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After months of sitting by the dock of the bay leisurely enjoying life, our October living found us out and on the road again. We’re just back from a wonderful cruise with Road Scholar in conjunction with Lindberg Expeditions/National Geographic on the Columbia River following, when possible, the exploratory travels of Lewis and Clark. The cruise organizers, Lindberg Expeditions, are committed to promoting the local agriculture in the areas in which they are traveling and so our cruise menus featured locally grown grains, produce, wines, beers and cheeses.
I did bring back recipes from the chef to share with you — but I’ve misplaced those, so today’s column will have to whet your appetite for the bounties of the Northwest and I’ll keep searching for those recipes. Meanwhile I can share with you this very interesting and very tasty recipe for, of all things, beet bundt cake that we did enjoy one night on our cruise. I had discovered this recipe about a year ago on allrecipes.com, tested it and put it aside for an appropriate column. This is that time! This was listed on our cruise menu as “Chocolate Beet Cake” and you can name it whatever you want as long as you try it.
When I realized that I had misplaced the cruise recipes, I really had to hustle to test some recipes which proved very serendipitous because I realized that I needed something quick for dinner one night soon after I had received an email from Gooseberry Patch that contained this recipe for chicken and dressing bake. I rushed off to the grocery store with recipe in hand and quickly prepared this very tasty recipe that I think you’ll find handy a month from now when you might be looking for a way to use up the last of your Thanksgiving turkey.
Lastly I grabbed a loaf of French bread during the above shopping dash and after a very pleasing chicken and dressing dinner (supplemented by a side of Stouffer’s spinach soufflé from that same grocery’s frozen foods case), I did the prep work for freezer French toast so that we’d have something ready for breakfast before we left for yet another short trip. Spicer loves French toast and with this recipe in the freezer, he can now fix his own. Remember this recipe for Christmas morning.
Beet bundt cake
(adapted from www.allrecipes.com)
1 cup butter or margarine, softened, divided
1 1/2 cups packed dark brown sugar
3 eggs
4 (1 ounce) squares semisweet chocolate
2 cups pureed cooked beets*
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
confectioners’ sugar
In a mixing bowl, cream 3/4 cup butter and brown sugar. Add eggs; mix well. Melt chocolate with remaining butter; stir until smooth. Cool slightly. Blend chocolate mixture, beets and vanilla into the creamed mixture (mixture will appear separated). Combine flour, baking soda and salt; add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Pour into a greased and floured 10-in. fluted tube pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack. Cool completely. Before serving, dust with confectioners’ sugar.
After months of sitting by the dock of the bay leisurely enjoying life, our October living found us out and on the road again. We’re just back from a wonderful cruise with Road Scholar in conjunction with Lindberg Expeditions/National Geographic on the Columbia River following, when possible, the exploratory travels of Lewis and Clark. The cruise organizers, Lindberg Expeditions, are committed to promoting the local agriculture in the areas in which they are traveling and so our cruise menus featured locally grown grains, produce, wines, beers and cheeses.
I did bring back recipes from the chef to share with you — but I’ve misplaced those, so today’s column will have to whet your appetite for the bounties of the Northwest and I’ll keep searching for those recipes. Meanwhile I can share with you this very interesting and very tasty recipe for, of all things, beet bundt cake that we did enjoy one night on our cruise. I had discovered this recipe about a year ago on allrecipes.com, tested it and put it aside for an appropriate column. This is that time! This was listed on our cruise menu as “Chocolate Beet Cake” and you can name it whatever you want as long as you try it.
When I realized that I had misplaced the cruise recipes, I really had to hustle to test some recipes which proved very serendipitous because I realized that I needed something quick for dinner one night soon after I had received an email from Gooseberry Patch that contained this recipe for chicken and dressing bake. I rushed off to the grocery store with recipe in hand and quickly prepared this very tasty recipe that I think you’ll find handy a month from now when you might be looking for a way to use up the last of your Thanksgiving turkey.
Lastly I grabbed a loaf of French bread during the above shopping dash and after a very pleasing chicken and dressing dinner (supplemented by a side of Stouffer’s spinach soufflé from that same grocery’s frozen foods case), I did the prep work for freezer French toast so that we’d have something ready for breakfast before we left for yet another short trip. Spicer loves French toast and with this recipe in the freezer, he can now fix his own. Remember this recipe for Christmas morning.
Beet bundt cake
(adapted from www.allrecipes.com)
1 cup butter or margarine, softened, divided
1 1/2 cups packed dark brown sugar
3 eggs
4 (1 ounce) squares semisweet chocolate
2 cups pureed cooked beets*
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
confectioners’ sugar
In a mixing bowl, cream 3/4 cup butter and brown sugar. Add eggs; mix well. Melt chocolate with remaining butter; stir until smooth. Cool slightly. Blend chocolate mixture, beets and vanilla into the creamed mixture (mixture will appear separated). Combine flour, baking soda and salt; add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Pour into a greased and floured 10-in. fluted tube pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack. Cool completely. Before serving, dust with confectioners’ sugar.
* 3 (15-ounce) cans sliced regular beets, well drained and mashed will equal about 2 ½ cups pureed cooked beets but use only 2 cups.
Chicken and Dressing Bake
(from Gooseberry’s Quick and Easy Christmas)
2 (6-ounce) bags dry cornbread stuffing mix
1 teaspoon dried sage
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 onion, finely chopped
4 stalks celery, finely chopped
2 (10 3/4-ounce) cans cream of chicken or celery soup
2 cups chicken low-sodium chicken broth
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided usage
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cut into pieces*
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly greased and set aside a 9- x 13-inch Pyrex or ceramic (3-quart) baking dish or two smaller casseroles. In a large bowl mix together stuffing mix, sage and ground pepper. Mix in onion and celery and toss to mix well. In another smaller bowl mix together soups and broth along with 1 cup of the shredded cheese and whisk to blend. Pour this mixture over the stuffing mixture and gently stir to blend together. Spread this evenly over the bottom of the prepared pan(s). Place cooked chicken over the stuffing mix. Sprinkle evenly with remaining cheese. Bake, covered, in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Remove cover and bake for 5 to 10 minutes more.
* I used three packages of refrigerated Butterball grilled chicken breast strips
Freezer French toast
(adapted from www.allrecipes.com)
4 eggs
1 (5.3-ounce) can evaporated milk
milk
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
10 (3/4-inch) slices day-old French bread
slivers of butter (when ready to bake)
In a large bowl beat eggs. Pour evaporated milk into a measuring cup and add enough more milk so that you have one full cup of milk. Add this to the whisked eggs along with the brown sugar, vanilla extract and nutmeg and whisk just long enough to allow the sugar to dissolve. Place the bread slices into a well-greased 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Pour egg mixture over bread. Let soak for several minutes, turning once to coat. Freeze just until firm. (If – as I did – you allow this to freeze too long, you’ll have a difficult time getting this out of your pan!) Package individual servings (probably 2 slices) into airtight freezer bags and return to freezer. To bake preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place bread on well-greased baking surface. Dot with slivers of butter. Bake at 425 degrees for 7 minutes. Turn slices over and bake for 7 minutes more until golden brown.
