Welcome to My Kitchen

August brings county fairs and community celebrations. Many eastern Washington communities have a German influence and have favorite dishes that remain a staple in area menus. Traditional cabbage rolls may evolve to include extra ingredients and dough based recipes such as ranza, bierocks and kuchens come filled with non-traditional fillings.

Cabbage rolls are a popular item at a German food court. Heritage Church members serve the following recipe during the September Deutschesfest. Other recipes use chopped cabbage in place of the sauerkraut, or a mixture of both. Some recipes include pork sausage, garlic or grated carrot.

Cabbage Rolls

2 1/2 pounds ground beef

1 cup regular rice

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

2 1/4 Tbsp minced onion

1 can (family size) condensed tomato soup

25 steamed leaves from a large head of cabbage

1 pint sauerkraut

Cook rice according to package instructions. Mix cooked rice with the raw ground beef, salt, pepper and onion. Add half the can of soup diluted with an equal part of water. Mix thoroughly.

Place 1/3 cup of the mixture in each steamed cabbage leaf. Roll up tightly and place side by side in a large baking dish. Spread the sauerkraut over the rolls. Pour the remaining soup, diluted with an equal part of water over all.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours. Yield: 25 rolls. These rolls freeze well to make a meal ready to thaw and bake.

Note: you may easily halve this recipe, or use two large pans for baking. Also, when I make this recipe I add more onion, and chop up the center of the cabbage head and include some of it in the mixture.

Pfefferneusse, those bite size hard cookies with a anise flavor candy like texture were a staple for German immigrants traveling by boat to America and long journeys across country. The hard cookies could be made months in advance, kept well and the anise was useful in calming stomachs during rough travel.

Nowadays, August is the typical time to make pfefferneusse for Christmas. Early eastern Washington settlers saved gallon pickle jars to store the prized cookies, but heavy duty zip closure bags work well. A pint jar tied with a bow is a coveted Christmas gift for many.

Pfefferneusse

3 cups granulated sugar

1 cup butter

1/2 cup shortening

2 cups heavy whipping cream

3 cups dark corn syrup

5 Tbsp chopped anise seed

12 to 13 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking ammonia

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground allspice

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground ginger

Using a large capacity stand mixer, combine all the ingredients, mixing well until a stiff dough forms. Cover tightly and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Roll small amounts for dough into long thin ropes about 1/2 inch thick. Cut into pieces about 1/2 to 3/4 inch long and place on baking sheets 1/2 inch apart. Bake for 5 to 6 minutes until lightly browned at edges and cookies are very firm (hard). Cool completely and store in airtight jars. Yield: about 2 gallons of the small cookies.

Note: line the baking pans with parchment so you can quickly remove the cookies to a cooling rack and free up the pans for more baking. It doesn't take long to mix up the dough, but you will be rolling and baking for quite a while.

Gooseberry Kuchen is not a common flavor. Occasionally you might spot one at a bake sale. Gooseberries have an unusual tart flavor with nutty overtones, and require extra sugar or other sweetener in baking. The following kuchen dough and filling recipes make enough for four kuchen.

Gooseberry Kuchen

Dough:

1 package regular yeast, or 2 1/4 tsp

1/2 cup warm water

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup melted shortening

2 eggs

1 cup scalded milk

5 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar, plus 1 tsp

Filling:

4-5 cups fresh or frozen and thawed gooseberries

4 cups heavy cream

4 eggs

2 Tbsp corn starch

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Topping:

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

Ground cinnamon

Soften yeast in the warm water to which the 1 tsp of sugar has been added. Cool scalded milk to lukewarm.

Beat eggs in a large mixing bowl until well blended. Add remaining ingredients along with the softened yeast and the lukewarm milk and mix well. Cover and let dough rise in a warm place until double in bulk.

Meanwhile, generously grease 4 eight inch round cake pans and set aside. Combine all the filling ingredients except the gooseberries and set aside.

In a small bowl cut butter into the flour and sugar until fine crumbs form.

When dough is ready, divide into four equal pieces. Roll each into a circle and fit into pans. Let rest 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Divide gooseberries between the dough lined pans. Divide the filling equally between the pans. Sprinkle each with a fourth of the topping. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 45 minutes until filling begins to set and berries are tender. Remove to wire racks to cool. Yield 4 kuchen.

Note: some folks like to add some coconut to the topping for added sweetness. These kuchen freeze well.

Share you 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 [email protected] or drop them in the Welcome to My Kitchen mail tin in The Odessa Record office. Keep zucchini, cucumbers and tomatoes picked as they get ripe to promote additional fruit setting. Evening or early morning watering is the best time to efficiently refresh vegetable and flower gardens.