Two rich cakes, a rainy-day soup and chicken nostalgia on the menu
Fare Exchange
Welcome to the table, foodie friends. And who would a cook — or a diner, for that matter — be without a challenge?
Yeast of the Ridge wants a recipe for Pain Perdu, “a French version of the very American dish French toast. I would like an overnight version that does not call for browning in a skillet first. However, I don’t want to sacrifice quality and am willing to do extra work if it gives benefit in the final product.”
Over Ms. Ridge’s shoulder peered another reader, who picked up the topic of stale bread. “I often have leftovers of crusty sourdough bread around the house, and I would like directions for making crostini and also really good croutons.”
RAINY-DAY SOUP
Debi Conner of Cleveland, Tennessee, gave a delightful description of her recipe that follows. She wrote, “I thought you might enjoy my go-to, rainy-day soup.”
Beef and Kraut Soup
1 pound lean ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning
1 teaspoon powdered garlic
1 (15-ounce) can stewed tomatoes
1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
6 cups beef broth or water and beef base 1 (15-ounce) can sauerkraut, drained and rinsed
5 medium potatoes, peeled and cut bitesize
2 carrots, peeled and cut bite-size
Salt and pepper to taste Slurry made of 2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with water (optional)
Brown the beef until crumbled and brown. Drain, and add onion, cooking until softened. Add rest of the ingredients except the slurry. Simmer until carrots and potatoes are cooked through (about 20 minutes). If a thicker soup is desired, mix the cornstarch and enough water to make it liquid and add to the soup. Bring soup to a boil until slightly thickened. Serve with crackers, cornbread, or crusty bread.
Variations: Kielbasa may be substituted for the beef, and Greek or Italian seasoning may be substituted for Cajun seasoning.
ONE AND ONLY CARROT CAKE
Margaret McNeil, operator of margaretsmorsels.com blog, is a fount of information and recipes. This is not a new practice for her.
She wrote, “In response to Mario Denny’s request for carrot cake, I’m sending a recipe from a home economics class I took in high school 40 years ago. To this day, it is the only carrot cake recipe in my recipe box. Unlike many carrot cake recipes, this one doesn’t call for pineapple or coconut. In addition to cinnamon, it also uses nutmeg and cloves. The biggest difference between this and other carrot cake recipes is the use of brown sugar instead of white.
“For an extra moist cake, poke holes in the warm layers with a fork before adding a can of sweetened condensed milk. Once the milk has been absorbed into the cake and the layers are cool, frost with cream cheese frosting. I’ve never made the cake this way, but I tasted it at a friend’s house, and it was delicious.”
Carrot Cake
1 1/2 cups walnuts, divided
2 cups brown sugar, packed
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable or canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt 3 tablespoons milk
3 cups grated carrots Cream Cheese Frosting (homemade or storebought; enough for 3 layers)
Coarsely chop 1 cup walnuts; set aside. Finely chop the remaining walnuts. Grease 3 (9-inch) round cake pans. Coat each pan with approximately 2 1/2 tablespoons of the finely chopped walnuts.
Combine the brown sugar, eggs, oil and spices in a large bowl; beat with a mixer until combined. Resift the sifted flour with baking powder and salt. Add half the flour mixture to the creamed mixture, beating until combined. Add the milk all at once, beating until combined. Add the remaining flour mixture, and beat until combined. Stir in the carrots and remaining walnuts.
Divide the batter evenly among the three pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until done. Cool pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Remove cakes from the pans and cool completely on wire racks. Frost with Cream Cheese Frosting.
This recipe came not from Margaret’s Morsels but from Martha Stewart, and it is enough for a three-layer cake.
Cream Cheese Frosting
16 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and brought to room temperature
2 pounds confectioners sugar, sifted
Beat cream cheese and vanilla with a mixer on medium speed until creamy. Gradually add butter, beating until incorporated after each addition.
Reduce speed to low. Gradually add confectioners sugar, and beat until fluffy and smooth.
CHICKEN REVIVAL
Dan Cobb’s recipe and reminiscence, sent from his home in Soddy-Daisy, makes a point: Sometimes we undervalue the overly familiar. Mr. Cobb explained, “This was my mother’s go-to recipe whenever we had leftover chicken or turkey. As a child, I got pretty tired of it. Recently, many years later of course, I cautiously tried it because we had an abundance of leftover baked chicken. Surprisingly, I liked it.”
Fowl a la King
½ cup mushrooms, chopped
1 tablespoon oil
1½ tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
½ cup green bell pepper, chopped
½ cup stuffed green olives, chopped
2 cups leftover turkey or chicken, diced
Sauté mushrooms in oil. Remove from heat, and stir in flour.
Return to heat; stir in milk, salt and sauce. Cook until thick, stirring.
Stir in peppers, olives and meat. Heat until warm. Serve over noodles or toast.
SPIRITED CAKE
A spirited cake arrived in Roseann Strazinsky’s recent collection, sent from Fairfield Glade, Tennessee.
Harvey Wallbanger’s Cake
1 package Duncan Hines Pudding Recipe yellow cake mix
1/2 cup Crisco oil
4 eggs
1/4 cup vodka
1/4 cup Galliano liqueur
3/4 cup orange juice Confectioners sugar for dusting
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix cake mix, oil, eggs, vodka, Galliano and orange juice in a large mixer bowl, and beat for 4 minutes at medium speed. Pour batter into a well-greased and lightly floured Bundt pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Remove from pan, cool and place on serving dish. Dust with confectioners sugar.
TO FINISH
It seems that, in years past, cakes were the most common recipes received in this mailbox, and desserts clearly the favorite category. Today’s two cakes are reminiscent of that season, and as always, there is nothing like a big, moist, rich cake to top off a meal — or to be a meal, for that matter.
Enough said for today; now, off to the kitchen.