Two winning hawberry recipes to grace your table
MANITOULIN––Here they are: the winners of The Expositor’s Taste of Manitoulin hawberry recipe contest, just in time for Thanksgiving. This is particularly appropriate this year when there is a bumper crop of hawberries to be found along virtually every road.
Thank you to everyone who entered. The result was a tie. The judges chose these two recipes to share the prize so each winner will receive a three-year subscription to The Expositor.
Have a happy Thanksgiving, everyone, and congratulations to the winners. The judging panel agreed that all were worthy entries.
Bon apétit.
Lake Kagawong Hawberry Salad Dressing
Here’s my favourite hawberry salad dressing recipe. I have picked hawberries and made the jelly from scratch, but since I work full-time, I find it more convenient to buy Manitoulin-made hawberyy jelly from Twin Bluffs in Gore Bay or any other locations where it is sold. I always take lots of it home to southern Ontario also, so that I can make this dressing even after we have to sadly close up our Lake Kagawong camp in late fall each year.
At camp we love to barbecue our meat or pan fry our fish. Very often we just have a fresh tossed green salad with lots of variety in textures and colours to go with it. This quick-to-make salad dressing has an amazing balance that has caused more than a few people to request the recipe. Somehow the natural acidity of the apple cider vinegar and the sweetness from the hawberry jelly just make a magic balance that is as natural as Manitoulin’s beauty.
2/3 cup olive oil (I use the light extra virgin) 1/3 cup hawberry jelly 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar 1 tablespoon smooth Dijon mustard 2 tsp. finely snipped fresh basil if you have it or if not 2/3 tsp. dried basil some freshly ground black pepperMeasure all the above ingredients into a clean glass jar with a tight fitting lid. (Jar should hold at least 16 oz.). Shake well and use as desired. Just pour off what is desired and store the remainder in fridge. This keeps very well in the fridge, but it won’t last long because you will want to use it! Healthy eating!
submitted by Norma Armes, Lake Kagawong
Hawberry Martini
2 cups hawberries
2 cups cranapple juice (any juice will do but it should be red)
3 tsp sugar
3 oz vodka
Make a simple syrup with sugar and juice. Simmer until sugar is dissolved.
Add washed hawberries to syrup and simmer on medium heat for 20 minutes.
Pour your martini mixture into a sieve and allow it to drain into a container for about 1 hour.
As you pass it on the way to other duties, give it a push down to get all the juice you can.
Before serving, add the vodka and ice (you can always add more juice or vodka).
Makes 4 martinis
While preparing your ice cubes, a couple of hawberries and even a leaf can be put into the ice cube tray. It looks nice and you will drink this delicious martini before the ice melts (believe me).
submitted by Gayle Corelli, Lake Manitou
Other fine entries
Hawberry Squapple
1 lg. butternut or pepper squash (if small, use 2) 2 Granny Smith apples 1 Gala apple (or any sweet red apple) butter salt and pepper 1 jar hawberry jelly Cut and peel and cube squash and apples. (If you like apple skin, then leave on.) Put in lightly buttered oven pan. Dot with small bits of butter, salt and pepper to taste. Spoon hawberry jelly over the top, using 1/2 to all of the jar, depending on size of squash. Cover and bake at 350° for 50 – 50 minutes till squash is cooked. If it is too juicy, uncover and bake another 10 minutes. Can be adjusted depending on how many are coming to dinner. It will be good no matter what! Goes well with pork, turkey, chicken, fish, wine… Submitted by: Robin Rigby, Sarnia
Hawberry Apple Galette
In a mixing bowl toss:
2 large or 3 small Manitoulin apples, peeled and thinly sliced 1/3 cup hawberries 2 Tbsp. butter 2 Tbsp. turbinado or granulated sugar 1 Tbsp. lemon juice 1 tsp. cinnamon Place a thawed sheet of PC butter puff pastry on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Place the fruit mixture in the middle, form a circle in the centre of the sheet, leaving about 2 inches from the nearest side and mound. Fold the corners in first and fold the extra pastry back onto itself, then fold over the remaining sections in a bowl-type shape. Use a pastry brush to brush the pastry with a beaten egg or water, lightly. Sprinkle 1 Tbsp. or so sugar over the pastry. Bake at 375°F for 20 minutes or until golden brown and the apples soften. I like to coat the hawberries in the lemon juice and sugar mixture first, then add the rest to make sure the hawberries get a good sugar coating but this is optional. Submitted by: Valerie McIntyre, Little Current
Hawberry Jelly
3 cups juice (about 3 qt. ripe fruit) 3 cups water 1/4 cup lemon juice 6 1/2 cups sugar (white) 1 bottle Certo (liquid) For best results, pick after first frost. Be prepared for thorns (sharp, picky) Stem 3 qts. fruit. Add 3 cups water. Bring to boil and simmer covered for 15 minutes. Put prepared fruit in jelly bag or cheesecloth in strainer. Place above large bowl to drip, preferably overnight. Do not squeeze and you will have clearer juice. Measure 3 cups juice into large saucepan. Add lemon juice. Add exact amount sugar. Mix well. Bring to boil, stirring constantly. Add and stir in Certo. Bring to full rolling boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, skim off foam and pour quickly into sterilized jars (approx.. 5 1/2 cups jelly) Enjoy Manitoulin hawbery jelly on toast. Submitted by: Laura W. Scott, Spring Bay
Hawberry Jelly
3 or 4 L basket of ripe hawberries. Wash and put on to boil. Boil 3 hours, stir often, cover over with water. When cooked, mush down and put in bag to drain. 8 hours or overnight. When you have the juice, in a large pot add 4 cups of juice in large pan, 2 Tbsp. of lemon juice, 7 cups of white sugar. Bring to a rolling boil and add 1 box of Certo. Boil rapidly for two minutes, watching all the time. Take off stove, skim the froth off it and bottle and seal while hot in sterilized jars and lids.
Submitted by: Erma McAllister, Spring Bay RR
Low Sugar Hawberry Jelly
4 cups hawberry juice 1/4 cup lemon juice 1/2 teaspoon margarine or butter (prevents foaming) 3 1/2 cups sugar 1/4 cup crabapple juice (optional but necessary if hawberries are very ripe) All fruits lose pectin as they ripen. In order to have a natural jell develop, there must be a balance between sugar, acid and pectin. Crabs have lots of pectin especially at hawberry time (September). Crabapples can also be quartered and cooked along with the hawberries if you aren’t planning to make crabapple jelly. Boil above ingredients hard for approximately 10 minutes. Test with a spoon until it sheets on spoon or to 221°F on candy thermometer. Bottle in sterilized jars and seal immediately. Yield: approximately four 250ml jars. Enjoy this taste of Manitoulin jelly. Submitted by: Joan Beard, Tehkummah
Hawberry Jelly
4 cups juice (about 3 lbs. ripe haws) 1/4 cup strained lemon juice (2 lemons) 7 1/2 cups white sugar 1/2 bottle Certo fruit pectin First, prepare the juice. Crush about 3 lbs. fully ripe haws. Add 4 cups water and bring to a boil. Simmer, covered, about 10 minutes. Place in jelly cloth or bag and squeeze out juice. Measure 4 cups juice and put in large saucepan. Add lemon juice. To make jelly, add sugar to juice in saucepan, mix well, place over high heat and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. At once stir in Certo, then bring to a full rolling boil and boil hard for one minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off foam with silver spoon and poor quickly into sterilized glass jars. Cover at once with 1/8” thick hot paraffin wax. In memory of my mom, Alberta McCulligh. Submitted by her daughter, Cheryl McCulligh-O’Brien, Manitowaning
Hawberry Jelly
4 cups juice 7 cups white sugar 2 envelopes liquid Certo 1/4 cup lemon juice Cover berries with water in large pot. Cook till tender and splitting. Drain well. Bring juice and sugar to a boil, add Certo and lemon. Boil hard for about 1 minute. Bottle. Spoon foam off juice before bottling. I have used this recipe for years and everyone loves it. Submitted by: Reta Vanhorn, Tehkummah
