Helen’s daughter, Shari, is a natural cook (which she comes by naturally), who naturally loves to experiment. This is her invention and it is delectable - naturally!
Ingredients
2 lbs. ground caribou (moose, deer or elk) 1 kg
3 tbsp. soy sauce 45 mL
1 tbsp. brown sugar 15 mL
10 oz. can water chestnuts, finely chopped 284 mL
1/2 cup finely chopped onion 125 ml
1 tsp. dried parsley flakes or 1 tbsp. (15 mL) chopped fresh parsley 5 ml
2 garlic cloves, minced or 1/2 tsp. (2 ml) garlic powder 2 ml
Preparation Instructions
1. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.
2 . Shape into bite-sized balls (approximately 4 dozen).
3. Place meatballs on a greased baking sheet with sides and bake in a 375°F (190°C) oven for 15 minutes.
Makes about 4 dozen meatballs.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS: Serve hot with fruit sauce or sauce of your choice. Center fruit sauce on a glass plate and surround with meatballs. Provide picks. Now enjoy!
Note: If you make these ahead, just reheat them in the oven at 400°F (200°C) for 5 minutes.
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Jeanne Reimer
This is the second in our series of Arctic Appetizers. We’ll post one a week so make sure to check back regularly. Why? Because we serve these at our lodges and they are really, really good!
Please let us know if you try them. We would love to know what you think.
Gavin is Helen’s brother-in-law. We have watched a strange phenomenon develop through the years. We used to exchange recipes with sisters and sisters-in-law but nowadays it is just as likely to be one of the males in the family who has just found or produced a great recipe. This hors d’oeuvre is a winner. We have even served it to the Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba.
Ingredients:
2 lbs. caribou strips, approximately 1/2 by 2 ½ inches 1 kg (1 x 6 cm)
1 cup flour 250 mL
2 tsp. Dymond Lake Seasoning or 1 tsp. (5mL) each of seasoned salt & pepper
1/4 cup vegetable oil 60 mL
2 tbsp. butter OR margarine 30 mL
Garlicky Wine Marinade
2 cups dry red wine 500 mL
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tbsp. soy sauce 30 mL
1/2 tsp. dry mustard 2 mL
Preparation Instructions:
1. Combine all of the marinade ingredients and add the caribou strips. Marinate in the refrigerator for 8 hours, or overnight if more convenient.
2. Mix the flour and seasoning. Dredge (shake in flour until completely coated) the drained caribou strips in the flour and sauté (fry quickly, stirring constantly over high heat to seal in the juices) in the oil and butter, a handful at a time, until nicely browned. You may have to add more oil and butter.
3. Serve with wooden toothpicks.
Makes 8 dozen strips.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS:
These are delicious on their own but also taste great with a very simple dipping sauce made with 1 ¼ cup (60 mL) of your favorite bottled barbecue sauce mixed with 1 ¼ cup (60 mL) peach or apricot jam! Enjoy!
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Jeanne Reimer
This is the first in our series of Arctic Appetizers. We’ll post one a week so make sure to check back regularly. Why? Because we serve these at our lodges and they are really, really good!
Please let us know if you try them. We would love to know what you think.
Thanks!
– Jeanne Reimer
Hauling Jeanne’s new gourmet kitchen through polar bear country and across the sea ice to Seal River Lodge
Well folks, once again man pitted his slightly aging wits against the elements of Hudson Bay and survived. Thank goodness we were blessed with exceptionally good weather and sea ice conditions that were perfect for transporting materials to the lodges from Churchill.
Jeanne’s gourmet kitchen equipment and cupboards had been shipped from Winnipeg to Churchill by train a month prior and now all that remained was the “simple” task of getting them over the rugged Hudson Bay ice to the polar bear lodge.
All of our winter hauls involve a high level of adventure including high tide overflow, jumbled pack ice on Hudson Bay, raging blizzards, wind chills down to -50 degrees, marauding polar bears, frozen limbs, broken equipment and workers that actually wanted to eat more than once a day.
I think we could sell this as an “Extreme Adventure” to polar bear land or maybe do one of those reality TV shows! Fortunately other than some long, hard days in the saddle, the “extreme conditions” gave us a break this year and almost everything went off without a hitch.
A welcome fire on a frigid day!
The Hauling Team consisted of Mike Reimer, Dave Schellenberg, Fraser Issac and Steve Toews, ably supported by Doug Webber as chief cook and bottle washer. Due to the relatively light load (7000 kgs) we elected to transport everything via snowmobile and komatik rather than firing up the old D6 Cat we normally use.
Freighting went well, weather was brilliant and all pieces arrived safe and sound after a two day adventure. Once the hauling was done the real worked commenced, that being the business of collecting our supply of firewood.
Visitors to our polar bear lodges will quickly see that this in itself is quite a feat, as there is hardly a stick in sight! Luckily, travel and exploration inland by snowmobile usually yields some pretty good stands of dead timber for burning, some of it over 300 years old!
Fraser and Steve had a tough time keeping up with the old guys and probably won’t care to see a wood haul for a bit, at least not until next year.
Cranberry Cake with Butter Sauce - A Lodge Favorite! And it's even better than it looks!
Here it is! A Churchill Wild favorite re-posted by special request. A delectable dessert that results in past guests’ mouths watering whenever it’s mentioned. Jeanne Reimer swears the wild cranberries make all the difference but feel free to try it at home. This recipe and many more are available in the Blueberries & Polar Bears Cookbooks. Let us know what your favorite is we’ll post it in the future.
Cranberry Cake – Ingredients
3 cups flour 750ml
4 tsp baking powder 20ml
½ tsp salt 2ml
3 tbsp butter or margarine 45ml
1 ½ cups sugar 375ml
1 ½ tsp vanilla 7ml
1 ½ cups milk 375ml
3 cups wild cranberries 750ml
Butter Sauce – Ingredients
¾ cup butter OR margarine 175ml
1 ½ cups sugar 375ml
¾ cup evaporated milk OR cream 175ml
Directions
Mix the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and set aside.
Cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla. Note: It does not get all creamy and fluffy as it does in a butter cake, as the ratio of butter to sugar is not high enough. Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture alternately with the milk, beating after each addition, just until it is mixed. Stir in the cranberries. (If you are using large commercial cranberries, chop them up a bit.)
Spread the batter in a greased 9 x 13” (23 x 33cm) pan. Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 30-40 minutes, until golden brown and the top springs back when lightly touched.
The secret is in the sauce: combine the sauce ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Simmer for 2 minutes and remove from heat. A wire whisk is very helpful to keep the sauce smooth.
Serve the sauce warm over the cake. Serves 12.
Enjoy!
Could President Obama and family walk with Churchill polar bears? Yes. They could.
Churchill Wild eco-lodge owners Mike and Jeanne Reimer say the Obama and Doer families would be more than welcome to do just that at their Seal River Heritage Lodge 40 miles north of Churchill on the Hudson Bay coast.
“It’s the only place in Canada where you can actually go out and walk with the polar bears in their natural environment,” said Mike Reimer, who has been stomping the terra with the polar bears for over 30 years. “We would absolutely love to have the Obama and Doer families visit our polar bear eco-lodges and take part in all the activities we have to offer.”
Polar bear intently watching Hudson Bay outside Seal River Lodge
That of course, would include walking with polar bears on the coast of Hudson Bay and snorkeling with beluga whales in Hudson Bay, not to mention eating gourmet meals straight from the award-winning cookbook series Blueberries and Polar Bears, which were co-written by Jeanne Reimer’s mother Helen Webber of Webber’s Lodges.
Helen is married to Webber’s Lodges owner and former Churchill mayor Doug Webber. She is certainly no stranger to hosting dignitaries at the Webber’s home in Churchill and preparing spectacular feasts for them, including Ambassador Doer when he was Premier of Manitoba,
Helen’s dinner parties in Churchill are legendary, the last of which was held for the top international executives of the Canadian Tourism Commission, who later flew out to see the polar bears at Seal River Lodge. The dinner, and the trip to Seal River Lodge, received rave reviews.
Gourmet Goose Dinner at Churchill Wild
First Lady Michelle Obama, who is promoting healthy eating as her platform while in the White House, would likely enjoy herself immensely in Churchill Wild’s family-run tundra kitchen, which prides itself on utilizing the freshest ingredients available from the surrounding landscapes.
Mrs. Obama launched her Let’s Move initiative to battle childhood obesity and improve the quality of food in U.S. schools in February, 2010 and on March 16, 2011 she reached an agreement with Crown Publishing Group to author a cookbook in which she will talk about the garden she established on the South Lawn of the White House. Due out in 2012, Mrs. Obama’s new cookbook will also explore how improved access to fresh, locally grown food can promote healthier eating habits for families and communities. You can watch the video about the White House Garden here.
“Last year we built the new dining room,” said Reimer. “Right now we’re hauling in a new gourmet kitchen. It was designed by Len Friesen and it will be the first of its kind in the arctic. We’re planning on having a Celebrity Chef Contest at some point with a combination of original creations and recipes from the Blueberries and Polar Bears cookbooks that will feature seal, caribou, moose, goose, arctic char, northern pike, lake trout, local plant garnishes, wild blueberries, cranberries and strawberries. In between cooking sessions we’ll be out on the tundra with the polar bears or swimming with whales. We would love for Mrs. Obama to participate!”
But seriously, fabulous food and cooking contests aside, what about safety and secret service and fighter planes?
Polar bear in fireweed. Photo Credit: Dennis Fast
“We’ve never had a polar bear problem in the 30 years that we’ve operated our lodges,” said Reimer. “It’s a unique, once in a lifetime experience and our guests love being able to get up close and personal with the polar bears. It’s one of the few places on earth where you can actually go out and walk with the bears, and there are numerous safety measures in place. I’m not sure what the bears would think of secret service agents and jet fighters. They probably wouldn’t even notice.”
Still, try to imagine the Turbo Beaver taking off from Churchill for Seal River Lodge accompanied by fighter jets. Or the curious looks on the polar bears’ faces when the secret service agents arrive with the Obama family. And what kind of boat would be required if the Obama and Doer families decided to go swimming with the beluga whales? Would the Zodiaks suffice?
“It would something very special for us,” said Reimer. “We would like to extend a heartfelt open invitation to both the Obama and the Doer families to visit Seal River Lodge any time. It would be an incredible honor.”
