Welcome to My Kitchen

Frosty nights bring on clean-up-the-garden time. Some fortunate gardeners gained an abundance of green beans after the hot summer temperatures subsided. Former Odessa resident Sherie Heimbigner asked if I had the recipe for the green bean soup served at the annual Mennonite Auction. I do not have the Mennonite recipe but I shared with her the recipe I have used.

German Grun Bohne Suppe [editor’s note: or in grammatically correct modern German, “gruene Bohnensuppe”] attributed to Katherine Wilcox in Kuche Kochen, compiled by the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, is a simple recipe. With five cups of cut green beans in a lightly seasoned broth, rich in dairy products, this is a great soup to serve with homemade rolls or bread or grilled cheese sandwiches.

German Green Bean Soup

5 cups fresh green beans cut in small pieces (about 1 inch)

6 cups water

3 cups potato cut in small pieces (1/2 inch dice)

3 Tbsp minced onion

2 Tbsp salt, or more

1/8 tsp ground black pepper

3 cups rich (whole) milk

1 cup cream

1/2 cup butter

Combine beans, water, onion, salt and pepper in a large kettle. Boil until beans are almost tender. Add potato and cook until potatoes are tender. Add milk, cream and butter and bring just to a boil. Serve immediately. Yield: 4-6 servings

Note: start with one tablespoon salt, then add to taste.

Becky Kolterman shared the Dill Pickle Soup recipe served during Deutschesfest. The recipe was found on the Noble Pig website.

Dill Pickle Soup

5 1/2 cups chicken broth

1 3/4 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and quartered

2 cups chopped carrots

1 cup chopped dill pickles

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup sour cream

1/4 cup water

2 cups dill pickle juice

1 1/2 tsp Old Bay Seasoning

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

In a large kettle, combine broth, potatoes, carrots and butter. Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are tender. Add pickles and continue to boil.

In a medium bowl, stir together flour, sour cream and water, making a paste. Vigorously whisk sour cream mixture, 2 tablespoons at a time, into soup. This will also break up some of the potatoes. Keep whisking until flour is thoroughly incorporated.

Add pickle juice, Old Bay Seasoning, salt, pepper and cayenne. Cook 5 minutes more, then remove from heat. Serve immediately. Yield: 8 servings.

Kerry Scheller showed a photo on Facebook of Jalapeno Corn Relish she had canned. When asked, she shared her recipe. The recipe uses the water bath method of preserving. Made with fresh corn, cut from the cobs, this relish goes well with all red meat, pork and chicken.

Jalapeno Corn Salsa

20 ears corn on the cob, steamed 5 minutes and cooled completely in cold water

1 large onion, cut in small pieces

1 large red pepper, seeded and cut in small pieces

4 jalapeno peppers, seeded and cut into small pieces (use gloves)

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup distilled white vinegar

8 crushed, dried red peppers

60 twists black pepper from a pepper mill

5 Tbsp whole coriander seeds

4 Tbsp whole mustard seeds

2 Tbsp salt

Remove corn from the cobs by cutting close to the cob with a sharp knife. Place corn in a large bowl or kettle with all the other ingredients. Mix well. Fill nine pint jars with the mixture, stirring often between fills. Bring enough water to a boil in a canning kettle to cover jars by about 2-3 inches. Boil canning lids for 5 minutes in water to cover. Wipe the rims of the jars clean before placing the hot lid on jar rim. And screw bands finger tight. Process 15 minutes in boiling hot water bath. Carefully remove from water bath when processing time is done. Yield: 9 pints (about 18 cups).

Note: frozen corn, thawed, can be substituted for the ears of corn.

Some time ago, several people asked for the recipe for the Corn Casserole Barb Schlimmer brought to a potluck meal. Barb found the recipe on Allrecipes.com. This is an easy side dish for any meal.

Corn Casserole III

1 container (8 ounces) sour cream

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 can (15 ounces) creamed corn

1 can (15 ounces) kernel corn

1 package (8 1/2 ounces) corn bread mix.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl. Stir together sour cream, butter, creamed corn, kernel corn and corn bread mix.

Pour into casserole dish or 9-inch-square baking dish. Bake 40 minutes or until mixture is set.

Corn is easy to freeze for winter use. As Kerry did for the Corn Salsa, steam corn on the cob for 5 minutes. Cool completely in cold water.

Drain cooled cobs well. Then using a sharp knife, cut kernels from the cobs. Pack kernels into desired size packages. Zip closure freezer bags work well for freezing corn. Place in freezer immediately and freeze until needed. Corn will freeze well for the duration of winter.

In case you missed the correction in last week’s issue of The Odessa Record, 1 cup whipping cream was inadvertently omitted from the Schwarzenbeeren Kuchen recipe in the Deutchesfest supplement. We regret the confusion, but had some lovely conversations with those who called about it. We welcome you communications about all cooking related subjects.

– Please share your favorite fall meal recipes with your fellow readers by sending them to: Welcome to My Kitchen, 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. Fall garden and flower bed cleanup should include placing straw, dry lawn clippings or chopped leaf mulch around cold sensitive plants to insulate against any below zero frosts that may come over winter.