Column from March 18, 2010

The wearing of the green

I’m pretty excited about visiting The Old Hotel Café here in Othello this weekend. Alicia Gonzalez, the proprietress, will be celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with wonderful decorations, including pretty green lights.

Alicia really likes decorating for the holidays and I always look forward to seeing what she’s done. In fact, after the green lights come down, she will be fixing up the café for Easter. That should be lots of fun, too.

I realize St. Patrick’s Day is past, but because it falls in the middle of the week this year, it can easily be extended into the weekend.

I do have a little Irish in me – well, Scots-Irish, which is close enough. Although I don’t wear a lot of green, for this one day a year I tend to put on something, even if it’s just a little pin. I used to tell people my eyes are green, so I thought I was covered, but everyone tells me that doesn’t count.

Now, I do wear blue regularly, which was the original color associated with St. Patrick. The color changed to green early in the 17^th century because St. Patrick was said to have used the shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity to the pre-Christian Irish.

In 1798, in hopes of making a political statement, Irish soldiers wore full green uniforms on March 17 to catch people’s attention. The phrase “the wearing of the green,” meaning to wear a shamrock on one’s clothing, derives from the song of the same name.

I suppose that means Alicia could use blue lights if she runs out of green, but they wouldn’t match the special green dessert she’s planning to make for this weekend’s guests at her café. She was kind enough to share it with my readers, too, so I hope you enjoy it. I think it sounds really good.

Be sure to stop by The Old Hotel Café at 33 East Larch if you’re out and about. It’s open for breakfast and lunch on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Festive Bavarian bites

1 box (18.25 ounces) devil’s food cake mix

2 packages (3 ounces each) lime gelatin mix

4 packages (3 ounces each) cream cheese, at room temperature

12-ounce container frozen whipped topping, thawed and divided

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Divide batter evenly between two greased and floured 11-by-15 jelly roll pans, spreading with spatula to cover pans evenly. Bake 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean.

Let cool completely.

In bowl, combine gelatin mix and 1-2/3 cups boiling water. Stir two minutes or until gelatin is completely dissolved. Set aside.

In food processor, puree cream cheese one minute until smooth; scrape down sides of bowl. Stir in gelatin mixture. Puree one minute.

Transfer mixture to a large bowl. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in 4 cups whipped topping. Divide mixture evenly and spread on the two cakes. Chill 15 minutes.

Place one filling-topped cake on the second cake layer. Spread remaining whipped topping evenly on top. Cut into squares. Garnish each square with chocolate curls and mint, if desired.

Another version, which Alicia plans to serve for Easter, features cranberry gelatin. Decorate this cake with frozen cranberries rolled in sugar.

There are many ways to create a favorite cake with this recipe. Try using lemon cake with pineapple gelatin or fudge marble cake with orange filling.

Column from Thursday, March 11, 2010

Cooking with the Academy Awards

I don’t watch a lot of TV, but I follow what goes on via the Internet. The short clips and news articles are good enough for me to find out what’s happening so I’m not totally lost when people talk about their favorite shows.

This past weekend, the big news was the Academy Awards. Tons of articles, photos, film trailers, critic reviews and people twitting, blogging, chatting and commenting on who should and shouldn’t win the coveted Oscar.

The favorite for best actress was definitely Meryl Streep. She played Julia Child in the movie “Julie and Julia,” based on the book by the same name.

I’m an avid reader and I write book reviews for several publishers and publicists. I’ve also read some books when my reviews were requested by the authors themselves.

However, I’ve not read “Julie and Julia,” so I don’t know how the movie compares to the book. In fact, to be honest, I haven’t seen the movie, either. I had every intention of seeing it, but it just didn’t fit into my busy schedule.

That means I also don’t know if, indeed, Streep is the actress who deserved to win, so I’ll just take everyone’s word for it until I get around to watching the DVD.

I use the Internet for a lot of different things. Besides posting my reviews, I do a huge amount of research on books, both new and old. I also look up recipes for my own use and for folks who ask for cooking advice and particular recipes I can’t find in the many cookbooks I own.

So, in honor of Oscar, I decided to see what recipes from the book and movie were posted online. Well, I found quite a variety. One site features recipes specifically from food celebrities and shows.

That site has several from “Julie and Julia,” including one for French silk pie, also known as chocolate meringue, which is one of my favorites. This version may be a little complicated, but it has to be positively decadent!

French silk pie

30 chocolate wafers
2 tablespoons chopped pitted dates
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 tablespoon brewed coffee
1 tablespoon water
1-1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
1 large egg
1/2 cup 1 percent milk
8 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 ounces bittersweet (not sweetened chocolate)
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons dried egg whites
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
Chocolate shavings, optional

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Coat a 9-inch pie pan with cooking spray.
2. Prepare crust: Combine chocolate wafers and dates in a food processor; process until finely chopped. Add 2 tablespoons water and oil; process until moistened. Press into the bottom and sides of the prepared pan.
3. Bake the crust until crisp, about 10 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack.
4. Prepare filling and garnish: Combine coffee and water in a small bowl. Sprinkle gelatin on top and set aside to soften.
5. Whisk egg, milk, 3 tablespoons brown sugar and cocoa in a small saucepan until smooth. Cook over low heat, whisking constantly, until thickened and an instant-read thermometer registers 160 degrees, 5 to 7 minutes. Do not let mixture come to a simmer. Remove from heat. Add the reserved gelatin mixture; stir until dissolved. Add chocolate and vanilla, stirring until melted. Set aside to cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes.
6. Place egg whites and cream of tartar in a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until frothy. Increase speed to high and beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add the remaining 5 tablespoons brown sugar, beating until meringue is smooth and glossy.
7. Whisk one-fourth of the meringue into the chocolate mixture until smooth. Scrape chocolate mixture into the remaining meringue and use a whisk to incorporate it with a folding motion. Spoon into the crust and chill, uncovered, until set, about 3 hours.
8. If desired, garnish with chocolate shavings before serving.

Tip: To make chocolate shavings, place a block of chocolate (2 ounces or larger) on wax paper and microwave on defrost until slightly softened but not melted, 15 to 30 seconds. Use a swivel-bladed vegetable peeler to shave off curls. If the chocolate gets too hard to shave easily, warm it again.

Column from Thursday, March 4, 2010

Baking shouldn’t be a disaster

I was thinking about how lucky we are here in the Othello area when it comes to natural disasters.

With Haiti and Chile digging out from recent earthquakes, we are fortunate there is only about a 15 percent chance of a tremor here. And if we were to have a quake, it would be relatively minor compared to many parts of the country or the world.

We also don’t have to face major snow storms like the one that has been hitting the northeast. Just last weekend, it dumped another three feet of snow. Plus, the storm has brought hurricane-force winds that have knocked down trees and power lines leaving thousands without electricity.

Floods are also pretty rare here, if you don’t count the foot of water that collects downtown when we get a lot of rain.

Our local fire department is well-equipped in the event of wildfire, which are typically few and far between.

We don’t have to worry much about drought. Thanks to the Columbia Basin Irrigation Project we have plenty of water.

About the only natural disaster we have is the regular spewing of ash from Mt. St. Helens, but that’s only about every 10,000 years or so. The last one was only 30 years ago, so we probably don’t have to worry about that for a while, either.

Yes, we are very fortunate. Not only is Othello basically disaster-free, we also have great weather.

Look at the record-breaking warm temperatures we’ve had this past month. Who would have thought we would hit 60 degrees in February? According to the Spokane news I watched the other evening, the previous record of 51 was set decades ago.

Of course, we don’t usually get very cold weather – maybe a week or two in December or January. Our mild winters are definitely a bonus.

As for summer, yes, we do get several weeks of extremely hot weather, but is that so bad? I don’t think so. That’s what air conditioning is for!

The only drawback to the hot weather is it’s not a good time for baking. The oven can really heat up the kitchen, so this is a good time of year to enjoy homemade baked goods.

My favorites contain chocolate. I’ve had my recipe for Mississippi (where they have hurricanes that we don’t!) mud cake for many years.

It’s really tasty and easy to make.

Mississippi mud cake

3/4 cup butter
1/2 cup brewed coffee
1/2 cup heavy cream
4 eggs
1-1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1-3/4 cups sifted flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 bars (1.2-ounces each) milk chocolate candy

Let butter, coffee, cream and eggs warm to room temperature (butter should be very soft). Grease and flour 11-3/4 by 7-1/2 by 1-3/4 inch pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine room temperature ingredients with sugar, cocoa, flour, baking powder, salt and vanilla. Beat at medium speed one minute. Pour into pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

Break candy bars into pieces. Place on hot cake and let stand one minute. Spread to frost.