Welcome to My Kitchen

Welcome to all Deutschesfest attendees reading this column. Readers share their recipes, and I do my best to test results, so all can successfully make the delicious dishes shared by Odessa cooks. All readers are invited to submit recipes.

In light of Deutschesfest, our first recipe this week is Scalloped Cabbage. Kathy Ashe brought this to a recent potluck and received numerous recipe requests. She got the recipe while living in Minnesota, so the dish may have Scandinavian roots, but I do think our German ancestors would approve.

Kathy stated the dish would be slicked up so fast she never got a chance to taste the dish until she made it herself after moving to Washington.

Scalloped Cabbage

1 head cabbage (about 4 pounds), cored and cut into wedges.

1 Tbsp salt

Sauce:

4 Tbsp butter

4 Tbsp all-purpose flour

2 cups milk

2 cups shredded cheddar

1/2 tsp salt

Topping:

1 sleeve saltines, crushed

Butter (about 4 Tbsp)

Steam cabbage 10 minutes. After steaming, add salt, then drain well. Place cabbage in buttered 13x9x2-inch baking dish. While cabbage is steaming, make cheese sauce. In a saucepan, melt butter. Add flour and salt and stir until mixture is lightly browned. Slowly stir in milk and add cheese. Stir until cheese is melted and sauce is thickened. Pour cheese sauce over cabbage. Gently stir, trying to keep cabbage in small wedges. Top with cracker crumbs. Dot liberally with butter.

Bake in preheated 375-degree oven for 25 minutes or until topping has browned. Yield: 6-8 servings.

Though German recipes are on our minds during Deutschesfest week, recipes from all cultural backgrounds have a place here. Merleen Smith made Black Bean and Corn Salad for the same potluck lunch. Served with corn chips for dipping, it doubles as a salsa. Merleen got the recipe from the Fiesta Fare edition of the Friends of the Pool Cookbook.

Black Bean and Corn Salad

1 can (15 oz.) black beans, drained and rinsed

1 1/2 cups corn kernels, fresh or thawed

1 large red bell pepper, diced

1 cup chopped celery

3/4 cup minced red onion

2 fresh jalapeño peppers, seeded and minced

1/2 cup chopped, fresh cilantro

2 tsp cumin seed

Dressing:

1/4 cup lime juice

1/2 Tbsp lime zest

2 Tbsp brown sugar

1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp salt

Fresh ground pepper

1/4 cup vegetable oil

In large salad bowl combine all salad ingredients and set aside.

In a small bowl, combine all the dressing ingredients. Use a wire whisk, mixing until blended. Pour dressing over salad ingredients. Toss ingredients to thoroughly coat with dressing. Cover and refrigerate at least one hour. Can be served cold or at room temperature. Good with tortilla or corn chips. Yield: 6-8 servings.

German Oat Cake, a chocolate oatmeal cake served by Royal Neighbors at early Deutschesfests, may be available at the Museum Bake Sale Friday morning if someone donates it. This sweet unfrosted cake reminds me of 1980's era Snackin' Cakes. The recipe features German's brand of sweet chocolate.

Though folks come to the bake sale looking for German chocolate cake, most do not realize the cake really isn't German. The original recipe appeared on packages of German's brand chocolate. German was the surname of the company founders. Because the chocolate is sweet, cakes made with it are lighter in color than most chocolate cakes, and less rich in flavor, making them ideal for the super sweet coconut based topping we often add to them.

German Oat Cake

1 1/4 cups boiling water

1 cup regular rolled oats

1/2 cup butter

1 bar (4 oz.) German's brand sweet chocolate, broken into pieces

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup packed brown sugar

3 eggs

Into boiling water, pour oats, butter and chocolate. Stir until butter and chocolate are melted. Set aside and let mixture stand 20 minutes.

In a large mixing bowl, pour flour, granulated sugar, baking soda and salt. Stir well. Add brown sugar and eggs, stir until well blended.

Add the oatmeal mixture and beat until just combined. Pour mixture into a well greased and floured 13x9-inch baking pan. Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes. A toothpick inserted near the center will come out clean. Cool completely before cutting cake. Yield: 12 - 15 servings.

This cake is delicious without frosting, but a cream cheese based frosting or a coconut and pecan frosting go well. The light chocolate color of the baked cake is a perfect background for the old fashioned tradition of sprinkling powdered sugar through a paper doily to create a snowflake pattern on the cake surface.

Dress up plain brownies by using this powdered sugar and doily trick when you need "fancy" in a hurry.

Share your favorite recipes, German or otherwise, with your fellow readers. To our Deutschesfest visitors, are there German recipes you are searching for? I have a vast collection of recipe resources so we may have just what you are looking for. Send your recipes and requests to: Welcome to My Kitchen, c/o The Odessa Record, P.O. Box 458, Odessa WA 99159, email therecord@odessaoffice.com or drop them in the Welcome to My Kitchen mail tin in The Odessa Record office. Deadhead flowers to encourage plants to put on blooms during the last of summer and into fall.