Describing her grandmother’s amazing way with preserves, she adds: “The reason she’s so active and vibrant is she spends a lot of time in the kitchen, reaching for jars. It’s aerobics for 96 year olds.”
Her grandmother actually still preserves tomato butter, red pepper butter and raspberry jam.
“It’s such a craft and labour of love,” she says, confessing she will never match her grandmother’s preserving skills. “I just put my dibs in for some.”
Magwood was lighthearted and informative when she hosted Party Dish, a Food Network Canada show as well as in her cookbooks.
Her first cookbook, Dish Entertains, featured Magwood as chef. Her second, just in time for Mother’s Day, is In My Mother’s Kitchen. It takes inspiration from the three generations of moms in her family — herself, her mother and her grandmother as well as from friends.
“They taught me to love food and showed me that food really is the anchor in the family and home,” she says of her mom and grandmother.
The recipes in In My Mother’s Kitchen, she says, are dishes she grew up with, but she’s tweaked and modernized them.
One of her son Fin’s favourite dishes, she laughs, is called Wife Saver.
“It’s hilarious that he’s calling it that,” she says of the ham, cheese and spinach strata.
We were both perplexed at how a dish that took her mother half a day to make could be called Wife Saver. Magwood, however, took it upon herself to streamline the recipe. Her aim is to pass on recipes of simple dishes that look and taste beautiful.
Magwood might not be the queen of preserves like her grandmother, but she is preserving in her own way.
“Part of what I’m trying to do is preserve, grab hold of and pass on,” she says of her family traditions. “And our lives are so complicated and busy and stressful, the least we can do is sit down at the table together. The broccoli might not be eaten, someone might be in tears, but at least we’ve made an effort. We can all try to do that.”
The other thing she values is the sisterhood of cooking.
“Sharing kitchen secrets (is) critical to me,” she says. “The restaurants are full of male chefs and it’s male dominated, but the reality is — in my experience ± women are doing the planning, shopping and organizing at home. A big part of what I’m doing is revealing the Wizard of Oz, revealing the secrets to make life easier.”
One secret revealed was her grandmother’s secret recipe for cranberry sauce.
“I saw it on the back of a package of frozen cranberries,” Magwood laughs.
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Recipes:
Apricot and Cranberry Buttermilk Scones
These scones, from Trish Magwood’s In My Mother’s Kitchen, seems perfect for Mother’s Day. She says take care not to overwork the batter and to mix until the liquid is just incorporated. That’ll keep the scones light and fluffy. Another tip, you can bake these halfway, then cool and freeze, then bake from frozen for 10 minutes.
3 cups (750 mL) all-purpose flour
1/3 cup (75 mL) sugar
2 1/2 teaspoon (12 mL) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon (2 mL) baking soda
3/4 teaspoon (4 mL) salt
3/4 cup (175 mL) cold butter, cubed
1/2 cup (125 mL) chopped dried apricots
1/2 cup (125 mL) dried cranberries
1 cup (250 mL) buttermilk, plus 1 tablespoon (15 mL) for brushing
1/4 cup (60 mL) rock sugar, for dusting
Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add butter and pulse just until mixture resembles coarse meal, leaving a few pea-sized pieces of butter. (You can also do this in a bowl, using a pastry blender.)
Pour into a bowl. Using a fork, stir in apricots and cranberries until mixed throughout. Stir in buttermilk just until incorporated. Do not over-mix.
Gather dough into a ball until it just holds together. Transfer dough to a floured surface and knead briefly. Press into a circle about 3/4 inch (2 cm) thick. Cut into 8 triangles. Transfer triangles to prepared cookie sheet. Brush tops with remaining 1 tablespoon (15 mL) buttermilk and sprinkle with rock sugar.
Bake for 20 minutes or until golden. Serve warm.
Makes 8 scones.
Cheese Souffle
Souffles are a throwback to the ’70s when many a domestic goddess would show off her cooking prowess by serving a towering souffle to guests,” says Trish Magwood. “My mom makes a cheese souffle mid-week for no occasion — she thinks it’s that easy. And it is, really! My mom prefers orange Cheddar to give a deep golden colour, but you can certainly use white.”
3 tablespoons (50 mL) butter
3 tablespoons (50 mL) all-purpose flour
1 cup (250 mL) milk
1/2 teaspoon (2 mL) dry mustard
Pinch cayenne pepper
1 cup (250 mL) grated aged Cheddar cheese
4 eggs, separated
Salt and black pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 325°F (160°C).
In a heavy saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, 2 minutes. Slowly add milk, stirring constantly, and cook, stirring, until thick and smooth. Add dry mustard and cayenne. Stir in cheese until melted. Set aside to cool.
Beat egg yolks until thick and pale yellow. Season with salt and pepper. Stir into cooled cheese sauce.
In a large bowl, using a whisk or electric mixer, beat egg whites until stiff but not dry. Do not overbeat.
Carefully but thoroughly fold egg whites into cheese sauce — do not over-mix and deflate the egg whites. Pour into an ungreased souffle dish.
Bake until souffle has risen and the top is light golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes. (Peek through the oven window at 30 minutes but don’t open the door. Make sure your oven window is clean so you can see!) Serve immediately.
Makes 3 to 4 servings.
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