Column from February 24, 2011

Health benefits of a popular Washington fruit

February is National Cherry Month and there’s good reason to celebrate here in Washington.

The Pacific Northwest is one of the most famous cherry growing areas in the world. We grow what’s referred to as “World Class Cherries” in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah and Montana, with many of them coming from right here in central Washington.

Cherries are not only tasty, they are good for you, too. They are loaded with antioxidants, potassium and melatonin, which helps promote good sleep patterns. They also contain a compound that works as an anti-inflammatory that is helpful for those suffering from arthritis.

What I found interesting is how studies are finding sweet cherries may reduce the risk for Alzheimer’s disease because they contain phenolics, which protect neuronal cells involved in neurological function.

Fresh cherries can be found from the first week of June until the end of August. There are plenty of orchards that sell cherries right off the trees or you can often find them in local supermarkets. We’ve found plenty of roadside stands in the Mattawa area that offer this tasty fruit for very reasonable prices.

You can freeze cherries whole by packing them – stems and pits included – in freezer bags. Spread the bags out on the shelves until they are thoroughly frozen before stacking them.

When you’re ready to eat them, leave the cherries partially frozen. Otherwise, stem and pit them before using them in a recipe.

Cherries also freeze well in containers. Add 1/3 cup sugar for each pint of pitted or unpitted fresh sweet cherries; toss lightly to coat cherries. Fill freezer containers and shake to pack fruit. Add more cherries to fill containers, cover tightly and freeze.

You can also find many recipes that use canned cherries, like this one offered by Northwest Cherries on the group’s website at www.nwcherries.com. There you will find a variety of recipes for every meal, as well as appetizers, condiments, desserts and beverages.

You can also read more information about cherries there.

Cherry glazed baked chicken

1 can (16-ounce) pitted dark sweet cherries
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 teaspoons hot mustard
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup dried tart cherries
6 (6-1/2 ounces each) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

Salt and pepper to taste
6 rosemary sprigs for garnish

Heat oven to 350ºF. Line a 9" x 13" baking pan with foil and spray foil with non-stick spray; set aside.
To make the glaze: Drain the pitted dark sweet cherries; reserve 1/4 cup of cherry juice. In a blender, puree the drained cherries until smooth. In a skillet, heat the olive oil and sauté the onion and garlic until soft; add the cherry puree, reserved 1/4 cup cherry juice, honey, vinegar, mustard, ginger, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; stir until smooth. Add dried cherries; simmer 5 minutes.
Arrange chicken breasts in foil-lined baking pan; season with salt and pepper to taste. Brush chicken lightly with cherry glaze; reserve remaining glaze. Cover the pan with foil and bake chicken 20 minutes; brush with additional glaze and bake uncovered 10 to 15 minutes longer or until chicken is done.
To serve, pour 2 tablespoons warm reserved glaze over each chicken breast and garnish with a rosemary sprig.

Column from February 17, 2011

Helping in your own community

We certainly appreciated the support everyone showed the Othello museum at the community diner Sunday. I had several people tell me the reason they were there was to support the museum.

The museum runs on a shoestring budget. We generally take in just enough donations each year to pay the utilities and insurance on the building.

However, that building is now more than 100 years old and in need of serious repair. Just a new roof alone will run about $40,000. We also need to do some work to the foundation and the windows need replaced.

Every little bit helps and those who showed up at the community diner for breakfast helped add some extra funds to the coffer.

Of course, with that donation came an excellent breakfast prepared by chefs Timm Taff, Fernando Moreno and Rob Simmons. Not only are they great cooks, they also keep everyone entertained and feeling welcome.

They designed the monthly event to help raise funds for non-profit groups in Othello. This past weekend was the community diner’s first anniversary. Since it began, many organizations have been recipients of these three men’s kindness.

On that note, did you know today is “Random Acts of Kindness Day?” It’s a day that should be celebrated on more than just Feb. 17. Everyone should take the opportunity to find a “pet” project, whether it be helping one of the local non-profits, volunteering at one of the schools or helping an elderly neighbor with their chores and errands.

How about fixing a special meal for a shut-in? Or bringing cookies to one of the kindergarten classes? Or offering to volunteer on one of the local boards?

There is a variety of ways you can make a difference in your community. Just a few hours a month can make a huge difference in someone’s life.

And don’t forget to support your local non-profits by having breakfast once a month at the community diner. The group that will benefit from the March diner will be Xi Beta Xi, the local chapter of Beta Sigma Phi.

The community diner takes place the second Sunday of each month. For $9 ($7 for children in first through sixth grade), you get an all-you-can-eat breakfast of sausage, bacon, fiesta potatoes, waffles, biscuits and gravy, eggs Benedict, omelets and crepes. Children under the age of 5 eat free.

The breakfast takes place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Othello Senior Center.

Here’s an easy recipe you can fix at home on the other Sundays of the month!

Baked stuffing cups with eggs and bacon

1-1/2 cups prepared stuffing

6 eggs

Salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons shredded cheddar cheese

2 strips cooked bacon, crumbled

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray six cups of a muffin pan with cooking spray.

Place 1/4 cup stuffing into each muffin cup, pressing up sides to make a “cup.” Carefully crack an egg into each cup. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until eggs are set. Sprinkle each with 1 teaspoon cheese; top with crumbled bacon. Bake until cheese is melted, about 2 to 3 more minutes.

Remove stuffing cups from pan and serve immediately.

Column from February 10, 2011

A warm dish on a cold winter day

The snow storms ravishing the eastern part of the U.S. are pretty amazing. Most are staying indoors to avoid getting stranded and I certainly can’t blame them.

Having grown up in the Midwest, I can emphasize with their plight.

However, the adults are the ones who feel it the most. For the kids … well, it’s playtime!

I remember the huge snow storms we had when I was a kid. They always meant lots of fun making snowmen, snowball fights, sled riding or just running around and having a great time.

I also remember spending days digging the family car out so my dad could go to work.

Sure, it was cold, but we didn’t notice it. Yet, it was still great to come indoors to a cup of hot chocolate and a warm meal.

Those days, we didn’t buy a hot cocoa mix from the grocery store. We warmed up milk and added Nestlé Quik for a great tasting drink.

A quick snack and dry clothes and we were back outside for more fun in the snow.

When I was in high school, we lived a mere six blocks from the school. I would leave earlier than usual to walk that short distance with snow falling around me. It was still dark and no cars had disturbed the peaceful landscape.

School closures were rare since a lot of snow was normal. Everyone was always prepared for it.

If there was more snow than usual, you stayed home – like people are doing there now – and you made do with what you had. Sometimes, that meant you had to have a little imagination when it came to cooking a meal with what was in the cupboard.

That was often easier than today, too, since we didn’t have as many convenience foods to rely on. You could cook up a stew or a roast in no time and everyone was satisfied.

A favorite quick meal then and now is stroganoff. It’s easy to prepare and most people have the ingredients handy. You can use any meat you have on hand – beef, ground beef or even chicken. It’s a pretty versatile dish.

Here’s a recipe for stroganoff that’s very simple to prepare. Next time you’re shopping, pick up what you need and stash the ingredients aside for anytime you need a quick meal.

Easy chicken stroganoff

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into strips

2 cups sliced mushrooms

1 medium onion, chopped

1 can condensed cream of chicken soup

½ cup sour cream

4 cups hot cooked egg noodles

In a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat, in 1 tablespoon hot butter or margarine, cook half the chicken until browned, stirring often. Remove; set aside. Repeat with remaining chicken.

Reduce heat to medium. In same skillet, in remaining 1 tablespoon butter or margarine, cook mushrooms and onions until tender and liquid is evaporated, stirring often.

Stir in soup and sour cream. Heat to boiling. Return chicken to skillet. Heat through, stirring occasionally.

Serve over noodles. Garnish as desired.

Column from February 3, 2011

Authentic European cooking is a rare treat

I started reading a book last weekend that takes place in Paris, France. It’s a historical fiction novel about Ernest Hemingway’s first wife and their marriage.

It’s an advanced reader edition, which means the book hasn’t come out yet. I was asked by Random House to read and review it and I’m really enjoying the story.

Hemingway was a friend of my aunt and they often spent time together during the ski season in Idaho. She talked about his eccentricities and I could see some of that in this book.

Sunday evening, I watched an edition of House Hunters International on HGTV. The people were looking for an apartment in France and even though it’s 80 years after when the book takes place, I recognized some of the same areas mentioned in the novel. It definitely gave a real feel for the story to see those places, which haven’t changed very much after all these years.

Another bonus to reading the book is how it talks about the food you find in France, as well as the other countries they traveled to while living there.

I like reading about food in other parts of the world and I have a great cookbook about cooking in the Vienna Empire. The book includes Vienna, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Hungary, where my family is from. It not only has recipes, it has pages of history about the region and the cooking there. It also has some great photographs of the region and the people who live there.

It’s a fun book and interesting to read and look through. This book provides dishes I didn’t have the recipes for and some I hadn’t heard of. It’s a great addition to my collection of cookbooks.

I picked up the book mainly because it included Hungary. I have several of my grandmother’s recipes. She was such an excellent cook and I miss her meals, especially her stuffed cabbage and apple strudel.

One of my favorite meals was always my grandmother’s chicken paprika or paprikás csirke. With the traditional use of sour cream and paprika, it is so delicious. I can still taste how wonderful grandma’s version was.

I do have her recipe and it’s very similar to the one in my Vienna cookbook, so I’m going to share the printed version.

Chicken paprika

3-pound frying chicken, cut up

Salt

2 tablespoons lard

1 cup finely chopped onions

½ teaspoon finely chopped garlic

1-1/2 tablespoons sweet Hungarian paprika

1 cup chicken stock, fresh or canned

2 tablespoons flour

1-1/2 cup sour cream

Pat the chicken pieces dry with paper towels and salt them generously.

In a 10-inch skillet, heat the lard over high heat until a light haze forms over it. Add as many chicken pieces, skin side down, as will fit in one layer. After 2 or 3 minutes, or when the pieces are a golden brown on the bottom side, turn them with tongs and brown the other side. Remove pieces as they brown and replace them with uncooked ones.

Pour off the fat, leaving only a thin film. Add the onions and garlic and cook over medium heat 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly colored. Remove from heat and stir in the paprika. Stir until the onions are well coated. Return the skillet to the heat and add the chicken stock. Bring to a boil, stirring in the brown bits from the bottom and sides of the pan.

Return the chicken to the skillet. Bring the liquid to a boil, then turn the heat to very low and cover the pan tightly. Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes or until the juice from a thigh runs yellow when pierced with the point of a small sharp knife.

When the chicken is tender, remove it to a platter.

Skim the surface fat from the skillet.

In a mixing bowl, stir the flour into the sour cream with a wire whisk, then stir the mixture into the simmering juices. Simmer 6 to 8 minutes longer or until the sauce is thick and smooth. Return the chicken and any juices to the skillet. Baste with the sauce and simmer 3 to 4 minutes to heat the pieces through. Serve with hot buttered egg noodles, if desired.

Column from January 27, 2011

Health benefits of chocolate

Most people like chocolate … and some could even say they love it. So, get out your party hats because today is National Chocolate Cake Day.

Personally, I can’t think of a better way to celebrate chocolate than giving it a special day, especially if it is baked in a cake.

Chocolate is more than just tasty; it’s can also be good for you. Studies have found chocolate contains flavonoids, a type of antioxidant – the same one found in strawberries, cranberries and apples.

These antioxidants contribute to the body producing good cholesterol and less bad cholesterol. 

Researchers have also found dark chocolate may lower blood pressure in people with hypertension.

Flavonoids can also help the body’s cells resist damage caused by free radicals formed by normal body functions, such as breathing pollutants. That’s good news for those of us who live in the Columbia Basin, an area that is high in air pollution and stagnant air due to the number of processing plants, loose field dust and dirt caused by high winds and field burning.

Flavonoids also improve blood flow to the brain and heart.

The trick is to balance the benefits of chocolate with the dangers of a high fat diet. Chocolate itself is actually high in oleic acid, a monounsaturated fat also found in olive oil, which is one of the best oils for you.

However, what makes chocolate a bad choice for healthy diets is combining it with other ingredients, such as caramel and marshmallows. Those extra ingredients are what add lots of extra fat and calories.

Like anything you add to your daily menu, moderation is the key. Fortunately, there are a lot of low-fat recipes available for any dessert you want to bake.

Here’s one I’d recommend for chocolate cake, which also includes apples – another items on the list for flavonoids.

Low-fat German chocolate apple cake

Put 4 cups sliced apples in a large mixing bowl. Add:

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 tablespoons cocoa

2 eggs

1 cup raisins

1 cup walnuts or pecans (optional)

Mix well. Add 2 cups flour, mixing well.

Pour into a greased and floured 9-by-13 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Ice while hot.

Icing

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

3 tablespoons cocoa

2 tablespoons butter

½ teaspoon vanilla

Combine icing ingredients, adding enough milk to make it spreadable. Spread over hot cake. Serve warm or cool.