!

I know, I know, you can hardly stop salivating. But trust me, you'll love this and it's a fantastic Meatless Monday option for all you carnivores who decide to take one day off each week.

Before I dish out the recipe let's start with a bit of history. Food and history - I'm rockin' your world today!

Cottage Cheese Loaf came to the Vegetarians of this family the way most great recipes do - through family. My Aunt Lonnie used to make our tummies purr with this dish. A few points of clarification before I continue:
1. Aunt Lonnie wasn't really my aunt but a dear friend of my mom's...I will stop with that because tears and Steamdot Bee-ena's don't mix. What is a Bee-ena you ask? Stop distracting me!
2. Eventually I discovered Aunt Lonnie used Cottage Cheese Loaf to clean out the fridge. All leftovers were game. Who knew? Who cares? Still love it!
3. My brother is not a fan of the nuts in this recipe. His distaste for nut-inclusive casseroles began at a young age and continues to this day. Sad, I know. Do not be dissuaded, Cottage Cheese Loaf is delicious with or without the nut component.

Recipe time!

Cottage Cheese Loaf

Ingredients

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• 1 box of corn flakes
• 1 to 1and 1/2 cups walnuts/almonds/pecans
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 envelope dried onion soup mix
• 1/4 cup milk ( if needed for correct consistency)
• 1 large carton of cottage cheese

How to make it

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• Into BLENDER put the 4 eggs. nuts, and dry onion soup mix
• Process until completely combined and smooth.
• In large mixing bowl put complete contents of carton of cottage cheese
• Then use the cottage cheese carton as measure for the cereal
• Fill carton TWICE...pour both into mixing bowl
• Now pour in the contents from the blender, and the oil.
• Mix well.
• Add enough milk to make the mixture pliable - not soupy
• Grease a 13x9 pan
• Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted comes out clean
• I don't worry about over baking - the crispy edges are the best part
• Let rest for 10 minutes before eating
• Enjoy!

Note: You can add anything you want to this casserole, as per Aunt Lonnie. Just ensure you adjust your corn flakes or milk to get the texture to pliable - not soupy.

I'm guessing I'm not the only one who grew up eating Cottage Cheese Loaf. So let me hear it! Love it? Hate it? I look forward to your Cottage Cheese Loaf stories!

Dutch Oven Roasted Porcupine Recipe

When camping, many Alaskans prefer to gather and catch their dinner.  The gathering part is clearly the vegetarian portion of the feast. Fiddlehead ferns, fireweed shoots, berries, spruce tips, rose hips and mushrooms (chosen with great care).

The Eskimo half, however; is usually composed of some kind of small game. Fish is the obvious choice, but, in case you are tired of fish, there are other options available to you. 

Birds, there are several species you can enjoy, the problem is you have to catch them. This process is complicated by their flying and such. Less air-borne options include rabbit or squirrel. Let’s face it though, the first is too cute and the second is EWWW!

Turns out there is an additional option which is just ugly enough to bear killing for dinner; the lowly porcupine. These beasts are slow, easy to hunt, and have enough meat on them to feed a small crew of campers.

Clearly, I’m not speaking from experience. This recipe was gleaned from our good friends, Dustin and Alasha Brito. Truth is neither of them is Eskimo or vegetarian, but they are Alaskan through and through! Additional truth, my Eskimo husband has never eaten a porcupine. But it’s worth noting he would never tire of fish so it wouldn’t be necessary.

Hence, if you plan to camp in rural Alaska but don’t feel like fish for dinner, go with Dustin and Alasha! Or try your hand at the recipe they’ve provided.

Dutch Oven Roasted Porcupine

1 porcupine (no-known vegetarian substitution)
2 - 3 potatoes
3 - 4 carrots
1 - 2 onions
olive oil
salt and pepper
garlic

Method
Locate a porcupine. Once located, no need to waste a bullet, porcupines are slow. Just find a large stick and treat it like a fish; whack it on the head till it stops twitching.

Use said stick weapon to transport your kill back to camp so as not to quill yourself. Build a fire. Drop your catch in and roll it around with earlier-employed stick to singe the quills. They’ll shrivel up like hair. There are other methods of ridding the beast of its quills, but they are not nearly as interesting so I’ve left them out.

Clean it, quarter it; don’t ask me how. Just find someone who can do it, or take a field dressing guide with you and go for it!

Back to your fire, build it up big and let it burn down to coals while you prepare your meat.

Cut root vegetables into large chunks and place in the dutch oven.

Rub the quarters of porcupine with olive oil and season with salt, pepper and garlic. Place meat into the middle of the dutch oven with vegetables surrounding it. Drizzle with additional olive oil and sprinkle salt, pepper and garlic on vegetables to taste.

Place the dutch oven deep into the coals of the fire. Shovel coals onto the top of it. Keep the fire going and move additional hot coals as needed to keep dutch oven hot.

Check for doneness after 45 minutes. Cut into a thick piece of meat to see if it’s browned through. It will likely take 60 - 90 minutes to cook.

Pull dutch oven out of the fire. Serve and (ah-men) enjoy.

Next camping trip: Porcu-bacon!

Fabulous Fireweed and Fiddleheads

The Alaskan summer has arrived in all its glory! There’s nothing quite like watching the grass go from brown to green almost overnight, the buds appear on the trees in what seems like the blink of an eye, and daffodils and tulips pop up in my friends' yards who, unlike me, had the forethought to plant them last fall.

This is truly my favorite time of the summer. My Steamdot view still includes snow on the mountains in the distance, but now also has hints of green close up. School is nearly out – next week, in fact – so the kids are going crazy, staying up late and, in Grant’s case, running around naked in the front yard!

Now that summer is here, the urge to harvest is creeping in. The buds are coming on the trees and the grass is green. Birch sap has been collected – although not by me this year – and pretty soon the fireweed will turn red and the fiddleheads will show up! By the end of the summer the berries will come on and we’ll be heading for the fall. Yes, yes, I know there are fish that come around during the summer too. That’s Gary’s department.

So today I’m planning my summer harvest. This year it’s all about fireweed jelly and pickled fiddlehead ferns. I thought I'd share my plans in an attempt to ensure I actually follow through with them!

Fireweed Jelly

8 cups fireweed blossoms (no stems!)
¼ cup lemon juice
4 ½ cups water
2 pkgs Sure Gel (or other powdered pectin)
5 cups sugar

·         Pick, wash, and measure 8 cups of fireweed blossoms (flower part only!)

·         Add 1/4 cup lemon juice and 4-1/2 cups water.

·         Boil 10 minutes and strain.

·         Take the strained juice and heat to lukewarm. Add 2 pkgs Sure Jell (or other powdered pectin) and bring to boil.

·         Add 5 cups sugar and bring to full boil.

·         Boil hard for 1 minute. Pour into hot clean jars and seal.

·         Process in boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

Now for the fiddleheads! These ferns are quite reminiscent of asparagus when pickled. Fiddleheads are also known as trailing wood fern. Pick them when they are still coiled together. Covered with brown coating that is removed before eating. They should always be cooked before eating.

Pickled Fiddlehead Ferns

Fiddlehead Fern, Raw 1 Gallon
Garlic, Raw 8 Cloves
Dill Weed, Dried 1 Cup
Red Pepper 1 Cup
Water 2 Quarts
Apple Cider Vinegar 6 Cups
Pickling Salt 1/2 Cup

·         Pick and clean about one gallon fiddleheads (best with about 3 inches stem and before they curl out).

·         Leave soaking in water until just before using them. Place in a colander to drain.

·         Sterilize jars and lids

·         In large pan, pour 8 cups water, 6 cups apple cider vinegar and 1/2 cup pickling salt. This mixture has to be boiling when poured over fiddleheads.

·         Take sterile jars out of water and sit on thick towel. Place equal amounts of garlic in each jar. Place approximately 3 stems of dill weed or about 3/4 tablespoon of store bought dill weed and 1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper in each jar with garlic.

·         Stuff drained fiddlestick on top of garlic, dill and peppers. I try to pack mine tight by pushing the fiddleheads down into the jars, otherwise they tend to be bulky and take up a lot of space.

·         Pour boiling vinegar mixture over fiddleheads leaving a small space at top of jar. Quickly cover with sterile lid and ring and tighten immediately. I do this one jar at a time to prevent cooling prior to a good seal.

·         Place all sealed hot jars aside on thick dry dishtowel and cover with potholders and dishtowels to prevent rapid cooling. After jars cool, check that they have sealed properly. Label and let sit in pantry for a month or two.

·         They are best if served chilled.

Another way to prepare fiddleheads is to marinate them. For short term use give this recipe a try!

Marinated Fiddlehead Ferns

4 cups cleaned fiddleheads
12 oz. wine vinegar
5 Tbls Pickling spice
1 cup molasses
2 tsp white pepper
1 cup oil
1 clove garlic
1 tsp onion powder

·         Steam fiddleheads 3-5 minutes. Drain and set aside in gallon glass jar or ceramic crock.

·         Place vinegar, pickling spice, molasses, white pepper, oil, garlic and onion powder in a stainless steel pan and bring to boil

·         Pour mixture over fiddleheads and let stand 2-3 days.

·         Strain and serve.

Happy harvesting!