Call for Recipes: Dr. Withington's Secret

It was two years ago when TILife’s copy editor, Elspeth Naismith, presented "Call for Recipes!" The article showed a tea towel that proudly hangs in her kitchen and provides the ingredients for a "Traditional 1000 Islands Shore Dinner," written by the late Les Cook, a renowned Canadian fishing guide. Elspeth suggested that our River communities have many farmers, restaurants, storekeepers, and, yes, both year-round and summer residents who have favourite recipes with special River meanings. Since then, we have published some fantastic culinary suggestions!

Well, this month, I, Susie Smith, found a recipe with special meaning, as it brings back many fond memories. 1) Memories of dinners in St. Pete Beach, Florida, with Dr Richard Withington and friends. 2) 1000 Islands Land Trusted Recipes! a cookbook published on the 25th Anniversary of the establishment of TILT, and 3) Wonderful memories of those years I spent with TILT and so many special individuals.  

One winter, we were invited to have dinner at Dick Withington's house on Vina Del Mar, in St. Pete Beach. He made a delicious meatloaf and so I asked for the recipe.

"Sorry", he said, "it has a secret ingredient, and I don't share it".  

Then a few years later, I was perusing TILT's cookbook, which was created in 2010 by the TILT's Cookbook Committee. There it was on page 105 – "My Favourite Meatloaf" by Dick Withington of Round Island – complete with the secret ingredient!

Since then, I have made this several times. I often substitute some of the ingredients, and I make a meatloaf for two – but never, ever, miss the secret ingredient . . . maple syrup!

My Favourite Meatloaf, By Dick Withington, Round Island

Page 105, 1000 Islands Land Trusted Recipes, 2010.

My favourite meat loaf starts with 2 lbs. of ground beef in a mixing bowl. To this I add a cup of oatmeal, an egg, some chopped onion, a can of tomato soup, some black pepper, and usually some small slices of cheddar cheese. This is mixed well and put in a loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Check that the meat temp reaches 160 degrees (inside meat should no longer be pink). When it is about 5 minutes from done, I sprinkle some grated cheddar cheese on the surface and drizzle a table spoon of maple syrup on the top. This is served with a salad of shredded lettuce, shredded carrots, raisins, and veggie ranch dressing or Thousand Island dressing.

When I contacted Dr. W. to tell him I was giving away his secret he also suggested putting a couple of strips of cooked bacon on top - and for sure the "Pièce de résistance", the syrup and these days he serves the salad with only Thousand Island Dressing.

I hope this helps with meal planning, as we head into winter - no matter if you are near a beach or by a North Country fireplace, this will be a winner.

By Susan W. Smith, Editor, info@thousandislandslife.com

Illustration by Marie-Ann Erki

Marie-Anne Erki is a Kingston artist and emeritus professor of civil engineering at the Royal Military College. Marie-Anne initially considered a career in architecture, but her love of mathematics led her to become a structural engineer. She says, "At a time before computer assisted drawing (CAD), both disciplines required a huge amount of freehand and mechanical drawing. After a quarter of a century of great fun as a structural engineer, I decided to pursue painting full time." We at TI Life are fortunate that Marie-Anne has agreed to be our Official Illustrator, and you will find her work in many of our articles. You can also see her works at marieanneerkipaintings.blogspot.com/