Duluth author and Minnesota treasure Beatrice Ojakangas has published an astonishing 30 cookbooks (the first one, “The Finnish Cookbook,” debuted in 1964 and is still in print).
Credit: Tom Wallace
Credit: Tom Wallace
For her latest, she’s culled 13 of those titles for recipes — 250 of them — in a compilation titled “Breakfast With Beatrice” (University of Minnesota Press, $19.95), which emphasizes her Scandinavian roots — and expertise — as it covers all kinds of delicious, easy-to-prepare morning fare, from oven-baked skillet pancakes and almond-cinnamon rolls to egg casseroles and wild rice porridge.
It’s a busy time to be debuting a book. Ojakangas and her husband Richard, a retired University of Minnesota geology professor, are in the process of downsizing, leaving their rural Duluth home of 41 years — and its remarkable, designed-for-a-cookbook-author kitchen, complete with walk-in refrigerator — for an apartment in the city.
“It’s like we’re moving into a resort,” she said. “I’m looking forward to it.”
They’re well into the process of decluttering (“And boy, is there a lot to clean out,” she said with a laugh), including the 2,000-title cookbook collection she recently donated to the University of Minnesota.
In a phone conversation, as she readied for a Realtor home tour and researched the warranty on her treasured 17-year-old double ovens, Ojakangas — known to friends and family as “Peaches” — discussed wild rice as a morning ingredient, ripe bananas and what Americans can learn about breakfast from Scandinavians.
Q: Why do we need to have a good breakfast?
A: It's that adage, "Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper." All nutritionists will say that you have to start the day well, or you won't be able to have sustained energy for the day. I'd say skip the frosted doughnuts, and stuff like that, because that's just fuel that burns quickly. It's like heating your house with newspapers.
Q: What can we glean from Scandinavia’s approach to breakfast?
A: They eat such balanced diets, and they eat healthy foods for breakfast. I think about a buffet we encountered in Iceland, which was fish, cold cuts, cheese and really crunchy whole-grain breads. We wouldn't have thought of that here, but that all makes for a really great beginning of the day. It doesn't have to be a big production, either. If you're in a hurry, there's nothing wrong with having fruit, granola, nuts and yogurt for breakfast. It's appealing. It's like dessert, but it's not sweet.
Q: That reminds me of your ripe bananas story. What is it that you do?
A: When the peels are turning black, I remove them. Then I wrap the bananas — individually — in plastic wrap, and freeze them. Then, when I want to do a smoothie, I just pull the banana out — one for each person — chop up some fresh fruit, and maybe a carrot. I'll add orange juice or some other juice, or milk, or yogurt, and throw it all in a blender, and blend it up. You get all this flavor, without sugar.
Q: Are you a breakfast-for-dinner kind of person?
A: It all depends, because I like a lot of variety. Sometimes I don't think I'd mind a bowl of oatmeal, or granola in milk, or waffles. I have friends who have waffles for dinner, all the time. Dick probably wouldn't go for something like that.
Q: Where do you fall on the pancake vs. waffle discussion? Is it an either/or, or both?
A: For me, it could be one or the other. I get impatient, waiting for the waffle iron to heat up. But I love to make oven pancakes, and serve them with bacon or sausage, or whatever we have in the refrigerator.
Q: That skillet pancake is the book’s second recipe, a pride of place. Why did you include it?
A: We've done that one so much over the years, in part because it's so easy. You can make the batter the day before, and put it in the refrigerator. Actually, the pancake puffs up more nicely when you do that, rather than if you just mix up the batter and put it directly in the oven. I don't have this in the book, but that recipe also makes really great popovers.
Q: What’s the secret to a good biscuit?
A: Whatever fat I'm using — usually it's butter — needs to be kept really cold. That's important. It's also important to handle the dough as little as possible, so that you get the flakiness that you need. Otherwise, they don't turn out; they get kind of tough. I used to mix them by hand, but I've gotten lazier as I've gotten older. Now I throw all of the ingredients in the food processor, but I use a minimum of processing. It's on-off, on-off, and on-off, just until the butter is cut up into pieces about the size of kidney beans.
Q: According to your recipe, making English muffins appears to be fairly easy. Is it?
A: Oh, yeah, they're really easy. I don't know why they have this reputation of being difficult to make. It's a no-knead yeast bread. You just mix it up, roll it out, cut into rounds, put the rounds in a pan and bake. Store-bought English muffins, they just don't have much flavor. Anything you make yourself is going to have a whole lot more flavor.
Q: With several recipes featuring wild rice, you seem determined to make Zizania palustris a breakfast staple. Why?
A: Because I love the texture, and I love the flavor. There's such an earthiness to wild rice. It has the whole grain-y appeal, and it goes well with fruits and nuts. I don't always have cooked wild rice in the refrigerator, but when I do have extra, I'll measure it out and put it in the freezer. It doesn't take long to thaw, and you can use it any way you want.
Q: Is there another cookbook in your future?
A: I'm mulling it around. There might be another one. I can't say "No" and I can't say "Absolutely," either.
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BLUEBERRY BUCKLE
Makes 10 to 12 servings.
Note: If using frozen blueberries, there's no need to thaw them before baking. From "Breakfast With Beatrice."
For batter:
2 cups flour, plus extra for pan
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature, plus extra for pan
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For topping:
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup (5 1/3 tablespoons) butter, at room temperature
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
To prepare batter: Preheat oven to 350 degrees and generously grease and flour a 9-by-13-inch baking pan, or a 10-inch Bundt pan.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and baking soda, and reserve.
In a bowl of an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and sugar until smooth and light. Add eggs and beat until light. Blend in sour cream and vanilla extract, beating until well combined. Reduce speed to low, add flour mixture and mix until just combined. Transfer batter to prepared baking pan.
To prepare topping: In a medium bowl, combine sugar, flour, cinnamon and butter. Sprinkle blueberries evenly over batter, then sprinkle butter mixture over blueberries. Bake until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, about
45 to 55 minutes. Remove from oven, transfer pan to a wire rack and cool. Serve warm.
Nutrition information per each of 12 servings: 455 calories, 25 g fat, 295 mg sodium, 54 g carbohydrates, 15 g saturated fat, 32 mg total sugars, 5 g protein, 95 mg cholesterol, 1 g dietary fiber
Exchanges per serving: 1 1/2 starch, 2 carb, 5 fat.
SPICED WILD RICE PORRIDGE WITH NUTS AND FRUIT
Serves 2.
Note: “Keep cooked wild rice in the refrigerator or freezer so that you can make this tasty and easy — and nutritious — breakfast,” writes Beatrice Ojakangas in “Breakfast With Beatrice.” To cook wild rice, rinse 2/3 cup wild rice until water runs clear. Place in a saucepan and add 2 cups water. Over high heat, bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook until rice has absorbed the water and is tender to the bite, about 30 to 35 minutes. To toast nuts, spread nuts in a dry skillet over medium heat and cook, stirring (or shaking the pan frequently) until they just begin to release their fragrance, about 3 to 4 minutes (alternately, preheat oven to 325 degrees, spread the nuts on an ungreased baking sheet and bake, stirring often, for 4 to 6 minutes).
2 cups cooked wild rice (see Note)
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup dried fruits (raisins, cranberries, or diced apples or apricots)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped toasted pecans, almonds or walnuts (see Note)
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/3 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Milk or cream, for serving
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine wild rice, cream, honey (or maple syrup) and salt and cook, stirring until mixture is hot, about 5 minutes. Stir in dried fruit, nuts, cardamom and cinnamon. Serve hot with milk (or cream).
Nutrition information per serving: 610 calories, 30 g fat, 100 mg sodium, 86 g carbohydrates, 8 g saturated fat, 43 mg total sugars, 10 g protein, 30 mg cholesterol, 8 g dietary fiber
Exchanges per serving: 2 fruit, 2 starch, 1 1/2 carb, 1/2 high-fat protein, 5 fat.
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