Cooking with Peggy

by Peggy Guntis

Hi everyone! Well, here I am in McCarthy (4,000 miles from Tucson, not 2,000 as I said in the last issue) sitting at the kitchen table, drinking a large cup of coffee and getting ready to give you a few of the recipes I’ve already collected from some of the wonderful women here in town.

First from Fran...When I heard that Fran Gagnon was having a “yard sale” prior to her final move to Phoenix, Arizona (from May Creek, Alaska), Friday morning just couldn’t come soon enough. Bright and early Jim and I hooked up our little wagon to the 4-wheeler and headed to the sale. Believe it or not, we had to make about three trips with our newly-found treasures! Among them was a little tin box with some of Fran’s old recipes. Her daughter, Linda, had thoughtfully indexed them. The first one I tried that I want to share was the No Knead Whole Wheat Bread.

4 teaspoons yeast
2/3 cup warm water
2 teaspoons honey
5 cups whole wheat flour
3 tablespoons molasses
2/3 cup warm water
1/3 cup wheat germ
1 1/3 cup warm water
½ tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Sprinkle yeast over 2/3 cup warm water. Add 2 teaspoons honey. Leave to “work” while doing dough. Warm whole wheat flour in 250 degrees oven about 20 minutes. Combine molasses and 2/3 cup warm water. Combine yeast mix with molasses mix. Stir into warmed flour, add wheat germ and 1 1/3 cup warm water. Mix well but don’t knead – dough will be sticky. Turn into well-greased bread pan, smooth with spatula that has been rinsed in cold water to prevent sticking. Sprinkle sesame seeds over top of loaf. Let rise to top of pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 or 40 minutes or until crust is brown and sides are firm and crusty. Remove to rack to cool. Makes 1 loaf. Hope your loaf tastes as good as mine did!

Next is one I got from Betty Adams. Betty’s welcoming smile was one of the first Jim and I saw when we were new visitors to McCarthy about fifteen years ago. Because of her and my daughter, Kim, of course, we looked forward to returning each year until now we are “summer residents.”

The recipe Betty wanted to share was one she found in a cookbook from Kenny Lake, Alaska. Thank you, Kenny Lake, and thank you, Betty, because this was scrumptious.

Rhubarb Custard Pie

3 eggs
2 2/3 tablespoon milk
2 cups sugar
4 tablespoons flour
3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
4 cups red rhubarb, cut up
1 tablespoon butter
Favorite 9" 2-crust pastry

Beat eggs slightly. Add the milk. Stir together sugar, flour and nutmeg; mix in egg and milk mixture. Add rhubarb and mix. Pour into 9-inch pastry-lined pan. Dot with butter. Cover with lattice top. Bake at 400 degrees until nicely browned, 50-60 minutes. This was easy and absolutely delicious!

Another recipe using rhubarb (which Bonnie so generously gives me from her garden) was given to me by Shanna Miller-Elliott. Shanna, Randy and the boys have moved to Kenny Lake where my granddaughter, Anna, and I visited them last month about a week before their little girl was born. Shanna had fresh coffee and rhubarb pie waiting for us that was so-o-o good. She not only shared the pie recipe with me but also one for Blueberry Rhubarb Sour Cream Coffee Cake.

Filling:

1 ½ cup chopped fresh or frozen rhubarb (1/4” to ½" pieces)
2/3 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
2 teaspoons lemon juice
½ cup white sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Cake:

1 2/3 cup flour
2/3 cup white sugar
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup butter or oleo cut into pieces
1 cup Land O’ Lakes sour cream
2 eggs
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Topping:
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup white sugar
½ cup quick cooking oatmeal
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup butter or oleo cut into pieces

In medium saucepan, combine filling ingredients, mix together well. Cook over medium heat until it boils and continue cooking until thick and clear. (About 5 minutes.) Set aside.

In large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in sour cream, eggs and vanilla. Spread half of the cake batter evenly into a greased 8" square glass baking pan. Carefully spread filling on top. Drop remaining cake batter by tablespoons over the filling and spread carefully.

In a small bowl combine flour, sugar, oatmeal, and cinnamon. Cut in butter until it resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over cake batter.

Place coffee cake on middle rack, bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes (center of cake should feel as firm as the edges.) Cool. Cut into squares. Makes 8-10 servings. Doubles nicely.

I just made this cake this morning and hope that after my continuous sampling, there will be enough to share with Bonnie, Neta and Anna on game night! If my notes are correct, Shanna found this recipe at a garage sale. Yeah, garage sales!

Barbara Rice gave me this next wonderful dessert recipe. She has made it several times for the fellowship luncheon after church, so I’m sure many of you lucky McCarthy readers have already tasted it. Barbara and her husband John come to McCarthy as summer residents from St. Louis, Mo. John has been busy working on their new house this summer while Barbara is the smiling face you see at the McCarthy Lodge gift shop. Here is Barbara’s Apple Spice Custard Cake.

1 package (2 layers) spice cake mix
2 cups chopped apples, unpeeled
1 can 14 oz. sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated)
8 oz. sour cream
1/4 cup bottled lemon juice
Cinnamon

Prepare cake mix as package directs; stir in apples. Bake at 350 degrees in 9"x13" greased, floured pan for 30 minutes.

In medium bowl, combine milk, sour cream and lemon juice. Spread on top of cake. Return to oven for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Try it; you’ll like it!

For those women of McCarthy whose recipes I already have, watch for them in upcoming issues; for those of you I haven’t yet contacted, listen for your phone!