The Metis of Manitoba have a unique blend of French and First Nations cooking. This is a great meal to make when your partner has had a rough day and needs tlc.

Succotash Hash

1 can lima beans 1 can kerneled corn 1 ½ lb ground buffalo ( ground turkey or beef will do) ½ cup craisons (dried cranberries) ½ cup pine nuts 1 onion chopped fine 1 tsp sage I Tsp sweet molasses 1 cup wild rice

To make the succotash, mix lima beans and corn together and add salt to taste.  Heat. To make the hash, brown onion and pine nuts and add meat, craisons, sage and molasses.  Mix and cook until meat is no longer pink.  Cook wild rice.  Serve meat over the wild rice with the succotash on the side.

Serve with a Beaujolais from the Lake Erie region of Ontario if you are having beef.  If you choose turkey, try a Zinfadel.  For dessert a dish of fresh strawberries with a dish of melted chocolate.  Just think of the possibilities!

Saskatchewan Bounty <http://www.sasktourism.com/>

“Oh look! Stop!” cried Janet, as their car came over a rise in the road.  Robbie obeyed, pulling to the shoulder.  The field beside them was a mass of sunflowers.  Their huge yellow heads and black centres made them look like giant Black Eyed Susans in the late afternoon sun.  Beyond, the vast prairie stretched out before them beneath a dome of blue.

Robbie sighed.  “The possibilities seem endless in all this wide open space.”

“Yes, you can’t help but feel free.”

They got out of the car and climbed up on the split rail fence to look at the magnificent view.  Robbie wrapped her arm around the woman she loved and they sat and watched the setting sun turn the fields to gold and then to fire.  The sunset spread its beauty from horizon to horizon.  Stars started to twinkle over head so close that Janet felt she could reach up and capture one like a fire fly.

“That was beautiful,” she whispered.

“Almost as beautiful as you,” Robbie agreed, and kissed the woman she loved.

A perfect meal to watch the sunset by on warm summer’s night.

5 cups sliced fresh mushrooms (all sorts to choose from at your grocery store if you don’t have the benefit of a Saskatchewan prairie) 11/2 cups chicken broth (buy it in the box it’s so much easier) ½ cup chopped onion 1/8 teaspoon dried thyme 3 Tbsp butter 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 tsp ground black pepper 1 cup half and half 1 Tbsp sherry

In a sauce pan cook the mushrooms in the chicken broth with the onion and thyme until tender (about 12 minutes).  This mix needs to be put in a blender until it’s a puree with some small chunks of mushrooms in it still.  Now in a saucepan melt the butter and whisk in the flour until it’s smooth.  Add the salt, pepper, half and half (cream) and the mushroom puree.  Stir constantly.  Bring mix to a boil and then simmer until it thickens.  Add the sherry just before serving.  Serve with warm, buttered crusty rolls and a glass of sherry.  Carry the sherry theme on into dessert by pouring a glass of sherry over a bowl of short cake and field berries and setting it on fire.

Tasty Alberta <http://www.banfflakelouise.com/>

Robbie and Janet were booked into the Fairmont Chateau  Lake Louise in Banff in  the heart of the Rocky Mountains.  From their window, they looked over the turquoise glacier lake that was surrounded by high, snow-capped peaks.  They had hiked around the lake that morning.  Later, after enjoying a shower together, they had spent the afternoon in bed making love and cuddling close.  It was hunger that finally drove them out from under the sheets. “I’ll get dinner,” smiled Robbie, and Janet laughed, knowing that her partner would call room service. “Room service?  This is the Royal Suite.  We’d like to order your elk stew dinner, a bottle of  Cabernet Sauvignon, your nut and fruit tray and a bottle of ice wine.  Thank you.” “Elk?” Janet laughed. “Only red meat will do,” Robbie growled playfully.