Welcome to My Kitchen

September and October bring more fall festivals and celebrations. Many feature an Oktoberfest theme and bake sales are a common attraction. Lebkucken, a German heritage recipe, is a honey and spice flavored cookie, popular at such bake sales. This recipe comes from a Hutterite cookbook from the Bow Island area of Alberta. Canada.

Lebkuchen

1 2/3 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup water

1 cup honey

2 Tbsp butter

1 egg, well beaten

1/4 cup finely chopped nuts

1/3 cup finely chopped orange peel

1 tsp ground anise seed

1/2 tsp ground cloves or cardamom

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

In a large saucepan, combine sugar and water. Boil over medium heat until mixture reaches soft thread stage 270-290 degrees. Remove the pan from heat.

Stir in honey and butter and cool mixture to lukewarm.

Meanwhile combine egg, nuts and peel in a small bowl, Mix well and set aside.

In a larger bowl, combine spices, 4 cups of the flour and baking soda.

When the syrup mixture has cooled, stir in egg mixture and then the flour mixture. If dough seems sticky, add as much of the remaining flour as needed. Chill dough 2 to 3 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease baking sheets or line with parchment paper and set aside.

Form chilled dough into balls and place 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets flatten slightly with the palm of your hand or a water glass with a concave bottom. Bake about 15 minutes or until lebkucken are deep golden brown. Remove to wire racks to cool. Yield: 4 1/2 dozen.\ Notes: you may use candied or fresh orange peel in this recipe. What kind of nut is not specified, but I use walnuts. Cardamom gives a mellower flavor than cloves. Lastly, the liquidity of the honey used makes the difference in how much of the 1/2 cup flour you may need.

Zucchini plants throughout the Inland Northwest are still producing abundantly. Jenny Jones, Odessa, shared the recipe for the Zucchini Bread she brought to a recent community gathering. She attributes the recipe to her Grandma, Betty Goebel.

Zucchini Bread

2 cups granulated cane sugar or granulated sweetener

1 cup vegetable oil

3 well beaten eggs

2 cups shredded zucchini with peel left on.

1 tsp vanilla

3 cups sifted flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground allspice

1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line two loaf pans with parchment paper, or grease well and coat with flour and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl cream sugar into the beaten eggs very well. Add the oil, spices, baking soda and baking powder, mix until combined. Fold in the flour, then the zucchini.

Pour batter, dividing evenly, into the two prepared pans. Top each with the walnuts. Bake for one hour. Jenny didn’t specify cooling instructions but I let it stand in the pan for 10 minutes to cool slightly, then removed to wire racks to cool completely. Yield: 2 loaves.

Specifying cane sugar brings up an interesting culinary controversy, cane sugar versus beet sugar. Chemically they are exactly the same after refining, but they do cook slightly differently and are noticed in aftertaste.

Cane sugar is sweeter, fruity in aftertaste; beet sugar is sweet and earthy. In most culinary applications which one you use makes little difference unless you are making candy. Cane sugar is preferred for candy making because the crystals are uniform, so dissolve at the same rate in the cooking process, preventing sugaring in the finished product.

Slow-cooker meals are an easy way to have a meal ready when the family arrives home from school and work. Meatloaf is an easy main dish to prepare in your slow cooker, and Slow-cooker Souperior Meatloaf, a recipe from the Lipton company, is a savory option.

Slow-cooker Superior Meatloaf

1 packet Lipton Onion Soup Mix

2 pounds ground beef

3/4 cup plain dry bread crumbs

2 eggs

3/4 cup water

1/3 cup ketchup

In a large mixing bowl combine all ingredients thoroughly. Shape into a loaf and place in slow-cooker crock.

Cover and cook on high 4-6 hours, or low 6-8 hours. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Yield: 6-8 servings.

Note: to easily remove cooked meatloaf from crock, before placing the meat loaf in the crock, fold two 24 inch pieces of foil in half length wise, then fold in half again to make strips about 3 inches wide. Place a cross in the bottom of the crock and extend up the sides. This makes a sling to lift the meatloaf from the crock when done.

Adding vegetables such as carrots and potatoes to a meat dish in a slow-cooker will have the side dish ready at the same time. Because vegetables will add moisture, reduce the moisture in meatloaf recipes if you plan to add vegetables to the crock. Also a longer cooking time is needed when you add vegetables, usually 2 to 3 hours more.

Soon it will be time to clean up the summer garden and preserve or use up the last of the garden produce. Farmers markets will be winding down and offering the last of their harvests. What are your favorite recipes for end of summer preservation?

Fall will be arriving soon when root crops begin to fill our menus. What are your favorite roasted, baked, scalloped and other methods of preparing potatoes, carrots, rutabagas and parsnips?

– Share your favorite recipes with your fellow readers by sending them to: Welcome to My Kitchen, c/o The Record Times, 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. Keep an eye on weather reports for nighttime temperatures. Tomatoes will ripen on the vine faster if covered to capture daytime heat at night.