To kick off a new series on modern Canadian cookbooks, I am happy to introduce the latest book from Alberta writer Karen Anderson, Eat Alberta First: A Year of Local Recipes from Where the Prairies Meet the Mountains.
Full disclosure: Karen is a longtime friend, locavore dining companion, Slow Food stalwart and all-time great woman. She’s co-written two award-winning books on food and cooking, A Spicy Touch: Family Favourites from Noorbanu Nimji’s Kitchen (co-authored with the late Noorbanu Nimji) and Food Artisans of Alberta: Your Trail Guide to the Best of our Locally Crafted Fare (co-authored with Matilda Sanchez-Turri).
Karen is a go-getter and entrepreneur of the highest order. She blogs and writes about food, owns and operates a thriving culinary tourism company and leads foodie tours through Alberta and India. She had a career as a nurse before being called to the culinary world.
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Introducing her readers to those who grow our grub and cook it is how Karen manifests her interest in planet and population wellness, in her own quietly humble way. She’s also a keen home cook and detail-driven recipe tester, a skill developed while working with Noorbanu Nimji.
Eat Alberta First is more than a cookbook. Karen’s engaging voice links the reader with Alberta people, places and ingredients as well as recipes. This forms the majority of the book, arranged in a year-long chronology of six sections that reflect the quirks of the province’s weather.
Karen tapped some of the province’s best cooks and chefs for recipes as well as including some of her own. I can attest to the yum factor of her sourdough recipes made with “Hermione,” her sweet starter, all of which I cooked in my home kitchen when they first appeared on her blog during the pandemic.
The photography is handsome but wonderfully overshadowed by images of ranchers in their natural milieu and Alberta’s stunning scenery.
For anyone with a wedding or family celebration in their near future, the cost of the book is easily recovered in the well-conceived “Celebrations” section. Karen’s love of lists and organizational acumen is evident in her “Top 10 List for Organizing, Cooking For, and Hosting Festive Parties” that kicks off the section.
Equally impressive are her instructions on how to “Build Your Own Charcuterie Board in 10 Easy Steps,” with a photograph of a glorious board, yours to assemble. This section also nods to the province’s substantial Ukrainian population and the pan-Asian influx of arrivals, then moves on to celebratory dishes for seasonal and religious events — Lunar New Year, Easter and Passover, Diwali and Eid.
The appendix, “Food Artisans of Alberta,” is a treasure trove for sourcing the best the province has to offer. As an expat Albertan and locavore, I was overjoyed to see among the welcome familiar names a plethora of new Alberta growers, producers and artisans.
This, folks, is how we feed the multitudes, with what Karen calls “good old-fashioned home cooking” driven by a fundamental faith in the vital importance of sharing what is grown close to home. So first we eat, starting with our locally grown foods.
Morel mushroom cheese spread
This mushroomy spread from Eat Alberta First is yummy on toasted naan wedges, sliced sourdough baguette, crackers and crudités.
Or it can be used to up your game — spread between layers of sheet pasta in lasagne; thin with a bit of stock or cream and tossed with pappardelle noodles and maybe a few of the season’s vegetables; stirred into a béchamel sauce and beaten eggs for a delicious soufflé; spread on a sheet pan of pizza dough, sprinkled with local Gouda, and call it flatbread. Eat Alberta First author Karen Anderson suggests serving it on a potato, steak, burger or chop.
I had no morels, so I used sauteed Saskatchewan chanterelles from my freezer and rosemary from the pot on the sunroom window. Serves 8-12.
- 1 cup dried morels or mixed wild mushrooms or frozen chanterelles
- 1/2 cup hot water
- 2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
- 1/2 cup minced onion or 4 minced green onions
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 pound cream cheese, Boursin cheese, goat cheese or spreadable vegan cheese
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Minced fresh herbs to taste
Rehydrate the dried mushrooms in the hot water until soft, simmering if necessary, then drain well, reserving the water. If using frozen mushrooms, thaw.
Heat the butter or oil in a sauté pan. Add the onions and sauté over medium heat until tender, then add the garlic and briefly fry. Add the mushrooms and cook until dry and golden. Add the reserved soaking water and reduce to a glaze. Remove from heat and cool.
Stir together the mushrooms and all of the remaining ingredients, reserving some minced herbs for garnish if desired. Pack into a plastic-lined bowl. Chill for at least four hours. Invert onto a plate and serve.
