NEWS for North Dakotans
Agriculture Communication, North Dakota State University
7 Morrill Hall, Fargo, ND 58105-5665

October 29, 1998

Prairie Fare: The Makings of an Inspiration

The short-lived autumns we enjoy in this region produce, for me, plenty of silver-lined clouds. One of my pie-in-the-sky hopes each fall is to have created by the following spring a masterpiece, a one-dish blend of ingredients that together create a culinary crescendo of aroma, color, taste and texture. Occasionally my creations make me feel like a maestro, but more often the reflection I see in the oven door's glass is that of a malcontent.

A few weeks ago I went looking a for Shepherd's Pie recipe to spur some ideas and decided to check SOAR, the Searchable Online Archive of Recipes from the University of California at Berkeley (http://soar.Berkeley.EDU/recipes/). Would you believe 232 recipes for "dinner pies"? There are probably even more by now.

The Web site certainly included some interesting offerings that got me thinking. There were a couple of recipes for Beanherder's Pie. Yes, beans were among the ingredients, but one also included cocoa powder and nutmeg. Hmmmm. And there was a recipe for Reuben Burger Pie that really piqued my fancy. The meatloaf-like crust contains ground beef, oatmeal, an egg, thousand island dressing and seasonings, and the filling features, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and caraway seed.

Although I would substitute ground corned beef for the ground beef, the Reuben Burger Pie recipe gave me the inspiration I needed. I began mulling over tastes and textures and have come up with something that should please those of you who like salmon and rutabagas. For the rest of you who are middle-of-the-roaders, give the recipe a try. You might be inspired.

Inspiration Pie
Yield: 8 servings (two pies, 4 servings each)

Ingredients:
1 cup cold mashed rutabagas
2 cups cold mashed potatoes
2 tablespoons dill weed
4 eggs, separated
1 cup fat-free mayonnaise, divided
2 14.75-ounce cans red sockeye salmon
½ cup old-fashioned oats
1 8-ounce can water chestnuts, chopped
1 7.3-ounce jar mushrooms, chopped
1 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
2 tablespoons onion powder
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon celery seed
salt and white pepper to taste

Procedure:
For crust, combine rutabagas, potatoes, dill weed, egg yolks and ½ cup of mayonnaise. Divide mixture into thirds and put one-third in the bottom of each of two 9-inch pie pans that have been sprayed with vegetable oil. Reserve remaining third for topping. For filling, combine remaining ingredients and divide in half. Place each half in pie pan and smooth with spoon. Top each pie with half of the remaining rutabaga mixture. If desired, sprinkle tops with paprika and bake at 325 F for one hour. Cut each pie into quarters. Serve with steamed green beans and slices of fresh tomato drizzled with a vinaigrette.

What's Your Take on This, Julie?

Autumn always reminds me of when I was young, helping my family dig potatoes, carrots, onions and yes, rutabagas. With our prolific produce, we Gardens were known for our gardens.

Rutabagas, root vegetables that are members of the mustard family, actually originated in Scandinavian regions during the seventeenth century. In fact they were once known as "Swede turnips." A cup of mashed rutabaga contains about 80 calories, only a trace of fat, B vitamins and minerals, and a generous 2.5 grams of fiber. Since rutabagas tend to get tough and woody with increasing maturity, look for small or medium-sized ones.

The other featured ingredient in this recipe is red salmon, one of the higher-fat saltwater fish with a distinctive flavor and color. "Higher fat" may send up a caution flag, but in the case of salmon and most other types of seafood, the fat is high in omega-3 fatty acids, which some research has shown to lower the risk of blocked blood vessels and heart attacks.

To enjoy the potential benefits of seafood, add it to your menu more often. Serve the higher-fat varieties broiled or steamed, so you don't offset the health benefits by adding saturated fat. And don't fall for the health store ads for fish oil capsules, because proper dosage has not been determined and other components of seafood also may play a role in the health benefits.

If you look closely at some cans of seafood, you may see a "HACCP" designation. HACCP, short for Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point, is an assurance of safety and is a requirement for the seafood industry. Originally designed by NASA and the Pillsbury Company to ensure the safety of the food for astronauts, HACCP is increasingly being applied to the food industry, including all federally inspected meat processors by the year 2000.

Beyond being novel and tasty, this main dish pie is certainly more nutritious than the standard fruit or custard pie. A serving (1/8 of the recipe) contains about 390 calories, 15 grams of fat, 63 percent of the daily value for vitamin A (as beta carotene), 26 percent of the daily value for vitamin C, and 19 percent of the daily value for iron.

Be inspired by the diversity of autumn produce and try some adventuresome recipes. And remember that if children help grow or prepare foods, they are more likely to eat them—even rutabagas.

###

Sources: Dean Hulse (701) 231-6136 and Julie Garden-Robinson (701) 231-7187

Click here for a pdf version of this graphic.