Alberta

When I was 10, my family took a 2 week trip to Canada's West Coast for my Uncle Joe and Auntie Jean's wedding in BC. We took a plane to Calgary and spent several days in Alberta visiting family in Banff and friends in Jasper before travelling farther West in our rental van for the Thanksgiving weekend wedding. I remember being in awe of the wildlife, the Fall colours and of course, the Rockies. Driving through the mountains was something I'll never forget. We made lots of stops to explore, Mom took crazy amounts of pictures and I knew I'd be back as an adult to see these spectacular sights again!

I've known that Wild Hogs are quite a problem in Alberta for a while now, but never actually saw footage of them causing a ruckus until I was watching the show Heartland, which is filmed South of Calgary. Let me tell you, Wild Hogs look nothing like the cute teacup piggies in Europe! After watching this series, I instantly wanted to win the lottery so I could buy a ranch and move to Alberta. A dream for now but perhaps a western ranch style adventure in the future!

• Flowering Rush

Flowering Rush Sweet Bread (Vegan)

2 ¾ cups flour

¼ cup flowering rush rhizomes, dried and ground

½ cup sugar

1 ½ tsp baking powder

3 tsp ground cardamom

½ tsp salt

400mL coconut milk

Olive oil for frying

In a large bowl, stir together flour, ground rhizomes, sugar, baking powder, cardamom and salt. Add coconut milk and mix well until dough forms. Allow the dough to sit overnight, preferably, but no less than 2 hours. Once the dough has sat and rose, pour dough onto floured surface and cut into 4 pieces. Work each individual piece and cut into 6 triangles. Repeat with the 3 remaining pieces. In a pan, pour in oil to fully cover bottom. Once oil is hot, put 4-5 triangular pieces in oil at a time. Cook until triangles are fully golden brown, 3-4 minutes on each side. Enjoy! Great to serve with fresh fruit for dessert or coffee. 

• Hawkweed

Hawkweed Ice Cream (Vegetarian)

1 cup hawkweed flowers

1 ½ cups milk

1 ½ cups whipping cream

⅔ cup sugar

2 tbsp vanilla

Pinch of salt

Fresh berries (strawberries, raspberries and blueberries for serving)

In a pot on medium-high heat, add milk, sugar and hawkweed flowers. Continuously stir mixture as milk will easily burn. Boil until sugar is dissolved. Let cool and then strain out hawkweed flowers. With an electric mixer, whip whipping cream and add vanilla. In a loaf style pan, combine whip cream and milk mixture once cooled. Place in freezer for 2 hours and then remove, and mix again. Place back in freezer for 1 hour and then thoroughly stir mixture again. Freeze for 6-8 hours and serve with fresh berries. Hawkweed has many medicinal properties and is very healthy!

• Chinese Mystery Snail

Chinese Mystery Snail Cream Sauce (Pescatarian)

50 live Chinese mystery snails, scrubbed clean

1 onion, diced

2 tbsp olive oil

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup broccoli florets, cut into bite sized pieces

1 cup cauliflower florets, cut into bite sized pieces

2 coloured peppers (red, orange or yellow) cut into large chunks

1 cup white mushrooms, cut into quarters

2 cups heavy cream

2 cups milk

Pepper to taste

2 tbsp flour 

2 tbsp butter

1 cup mozzarella, grated

1 cup parmesan, grated

1 package pasta noodles of choice 

In a large bowl, place live cleaned snails in water and allow to sit for 48 hours. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and pour in snails and cook for 20 minutes. Pry the dark meaty part of the snails out of their shells and set aside. Discard the rest of the snail. In a pot, heat olive oil and add onion. Add garlic to the onion and cook until golden and put off to side. Add butter, flour, milk and heavy cream. Stir in parmesan and mozzarella fromagio and bring sauce to a boil, stirring regularly as it thickens. Reduce heat. Cream sauces burn very quickly so don't leave unattended. This is experience talking! Add cut vegetables to the sauce as well as the cooked onion and garlic. Allow veggies to cook inside sauce for 20-30 minutes. Stir in mystery snails and serve with noodles. Fresh bread and salad will make this a dynamite dinner!

• Round Goby

BBQ'd Round Goby (Pescatarian)

1 cup wild rice, cooked

Vegetables of choice

4 boneless skinless round goby fillets

¼ cup soy sauce

¼ cup dry white wine

2 tbsp ginger, minced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 lemon, sliced

1 tbsp sugar

Salt and pepper to taste

In a large glass baking dish, place 4 fish fillets side by side. In a pot, mix together soy sauce, white wine, ginger, garlic and sugar. Bring to a boil and pour into baking dish. After sitting to marinade for 1-2 hours flip the fillets and allow to sit for another 1-2 hours. Heat up the BBQ. Coat grill with olive oil. Put each fillet on grill and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Barbecue for about 20 minutes, flipping halfway through. Put a slice of lemon on top of each fillet. Serve on a bed of wild rice with your prepared favourite veggies. Drizzle lemon juice on top of fish and dig in!

• Wild Boar 

Wild Boar Stew

2 lbs wild boar meat, cut into bite sized chunks

2 large onions, diced

4 potatoes, cubed

1 ½ cups white mushrooms, quartered

4 carrots, thinly sliced and cut in half

4 celery stalks, sliced

1 can diced tomatoes

2 cups red wine

2 tbsp flour

2 cups vegetable broth

2 tbsp butter

Fresh thyme, finely chopped to taste

Salt and black pepper to taste

In a large pot on medium-high heat, add butter and onion. Once onion is transparent, add boar meat and brown. Pour in wine, cook for 30 minutes. Add veggie broth, potatoes, carrots, celery and diced tomatoes. Cook on medium heat for 1 hour and simmer. Add mushrooms when vegetables are cooked. Season stew with thyme, salt and pepper. Add flour to thicken if needed. A hearty meal on a cold day!