Skillet ☘️Irish ☘️ Soda Bread

This recipe is from America’s Test Kitchen, so it’s been thoroughly tested. I swapped in some whole wheat flour and it tastes great with a nice fine texture.  It works well in an 9” cast iron pan or use a cake pan. Serve the bread slightly warm or at room temperature. Get out the butter, cheese, marmalade or jam and enjoy with a nice bowl of soup. — Susan Reesor

Skillet Irish Soda Bread

3 cups all-purpose flour or 2 cups all-purpose flour and 1 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp cream of tartar

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 Tbsp sugar

2 Tbsp butter, softened

1 1/2 cups buttermilk (or add milk to 2-3 Tbsp of lemon juice or white vinegar to make 1 ½ cups) 

1 tablespoon melted butter, optional

Heat the oven to 400 degrees and adjust an oven rack to the center position. 

Measure the all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Mix well.

Add the butter and rub it into the flour using your fingers until it is completely incorporated and the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center of the mixture and add the buttermilk. Work the liquid into the flour mixture using a fork until the dough comes together in large clumps. Turn the dough onto a clean work surface and knead it gently and briefly until the loose flour is just moistened. The dough will still be scrappy and uneven.  Don’t over-mix.

Form the dough into a round shape about 6 to 7 inches in diameter and place it in a cast iron skillet (9” works well to get a nice high loaf). Score a deep cross on top of the loaf and place it in the heated oven. Bake the bread until it is nicely browned and a tester comes out clean when inserted into the center of the loaf, about 40 to 45 minutes. 

Remove the skillet from the oven and brush the top of the loaf with the tablespoon of melted butter, if desired. Cool the bread for at least 30 minutes before slicing it.

What’s for dinner?

Prepared in our very own Reesor’s kitchen in Stouffville, our delicious prepared foods, soups and salads make any meal easy to pull together. From Broken Cabbage Rolls to Shepherd’s Pie to our ever-popular Chicken Pot Pie and many gluten free options you’ll always have something for lunch or dinner when our meals are in your freezer.

All of our entrées come frozen and you follow the simple cooking instructions on the package. Our quiches, mini beef, and mini chicken pies come fully cooked, and only need to be warmed.

Our soups, entrées and salads are available at Reesor’s Market & Bakery and at Reesor’s Online Market. A selection of these are available at our seasonal Reesor’s Farm Market from June to October.

Looking ahead to spring

by Jay Reesor

It is difficult to believe that January is almost done! That means February is just around the corner and often that is the month maple syrup producers begin to tap trees. Does that mean that spring is just around the corner too? Only time will tell. But it is encouraging to have that late winter marker coming soon and also to have the days just a little longer.

Things are very quiet around the farm. It’s the season to take it a little bit easier, to order plants and seeds and plan how to make the coming season as good as it can be! What does it take to have a good season? Well a good harvest of course, but we’re always trying to farm using fewer outside inputs such as diesel fuel and fertilizer. One of the things that we are trying more and more to do is always to have something living on the fields–a cover crop. It’s quite a buzzword in agriculture right now and I’m optimistic it’s going to help us produce better crops and protect our soils. 
Here’s to hoping that 2021 will be a good year for all of us and for everyone around the world.

Skillet Cheeseburger Pizza

This skillet pizza is adapted from a recipe created by Amy Rosen and published a few years ago in Food & Drink magazine. It’s a delicious alternative to a fast food burger. You’ll love the “special sauce”.  Reesor’s pizza dough (available online or in-store at Reesor’s Market & Bakery, Stouffville, Ontario) works well or make your own.  What to do with the extra half-pound of dough in the 1 lb ball? Make a second pizza or get creative and make some quick cinnamon rolls for breakfast the next day.  — Susan Reesor

Raw pizza dough, about 8 oz. or 300 grams, room temperature
1 Tbsp plus 2 tsp (10 mL) olive oil
8 oz  lean ground beef
1 garlic clove, minced
1 small cooking onion, diced
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 Tbsp mayonnaise
2 tsp ketchup
2 tsp relish
1 tsp sesame seeds
1 large sour dill pickle, sliced
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1 cup iceberg or Romaine lettuce, shredded
1 medium tomato, cored and diced

Preheat oven to 450°F.

In a frying pan over medium heat, heat 1 Tbsp oil and add ground beef, garlic, onion, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, for 5 to 7 minutes, or until juices run clear. Drain off any liquid, set aside.

In a small bowl, mix together mayonnaise with ketchup and relish — your “special sauce.”

Oil an 8-inch cast iron skillet with remaining 2 tsp of olive oil. Roll room temperature dough out to about a 10-inch round on a lightly floured surface and transfer to skillet. Flip dough over in skillet so that both sides of dough are oiled. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and gently press dough evenly in skillet so that it rises slightly up the sides of the pan. Bake in preheated oven for 5 minutes.

Remove the par-baked pizza from oven and spread with “special sauce.” Top evenly with sliced pickle, ground beef and finally, the shredded cheddar cheese.

Bake for 15 minutes more, or until pizza is cooked through, the bottom is golden and the cheese is melted and slightly browned. Run a knife around the edges of skillet to be sure it’s not sticking. Top with cool shredded lettuce and chopped tomato. Slice and serve at once.
Serves 4.

A printer friendly version is on the Blog on our website reesors.ca

Original recipe and photo are here: https://www.lcbo.com/lcbo/recipe/skillet-cheeseburger-pizza/201506023

Reesor's Markets has new ways to serve you during these challenging times of COVID-19

Dear friend,
These are indeed difficult and unusual times. Never in my 64 years have I seen or experienced anything like what our communities are experiencing now with the COVID-19 virus. I’m sure that it is the same for most of you reading this message.

I wanted to write to let you know how this pandemic has affected us at our store and production kitchen. For our staff, we have markedly increased the intensity and scope of our sanitation procedures around the store and in work areas. We as a staff also practice physical distancing as much as we can. We are producing new guidelines almost daily to meet the challenge of COVID-19.

As many of you know, who have visited the store recently, we have implemented some new store etiquette policies for customers, including hand sanitizer use upon entry and intentional physical distancing. 

We now have a new phone-in shopping service with curbside pickup. See our website for details. We have reserved 8am to 9am for seniors and other vulnerable individuals to shop. We welcome all our other customers to shop after 9am.

I am very grateful to live in a time where we have sophisticated scientific research and Canadian leadership at many different levels to guide us as we push back COVID-19. We know about physical distancing, frequent hand-washing, making sure a sneeze or cough is covered by an elbow or with a tissue (then disposed of), followed by thorough hand washing. We have facts that tell us to limit our social interactions to household members only……and all the rest of the health regime.

We are Canadians and we believe in science so let’s make sure that we follow all the public health guidance from the authorities!

It’s way too early to know if there will be any silver linings to this current challenge in our country and in our world. But I’m looking for one. It’s been my experience that often from very difficult and bad situations good can come. Let’s keep looking for those silver linings in the days, weeks and months ahead to keep ourselves and our communities encouraged.

Please take good care of yourself and please look out for others around our communities who may need your help.

Sincerely,
Jay Reesor
Reesor’s Markets

p.s.

On a happy note, sweet corn seeds have begun to arrive, ready for planting season.

Tuscan Apple Omelette

By Susan Reesor

This is a simple, delicious and not-too-indulgent Italian dessert from the region of Tuscany. Here in Canada, apples and cinnamon are an almost compulsory flavour pairing. But the lemon zest in this apple dessert gives it a nice fresh taste.

Make one for yourself or to share with others to whom you want to show some love. However, you, dear reader, are the apple of our eye! Happy Valentine’s Day.

Ingredients

2-1/2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs, beaten
2 Tbsp. sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
2 apples, peeled and thinly sliced
2-3 Tbsp butter
Confectioners sugar

Instructions

1. Make a thin, smooth batter with the flour, salt and milk. Add the beaten eggs, sugar and lemon rind, and beat well. Stir the apple slices gently into the batter.
   
2. Melt the butter in a frying pan about 8-10 inches in diameter. Pour in the apple mixture, distributing the apple slices evenly over the bottom of the pan. Cook over medium heat until the omelette is set and golden brown on the underside. Place a slightly larger plate on the frying pan and invert the frying pan onto the plate. Then after adding a little more butter to the pan slide the omellette back into the pan to brown the other side. Turn the omelette out on to a heated serving dish and sprinkle with sifted icing sugar. Serve hot. Serves 2-4

Save The Date For Our 16th Anniversary Open House

Saturday February 29th, 2020 is the 16th Anniversary Open House for Reesor’s Market & Bakery. We’ll have free coffee all day, lots of food sampling, lucky draws and more. More details coming soon.

Coffee’s On

Reesor’s Café is open Monday-Saturday from 8am to 3pm with delicious espresso-based drinks, chai latte, tea latte, and hot chocolate. We also have our own panini, quiches and salads. Eat in or take out. Our brewed coffee is available all day.

Stop in and enjoy one of our Valentine’s hot drinks, such as the Sweet Heart Red Velvet Hot Chocolate or the Chocolate Strawberry Tea Latte.

Empire Cookies Are Back

Are you one of our very loyal fans of Reesor’s Empire Cookies? They’re back for Valentine’s. If you haven’t tried them yet, now’s the time. We make them only at special holidays. They’re jam-filled, iced and so good. The heart-shape is perfect for nibbling.

Also now available at Reesor’s Market & Bakery is our lovely Nutella Cake. It’s a made-from-scratch white cake, with Nutella filling, cream cheese frosting and chocolate curls on top.

Check Out Our New Bulk Food Section at the Town Market

We are trying to reduce the use of single-use plastics in both our locations.  In our town market we have recently installed a bulk food section where you can bring in your clean containers or buy one of our jars, and fill them yourself to take home. Lentils, popcorn, steel cut oats, sunflower seeds, almonds, raisins and more are now available.