Recipes

This week we’re talking about the MDC’s newest cookbook titled “Cooking Wild in Missouri. As an introduction to the excellent cooking reference, here’s a sampling of two recipes found in the book.

Bernadette’s Catch-all Muffins

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 1/3 cups flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda, sifted

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup oil

2 eggs

2 cups buttermilk

1 cup boiling water

3 cups wheat bran

1 cup golden raisins (or part dried cranberries, dates or figs)

1 cup pecans or hickory nuts (toasted lightly, preferably)

Instructions:

Blend together first four ingredients (sugar through salt) in one bowl and next three ingredients (oil through buttermilk) in another. Then, gently mix all seven together.

Meanwhile, pour water over bran and fruit in a separate bowl; let stand a few minutes, then stir and gently combine with the batter. Stir in nuts. Pour into medium-sized muffin tins lined with paper cups. (Batter also will keep in refrigerator for at least a week.)

Bake in a 400°F oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in muffin’s center comes out clean. Turn muffins onto a rack to cool.

Trout and Sprout Salad

Ingredients:

Leftover grilled or baked trout, broken into bite-sized pieces

Fresh spinach

Mixed lettuces

Bean sprouts

Cilantro

Green onion

Garlic tops (the green tops of fresh garlic) or freshly minced garlic

Soy sauce

Sesame oil

Rice wine vinegar

Instructions:

I tossed the trout together with all the vegetables, a little soy, toasted sesame oil and rice wine vinegar. It was perfect! You also could add such things as peanuts, mung-bean threads and avocado. Fresh orange sections, carrots, red peppers or cucumbers come to mind, as well.