Decolonizing Diet Project

(2013Recipes created by the participants of the Decolonizing Diet Project) (Decolonizing Diet Project)

Table of Contents

Basics4

Breakfast and Breads5-13

OmeletCorn Flour- Pecan PancakesPumpkin Pecan Blueberry PancakesPumpkin Pecan Crabapple Squash Pancakes

Pumpkin Corn Pancakes

Sweet Potato Pancakes

Waffles

Sweet Potato Waffles

Pumpkin Waffles

Cattail Bread

Pumpkin Corn Rice Muffins

Pumpkin Cornbread

Pumpcorn BreadPumpkin Pecan Loaf

Pumpkin Blueberry Muffins

Sauces, Salads and Soups14-22Sweet and Sour Sauce

DDP Salad DressingChef Kibit’s Salad Dressing

Green and Yellow Salad

Minty Wild Rice Salad

Cream of Sweet-potato Wild Leek Soup

Turkey Pumpkin Soup

Smoked Whitefish Soup

Cornmeal Noodles

Pumpkin Soup

Side Dishes 23-31Sweet Potato Chunks

Sweet Potato Sunchoke Hash browns

Maple Flavored Baked Beans

Fried Rice

Pan-fried Zucchini

Dandelion Chips

Polenta

Hominy Grits

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Pecans

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Main Dishes32-49Squash Patties

Baked TurkeyFried Turkey Flatbread Roll-up

Bison Burgers

Bison Roast

Crock Pot Venison

Crock Pot Cranberry Turkey

Roast Duck

Roasted Turkey

Sweet Turkey

DDP Spaghetti Squash Casserole

Goulash

Pecan-encrusted Whitefish

Great Northern Bean Casserole

Falafel

Turkey BitesTurkey and Sweet Potato Pasties

Bison Venison Meatloaf

Baked Whitefish

Fried Fish

Pizza

Ground Bison with Hominy and Wild Rice

Cornmeal Yumyum

Snacks 50-57

Venison Jerky

DDP Deer Liver Pâté

Bean Dip

Sweet Potato Spread

Sugarbush Popcorn Balls

Pumpkin Salsa

Three Sisters Vinegar Salsa

Red Raspberry Salsa

Cranberry Leather

Treats 58-67

Maple Pecans

Wild Miinan Pudding

Baked Wild Blueberry Pudding

Cornmeal Maple Cranberry Pudding

Pumpkin Sweet Potato Pie

Cookies

Pumpkin Cookies

Sunbutter Cookies

Blonde Brownies

Fried Sweet Rolls

DDP SmoothiePumpkin Ice Cream

Blueberry Maple Dessert Sauce

Maple Cranberry Sauce

Crab Apple Sauce and Syrup

Beverages68-73

Superjuice

Women’s (and Men’s) Tea

Pumpkin Seed Milk

Wild Rice Milk

Dandelion Root Coffee

Corn Silk Tea

Sumac-Chaga-Sweet fern

Basics

This cookbook is a collection of recipes created by DDP subjects. The recipes here are unique, inspired, and delicious! All of the foods included in these recipes are DDP-eligible, meaning the species used were present in the Great Lakes region prior to European contact in the region. None of the foods used are genetically modified products (GMO).

Species of foods are of particular importance to this diet. A recipe may call for ‘blackberry’ – but there are many species of blackberry, and only a few are DDP-eligible. It takes work to track the species of commercially-sold food items, just as it takes work to identify species while foraging in the field. A downloadable master food list which includes both Latin and common names can be found at https://share.nmu.edu/moodle/course/view.php?id=33. To determine if a food is acceptable, either scroll or use the search function (control + F) to look for the name of the food you’re searching for. Email Dr. Martin Reinhardt, principle investigator for the DDP, at mreinhar@nmu.edu or post on the Decolonizing Diet Project Facebook group with questions and experiences.

Some of the items are specialty and not found in typical grocery stores, like sunchokes (also called Jerusalem artichokes) and sunchoke powder, Pekin duck eggs, venison , bison and other wild game. Health food stores or local co-ops may have these items available. Others will be available only by foraging for them or growing your own, like sweet crabapples, sweet fern, wild leeks (also called ramps), pine needles, and whole wintergreen leaves. If you are interested in growing your own, seeds and starter plants can be found through online distributors. Other food items may be available in their whole form but will require processing, such as the flours and the vinegars.

Some terms and ingredients you’ll find in this cookbook:

-DDP spices – equal parts blend of salt, sunchoke powder, leek salt, and sweet fern

-Salt: can be either kosher or sea salt.

-Manoomin = Ojibwe; wild rice

-Miinan = Ojibwe; blueberry

-Sweetwater: Water sweetened with a bit of maple syrup (essentially, reconstituted maple sap)

-Wild rice flour: grind up uncooked wild rice

-Pumpkin seed flour: ground shelled pumpkin seeds

-Wild rice milk and pumpkin seed milk, for which instructions can be found in the beverages section-Vinegar: Making vinegar out of maple or cranberry syrup can take up to several months. Once you have some, the uses are endless!-Nut butters: sunflower seed butter is sold in natural foods stores; you can also make your own nut butters using a food processor.

A note about the recipes: some of these recipes, because they were original creations, were created without attention to details such as measurements. We attempted to determine as much as possible, but you may get to experience the same experimental process that the DDP research participants enjoyed so much.

OmeletApril Lindala

3 duck eggs 1/4 pounds ground bison, cooked4 wild leek bulbs and greenssalt

Whip up the eggs and let sit in a heated pan with lid on for a minute. Add bison and leeks and sprinkle with salt. Flip at least two times to make sure the omelet cooks through.

Cook’s notes: 3 eggs make quite a large serving, so use less if desired. Cook the leeks ahead of time if you prefer a subtler flavor.

Corn Flour-Pecan PancakesBarb Bradley

1/2 cup cornmeal flour

1/8 teaspoon sea salt

1 to 1 1/2 teaspoon sunflower oil

1/2 cup wild rice milk

scant 1/4 cup pecans

maple sugar to taste

Combine corn flour and salt in small bowl. With a fork, evenly cut sunflower oil into flour mixture. Stir in wild rice milk. Fold in pecans.

Heat cast iron frying pan or griddle. Coat well with sunflower oil. When oil is heated, pour or spoon batter into pan, forming pancakes. Cook pancakes on medium-low heat until lightly browned on both sides. Transfer to a plate. While hot, sprinkle with a good amount of maple sugar.

Serves 1

Cook’s notes: My decision to put whole pecans in the batter, rather than pecan flour, and sprinkling the maple sugar on top instead of including it in the batter, really made these seem like some bakery delight. The taste of the measured batch didn’t come close to the first one, even though I was really being careful eyeing my measurements, so give the pecan flour a try in the pancakes.

Pumpkin Pecan Blueberry PancakesApril Lindala

2 cups pumpkin seed flour

1/4 cup maple sugar

1/4 cup corn meal

1 teaspoon of kosher salt

1 cup pecans chopped up

2 large duck eggs

1 cup water

1 cup frozen blueberries

a touch of sunflower oil

Mix dry ingredients first. Add the duck eggs and a cup of warm water. Mix well again. Then add blueberries to the mixture. Heat griddle and add the sunflower oil. Pour pancake mix. Be sure to flip when the pancake starts to show lots of little holes. Makes 12 cakes. Keep warm in oven on a pie tin and serve with warm maple syrup. 

Pumpkin Pecan Crabapple Squash PancakesApril Lindala

3 cups packed cups of shredded pumpkin and squash mix

1/4 cup crabapple sauce

1/3 cup chopped pecans

1/3 cup maple sugar

5 tablespoons of corn flour

3 teaspoons of salt

1 small beaten duck eggs

sunflower as needed for griddle

Mix all ingredients very well except for sunflower oil. Spoon and flatten mixture over griddle already lined with sunflower oil on medium high heat. Turn after three minutes or if edges are brown and cake is bubbling. Next time I think I will use butternut squash oil instead of sunflower oil on the griddle and one less egg for a crispier patty.

Pumpkin Corn PancakesMarty Reinhardt

1 cup pumpkin seed flour1 cup corn meal¼ cup sunflower oil 1 cup boiling water2 teaspoons sea salt

Mix the pumpkin seed flour, the corn meal, and the sea salt in a mixing bowl. Mix hot water with sunflower oil in a cup. Pour water/oil into flour mix and stir well. Heat frying pan to medium and pour about 1/2 cup for each pancake. Wait until the edges of the pancake then flip and check after about 10 seconds. Makes eight pancakes.

Sweet Potato PancakesJessica Cadeau

2 cup raw sweet potato, grated

2 tablespoons flour (corn or pumpkin seed)

1 large duck egg, well-beaten eggs

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon maple syrup or maple sugar (optional)

1 teaspoon squash or sunflower oil

Add all ingredients and beat well. With spoon, drop mixture on hot, oiled griddle and spread as thinly as possible. Fry on both sides until golden brown. Delicious served with hazelnut butter and maple syrup.

WafflesKristine Fountaine

Dry:Wet:1/2 cup corn flour2 duck eggs, separated1 cup pumpkin seed flour1 cup wild rice milk1 cup wild rice flourHandful of blueberriesHandful of sunflower seeds1/4 cup oil, squash or sunflower seed 1/3 cup maple sugar1/2 cup rosehips1/8 teaspoon salt

Combine all dry ingredients, and then add the duck egg yolks, blueberries, and oil. Slowly add wild rice milk until the mixture reaches the desired consistency. In a separate bowl, whip egg whites until they reach a stiff consistency, then gently fold the egg whites into the waffle mixture. Oil a heated waffle pan and cook for about eight minutes.

Cook’s notes: If the waffles aren’t cooked for over eight minutes, they’ll crumble and flake. I love these with hazelnut butter on mine with maple cream and pecan pieces! I always make a large batch to freeze so I always have some on hand, which works nicely for those busy mornings.

Sweet Potato WafflesApril Lindala

3 sweet potatoes, about 10 ounces each1/2 cup corn meal

3 tablespoons sunflower oil3 tablespoons maple sugar

1 cup pumpkin seed flour2 teaspoons salt

1/2 cup pecan flour 3 duck eggs

1/2 cup maple sugar

Peel and slice sweet potatoes. Bring 3 cups water and salt to a boil. Add sweet potatoes and keep at a medium boil until soft. Scoop up sweet potatoes and put in a blender. Add one cup of the hot water and puree. Once sweet potatoes are whipped, place in a large mixing bowl. Add duck egg yolks. Set whites aside in a separate. Add sunflower oil to the potatoes and mix well.

In another bowl, mix dry ingredients: pumpkin seed flour, corn meal, maple sugar, pecan flour and salt. Add potato mixture, blend well, and set aside.

Add maple sugar to the egg whites and whisk until thoroughly mixed together. Then fold the egg white mixture into the waffle batter.

Brush sunflower oil on a waffle iron and add the remaining oil (about one teaspoon) into the batter and mix it up some more. Allow iron to heat up and pour the batter. Let the waffles cook for up to ten minutes.

Cook’s notes: This recipe made eight decent-sized waffles. Any leftover batter can be mixed with a bit of water and made into pancakes. For those of you who have had waffles with fried chicken...might I say...I can taste fried chicken with these waffles FOR SURE!

Pumpkin WafflesApril Lindala

Dry:Wet:

2 cups pumpkin seed flour1 tablespoon roasted pumpkin seed oil

4 tablespoons maple sugar2 duck egg whites, fluffed up

2 teaspoons kosher salt1/2 cup sunflower oil

3/4 cups cold water

Mix dry ingredients together first. Add all wet ingredients except water. Whip the egg whites with a whisk or a blender stick. Add enough water to make the mix just a bit thicker than pancake batter. Pour in waffle iron and follow directions required of the iron.

Cattail BreadMarty Reinhardt

1 1/2 cups corn meal

1 cup pumpkin seed flour

1 cup cattail flour

1/2 cup maple sugar

1/2 cup sun flower seeds

1 tablespoon spoon sea salt

1 1/2 cups water

3 duck eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients together and pour into a baking pan and bake for about forty five minutes.

Cook’s notes: This was a bit heavy and drier than my pumpkin cornbread, but it goes very well with the DDP chili.

Pumpkin Corn Rice MuffinsMarty Reinhardt

1 cup pumpkin seed flour

1/2 cup corn meal

1/4 cup wild rice flour

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 cup maple sugar

2 duck eggs

1 cup wild rice milk

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix all ingredients in a bowl and spoon into sunflower-oiled muffin pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until sides are golden brown.

Pumpkin Cornbread Marty Reinhardt

2 cups shelled pumpkin seed flour

1/2 cup corn meal

1/2 cup maple sugar

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 1/4 cup water

3 duck eggs

3/4 cup frozen corn

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Blend all ingredients in a bowl. Pour into oiled muffin tins or loaf pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

Pumpcorn BreadKristine Fountaine

This recipe can easily be tweaked, but it is pretty good as is. It will work nicely in a smaller bread pan or muffin tins with a shorter baking time.

2 cups cornmeal, medium grind2 duck eggs, beaten1/2 cup raw pumpkin seed flour1 cup wild rice milk1/2 teaspoon salt2 tablespoons butternut squash seed oil (or any DDP oil)3 teaspoons baking powder (optional)1 cup pumpkin puree1/2 cup maple sugarRaw pumpkin seeds to top

Preheat oven to 425. Mix dry ingredients first, then in a separate bowl mix all wet ingredients than slowly combine the wet and dry just until blended. Too much mixing will make the bread more dense.

Pour in greased (sunflower seed spray) 9x4 bread pan or other size. Bake 35-40 minutes. Remove when a knife inserted into the loaf is damp and not completely clean, or the bread will be too dry.

Pumpkin Pecan LoafApril Lindala

4 cups of pumpkin seed flour

2/3 cup maple sugar

2/3 cup pecan flour

2 tsp salt

1/2 cup of pecans

3 duck eggs

3 tablespoons of roasted pumpkin seed oil

2/3 cup of warm water

sunflower spray

Preheat oven to 375. Mix all ingredients together and pour into oiled loaf pans. Bake 40 – 50 minutes depending on size of pan. Mixture does rise slightly so so not fill pans all the way up.

Pumpkin Blueberry MuffinsApril Lindala

4 cups pumpkin seed flour

2/3 cup maple sugar

2/3 cup pecan flour

2 teaspoons salt

4 duck eggs

2/3 cup warm water

1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 375⁰F. Mix dry ingredients together. Then add the warm water and duck eggs. Mix well, then add blueberries. Pour mix into muffin cups, filling up to 3/4 full. Bake for approximately 30 minutes. Use a toothpick to check if done.

A small-batch variation:

1 cup of pecan flour 1 cup of pumpkin seed flour1/4 cup of maple sugar1/4 cup of sunflower flour1 teaspoon of kosher salt2 duck eggs1 cup of wild rice milk1 1/4 cup of frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all dry ingredients, then add eggs and milk and mix well. Add blueberries and mix. When the batter is well mixed, spoon into muffin cups. Bake for 35-40 minutes.

A loaf variation (no blueberries this time):

4 cups of pumpkin seed flour

2/3 cup maple sugar

2/3 cup pecan flour (or wild rice flour)

2 tsp salt

1/2 cup of pecans

3 duck eggs

3 tablespoons of roasted pumpkin seed oil

2/3 cup of warm water

sunflower spray for the inside of the bread pans

Sweet and Sour SauceTina Moses

1/4 cup cranberry or maple vinegar

1 teaspoon maple syrup

few hard shakes leek salt

few hard shakes sea salt

Combine ingredients in a bowl and stir well.

Cook’s notes: We ate this sauce with the DDP Turkey Bites. This recipe is adaptable to preferred tastes.

DDP Salad DressingMarty Reinhardt

1/4 cup sunflower oil

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup concentrated cranberry juice

1 teaspoon leek salt

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon sunchoke powder

1 teaspoon wood sorrel powder

Put all ingredients except water into a sauce pan and heat on medium for about 5 minutes. Then add 1 cup of water. Taste the mixture after another 5 minutes and add more water to lighten the taste if desired.

Chef Kibit’s Salad DressingChris Kibit

16 ounces crabapple vinegar

8 ounces crabapple sauce

2 teaspoons sunchoke powder

6 teaspoons sumac, dried and ground16 ounces sunflower oil

Mix first five ingredients together and slowly blend in sunflower oil.

Green and Yellow SaladMarty Reinhardt

1 cup corn kernels, fresh or thawed1 cup yellow beans, cut into bite-size pieces1 cup lambsquarters leaves1 cup pitseed goosefoot leaves

Mix all ingredients together; greens can be torn into smaller pieces or kept whole.

Minty Wild Rice SaladKristine Fountaine

1 cup wild rice, cooked1 small sweet potato, peeled and cut into small cubes1/2 cup dried cranberries1 tablespoon fresh mint, chopped 1/4 teaspoon sunflower oil1 1/2 tablespoon pecans, chopped small1 tablespoon sunflower seedsCouple dashes of salt

Bring 1 1/2 cups water to a boil; add chopped sweet potato and simmer with the lid on for about 12 minutes or until tender. Don't overcook.

Drain sweet potatoes (save liquid for something else, like a broth). Put sweet potatoes and remaining ingredients in a bowl, slowly mix and serve immediately or store in the fridge for later.

Cook’s notes: This salad can be served warm or cold, a perfect to-go/picnic lunch type of meal. Adjust ingredients to your liking (more seeds, more/less mint, oil, etc.).

Cream of Sweet-Potato Wild Leek SoupBarb Bradley

1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed5 wild leek bulbs, choppedSunflower oilWild leek salt to taste

In a pot, sauté chopped wild leek bulbs in sunflower oil until clear. Add the cubed sweet potato. Add water to cover (and a little more), then boil until potatoes are cooked thoroughly.

Pour potatoes and water into blender and blend until creamy.

Cook’s note: Serve in bowls and eat as is, or even better, sprinkle with wild leek green salt. The dried green leeks are like parsley in color and texture and add a wonderful flavor to this simple but tasty soup. Also try adding cooked wild rice to add texture.

April’s variation:

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cubed20 wild leeks

Boil the squash and sweet potatoes at medium high in a large pot until tender. Meanwhile, in a separate pan cook the leeks with white pine tea water and salt on medium low heat; cover. After the leeks are soft, cut the bulbs off. Continue to steam leek greens. Blend the cooked squash, sweet potatoes, and leek bulbs; add the vegetable water and greens as desired, or serve the greens as a garnish.

Cook’s note: This recipe would also be tasty with turkey broth or wild garlic added.

Turkey Pumpkin SoupMarty Reinhardt

4 cups fresh pumpkin, cut into small chunks2 pounds turkey, uncooked1 bag corn (10 ounces), frozen or fresh1 bag green beans (10 ounces), frozen or fresh2 cups wild rice, cooked1/4 cup leeks, roughly chopped1 cup morel mushrooms (optional)DDP spice blend (page 2)

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add a few dashes of DDP spice blend. Add fresh turkey and let boil until turkey turns white. Then add all other ingredients; boil until the water starts to thicken and darken, reduce heat and let simmer until pumpkin is soft. Serve with cornbread.

Smoked Whitefish SoupMarty Reinhardt

2 filets maple-flavored smoked whitefish filets with sea salt, bite size pieces2 cups wild rice, cooked1 bag (14 ounces) corn, frozen1 bag (14 ounces) green beans, frozen1 cup leek greens1 can pumpkin pureeleek saltsunchoke powder

Boil 1 quart water, add pumpkin and spices and return to a boil. Then add rice, corn, and beans, return to a boil; add fish, boil one minute and then remove from heat.

Serves 5

Corn Meal NoodlesMarty Reinhardt

2 duck eggs

1 to 1 1/2 cups of corn meal

1 teaspoon sea salt

Whip the duck eggs until well mixed. Add sea salt and mix again. Add corn meal until a slightly moist dough ball is formed. Break off pieces and roll into small thin noodles. Add to soups, or just boil and eat them plain.

Variation: 2 cups cornmeal, ½ cup pumpkinseed flour, 3 duck eggs, and 2 teaspoons salt. Spices like leek salt can also be added to flavor the noodles.

Pumpkin SoupJessica Cadeau

This is a staple recipe of our house. We seek out pumpkins every fall specifically for this recipe. 

2 cups pureed pumpkin

1 cup broth, turkey or other

1 tablespoon oil

1 cup wild rice milk

salt to taste

Combine all ingredients well and heat up. Makes about 2 servings.

Cook’s notes: This soup would probably be really tasty with some warm cornbread or maybe johnnycakes for dunking.

Sweet Potato ChunksMarty Reinhardt

3 or 4 medium sweet potatoessunflower oilDDP spice blend

Remove any bad parts from the potatoes and keep the skins on. Cut into bite size chunks. Coat a baking pan with sunflower oil and spread sweet potato chunks in a single layer. Drizzle sunflower oil over chunks and sprinkle DDP spice blend to taste. Bake at 350 until soft, about thirty minutes.

Sweet Potato Sunchoke Hash browns Marty Reinhardt

4 sweet potatoes2 large fresh sunchokes or ½ cup powder1 tablespoon sunflower oilDDP spices to taste

Keep peels on root vegetables, shred them, and mix together. Coat pan with sunflower oil and sprinkle sea salt, sweet fern, and leek salt in the pan. Add mixed root vegetables and spread in a thin layer. Let brown on one side; flip and brown the other side. Then break up and mix and let hash cook 3 minutes more until softened (not mushy).

Cook’s notes: Hash browns go great with any fish dishes.

Maple Flavored Baked BeansMarty Reinhardt

1 bag (14-16 ounces) dried beans, pinto or great northern2 cups maple sugarsalt

Wash and soak beans for 24 hours. Drain, rinse, and pour beans into a baking pan. Add maple sugar, lightly sprinkle salt over top, and add enough water to just cover the beans. Cook in the oven at 225 degrees overnight or for at least five hours.

Cook’s notes: These beans are great served with pumpkin cornbread. I experimented with reducing the maple sugar and adding leek bulbs and DDP spices, though the sugar and salt is my favorite.

Fried Rice

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2 cups cooked wild rice1 cup chopped green beans1 cup sunflower sproutssea salt to taste2 teaspoons sunflower seed oil2 teaspoons squash seed oil

Coat bottom of a pan with equal parts squash seed oil and sunflower seed oil and heat over medium high. Add rice and cook for 1 minute; add sprouts and cook until hot. Add the beans and cook al dente. Enjoy.

Pan-fried ZucchiniMarty Reinhardt

1 medium zucchini2 duck eggs1/2 cup polenta1/2 teaspoon salt1 teaspoon leek saltsunflower oil

Whip eggs in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix polenta, leek salt, and salt. Slice the zucchini in thin rounds. Heat a pan with a generous pour of sunflower oil over medium. Dip the rounds in duck egg then in the polenta mixture and add to the pan. Flip, and once both sides are lightly brown, remove and enjoy.

Dandelion ChipsKristine Fountaine

1 bunch Dandelion greens Sunflower oilSalt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wash dandelion greens and pat dry. Rip the dandelion greens into chip size; make sure they're all about the same size so they bake evenly.

Put the greens in a bowl with just enough sunflower oil to coat them. Use your hands to work the oil onto the greens. Lay on a baking sheet, leaving space between each chip. Sprinkle with salt and bake anywhere from 5-10 minutes.

Cook’s notes: Kale chips are a huge hit with my youngest son, so I figured, why not do the same thing with dandelion greens? Definitely a fun way to eat some greens, and the oil and salt bring out some different flavors. Be vigilant when baking as they burn easily. I always judge by the smell - if they smell crispy but not yet burnt, they're done. It’s best to enjoy the chips right away, but store them in a paper bag if necessary.

Polenta Barb Bradley

1 cup cornmeal

1 cup cold water1/2 teaspoon salt

In a saucepan bring 2 3/4 cups water to boiling. Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl combine cornmeal, the 1 cup cold water and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Slowly add cornmeal mixture to boiling water, stirring constantly. Cook and stir till mixture returns to boiling. Reduce heat to low. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes or till mixture is very thick, stirring occasionally. Pour hot mixture into a 9-inch pie plate; spread into even layer. Cool; cover and chill about 30 minutes or till firm. Bake in a 350 degree oven about 20 minutes or until hot. Cut into wedges. If desired, serve hot with maple syrup and a little sunflower oil, roasted pecans, wild berries or berry sauce.

Sweet variation: Fold semi-thawed frozen blueberries into hot mixture before pouring into pie plate. After baking, drizzle a little sunflower oil on it and sweeten with maple syrup. Minwaagamin – tastes good!

Savory variation: Fold in cooked wild rice, sautéed leek bulbs and sautéed cattail shoots (sauté in sunflower oil) to the stovetop step, before the corn mixture thickens.

Porridge: prepare as above, but do not transfer cooked mixture to pie plate. If desired, serve hot with manoomin (wild rice) milk, sunflower oil, maple syrup or maple sugar and miinan (blueberries).

Fried polenta: Prepare as above, but pour hot mixture into a 71/2x31/2x2-inch glass loaf pan. Cool, cover, and chill for several hours or overnight. Turn out of the pan and cut mush into 1/2-inch-thick slices. In a large skillet heat 3 tablespoons sunflower oil over medium heat. Add slices of mush and fry for 10 to 12 minutes on each side or till brown and crisp. If desired, serve with maple syrup.

Variations: Sliced in wide French fry-size.

Cook’s notes: This is a versatile recipe: serve it as a cereal with wild rice milk; bake, cut into wedges, and top with sauce or syrup for polenta; or slice, fry, and eat as is - or with maple syrup. You may add any ingredients you have on hand (and you think would taste good) before the chilling stage. Add cooked wild rice and dried wild leeks or wild leek salt to hot mixture before pouring in pan to cool. This recipe is adapted from: Better Homes & Gardens New Cookbook (1996). Revised for DDP by Barb Bradley.

Hominy GritsJessica Cadeau

 

5 cups water

1 cup hominy grits

1 Tablespoon nut butter

1 tablespoon maple syrup

Boil the water in a saucepan. Pour in the grits gradually while you stir. Stir in the nut butter and honey. Cover and cook for 20 minutes or until all the water is absorbed. 

The grits can be sweetened, or you can add herb spices. Grits have many uses: they make a good breakfast cereal, soup, and dinner. 

Cook’s notes: This recipe is adapted from Native American Gardening by Michael J. Caduto & Joseph Bruchac. For the nut butter, I suggest using pecan or sunflower seed butter.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with PecansApril Lindala

sweet potatoes 3/4 cups corn chips, crushed1 tablespoon maple sugar 2 to 3 tablespoons roasted pumpkin seed oil handful pecans sunflower oil spray 2 to 3 tablespoons maple syrup

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Wash, cut, and slice sweet potatoes. Put in a large bowl and pour pumpkin seed oil over the potatoes. Add crushed blue corn chips and maple sugar. Mix well, making sure potatoes are covered in oil, crushed chips and spices. Oil a baking sheet with sunflower oil and place potatoes in a single layer. Bake for 50 minutes.

While potatoes are baking, put pecans on baking sheet and pour maple syrup over. Spoon the pecans around to ensure that they are covered in syrup, then layer flat. Put in oven (still at 400) for 4 minutes, stir, and bake for another 4 minutes. Top baked potatoes with the sweet pecans.

Mashed Sweet PotatoesApril Lindala

5 medium sweet potatoes

1/3 cup maple sugar (more to taste)

1/4 cup maple syrup

2 tablespoons roasted pumpkin seed oil

1/4 cup crab apple sauce

Salt to taste

Clean and peel sweet potatoes. Bring water to a boil; add sugar and sweet potatoes and boil until soft. Drain water. With a hand mixer add other ingredients and serve warm.

Cook’s note: Don't wait for potatoes to go too long, you don't want them to be mushy.

Squash PattiesAndrew Bek

1 cup cooked squash 1 duck egg1/4 cup wild rice, cooked2 tablespoons cornmeal1 tablespoon oil, sunflower or squash

Take cooked squash and mix one duck egg thoroughly into the mash. Add cooked wild rice and corn meal. Heat oil in griddle or pan on medium heat. Spoon in mixture and flatten; fry until crisp on both sides.

Cook’s notes: I use leftover baked butternut squash, and the egg gives it some lift and binds the patty together.

April Lindala’s variation: 2 cups uncooked butternut squash, minced1/8 cup maple sugar3 tablespoons corn flour1 tablespoon sweet fern1 teaspoon salt1 pinch leek salt1 tablespoon butternut squash oil1 duck egg, beaten1 tablespoon sunflower oil

Mix all ingredients except the oil and cook as above.

Baked TurkeyApril Lindala

2 turkey breasts

1 cup corn gravy (thickened water from corn noodles)

1 tablespoon sweet fern

1 tablespoon butternut squash oil

1 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place two turkey breasts in a casserole dish and poke with a fork to make little holes. Rub butternut squash oil over both of the turkey breasts. Sprinkle half of the sweet fern on the turkey. Sprinkle salt over turkey. Pour corn gravy over turkey and add remaining sweet fern. Bake for one hour and fifteen minutes or until correct meat temperature. Keep an eye on the turkey and baste if necessary.

Fried Turkey Flatbread Roll-upMarty Reinhardt

2 cups pumpkin seed flour

1/2 cup corn meal

1/2 cup maple sugar

1 table spoon sea salt

5 duck eggs

2 table spoons sunflower oil

Sliced turkey breast lunchmeat

Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl. Whip duck eggs and sunflower oil together in a separate mixing bowl. Add dry ingredients. Heat frying pan to medium high heat and coat with sunflower oil. Pour batter from outside in and quickly spread to a thin layer. Turn the bread over as soon as possible without it falling apart. Warm a few pieces of sliced turkey breast lunch meat in the frying pan and then roll them up in the bread and eat warm.

Bison BurgersTina Moses

1 pound ground bison burger

1 duck egg

1/4 cup polenta

sprinkle of sea salt

1 tablespoon wild leeks, finely cut

sunflower oil

Mix all ingredients except oil together very well.  Shape into burgers or meatballs.  Lightly oil a frying pan; bison has little oil in it and may stick to pan.  Cook on medium-high temperature. 

Cook’s notes: These burgers will cook quickly so keep an eye on them.

April Lindala’s variation: Try using sunflower seeds to impart some flavor! Inspired by a burger at the Upfront and Company in Marquette. Use 1/2 cup sunflower seed four (ground seeds) and 1/2 cup of cornmeal or polenta and omit the wild leeks; cook as above.

Bison RoastMarty Reinhardt

3 to 5 pound bison roastsaltsunchoke powdersweet fernleek saltleek bulbs and greens, roughly chopped

Fill a crock pot with one cup water, and then place the roast in the crock pot. Sprinkle roast evenly with the spices and the leeks. Turn heat on high if frozen, low if thawed, and cook until tender about six to eight hours. If you don’t have a crock pot, use a glass pan and cook, covered, in the oven at 250 degrees for six to eight hours.

Variation: try adding any ingredients that are similar to ingredients used for a beef roast – fresh sunchokes for potatos, wild parsnips for carrots, cattail hearts, or sunflower sprouts.

April Lindala’s variation:

Bison Roast with Sunchokes

3 pounds bison roast

2 tablespoons salt

1 pound sunchokes, or enough to cover crockpot base

1 1/2 cups cranberry juice

1/2 cup maple sugar

Mix juice and sugar together. If time, marinate the roast in cranberry juice and maple sugar overnight. Clean sunchokes and cut, unpeeled, into large chunks. Layer the chunks in a crockpot. Rub the roast with salt and place on sunchokes. Pour the cranberry juice mixture over the roast and cook on low for at least six hours.

Cook’s notes: Try to baste the roast as often as possible to keep juicy. The sun chokes ended up tasting like pearl onions but had the consistency of a potato. Excellent!

Crock Pot VenisonKaren Bacula

1 pound ground venison

1/2 cup wild rice  

2/3 cup water

2 bunches of wild leeks, chopped

Handful mushrooms (optional)

Place all ingredients in a crockpot, mix it up, set it on low and let it stew for about 7 hours.  

Cook’s notes: Nothing fancy but it turned out to be very tasty. I am sure it was ready before the seven hours, so begin checking earlier. Add leek greens if desired in the last hour of cooking.

April Lindala’s variation:

1 pound venison, cut into smaller pieces

five sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 bag frozen or fresh cranberries

1 cup sunchokes, shredded

1/4 cup crabapple vinegar

2 tablespoons maple cream

1 1/2 cups pure cranberry juice

Place sweet potatoes on the bottom of the crock pot bowl. Place venison on top of potatoes and pour everything else in over top of vension. Let sit on low in the crock pot for 7-10 hours.  

Crock Pot Cranberry TurkeyApril Lindala

4 turkey breasts

3/4 cup cranberries and juice

1/2 cup sunchokes, chunks, frozen or fresh

2 very large sweet potatoes, cleaned and sliced

Roasted pumpkin seed oil

salt

sweet fern

2 tablespoons maple cream

1 cup water

Place sweet potatoes in the crock pot, then add sunchokes and pour in water. Drop in dollops of maple cream, place turkey breasts down, and pour cranberries and juice over top. Sprinkle salt and sweet fern over turkey and add a pour of pumpkin seed oil - enough to cover each of the turkey breasts. Let sit on low for six hours.

Roast DuckMarty Reinhardt

1 Pekin duck, prepared (plucked and gutted)2 tablespoons DDP spice blend, or more to taste

Loosen the skin; Rub spice blend on skin and under to get a deep flavor. Bake the duck in a deep roasting pan (pan filled about half way up), covered at 450 for thirty minutes and then slow cooked it for about five hours at 250. Meat is ready when it is almost falling off the bone.

Serves 6

Covered electric roaster

Roasted TurkeyMarty Reinhardt

2 turkey breasts or equivalent turkey parts

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dried sweet fern

1 cup water

Place turkey in roasting pan with water. Pierce turkey with fork in several places. Sprinkle salt and sweet fern on turkey and rub in. Cover and bake for about an hour to an hour and a half. Add more salt, sweet fern, and water if cooking larger portions of turkey. 

Sweet TurkeyAndrew Bek

Here's a recipe for turkey adapted from an ancient secret Korean recipe!

8 ounces precut turkey tenders, or turkey tenderloinsquash oil1/2 cup raspberry or cranberry juice2 tablespoons maple syrup

Cut turkey tenders into bite-size pieces. Lightly coat a frying pan with oil and heat on medium heat. Stir turkey until browned. Then drench the turkey in raspberry juice until just covered and cook on low heat, uncovered, until liquid is reduced.  Add maple syrup and cook further over low heat to glaze without burning.

Cook’s note: This recipe is great served on a bed of hand parched morel manoomin. I used dehydrated mushrooms which were reconstituted with warm water, drained and chopped fine.  Lightly sauté the morel pieces and add to manoomin just before it is light and fluffy and done.  Mix thoroughly and then let rest to infuse the rice with the delicate morels.

DDP Spaghetti Squash CasseroleMarty Reinhardt

1 spaghetti squash

1 pound cooked ground turkey

1/2 cup chopped leeks (bulbs and greens)

1/2 pound fiddlehead ferns

10-12 ounces corn

10-12 ounces green beans

¼ pound cooked wild rice

20 or so chopped morel mushrooms

3 cans pureed pumpkin

1/2 cup wild rice milk

Sea salt

Leek salt

Sunflower oil

Boil whole spaghetti squash in a big pot until soft enough to easily pierce skin with a fork. Meanwhile, brown ground turkey with a little sunflower oil and cook wild rice. After squash is cooked, cut the squash open, remove seeds, and shred using a fork. Spread shredded squash like lasagna noodles in a baking pan. Add fiddleheads, leeks, turkey, corn, beans, wild rice, mushrooms, and then sprinkle sweet fern, leek slat, and sea salt over it. Then add a thin layer of pureed pumpkin and sprinkle a little sea salt over it. Repeat the process for the second layer. After the second layer of pureed pumpkin is added, sprinkle some sea salt, sweet fern, and leek salt over the top, add wild rice milk to the sides and corners, and then a thin layer on top of the pureed pumpkin. Cover and bake at 350 for about an hour to an hour and a half.   

GoulashMarty Reinhardt

1 bag (12 ounces) organic corn noodles1/2 pound bison, ground1/2 pound venison, ground1 cup corn kernels, fresh or frozen1 cup green beans, cut into 1 tablespoon sunflower oil4 teaspoons DDP spice blend

Heat oil and spice blend in a frying pan; combine meats and brown in the pan. Meanwhile, prepare noodles as directed. Once the meat is browned, add the vegetables and stir occasionally until hot, then add noodles. Stir until noodles are heated and serve.

Cook’s notes: Combining the meats gives a better taste than just bison or venison.

Pecan-encrusted WhitefishApril Lindala

3/4 cup pecans2 tablespoons maple sugar4 whitefish fillets, medium size2 duck eggssunflower oil

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Grind up pecans in coffee bean grinder; the consistency should be like brown sugar. Next, add maple sugar and mix well. In a separate bowl, briefly whisk duck eggs for the fish. Lightly oil a baking sheet with sunflower oil. Dip each fillet of whitefish in egg and place on pan skin down. Spoon out pecan mixture over the top of the fish. Spread out to cover all of the fillets. Bake for 20 minutes.

Great Northern Bean CasseroleTreasa Sowa

1 pint great northern beans, cooked

1 pound ground turkey

1 tablespoon dried wild leeks

1 cooked sweet potato

Maple syrup to taste

Sea salt to taste

Preheat oven to 350. Fry ground turkey with wild leeks until meat is thoroughly cooked, stirring to break up clumps. Combine turkey mixture with cooked beans in a casserole dish. Mash a cooked sweet potato and stir in maple syrup. Add to the other ingredients and stir well to combine. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Cook’s notes: If all your ingredients are hot when combined and you can't wait to eat, just eat and enjoy!

FalafelMarty Reinhardt

2 cans cooked great northern beans, or 3 cups home-prepared beans

2 cups corn meal

1 cup pumpkin seed flour

1/2 cup maple sugar

1/2 tablespoon sunchoke powder

1/2 tablespoon leek salt

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon sweet fern

Sunflower oil

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Heat sunflower oil to at least 160 degrees; spoon in portions of the mixture and let deep fry for about 2 minutes depending on cooking temperature. Remove falafel from oil and place on paper towel to soak up excess oil.  

Cook’s notes: These also worked well baked in the oven. Roll into 1 1/2- 2 inch balls and place on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes, turning the balls over halfway through the baking time.

Turkey BitesMarty Reinhardt

1 turkey breast, fresh1 cup cornmeal 4 tablespoons DDP spice blend2 duck eggs

Bring a pot of water to boil. Remove skin from turkey breast, parboil, and let cool. Meanwhile scramble duck eggs in a bowl and mix cornmeal and spice blend in a separate bowl. Cut turkey breast into bite size chunks, dip in duck egg, and roll in cornmeal. Place bites in a deep-fryer or a pan filled with oil and cook until cornmeal is crispy. Add salt to taste.

Turkey and Sweet Potato PastiesMarty Reinhardt

Begin by making the filling and then the crust. Make the sauces ahead of time or while the pasties are baking.

For the filling:

1 pound ground turkey

1/2 cup chopped leek greens

2 cups cooked sweet potato chunks

2 cups maple flavored baked beans

1/4 cup black cherry juice

1/4 cup sunflower oil

8 teaspoons DDP spice mix

Heat oil in a frying pan. Add all ingredients except for sweet potatoes and beans. Brown the meat and then mix in sweet potatoes and beans. Set filling aside.

For the crust:

Dry: Wet:

½ cup wild rice flour1 cup sunbutter

½ cup corn meal4 duck eggs

2 cups pumpkin seed flour2 tsp butternut squash seed oil

2 tsp sea salt

2 tsp leek salt

2 tsp sun choke powder

Mix all dry ingredients together in a separate bowl. Mix all wet ingredients in a large bowl. Fold dry ingredients into wet until dough ball forms and all dry ingredients are wet.

Roll out dough into small, thin, hand size pieces. Add a scoop of filing and cover with another piece of dough. Cup the filling and mold the top layer of dough around the filling. Use a fork to press edges together. Cut excess crust away from pastie.

Spray a baking sheet with sunflower oil and place pasties on baking sheet. Cook at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes until crust is dark brown on the edges and light brown on top.

Sauces for the Turkey and Sweet Potato Pasties

For the bean sauce:

1/2 cup water

1 cup maple flavored baked great northern beans

1/2 cup crab apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon maple syrup

4 teaspoons DDP spice mix

Add all ingredients together and blend in blender.

For the corn gravy:

2 cups corn noodle water

1/2 cup corn meal

2 teaspoons sea salt

2 teaspoons leek salt

2 teaspoons sunchoke powder

Warm corn noodle water up and combine all ingredients in the pot or in a gravy shaker. Stir/shake until all mixed. Keep warm on stove until it starts to thicken.

Serve pasties fresh out of the oven covered in equal amounts of bean sauce and corn gravy.  

Bison Venison MeatloafMarty Reinhardt

1 pound ground venison

1 pound ground bison

2 cups chopped leek greens

6 duck eggs

1/2 cup corn meal

1/2 cup pumpkin seed flour

1/2 cup maple sugar

3/4 cup bison broth

2 teaspoons leek salt

2 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons sunchoke powder

2 tablespoons sweet fern

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix dry ingredients – sugar, flour, corn meal, and spices – and wet ingredients separately, then combine and shape into loaf form on a baking pan, or use loaf pans. Cook covered for one hour. Cook uncovered for an additional 20-30 minutes or until browned on top and sides. Check center to ensure it is cooked throughout before serving.

Cook’s notes: Meatloaf goes well with pinto beans and sweet potatoes.

April’s variation:

This variation has a better consistency for sandwiches and is puuseful if you don’t have wild rice flour around. Prepare as above.

1.5 pounds ground venison

1 pound ground bison

1/4 cup DDP spice blend

1/2 cup corn meal

1/2 cup pumpkin seed flour

1/2 cup wild rice flour

1/2 cup maple sugar

1 tsp of salt

1 cup of blue corn chips, thoroughly crushed

4 duck eggs

sunflower spray for baking pan

Baked Whitefish April Lindala

fresh whitefish filets2 duck eggs, whippedsunflower spraysunflower oilNatural Corn Tostitos, large handfulNatural Blue Corn Tostitos, large handful1 tablespoon salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Make breading out of Natural Corn Tostitos,Natural Blue Corn Tostitos and salt. Put chips in a bag and take a rolling pin to the bag to crush the chips.

Pan fry each filet in sunflower oil for a few minutes, let them cool, and drop pieces of each fish in whipped duck eggs. Cover each fish piece in breading then put on a baking sheet sprayed in sunflower spray. Bake for 30 minutes at 325 degrees.

Cook’s notes: Swap lake trout for whitefish. Corn meal can be substituted for the crushed corn chips. Fish can be baked without pan frying first, though baking time will be extended.

Fried FishMarty Reinhardt

2 large filets whitefish, trout, walleye, or any tasty DDP-eligible fish1 cup cornmeal 4 tablespoons DDP spice blend2 duck eggs

Scramble duck eggs. In a separate bowl, combine cornmeal and spice blend. Remove skin from filets if desired, dip in duck egg, and roll in cornmeal. Place in a deep-fryer or a pan filled with oil and cook until cornmeal is crispy. Add salt to taste.

PizzaMarty Reinhardt

Crust:2 ½ cups of pumpkin seed flour

½ cup of corn meal

½ cup rendered turkey fat

1 tsp sea salt

¼ cup water

Toppings:1 can pureed pumpkin

½ pound bison

½ pound venison

¼ cup fermented leeks

¼ cup oyster mushrooms

¼ cup water

Spiced with leek salt, sea salt, sun choke powder, and sweet fern.

Ground Bison with Hominy and Wild RiceApril Lindala

1 pound ground bison

3/4 cup wild rice, uncooked

4 cups hominy

salt to taste

Bring a pot of water to a boil and add wild rice. Boil for ten minutes, then cover and simmer until the rice breaks open and starts to curl. Meanwhile, brown the ground bison. Cook hominy - let it boil for a while, then put it on low. Keep stirring both rice and hominy to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom. Mix all together when everything is cooked. Add salt to taste (and it will need something).

Cook’s notes: I might not use as much hominy in the future but I felt like I had to cook it. I had a ton of it. Also, I didn’t have leeks handy, but try adding some minced leek bulb and/or greens.

Cornmeal YumyumLaura Nagle

2 cups polenta cornmeal, cooked

1 cup whitefish, smoked or baked

1 cup shredded sunchoke

1/2 cup crushed walnut

Combine all ingredients and enjoy. Sunchoke can be used raw or, after shredding, fried.

Venison JerkyMarty Reinhardt

2 pounds venisonHandful of saltHandful of maple sugar

Cut about 2-2 1/2 pounds of venison strips about 1/4 inch thick so that all of the pieces are roughly the same thickness; length does not matter. Using a gallon size bucket, fill the bottom with sea salt and maple sugar. Fill halfway with water. Place strips in the bucket and sprinkle more sea salt and maple sugar over meat and top it off with water. Mix the meat and let sit overnight in refrigerator. Place on smoker grill and let strips brown and dry until they reach a jerky consistency. Remove and store in a dry, airtight container.

Cook’s notes: Cut with the grain so the meat doesn’t fall apart when dry.

Hickory Smoked Venison JerkyMitch Bolo

3 to 4 pounds sliced venison1 gallon water1 cup salt

Add the salt to the water and mix until completely dissolved. Add the venison and give it another quick stir. Let the meat cure in the fridge for 3 days, stirring two or three times each day. Bring the meat smoker up to temperature and lightly smoke the jerky with hickory (or other native species of wood). Smoke for six to ten hours, or until perfectly dried.

DDP Deer Liver Pâté Marty Reinhardt

1 pound deer liver

2 cups wild rice milk

2 tablespoons sunflower oil

1/4 cup leek bulbs

1/2 tablespoon sunchoke powder

1 teaspoon sweet fern

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 cup black cherry juice

Cut up liver into large thin pieces. Soak liver in wild rice milk for an hour or more. Heat the sunflower oil, leek bulbs, sweet fern, sea salt, and sunchoke powder in a large pan on medium heat for 3-5 minutes. Add liver slices and cook until brown on the outside but still pink inside. Add black cherry juice and cook until much of the liquid is evaporated and the liver is cooked thoroughly. Take pan off stove and let it cool. Add everything in the pan to the food processor and puree the mix until the liver is in a spreadable consistency. Add salt to taste.

Cook’s notes: This tastes great on corn bread or with corn chips and green beans.

Bean DipSamantha Hasek

This is a simple recipe with a delightful citrusy flavor from sumac tea.

2 cans (15 oz each) Great Northern beans1/2 cup staghorn sumac tea, strongly brewed1 tablespoon sunflower oilsalt

Add about a cup of beans, a pour each of sumac tea and sunflower oil, and a pinch of salt in a food processor. Blend until mostly smooth. Continue to add beans with an eye toward the texture – pour in more tea when needed, and add more salt to taste. Serve with corn chips.

Sweet Potato SpreadSamantha Hasek

The combination of sweet potatoes and savory DDP spice will satisfy most any craving.

4 medium sweet potatoes, roasted1/4 cup wild leek bulbs (optional) 2 tablespoons dried sweet fern1 tablespoon maple syrup(or less to taste)1 tablespoon sunflower oil or squash seed oilsalt to tastesunflower seeds, raw or roasted (optional)

To roast the sweet potatoes, heat oven to 350 and bake for 1 hour – do not poke holes in the potatoes. Coat the wild leek bulbs in sunflower oil and roast in oven for 15-20 minutes. Let the sweet potatoes cool, and then peel the skin off. Finely dice the leek bulbs. Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender (may have to make in batches) and blend until smooth. Alternatively, mash ingredients together with a fork. Spoon into a serving bowl, garnish with sunflower seeds, and enjoy by itself or with corn chips.

Sugarbush Popcorn BallsZachary Lancaster

3 tablespoons sunflower oil

1 cup popcorn kernels

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup corn syrup (optional)

1/2 to 3/4 cup maple syrup

1 cup walnuts/pecans/etc.

Directions:

Heat sunflower oil in skillet over medium heat. Add kernels and lightly cover top.  While popcorn is popping, combine maple syrup, salt, and corn syrup in a smaller pan and bring it to a rapid boil, thickening and warming the sugars. When rapid boil is reached, add nuts and continue to stir so as not to stick.  When popcorn begins to pop, shake the pot so the kernels do not burn. Pour the popped corn into a large mixing bowl and add the sugar mixture. Set on cookie sheet to begin cooling in fridge. When the popcorn is cooled to a tacky consistency, form into balls or other desired shape.

Cook’s notes: Dried cranberries are an excellent addition to the popcorn balls. I found that popcorn shaped into a flat sheet is easily eaten.

Pumpkin SalsaMarty Reinhardt

1 can pureed pumpkin1 can (15 ounces) baby corn, chopped into small chunks 1/8 cup wild leek greens, raw, chopped1/2 zucchini, diced2 tablespoons sunflower oilDDP spice blend

Heat sunflower oil in a saucepan. Add DDP spice blend and leeks and cook until caramelized. Add zucchini and corn, sautéing for several minutes. Then add pumpkin puree; heat for several minutes (avoid boiling) and let cool for several minutes before eating with corn chips. Pumpkin salsa is tasty served warm or cold.

Fresh or frozen corn kernels can be used in place of baby corn.

Three Sisters Vinegar SalsaMarty Reinhardt

1 1/2 cups vinegar (maple, cranberry maple, or crabapple cider vinegar)2 1/2 cups mix frozen corn, green beans, zucchini, yellow squash (adjust vegetables to your liking)

Use a food processor to shred all the vegetables except the corn. Mix vegetables and vinegar; serve with blue corn tortilla chips.

Red Raspberry SalsaMarty Reinhardt

Red raspberrieswild leeks, roughly choppedcattail heart, roughly chopped

Use equal parts of ingredients. Add enough raspberry juice to moisten the mix.

Cook’s notes: Use on fish in place of mango salsa.

Cranberry LeatherBarb Bradley

4 cups fresh or frozen cranberries

1 cup water

1 1/2 cups maple sugar

 

Place cranberries and water in non-aluminum pot. Bring to boil, turn heat down to a simmer, then cook on low heat for 10-15 minutes (or till cooked through), stirring occasionally. Take off heat and mash berry mixture with a potato masher.  Place pot back on low heat and add maple sugar, gradually, while stirring. Simmer and stir frequently until maple sugar is completely dissolved and the fruit puree has thickened – another 5 minutes or so.

 

If desired, strain through a mesh strainer to get the skins out, using a wooden spoon to help it along. Further straining, through cheesecloth, can be done to remove most of the seeds.

 

Preheat oven to 130 degrees. Lightly oil a glass pan with sunflower oil. Pour puree into pan and spread to 1/8” – 1/4” thickness. Cook for 8-12 hours. Leather is done when it is no longer sticky and – if it has been strained – has a smooth surface.

 

Cool. Remove from pan.  Wrap in plastic wrap or waxed paper, then store in fridge in airtight container.

 

Cook’s notes: For a more traditional way (which I haven't tried yet), tent cheesecloth over a tray outside in the hot sun.

Maple Pecans

These are great alone, pressed into cookies, or sprinkled over ice cream! Originally inspired by the nut mixture in Zach’s popcorn balls, you can make them baked or caramelized.

April Lindala’s baked variation:

3 cups raw pecan halves

1/4 cup maple syrup

Sea salt to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine pecans, syrup, and salt. Stir well to coat pecans (add more syrup if desired) and spread a single layer on a large baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Toast for 8-12 minutes, stirring halfway.

Barb Bradley’s variation:

4 cups raw pecan halves

1/4 cup sunflower oil

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup maple sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread pecans on large baking sheet. Toast for 4 minutes, stirring halfway.

Remove pecans from oven, place in a large bowl. Add the sunflower oil and stir with a wooden spoon until thoroughly coated. Add the maple syrup and stir until thoroughly coated. Add the maple sugar, stirring until thoroughly coated.

Heat a large cast-skillet to medium-high. Add the pecans, scraping all of the mixture from the bowl. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer pecans to a platter or the original (clean) baking sheet (Terry transfers to parchment paper). Quickly spread out, separating them with a fork. Set aside to cool.

Wild Miinan PuddingBarb Bradley

1 1/2 cups wild blueberries (frozen)

1 1/2 cups manoomin (wild rice) milk

2/3 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup organic cornstarch

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sunflower oil

Blend blueberries and manoomin (wild rice) milk together. Set aside. Combine cornstarch and salt in medium saucepan. Gradually stir in milk/blueberry mixture until smooth. Then stir in maple syrup. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil for 1 minute, still stirring. Remove from heat. Stir in sunflower oil.

Pour into serving bowl, cover, and refrigerate. Chill for at least 2 hours or until set.

Cook’s notes: When blending the blueberries, there will be little shavings of berry skins. You can strain if you wish. No matter how patient I am when combining the blueberries and cornstarch, I still end up with a few little lumps, so I use a handheld emersion blender to get it smooth, or use a regular blender, then pour back into pan. I DDP-adapted this recipe from a chocolate pudding recipe on the back of an organic cornstarch box.

Baked Wild Blueberry PuddingBarb Bradley

3 cups wild rice milk or pumpkin seed milk

2/3 cup yellow cornmeal or masa harina

1 cup maple syrup

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup sunflower oil

1/2 to 2/3 cup wild blueberries

1 cup additional wild rice milk

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Grease 2-qt. casserole dish with sunflower oil. Heat the 3 cups wild rice milk and the maple syrup. In a separate bowl, mix cornmeal or masa harina and salt. Gradually stir into hot milk mixture, then add sunflower oil. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, about 10 minutes or until thickened. Fold in wild blueberries and pour into baking dish. Then pour 1 cup wild rice milk over pudding; do not stir. Bake 3 hours.

Cook’s notes: The recipe works best using masa harina, but if it is unavailable, finely-ground cornmeal will do. In my little toaster oven, baking took much less time, but I remember the original recipe’s baking time being accurate. Just keep checking.

Cornmeal Maple Cranberry PuddingMarty Reinhardt

3 cups water or wild rice milk

1/2 cup corn meal

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoon sunflower oil

2 duck eggs

1/3 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 teaspoon crushed wild ginger

Whisk water/wild rice milk, cornmeal & salt together and bring to a boil. Whisk again after boiling for 5 minutes. Cover and simmer on low for 10 minutes then add sunflower oil. Put some of the hot mixture in a separate bowl and mix in eggs, syrup and ginger. Combine with the rest of the hot mix. Add dried cranberries and pour the entire mixture into an oiled slow cooker. Cook on low for 2-3 hours.

Pumpkin Sweet Potato PieKaren Bacula, Nancy Irish, Andrew Bek, and Tom Biron (The Elderberries)

Crust:1 cup ground pumpkin seeds1/3 cup ground pecans1/3 cup roasted salted sunflower seeds2 tablespoons sunflower oil

Blend together in a bowl until sticky; press into a pie pan.

Pie Filling:2 cans cooked plain pumpkin4 medium sweet potatoes, roasted6 duck eggs1 3/4 cups maple sugar3/4 cup maple syrup12 tablespoons of starch corn noodle waterHandful of maple pecans

Blend all ingredients with a hand mixer.

Preheat oven to 350⁰. Pour filling in pie pan and bake for 1 hour. Pie is cooked when a knife inserted comes out clean. Top pie while still warm with maple pecans.

CookiesJessica Cadeau

1/3 cup sunflower seed butter

2/3 cup maple syrup

1 1/2 cup cornmeal flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

handful or 1/2 cup of chopped pecans (optional)

Mix all together and drop by spoonful onto greased baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or so. Cookies are done when slightly firm in the center and they are golden brown on bottom and edges.

Cook’s notes: The dough doesn’t spread much while cooking, so don't worry about them running into each other. Various nut butters could be substituted (pecan, hazelnut, etc.) for the sunflower butter. I made my own nut butter at home, though it can be purchased at some stores. I roasted raw sunflower seeds and then blended them up with some sunflower oil and salt. It does seem to taste a bit better with some maple syrup in it.

Pumpkin CookiesJessican Cadeau

This is a hearty and healthy cookie. It is fruit sweetened and would make a good on-the-go breakfast item.

1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree

2 cups flour (corn, pumpkin seed, etc.)

1 1/2 cups chopped prunes

3/4 chopped pecans or other DDP nuts

1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix wet and dry ingredients separately, then combine. Drop onto greased baking sheet and flatten slightly. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until they look done.

I used corn flour, so it made it very dense. Still tasty though! Adjust prunes to taste.

You could also substitute crabapple sauce for the pumpkin puree. Or any other fruit puree. You basically just need something moist to mix the rest of the ingredients.

Sunbutter CookiesApril Lindala

3 cups pumpkin seed flour

1 cup sunbutter

2/3 cups pecan flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 duck eggs

1 half dollar size pour sunflower oil

1 1/2 cups maple sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients together. Drop golf-ball sized balls of dough on a cookie sheet and flatten. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes.

Blonde BrowniesJessica Cadeau

Recipe is adapted from a black bean brownie recipe from chocolatecoveredkatie.com.

1 1/2 cups white beans, cooked

1/2 cup pumpkin seed flour, or other DDP flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup sunflower oil, extra to oil pan

Preheat oven to 350. Combine all ingredients in a food processor and process until as smooth as possible. Grease an 8 x 8 pan and pour puree in pan. Bake for at least 15 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.

Cook’s notes: I used great northern beans, but other beans may have a better texture for this. If brownies come out too moist, try adding some corn flour to absorb moisture. The smoother the batter, the better, because you don't want some random bean bits to remind you that these brownies are not as naughty as they seem. It's also really important to let these brownies cool completely before trying to cut them and eat them. They cut better and taste better when cool (read: less beany).

Fried Sweet RollsMarty Reinhardt

3 cups shelled pumpkin seed flour1 cup corn meal1 teaspoon sea salt 3/4 cup water3/4 cup maple sugar2 duck eggs1 to 2 cups fresh blueberries, raspberries, or blackberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix pumpkin seed flour, corn meal, salt, water, and 1/4 cup maple sugar together to make dough. In a separate bowl, mix duck eggs and remaining maple sugar. Pour dough straight into a heated pan in pancake shapes to par-fry. Take dough out, place on a baking pan, and brush with egg mixture. Add berries on top then roll up the dough, adding a few blueberries in between layers. Bake, covered with foil, for about 45 minutes, checking earlier for browned, shiny dough.

DDP SmoothieTina Moses

1 cup cooked butternut squashraspberries, small handful

butternut squash, cubed, small handful

blueberries, small handful

sweetwater

maple sugar

Cook’s notes: Fruit and squash can be frozen or fresh. Add chosen ingredients and ice to blender, and adjust the fruit/squash/liquid ratio to your liking.

Variation:

1 cup pumpkin puree 5 ounces frozen sweet potatoes 1/4 cup maple sugar 1/4 cup ground pecan 1 1/2 cup pumpkin seed milk 1/2 cup sweetwater 1 tablespoon sunchoke powder

Pumpkin Ice CreamTina Moses

1 can pumpkin puree 1 cup maple sugar 1/2 cup sunbutter 1 3/4 cup pumpkin seed milk 1/2 cup sweetwater 2 tablespoons sunchoke powder

In large bowl, mix pumpkin seed milk, sweetwater and maple sugar to dissolve sugar.  Mix in pumpkin puree, sunbutter, and sunchoke powder. 

Pour into the ice cream maker machine and let it stir for 25 minutes. 

Blueberry Maple Dessert SauceMarty Reinhardt

4 cups blueberries

1 cup maple sugar

1/2 shelled pumpkin seed flour 

1 cup wild rice milk

Heat wild rice milk, blueberries, and maple sugar in a sauce pan to a low boil. Turn heat down to low and add pumpkin seed flour. Remove from heat and let cool. Serve over pumpkin/corn/wild rice muffins for best results!

Maple Cranberry SauceJessica Cadeau

12 ounces cranberries, fresh or frozen

1 1/2 cups maple syrup

1/3 cup water

In a large saucepan combine all ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cool. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. 

Cook’s notes: This recipe was DDP-adapted from allrecipes.com. I found it to be slightly too sweet for my taste, but absolutely delicious nonetheless.

Crab Apple Sauce and SyrupMarty Reinhardt

Crab applesMaple syrup

Remove cores and stems from the crab apples. Fill a pot about 3/4 full of crab apples and cover with water. Add maple sugar to the apples in a 1 to 3 ratio. Bring to a boil and maintain for about an hour and a half or until the sauce reaches the desired consistency. Enjoy as is, or strain the sauce through an old clean white t-shirt or cheesecloth to separate syrup.

Cook’s notes: To test for pectin content in the syrup, drop a spoon full of syrup into a clear glass about half full of rubbing alcohol. If it turns into a clear gel after a few minutes, then you have pectin. If not, you can boil it down and strain further until it passes the test. The pectin can be used for making jelly and jam. 

SuperjuiceMarty Reinhardt

2 quarts waterHandful white pine needleshandful wintergreen leavescranberry juice concentrate to taste or 1/4 cup cranberry juicedd1/2 cup sweetwater

Make white pine and wintergreen tea (together) handful of white pine needles, handful of wintergreen. Boil, covered, for ten minutes. Simmer for half an hour; let cool; strain leaves.

Cook’s notes: to avoid stirring the mix, add cranberry juice concentrate first

Makes a half gallon

Women’s (and Men’s) TeaKristine Fountaine

Equal parts raspberry leaf, rosehips, and nettle.

Add at least 2 teaspoons (adjust to the strength you like) into your tea container and steep in boiled water in your favorite mug for 8-10 minutes with a cover over it. Enjoy with your favorite DDP muffin.

Pumpkin Seed MilkMarty Reinhardt

3 cups ground pumpkin seed flour1/8 cup sunchoke powder1/2 cup maple sugar

Mix the dry ingredients together well. Boil two quarts of water and pour the mix in to the boiling water; continue to boil for 5 to ten minutes. Stir continually. Mix will become foamy; liquid will become darker. Let cool. Solids settle to the bottom; oil layer forms on top. Strain liquid through a large strainer and into a bowl covered with cheese cloth; press solids to release any more liquid. Refrigerate liquid; shake well before using.

Cook’s notes: Use this milk in place of dairy. Pumpkin seed milk is much quicker and less expensive to make than wild rice. If desired, save the solids, refrigerate, and reheat for a breakfast gruel the next morning.

Makes about 2 quarts.

Barb Bradley’s version:

Grind up the pumpkin seeds in a coffee grinder, then transfer to a blender and add water - I'd say 2 to 1 (water to pumpkin powder). Blend for a few seconds until the consistency is creamy.

Cook’s notes: I usually start out with somewhat less water because I don't want it too thin. Then I water it down to the desired consistency. I do not strain. When the tiny bits settle to the bottom, shake the jar. When there is almost no liquid left, add a little more water, then shake, and you've got a little more instant milk. Also, I prefer it unsweetened. 

Wild Rice MilkMarty Reinhardt

1 pound wild rice.1 cup maple sugar, adjust to taste

Bring water to a boil in a large pot; add rice and cook it down for about 3 hours by constantly stirring and adding water when it gets down to the top of the rice. After it reaches the consistency of rice pudding, use a blender to mix it with water in a 1 to 1 ratio. After blending, pour through a wire mesh strainer to remove solids from the liquid. Set the solids aside and then further strain the liquid through an old clean white t-shirt. What remains afterward is a slightly tan colored liquid: the rice milk. Mix about 1/4 cup of maple sugar with each quart of milk.

Cook’s notes: The longer the rice is cooked, the thicker the milk will be. Tina noted that increasing the amount of rice will also greatly increase the cooking time: “Warning!  DDPers!  2lbs of wild rice takes a long time to make into milk!” 

Dandelion Root CoffeeJessica Cadeau

Collect a good handful of roots while out foraging for dandelion greens. Wash them well. Next, blend up the roots in a food processor or blender to break them into 1/4" or so pieces. Spread out the roots on a baking sheet and bake at 300 degrees until they are deep tan in color. After they are roasted and cooled down, grind them like you would coffee beans and brew it like coffee.

Cook’s notes: When blending, my roots got blended up much smaller, because my blender is high powered, and it still worked out just fine. I think it reduced my roasting time. I used 2 tablespoons of ground roots to 3 cups of water in a coffee maker. As an avid coffee drinker, I would say that it was weak and would adjust accordingly next time. The flavor, however, was amazing! I could definitely replace my coffee with this, if only I could get over the lack of caffeine. Use caution, however, as the dandelion roots are a diuretic (as is caffeine). And also, do some quick research before consuming because I thought I read that it may affect the efficiency of some medications. Otherwise, this is a great substitute for anyone looking to reduce or eliminate their consumption of coffee.

Corn Silk TeaApril Lindala

2 ears fresh corn

Before removing the husk from the ear of corn, cut the brown hairs and leave only the blond hairs (silk) sticking out of the top. Before removing the last layer of corn husk, hold the hairs with one hand and remove the remaining husks with the other, then twist and pull off the silk hairs. Place silk in a pot for boiling and pour 1 1/2 cups of water over the silk. Simmer for ten minutes. Strain the water through some sort of filter (I used a coffee filter and funnel).

Cook’s notes: At first this has a light sweet taste just like the corn, but after about half of a cup it just didn't suit me. Just because I didn't care for it doesn't mean it is bad. According to many websites, there are a lot of healing properties of corn silk. I also remember an elder from my mother's reserve talking about this tea several years ago.

Sumac-Chaga-Sweet fern TeaLeora Lancaster

This tea is good for morning, noon or night! However, the more sweet fern you put in the more it feels like a night time tea, to wind you down, and the more sumac you put in the more energized it makes you feel!  For a whole pot, I grind up one small chunk of chaga about as big as your thumb nail (either witha  coffee grinder, or smoosh it up with a nut cracker), two long dried sweet fern leaves, and about a tea spoon of sumac seeds.   The sumac seeds are separated from the actual sumac "spice" that we use for cooking, but the seeds are great for making teas. Enjoy!

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