Reverend Al
09-30-2013, 08:06 PM
My wife Laurie is Metis (raised in Selkirk, Manitoba) and so I've researched traditional Metis recipes and I have several favorites included in my home-made cookbook. Bannock was a simple, home-made bread and it was a staple of the Metis settlers that worked for the HBC, hunted Buffalo, or farmed along the Red River. This is my slightly modernized and adapted version of their favorite bread. Try it sometime ... you'll like it!
Best Métis Bannock
Preheat your oven to 375 or 400 degrees (ovens vary), and while you're waiting assemble the following ingredients.
Dry ingredients
2 1/2 cups of white flour (or optionally 1 cup of Whole Wheat flour and 1 1/2 cups of white flour)
6 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
1/3 cup of any suitable shortening (lard, bacon fat, butter, margarine, etc.)
Wet ingredients
2 large eggs
1 cup of sweet milk
Combine first four dry ingredients and mix very well. Add whichever shortening you'll be using to the dry mix and use a pastry blender to blend until the mix forms fine well mixed crumbs. Combine the 2 eggs with the milk and mix well (I do it right in the measuring cup), then add to the flour mixture. Stir with a spatula to form a soft dough, and kneed as little as possible after placing the dough on a hard surface dusted with bench flour. Add a bit more bench flour if needed to form a soft or "satin" looking and feeling dough that is no longer sticky to the touch. Form the dough into a rough square or rectangular loaf and place on a baking sheet or in a suitable size baking pan. Parchment paper placed underneath the loaf will help to prevent scorching on the bottom. Using a fork, prick holes onto the entire top of the loaf. Bake on an upper rack, well off the oven element, for about 20 minutes or until lightly browned on top.
Best Metis Cinnamon Rolls
To make Cinnamon Rolls, use the same dough recipe as above, but add an extra two tbsp of sugar to the dry mix. Roll out the finished dough to about 1/4" thick to form a large rectangle. Dust the surface with cinnamon, brown sugar, raisins or currents. (I sometimes add Nutmeg as well.) Drizzle a bit of corn syrup or honey back and forth across the top of the dough, and then roll up the dough, sealing the end "flaps" shut. Using a sharp knife, cut slices about 1 ½” to 2” thick from the rolled up dough and place them onto parchment paper on a cookie sheet or in a baking pan. Again, baking for 20 to 25 minutes at 375 to 400 degrees yields a batch of tasty home made cake style cinnamon buns.
Note: When I use currants with this recipe, I soak them in warm water to swell them up, then add the flavoured drained water to the milk/egg mix for a bit of extra flavour in the dough. I also add a Tablespoon of vanilla for extra flavour. Just keep adding bench flour to the wet mix until the dough is no longer sticky and has a "satin" look and feel to it before you roll it out and add the inside ingredients.
Best Metis Double Chocolate Rolls
To make Double Chocolate Rolls, add 4 heaping Tablespoons of Fry’s Cocoa powder to the dry mixture, roll out as normal, drizzle with corn syrup or honey, and substitute a layer of chocolate chips instead of the cinnamon and raisins
http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd466/Reverend_Al/BannockforMetisPotlucktonight001Large_zps525f6b2d. jpg (http://s1221.photobucket.com/user/Reverend_Al/media/BannockforMetisPotlucktonight001Large_zps525f6b2d. jpg.html)
http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd466/Reverend_Al/BannockforMetisPotlucktonight002Large_zpsd8ed1871. jpg (http://s1221.photobucket.com/user/Reverend_Al/media/BannockforMetisPotlucktonight002Large_zpsd8ed1871. jpg.html)
http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd466/Reverend_Al/BannockforMetisPotlucktonight003Large_zps46ca4277. jpg (http://s1221.photobucket.com/user/Reverend_Al/media/BannockforMetisPotlucktonight003Large_zps46ca4277. jpg.html)
Best Métis Bannock
Preheat your oven to 375 or 400 degrees (ovens vary), and while you're waiting assemble the following ingredients.
Dry ingredients
2 1/2 cups of white flour (or optionally 1 cup of Whole Wheat flour and 1 1/2 cups of white flour)
6 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
1/3 cup of any suitable shortening (lard, bacon fat, butter, margarine, etc.)
Wet ingredients
2 large eggs
1 cup of sweet milk
Combine first four dry ingredients and mix very well. Add whichever shortening you'll be using to the dry mix and use a pastry blender to blend until the mix forms fine well mixed crumbs. Combine the 2 eggs with the milk and mix well (I do it right in the measuring cup), then add to the flour mixture. Stir with a spatula to form a soft dough, and kneed as little as possible after placing the dough on a hard surface dusted with bench flour. Add a bit more bench flour if needed to form a soft or "satin" looking and feeling dough that is no longer sticky to the touch. Form the dough into a rough square or rectangular loaf and place on a baking sheet or in a suitable size baking pan. Parchment paper placed underneath the loaf will help to prevent scorching on the bottom. Using a fork, prick holes onto the entire top of the loaf. Bake on an upper rack, well off the oven element, for about 20 minutes or until lightly browned on top.
Best Metis Cinnamon Rolls
To make Cinnamon Rolls, use the same dough recipe as above, but add an extra two tbsp of sugar to the dry mix. Roll out the finished dough to about 1/4" thick to form a large rectangle. Dust the surface with cinnamon, brown sugar, raisins or currents. (I sometimes add Nutmeg as well.) Drizzle a bit of corn syrup or honey back and forth across the top of the dough, and then roll up the dough, sealing the end "flaps" shut. Using a sharp knife, cut slices about 1 ½” to 2” thick from the rolled up dough and place them onto parchment paper on a cookie sheet or in a baking pan. Again, baking for 20 to 25 minutes at 375 to 400 degrees yields a batch of tasty home made cake style cinnamon buns.
Note: When I use currants with this recipe, I soak them in warm water to swell them up, then add the flavoured drained water to the milk/egg mix for a bit of extra flavour in the dough. I also add a Tablespoon of vanilla for extra flavour. Just keep adding bench flour to the wet mix until the dough is no longer sticky and has a "satin" look and feel to it before you roll it out and add the inside ingredients.
Best Metis Double Chocolate Rolls
To make Double Chocolate Rolls, add 4 heaping Tablespoons of Fry’s Cocoa powder to the dry mixture, roll out as normal, drizzle with corn syrup or honey, and substitute a layer of chocolate chips instead of the cinnamon and raisins
http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd466/Reverend_Al/BannockforMetisPotlucktonight001Large_zps525f6b2d. jpg (http://s1221.photobucket.com/user/Reverend_Al/media/BannockforMetisPotlucktonight001Large_zps525f6b2d. jpg.html)
http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd466/Reverend_Al/BannockforMetisPotlucktonight002Large_zpsd8ed1871. jpg (http://s1221.photobucket.com/user/Reverend_Al/media/BannockforMetisPotlucktonight002Large_zpsd8ed1871. jpg.html)
http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd466/Reverend_Al/BannockforMetisPotlucktonight003Large_zps46ca4277. jpg (http://s1221.photobucket.com/user/Reverend_Al/media/BannockforMetisPotlucktonight003Large_zps46ca4277. jpg.html)