Bannock: Bread of the First Nation’s people

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I did not have to check the menu, as I knew, no matter what, I would be ordering bannocks ,  I was working in a Dene Settlement  up in the territories, the Friday menu always had freshly baked bannocks. Although this bread was very new to me, as I cut the still warm bannock  in half to slather the butter and jam, I was totally convinced that  the main ingredient in this recipe was “Love”………..

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This delicious and easy bread stores well, can be cooked on a campfire or even fried.

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Navigating these difficult times, I take comfort from food.

Salute to our ‘Home and native land’. Happy Canada day!

Recipe: Makes a dozen, depending on the size.

Ingredients;

All purpose flour                          3 cups

Baking powder                            11/2 Tbsps

Salt                                             1/4 tsp

Cold butter                                  1/4 cup

Milk                                            11/2 cups

Method;

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Take a bowl with the all purpose flour, salt, baking powder and butter. Mix them together. Use both hands to mix the butter pieces and flour together, until it looks like wet sand.

Make a well in the middle, add the milk, Gently bring these two together using a fork . Do not knead.Just aim to bring it together as a loose dough. Now bring this on a lightly floured flat surface. Use all the fingers to spread it on all sides. Turn it over and use your fingers to extend again. Take a fork and pierce it all around. Take a round cookie cutter and cut into rounds.

Lightly grease a cookie sheet. Put the round pieces on the sheet. bake for 30-35 minutes. Take the cookie sheet out, turn each of the bannocks.

Enjoy them with a good slather of butter and jam of your choice.

These store well in a airtight container.