Millie Bentley

Greetings. What effect has the rain had on the blueberry harvest? I haven’t heard. If you have enough berries to spare, here’s a good recipe for a Sunday brunch or a lunch box treat for the kids – or yourself.
Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon mace (optional)
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
¾ cups sugar
½ cup oil
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
1 ½ cups blueberries
Extra sugar for topping
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 12 cup muffin tin or line with paper muffin cups. Combine flour, baking powder, salt and spices in a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine eggs, buttermilk, sugar, oil and vanilla. Add egg mixture to flour and stir until flour is moistened. Do not over mix. Carefully fold in the blueberries. Spoon batter evenly into the 12 muffin tins. Bake for about 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean.
Until next week, dear Reader, vaya con Dios.

Greetings. Last week Tim Meyers brought over a box of his organically grown vegetables – cabbage, Swiss chard, collard greens, turnips with tops (the best part), Italian parsley, radishes, red leaf and green leaf lettuce. I can’t tell you how delicious everything was! I cooked the greens right away; cooked the cabbage with a leg of lamb in the slow cooker, and made salad, salad, salad. Before I give you a recipe for a basic creamy salad dressing, let me tell you that you can buy Tim’s produce by going on line to www.meyersfarm.net.
Meanwhile here is a good recipe for homemade salad dressing. One can add favorite herbs and spices- use yogurt instead of buttermilk, etc. If you don’t have buttermilk (which is hard to come by around here), place a tablespoon of cider vinegar or lemon juice in a cup and fill it up with regular milk. Stir and in a few minutes, voila! – buttermilk.
Creamy Salad Dressing
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
½ teaspoon each dill weed, parsley flakes, granulated garlic and
any other herbs of your choice
3 tablespoons water
1 cup buttermilk
½ cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon cider vinegar (or white balsamic vinegar)
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons sugar
½ teaspoon salt
Place pepper and herbs in a medium-sized mixing bowl and cover with water. Let stand a few minutes. Add buttermilk, mayonnaise, vinegar, mustard, sugar and salt. (I love the taste of good balsamic vinegar, but it discolors the creamy salad dressing, so I use white or plain cider vinegar.) Beat the dressing with a fork or whisk until smooth and creamy. Makes about 1 ½ cups of dressing and can be refrigerated for about a week. Very delicious!!!
Until next week, dear Reader, vaya con Dios.

Greetings. This weather is beginning to act like Juneau – nice during the week, overcast and rainy on the weekend. Lots of folks are spending time at fish camp and some (very few) have said, “I can’t believe it! I’m already getting my fill of strips!” They are soo-oo good.
It’s a good time to bring picnic-type food to fish camp – or just to have barbecues and picnics. Always makes me think of my favorites to bring - potato salad and macaroni salad. Last year I came across a macaroni salad with a different twist – only tried it once, but it was pretty good. You may like to try it for your next picnic or cookout.
Barbecue Macaroni Salad
1 pound of elbow macaroni
4 quarts water
1 tablespoon salt
1 rib of celery, chopped fine
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped fine
5 green onions, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon fresh parsley or cilantro, finely chopped (optional)
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 teaspoon hot sauce
1 teaspoon chili powder
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 cup mayonnaise
½ cup Bulls-Eye barbecue sauce, or your favorite
Boil water and salt in a large pot. Add macaroni and cook about 5 minutes after it returns to a boil. Drain in a colander and rinse with cold water until cool. Drain again briefly and transfer moist pasta to a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients except mayonnaise and barbecue sauce. Stir well and let sit about 5 minutes. Stir in mayonnaise and barbecue sauce and let sit until no longer watery, about 5 minutes. Adjust for seasoning, adding salt and pepper if necessary. Makes 8 to 10 servings. Can be covered and refrigerated up to 2 days. If it becomes a little dry, stir in a few teaspoons of warm water just before serving. Yummmm! Yummm-mm!
Until next week, dear Reader, vaya con Dios.

Greetings. Five years ago a fellow named Greg Hightower gave us this terrific recipe for Twice Baked Potatoes. I had hoped to get more recipes from Greg, but somehow lost touch. That happens a lot around here – we get so busy that we don’t stop and smell the roses. I thought that when I moved to Alaska from the Los Angeles area life would slow down to a slower pace. Didn’t happen then and hasn’t happened yet. I suspect that it’s a matter of establishing priorities. And I haven’t learned my lesson. Best go to the kitchen.
Twice Baked Potatoes
6 large baked potatoes
10 strips bacon, cooked crisp, crumbled (reserve drippings)
6 ounces sour cream
2 cups shredded Colby/Jack cheese
½ cup chopped green onions
6 tablespoons salted butter
Salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut baked potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop out insides into a large bowl. Set shells aside. To hot potatoes add crumbled bacon, ¼ cup bacon drippings, sour cream, half of shredded cheese, green onions, butter and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well and return seasoned potatoes to shells. (At this point, potatoes can be frozen.) Bake potatoes in preheated oven for about 35 minutes. Remove from oven, top with remaining cheese and bake 5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Enjoy!
Until next week, dear Reader, vaya con Dios.

Greetings. This beautiful weather we’re having calls out for picnics and barbeques. Much to my regret, we don’t have good access to an outdoor grill here in Bethel, so I look for recipes that are good done in the oven. The following is one such recipe and it could be finished on a grill if one is available.
Honey Mustard Pork Ribs
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 tablespoon yellow prepared mustard
½ cup strong coffee, cold
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
2 racks, 1 ½ to 2 pounds each, pork baby back ribs
or pork loin back ribs
1 lemon, halved
1 cup Honey Mustard Barbeque Sauce
Combine first 7 ingredients in a 3-quart baking dish. Add ribs, turning to coat well. Squeeze lemon juice over; turn ribs meaty side down, cover with foil and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 2 ½ hours or until ribs are very tender, turning once after the first 1 ½ hours. Remove from oven and move ribs to a broiler pan. (Discard liquid in the baking dish.) Brush ribs with Honey Mustard Barbeque Sauce, place pan about 5 inches from heat source and broil about 5 to 10 minutes or until well browned. (Or finish on the grill for 10 minutes.) Serve ribs with remaining barbeque sauce. Makes 4 servings.
Honey Mustard Barbeque Sauce: Combine 1 ½ cups bottled barbeque sauce of your choice, ½ cup honey and 3 tablespoons yellow mustard in a small bowl. Brush on baked ribs before broiling and serve remainder on the side.
Until next week, dear Reader, vaya con Dios.

Greetings. I hope you all enjoyed Memorial Day. Years ago the people called this day Decoration Day. That was in Arkansas and people would go to the cemetery, clean it up and decorate all the graves. Since I couldn’t do anything like that here in Bethel, I spent time thinking good thoughts of my Mom and Dad, my sister Bette, brother Sonny, numerous aunts and uncles and good friends. I thought it would be a sad experience, but it really wasn’t. The good thoughts were the key.
To the kitchen. I was really confused about something. What’s the difference between chili and chile? I thought they were the same – just different spelling by different folks. But no. After all these many years I discovered that the dish is “chili” and the pepper is “chile”. Fancy that.
Anyway here’s a good recipe for chili. This recipe is to be made in a slow cooker, but can be cooked on top of the stove in a large pot cooked at the lowest possible heat for 2 or 3 hours or until it tastes good. Serves 8 or 10.
Slow Cooker Chili
2 tablespoons olive oil
¼ cup chile powder
2 tablespoons cumin
1 teaspoon whole oregano (Mexican)
1 teaspoon salt
2 pounds coarsely ground beef (chuck is best)
2 onions, coarsely chopped
1 large bell pepper, diced
3 cloves garlic, sliced
2 cans (15 oz.) kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 cans (15 oz.) diced tomatoes
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1 ½ cups water or beef stock
Salsa
3 large tomatoes, diced
1 red onion, diced
1 carrot, shredded
1 jalapeno, finely diced
(seeded for less heat)
1 clove garlic, minced
juice of 1 lime
1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped (optional)
Garnish
shredded cheddar cheese
avocado, diced
Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add chile powder, cumin, oregano and salt. Cook and stir for about 5 minutes, making a sort of stiff roux. Add ground beef, onions, bell pepper and garlic. Cook until meat is no longer pink. Pour contents of skillet into slow cooker (about 5 quart size). Add beans, tomatoes, tomato sauce and water (or beef stock). Turn on low and cook for about 9 hours. (Or cook in a large pot on top of stove on lowest heat about 2 or 3 hours. Stir once in a while to make sure it doesn’t stick and burn.) Serve with garnishes, the salsa and cornbread or fresh tortillas. This tastes even better the second day. Yummm!
Salsa
Mix all ingredients and refrigerate about an hour before chili is done. If you don’t have fresh cilantro, don’t substitute anything else – just skip it.
Until next week, dear Reader, vaya con Dios.

Greetings. That was a quiet breakup, wasn’t it? The way we like it. No flooding. Speaking of flooding reminds me of flood insurance. All of us really have been getting a bad deal since Katrina. Prior to Katrina, one of my annual premiums was about $270; since then it began to jump up and this year it was $808. There is something wrong when we all have to pay for incompetence.
Instead of fretting about something we don’t seem able to do anything about, let’s go to the kitchen and make some nice, comforting, low-calorie, low-carb cookie-like bars. (Comforting? Yes. Low-calorie/carb? No. Good? Yes!)
Carmel Walnut Bars
2 cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
2/3 cups unsalted butter (1 1/3 stick)
2 cups light brown sugar, lightly packed
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup chopped (medium-fine) walnuts
1 cup chocolate chips, semisweet
2 tablespoons medium-fine chopped walnuts (for topping)
Butter a jelly roll pan and preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix together the flour, salt and baking soda. Set aside.
Place butter in an electric mixing bowl and beat on medium speed until fluffy. Gradually add brown sugar, a few tablespoons at a time, and beat until light in color, scrapping down sides as needed. Beat in eggs, one at a time; add vanilla. Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually add dry ingredients just until incorporated well. Do not overbeat. Remove bowl from mixer stand and fold in 1 cup walnuts and the chocolate chips. Spread mixture in the prepared jelly roll pan and sprinkle 2 tablespoons walnuts evenly over top.
Bake about 18 minutes - only until sides are lightly brown. A toothpick inserted in center should come out sticky. Do not overbake. Cool for an hour and cut into about 2x2 inch squares. Yummm!
Until next week, dear Reader, vaya con Dios.

Greetings. Almost time for those big, fat kings to jump into your boats! If we could get rid of this ice. Breakup seems to be later than any other year – that I recall. Of course, my recollection may not be as good as I remember. Hah!
Back to fish. Some folks out there may be trying to clean out their freezers before they fill them up again with the new crop of fish. Here are two salmon recipes to help out.
Salmon Steaks with Soy and Ginger
4 salmon steaks (6 oz.)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
Prepare broiler pan by lining with foil. Set rack about 4 inches from the heat. Turn on broiler. Then whisk remaining ingredients together in a small bowl. Place salmon on prepared pan and brush with the soy mixture. Broil until browned on top and opaque, about 6 minutes. Yummm!
Roasted Salmon
1 large (1½ to 2 pound) salmon fillet, skinned
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon butter, unsalted
1 level tablespoon flour
1 ¼ cups unsweetened apple juice (or chicken stock or white wine)
2 green onions, finely sliced (white and green)
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place salmon on a baking dish or rimmed baking pan and rub with a little salt. Roast about 15 minutes or until opaque throughout.
Meanwhile melt butter in a small pan over medium heat. Add flour and about ½ teaspoon salt; cook for about a minute, stirring constantly. Slowly add apple juice, stirring, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 8 to 10 minutes or until liquid is reduced by half. Stir in green onions and season with salt and pepper. Remove salmon to a platter and break into about 4 large pieces. Top with sauce and serve immediately to four lucky diners.
Until next week, dear Reader, vaya con Dios.

Greetings! Happy Cinco de Mayo! Should have a delicious Mexican recipe for you, but not this week. One of our readers said, “How come you have all these Mexican recipes?” I didn’t realize I did. However, in San Diego much of the food has a South-of-the-Border influence so it’s not noticeable to me that it’s ‘different’.
This week we’ll simply have a good ole regular comfort food recipe. There are many ways to cook macaroni and cheese and the recipe below is one of my favorites. I like lots of cheese and whenever I make this I think of Pearl Bailey and her classic statement – “Honey, I want me some cheese and macaroni. I don’t want no macaroni and macaroni!”
Cheese and Macaroni
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon salt
8 oz. dry elbow macaroni
½ pound extra-sharp cheddar cheese cut into1/2 inch cubes
½ pound grated extra-sharp cheddar cheese
2 ½ tablespoons flour
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 ½ teaspoons dry mustard
½ teaspoon white pepper (black will do)
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
¾ cup sour cream
2 large eggs, beaten
1 ½ cups half and half
1 ½ cups heavy cream
½ half of a grated onion (about 1/3 cup)
1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.
Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil. Add salt, olive oil and macaroni. Cook only about 3 minutes after it comes back to a boil. Drain and pour macaroni into prepared baking dish. Stir in cubed cheese and set aside.
In a large bowl combine flour, salt, dry mustard and two peppers. Add sour cream and eggs and whisk until smooth. Whisk in half and half, cream, onion and Worcestershire. Pour over macaroni and cheese in the baking dish; stir to combine. Sprinkle grated cheese evenly over top. Bake in the preheated oven about 30 minutes or until mixture is set along the sides but still a bit jiggly in the center. Let cool 10 to 15 minutes before serving. Yummmm! Serves 8 to 10 people depending on how hungry they are.
Until next week, dear Reader, vaya con Dios.

Greetings! Can you believe the school year is almost over??? This dawned on me when the school district started making reservations for returning teachers in August.
It’s still a bit nippy, and there’s quite a bit of mud, but it will be good to have more light and sunshine. Last week I had a request for “that Mexican soup that tasted like tacos”. I looked back through previous articles and this is what I found. So, I hope it’s the right one, but even if it isn’t it does taste like tacos.
Taco Soup
1 ½ pounds ground beef
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 package dry taco seasoning
½ cup chopped onion
28-oz. can diced tomatoes
16-oz can kidney beans, undrained
17-oz can whole kernel corn, undrained
8-oz can tomato sauce
2 cups water
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup shredded cheese
1 cup sour cream
1 small bag nacho chips, lightly crushed
Place ground beef, chili powder, ground cumin and taco seasoning in a large skillet and sauté about 10 minutes. Add remaining ingredients except cheese, sour cream and chips. Simmer for about 15 minutes. To serve, ladle into bowls and top with shredded cheese, nacho chips and sour cream. Makes 6-8 servings.
Until next week, dear Reader, vaya con Dios.

Greetings! Sounds like it’s still soup weather in Bethel. I hope you all had a wonderful Easter. I heard that the Easter Bunny got a little help from the weather again this year . . . it snowed so you could find your colored Easter eggs.
With that I should get to the kitchen and give you this recipe for a terrific soup that has just enough tang to give it the name. The recipe calls for ground pork – no sausage, plain ground pork. I don’t know if AC or Swanson’s carry this, but they can usually grind up a boneless pork loin for you or you can grind your own. (Any leftover fresh ground pork is really good in Pansit – a dish from the Philippines that will make a grown man cry.) This recipe takes about half an hour to prepare and serves six persons.
Sweet and Sour Meatball Soup
¼ cup very good olive oil (extra virgin)
2 large onions, cut in half and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 cans (15 oz.) diced tomatoes
2 cans (16 oz.) beef stock (4 cups)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (grate your zest before juicing)
salt and pepper
1 pound ground pork
1 large or 2 small egg whites
1 ½ teaspoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
finely grated zest of one lemon
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh cilantro (if available)
2 green onions, finely chopped
Heat olive oil in a medium to large soup pot over moderately high heat until shimmering; add onions and cook, covered, about 5 minutes until soft. Stir occasionally. Uncover and cook until onions are lightly browned. Add brown sugar and stir/cook about a minute. Add tomatoes and their juices, beef stock and lemon juice; season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer over moderate to low heat about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile combine ground pork, egg whites, cornstarch, salt, pepper, lemon zest and half the cilantro and green onions. Mix well and form into balls about the size of walnuts.
Drop meatballs into soup, cover and cook about 8 or 9 minutes until cooked through. Stir in remaining cilantro and onions. Serve immediately in deep bowls. Yumm-mm!
Until next week, dear Reader, vaya con Dios.

Greetings. My friend Imogine asked me for a biscuit recipe we published some years back. I think it must have been one of my favorites, Angel Biscuits. This is a good recipe because, not only does it make delicious biscuits, but one can refrigerate part of the dough for several days and pull off enough to bake a few biscuits as desired.
Biscuits make me think of my Mom and Dad. Mom used to make two huge (9 x 13-inch) pans of biscuits and Dad could eat one entire pan-full by himself if we didn’t have company. He loved his biscuits and gravy for breakfast. Anyway, here we go with one of our best biscuit recipes:
Angel Biscuits
5 ½ cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup solid vegetable shortening (my Mom used lard)
1 envelope active dry yeast (1/4 oz. or 2 ¼ teaspoons)
2 tablespoons lukewarm water (105 to 115 degrees)
2 cups buttermilk
In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut in shortening until the mixture resembles coarse corn meal. (This can be done with fingers, rubbing until sort of flaky.)
In a medium bowl, combine yeast with lukewarm water. Let stand until foamy, 5 to 10 minutes. Add buttermilk and stir until completely blended. Stir this mixture into the dry ingredients with a fork. Gather the dough into a ball.
On a floured surface, knead the dough until soft and smooth, about five minutes, adding more flour as necessary to reduce stickiness. Roll out the dough to a thickness of about one-half inch. Using a 2-inch round cutter, cut out biscuits and place them close together on a baking sheet. Cover with a kitchen towel and let them rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Bake the biscuits 10 to 15 minutes or until nicely browned. Makes about 3 dozen biscuits. Yummm!
As previously mentioned, the nice thing about these biscuits is that they can be baked all at once, or a portion of the dough can be pulled off for baking and the rest kept refrigerated in a tightly covered bowl. Dough kept for 2 or 3 days is at least as good as freshly made – if not better.
Until next week, dear Reader, vaya con Dios. And stay warm. It’s still cold here – minus 4 with a wind chill on Sunday of minus 36.

Greetings. Another week of weird weather. Thought it was going to warm up for a while, but it plunged to minus 25F. again. All the boilers are confused . . . to go full blast? To slow down? I’m happy as long as they don’t give up and stop. Oh, well.
Another KISS recipe this week. I forget who gave me this recipe, but we wanted something quick, simple and tasty that would feed a bunch of teenagers. This is what we made to top off the hamburgers and hot dogs. It was a success and it didn’t even need frosting.
Chocolate Cherry Cake
1 package chocolate cake mix
1 cup chocolate chips
1 can pie cherries (cherry pie filling)
3 eggs
1 teaspoon almond extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all together and pour into a greased and floured 9 x 13 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Cut into squares and serve right from the baking pan. Yumm! How simple is that?
Until next week, dear Reader, vaya con Dios. And stay warm.

Greetings from Bethel. Ice skating, anyone? That’s what it feels like walking around outside where the ice has melted a bit and is covered by water. Our big dog, Ricko, skidded and fell on his rear end. George said he didn’t realize dogs could look surprised. Chico, our little Shih Tzu, skids around, but one can’t really tell when, or if, he falls – he’s already so close to the ground.
To the kitchen. This week we have a KISS recipe. Keep It Simple, Sweetheart. It’s a great salad to make to go along with a couple of meals; the flavor improves with time and it doesn’t wilt. And in the warm weather (summer?) it goes along well on picnics and to fish camp.
Corn and Black Bean Salad
1/3 cup good olive oil
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
1 ½ tablespoons fresh lime juice (or lemon if no lime)
1 teaspoon sweet paprika (Hungarian is best)
15 oz. cans black beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups frozen whole kernel corn, thawed (or canned whole kernel corn, drained and rinsed; 2 15 oz. cans is okay)
1 large bell pepper, orange, red, green or mixed, chopped
½ red onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1/3 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped (or use parsley)
¾ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
In a large bowl, whisk together the first four ingredients. Add remaining ingredients and toss well to coat. Cover and let stand at least an hour before serving Makes 6 cups. Note: On one occasion I doubled the first 4 ingredients (using Meyer lemon instead of lime) and added 3 or 4 cups chopped cabbage. Yummm!!!
Until next week, dear Reader, vaya con Dios.

Greetings. Who would believe that 18 degrees would seem like banana-belt weather? ‘Tis true. Finally warmed up a bit. Feels good.
I’d like to dedicate this week’s article to Marie Martin. “Grandma Rie”, as she was fondly known to her grandchildren, left us in June 2006. Lung cancer. We all miss her smiling face and loving presence. Marie was a wonderful cook – she always had something good on the table and plenty of it. When Geof, Nancy and the Boyos were up here in Bethel I made some chicken adobo at their request. I noticed they weren’t eating it with much enthusiasm. An investigation revealed that, “Well, this adobo isn’t red. Grandma Rie’s adobo is red and it tastes really good!” So we called Papa Jack and Grandma Rie and got her recipe.
We shared the recipe with readers in 1997 but it’s worth publishing again. Try it – you’ll like it and so will your family. I know Marie is in a better place, but I wish she were here to cook us a big pot of her adobo and spread her love around.
Grandma Rie’s Chicken Adobo
1 whole chicken, cut up – don’t use neck, liver, gizzard, etc.
4 breasts, halved, if feeding a lot of people (optional)
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, sliced
¼ cup soy sauce
½ cup white vinegar
¼ cup paprika (Yes, ¼ cup – not a misprint)
1 cup water
Put all of above in a big, heavy pot, cover and cook at a slow simmer for 45 minutes or an hour until chicken is tender. Remove chicken to a platter and pour broth into a gravy bowl. Serve with steamed rice, a side dish of green peas, green salad and hot rolls. Have soy sauce available as a table condiment. And, as Grandma Rie said, “Be sure to serve green peas. They’re best with this as they enhance the flavor of the adobo.” Delicious! Enjoy!
Until next week, dear Reader, vaya con Dios.

Greetings. Brrr-rr! Still cold. George and I have both come down with colds. “They” say that one can’t get a cold simply from being in a draft, wearing wet clothes and socks, etc., etc. It may be so, but I think that sort of thing lowers one’s immune system, making it ready to be hit by that virus or bacteria or whatever it is that causes colds. Anyway, chicken soup seems like a good thing to ingest when one has a cold.
I have a good, spicy recipe for chicken soup using Dreamfields pasta. Has anyone tried Dreamfields pasta products? The company makes really good pasta that’s very low in digestible carbohydrates. I love spaghetti and all pasta products but try to restrict my intake because of the high carbs. I tried whole wheat varieties, but didn’t like the taste or consistency. Dreamfields pasta has a 65% lower glycemic index (how fast carbs turn to sugar when eaten) and twice the fiber of regular pasta. This is in addition to the “protected” carbs which are not digested. Dreamfields pasta is hard to find; it wasn’t at Swansons or AC, but they might order it. Otherwise go to www.DreamfieldFoods.com to find out more about it and a source for purchasing it. Meanwhile, regular pasta products may be used in this recipe.
Dreamfields Chicken Rotini Soup
1 cup uncooked Dreamfields Rotini
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced
1 small onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon dried oregano
6 cups (or 3 16 oz. cans) fat free chicken broth
1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup fresh or frozen corn (or canned, drained)
1 or 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced (or 1 teaspoon dried red chilies if no jalapenos available)
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
½ cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Prepare all ingredients and set aside. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain and return to pan.
Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add chicken and sauté 3 to 5 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Remove with slotted spoon and set aside. Add onions and sauté until translucent, about 2 minutes. Stir in garlic, chili powder, cumin and oregano. Saute 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add broth, beans, corn and jalapenos. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Stir. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, 20 minutes.
To serve, add half of pasta, chicken and cilantro to soup. (Reheat for a minute or so if necessary.) Divide remaining pasta, chicken and cilantro among four bowls. Ladle hot soup into bowls. Top with cheese. Yummm! Enjoy.
Until next week, dear Reader, vaya con Dios.

Greetings! Brr-rr! It’s still cold and the wind is still wild. I was really feeling for those mushers and their dogs – even for the ones on the shorter runs. As I write this, the winner of the 300 is not yet in, but as far as I’m concerned, they are all winners. So congratulations to all.
Not much going on in the kitchen, but I did come across an old recipe that’s quick, easy and tasty.
Corn Chip Casserole
1 pound ground beef (or moose or caribou)
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, sliced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 can (10 ¾ oz) cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1 can (11 oz) Mexicorn (or plain niblets)
1 can (4 oz) diced green chilies
Salt to taste
1 package (10 oz) corn chips or tortilla chips
1 can (10 oz) enchilada sauce
1 ½ cups (about 6 oz) grated Co-jack cheese (or ¾ cup each Monterrey Jack and Cheddar, mixed
In a large skillet sauté meat, onion, garlic and cumin until meat is no longer pink. Drain if there’s a lot of grease. Add soup, corn and chilies. Mix well. Season with salt if needed.
Pour meat mixture into an ungreased 3 quart shallow casserole or baking dish. Sprinkle corn chips evenly over meat; if using tortilla chips, crush them lightly. Pour enchilada sauce over chips and then spread cheese over all. Bake uncovered in a 350-degree oven for about 10 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted. 6 servings.
Until next week, dear Reader, vaya con Dios. And stay warm!

Greetings! Wish the weather would be mild during December. By “mild” I mean in the 20’s. That seems to be a good temperature to avoid lots of maintenance problems. Makes me nervous when we’re away and the weather drops below zero. I’m closing the B & B from December 2nd through December 28th. Hate to do it, but closure seems the best way to go.
I should’ve said “partial closure” because several guests will be staying throughout the month; they’ll just have to do their own breakfast. George and I are heading to San Diego and other parts south where we’ll combine business and pleasure. Looking forward to seeing family and friends – and watching grandson Josh Martin play basketball.
Do you like to make gifts for friends at Christmas? I used to do that a lot – it really was enjoyable, but these days I never seem to have time. If you have time, here is a good recipe that makes a great Christmas gift. It’s easy plus it’s good to have around for appetizers when friends drop in.
Christmas Jalapeno Jelly
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
½ cup chopped jalapeno pepper
5 cups granulated white sugar
1 ½ cups apple cider vinegar
1 container (6 oz.) liquid pectin
Remove stems, veins and seeds from the peppers and chop roughly. (Leave some of the jalapeno seeds if you want your jelly to be a bit spicy.) Mince the peppers in a food processor.
Place sugar and vinegar in a 5 quart pot and heat on high, stirring constantly, until sugar melts. Add peppers and bring to a rolling boil which cannot be stirred down. Boil for 3 minutes, stirring. Remove from heat and cool for five minutes. Then, stirring constantly, add the pectin. Let mixture cool for 2 minutes. Now stir for 1 minute.
Pour into hot, sterilized ½ pint jars and top with sterilized canning lids. Secure lids with bands and let cool. Lids will pop when a vacuum is created. Note: I can’t remember how many jars this requires – I think six, but any leftover jelly can be stored in a jar in your ‘fridge for personal use. I use those little round ½ pint Mason jars with decorative lids. DO NOT double this recipe. I did that once and ended up with lots of syrupy jelly that didn’t jell. Made nice spicy pancake syrup, ‘tho. This jelly makes a nice condiment for roast turkey, ham, beef or chicken. Also good as an appetizer spread over a block of cream cheese.
Until next week, dear Reader, vaya con Dios. Stay warm.

Greetings and Happy Thanksgiving! Can’t believe it’s that time again and the year 2009 is almost over. I hope all of you can share this Thanksgiving with your loved ones and that you have much in your life for which to be thankful. I’m grateful today and every day that I have such wonderful friends and family in my life. I love them all and thank the good Lord for his blessing.
Here is a recipe for potato salad that we’ve published before - very tasty.
Spinach Potato Salad
4 pounds of potatoes, preferably small red potatoes, quartered
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups of shredded fresh spinach
1 cup mayonnaise
½ cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley (or ¼ cup regular parsley)
3 thick slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
½ cup thinly sliced green onions
1 teaspoon lemon zest (grated lemon peel)
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups thinly sliced celery
Place potatoes and salt in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook potatoes for about 20 minutes or until tender. Drain and add spinach. Toss well, but gently.
Stir together mayonnaise and next six ingredients. Put potatoes and spinach mixture into a large bowl; add mayonnaise mixture and celery; stir gently until blended. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour before serving. Yummm!!
Hope you enjoy this – it’s great for the holidays and for potlucks. Until next week, Amigos, vaya con Dios.

Greetings! Thanksgiving will be here before we know it so I thought I’d better not wait around before I published a good dessert recipe. One of my favorites is pecan pie and one of my favorite crust recipes is one given me by Lynn Green. Anybody here in Bethel remember Lynn? When she lived here in the late 80’s and early 90’s she was known as Lynn Lupson – worked for Bethel Community Services and the City of Bethel and made some fantastic quilts. Pam Conrad insists her love of quilting was inspired by Lynn, who now lives in Silverdale, Washington and spends most of her free time designing and making quilts when she and husband George are not just relaxing and enjoying retirement.
This pie crust recipe is definitely a keeper.
Pecan Pie with Lynn’s Pie Crust
Pie crust:
1 ½ cups flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
2/3 cup shortening
4 ½ tablespoons cold water or milk
Mix flour, baking powder and salt together. Cut in shortening. When flour and shortening are well mixed, add water, mixing with a fork. Separate into two equal balls. If making only one single crust pies (as with this pecan pie). Wrap one ball in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to a week. Roll out other ball on a well-floured surface to fit into a 9-inch pie crust with an overlap. Roll crust onto roller and lift over a 9-inch pie pan and unroll, fitting into pan. Trim crust around edge, leaving about ½ inch overlap. Turn overlap back over top edge and crimp with thumb or fork tines. Lightly prick bottom with a fork and place in refrigerator until filling is ready.
Pecan Filling:
¾ stick unsalted butter
1 ¼ cups packed brown sugar
¾ cups white corn syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla
¼ teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
2 cups pecan halves
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place a baking sheet on middle rack. Melt butter in small pan over medium heat. Add brown sugar, whisking until smooth. Remove from heat and whisk in corn syrup and salt. In a separate bowl, beat eggs and then whisk in the corn syrup mixture.
Put pecan halves in prepared pie shell and pour corn syrup mixture evenly over them. Place on hot baking sheet and bake about 50 minutes to 1 hour until filling is set. Cool completely. Note: If edge of crust becomes too brown, cover with strips of aluminum foil to avoid burning. Can be made a day ahead and chilled. Bring to room temperature before serving.
This will be a great dessert to follow your Thanksgiving turkey. Yummm!!
Until next week, dear Reader, vaya con Dios.

Greetings! With the World Series, football, basketball, satellite and cable TV, George and I haven’t moved from the living room for a week or so. (During what free time we have, of course.) That means we must have something in the kitchen which will serve as nourishing meals “on the fly”. And one of my very favorites for just such a situation is Jacques Pepin’s black bean soup. I found this recipe in an old issue of Food and Wine. It was described as a “wildly popular” soup he served in one of his New York restaurants in the 70’s. I’ve made it numerous times and it is outstanding – best I’ve ever made – so thought I’d pass it on to you.
Black Bean Soup a la Jacques
Soup:
1 pound dried black beans, picked over and rinsed
2 quarts water
6 cups chicken stock or low sodium broth
¾ pound red potatoes, peeled and cut into ½ inch dice
2 cups chopped fresh or drained canned tomatoes
1 cup coarsely chopped onion
½ cup finely chopped cilantro stems (save leaves for garnish)
½ teaspoon dried thyme
Salt
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 ½ tablespoons red wine vinegar
Tabasco
Garnishes:
Chopped onion
2 hard-cooked eggs, chopped
2 small bananas (yes, bananas), sliced
Cilantro leaves and small sprigs
Extra-virgin olive oil
Red wine vinegar
Tabasco
To make the soup:
Put the beans in a large pot, cover with cold water and let stand 1 hour. Drain the beans. Rinse the pot, add the beans, 2 quarts water, stock, potatoes, tomatoes, onions, cilantro stems, thyme and 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the beans are tender and the soup has thickened, about 2 ½ hours.
Transfer about 3 cups of soup to a food processor and puree until smooth. Return puree to pot. (Or use an immersion blender and whirl it in the pot for 10 seconds 2 or 3 times – depending on the strength of your immersion blender.) If the soup is too thick, thin it with a little water. Stir in the olive oil, garlic and vinegar; season with salt and Tabasco and bring to a boil just before serving.
Prepare the garnishes:
Put the onion in a colander and rinse under cold water; pat dry. Put the onions, eggs, bananas and cilantro in separate bowls. Set out the olive oil, vinegar and Tabasco. Ladle soup into bowls and serve with the garnishes.
Makes 6 servings and can be made ahead, refrigerated for up to 3 days. Reheat gently. Yummm! Yummm! Yummm! A 3-yummer.
Until next week, dear Reader, vaya con Dios. And keep warm.

Greetings! Winter is upon us. The river is freezing up very rapidly – seems like it happened overnight. We’re in that “in-between stage”. . . can’t get in or out of Bethel to the nearby villages via boat or snow machine. We’ve had enough snow to get the snow machines out and scoot around town. It’s really beautiful.
To the kitchen. I came across a recipe I’d clipped and tried some years back. It was delicious, but for some reason I just put it away and forgot about it until I was searching for another recipe today. It’s a good anytime recipe, but seems like a good winter comfort recipe. Give it a try – it may become a favorite recipe for your family.
Chili and Potato Dumplings
CHILI
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 pounds lean ground beef (or a combination of
ground turkey or caribou or moose)
1 medium onion, chopped
½ cup chopped green pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon garlic salt
½ teaspoon oregano, dried
½ teaspoon crushed dried red pepper flakes
1 can (16 oz.) kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (16 oz.) mild chili beans, undrained
3 cups V8 juice
In a large Dutch oven, sauté chili powder, cumin and cumin seeds in olive oil for about 3 minutes. Add ground beef and onion; sauté until meat is no longer pink. Add remaining ingredients; bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile prepare dumplings.
DUMPLINGS
1 cup dry mashed potato flakes
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley (or 1 teaspoon dried)
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
Place first five ingredients in a bowl; mix well with a wire whip. Add milk and egg and stir until just moistened. Let rest about 5 minutes and then drop by tablespoons into simmering chili. Cover and cook for 15 minutes. Yields 8 servings. Yummmm!
Until next week, dear Friends, vaya con Dios.

Greetings! When all the Lower Kuskokwim School District folks were in town the first of the month I served a ton of breakfast food. One morning I mentioned to Daryl Daugaard that I had a lot of oatmeal leftover (whereas I ran out the previous day) and wished I had a way of predicting oatmeal consumption. What to do with leftover oatmeal??? His answer was immediate – “Make cereal bread!”
Daryl is the Site Administrator (aka Principal and Jack-of-All-Trades) over in Kongiganak and he loves to cook. He especially loves to bake and his favorites are cereal bread and cinnamon rolls. Daryl agreed to send over his bread recipe to share with you (and to help me use leftover oatmeal). This recipe calls for oatmeal, but anything like cream of rice, malt-o-meal or cream of wheat (Daryl’s favorite) may be used.
Daryl’s Cereal Bread
2 cups boiling water
1 cup old fashioned oatmeal
(or use 2 cups of already cooked cereal)
1 tablespoon yeast
½ cup warm water
½ cup sugar
5 to 5½ cups flour
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Shortening for brushing dough
Pour boiling water over cereal; stir and allow to cool. Or use 2 cups already cooked cereal – like leftover oatmeal. Dissolve yeast in lukewarm water with sugar and ½ cup flour. Beat until smooth. Cover and set aside. Add salt, butter, leftover oatmeal and remaining flour. Brush dough with shortening. Cover and let rise until doubled in bulk. Punch down and shape into 2 loaves. Place in greased pans. Let rise. Bake in preheated 375 degree oven 50 to 60 minutes.
Daryl adds, “I usually take this recipe times 1½ to be sure to get two full loaves. And, I usually use cream of wheat.” Thanks, Daryl.
Until next week, Amigos, vaya con Dios.

Greetings! Why does weather go down when we have a multitude of folks from the outlying villages? Seems like it never fails… individuals and often entire families get stuck here in Bethel. Very expensive, to say the least. Weather is so tricky. Like in Juneau. When I first moved there (from sunny Southern California), more often than not the weather would be fine during the week, but on Friday it would cloud up and rain, stopping only on Monday morning. I loved the rain – for the first six months. It was a good opportunity to make soup and bread. Became a little much after a while, ‘tho, when my dog began to grow webbed paws.
To the kitchen. I’ve been thinking about a good macaroni dish since I wrote about that macaroni and cheese in September. Here’s a wonderful Greek recipe that I make once in a blue moon. It’s so-o-o-o good I’d make it once a week if it weren’t so full of fat and carbs…
Pastisto
4 tablespoons butter
2 pounds ground beef (I prefer lamb)
1 onion, chopped
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
salt and pepper
1 can tomato sauce (8 oz.)
½ cup apple juice (or white wine)
1 pound macaroni (dry)
1 stick (1/4 pound) butter, melted
3 eggs, beaten
grated cheese, about 4 cups
4 cups Bechamel sauce (recipe below)
butter for dotting top
Saute ground meat, onion, parsley and garlic in 4 tablespoons butter, crumbling meat. When meat is no longer pink, stir in cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Add apple juice (or wine) and tomato sauce. Simmer for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile cook macaroni according to package directions just until al dente (chewy to the tooth); drain and place in a large bowl. Add melted butter, beaten eggs and a generous sprinkling of grated cheese. Mix well.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 x 2 inch baking dish. Pour half of macaroni over bottom of baking dish. Spread meat mixture evenly over macaroni; sprinkle with grated cheese. Spread remaining macaroni over meat. Sprinkle with grated cheese and pour Bechamel sauce carefully over all. Sprinkle lavishly with grated cheese, dot with butter and sprinkle very lightly with a few pinches of cinnamon. Bake in the 350 degree preheated oven for about an hour. Cool a bit and cut into 3 inch squares. Makes 12 servings. Yummm!!! Can also be cut into 1 inch squares and served as appetizers. (I prefer it served warm with a nice Greek salad.)
Bechamel Sauce for Pastisto
4 cups hot milk
6 tablespoons flour
½ cup butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon
salt and white pepper
Melt butter in a pan; add flour and cinnamon and stir until smooth. Lower heat and gradually add hot milk, stirring constantly until sauce thickens. (Should be about the consistency of medium white sauce, or light honey – not like library paste.) Season with salt and white pepper. Pour over pastisto.
This recipe may seem time-consuming, but it’s definitely worth it. Very good leftover for lunch or dinner the next day or so and delicious for snacks. Yumm!
Until next week, dear Reader, vaya con Dios.

Greetings! This week will be a very busy one in Bethel. Welcome to all the new (and old) Advisory School Board members and Site Administrators. All of these folks have important influences on our childrens’ education and we appreciate the work they do.
The restaurants and stores will also be very busy. And speaking of stores, AC has a new-to-Bethel employee in town who will be assisting Bill in the meat department. I’ve already talked to him briefly and looks like he has some good recipes to share with us later after his wife helps him unpack his recipes. I’ve already ordered some beef brisket, which should probably arrive in about 3 weeks. When you’re in the store, stop by and welcome Dan Haynes to Bethel. Meanwhile, here’s a recipe to save until you can get your hands on a nice brisket.
Oven Barbecue Brisket
1 beef brisket, trimmed, 4 to 6 pounds
1 5-ounce bottle liquid smoke
1 large onion, chopped
2 teaspoons garlic salt
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup Worchestershire sauce
1 12 to 18-ounce bottle barbecue sauce
Place brisket in a large ziplock freezer bag or in a large shallow dish that will fit into your refrigerator. Pour liquid smoke over brisket and rub to cover all of meat. Add onion, garlic salt and salt; distribute evenly. Seal bag or cover dish and place if refrigerator 8 hours. Turn occasionally.
After marinating, remove brisket from bag or dish and place on a large piece of heavy duty aluminum foil. Throw away marinade mixture. Pour Worchestershire sauce evenly over brisket and fold foil to seal. Place sealed brisket in a roasting pan and bake at 275 degrees for 5 hours. Remove from oven. Unfold foil and pour barbecue sauce evenly over brisket. Return to oven, uncovered and bake another hour. 8 servings. Yummm!!! Especially good with sour dough garlic toast and extra barbecue sauce. Note: For making ahead, can be refrigerated for a day after baking and cooling down.
Brisket is a great piece of meat. It is really good for shredded beef tacos. Just cover the brisket in water – little salt – and roast it at 275 degrees or simmer on top of stove for a few hours until tender. Cool and shred it, by hand, to use in tacos or enchiladas or whatever.
Until next week, dear Reader, vaya con Dios.

Greetings! Seems like Old Man Winter crept right by the first day of Autumn. Comfort food is calling. I love macaroni and cheese – or really macaroni and just about anything. My brother Jesse and I used to make macaroni and tomatoes for a snack in the evening. Better than popcorn. And I have some fancy recipes for gourmet macaroni and cheese, delicious but a little time consuming to make. A macaroni-loving friend of mine who is also a broccoli addict gave me this recipe she found on a canned milk label. It’s pretty good.
Macaroni ‘n Cheese with Broccoli
8 oz. package elbow macaroni (dry, 2 cups)
2 cups broccoli (chopped), fresh (okay frozen)
8 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (2 cups)
8 oz. pepper jack cheese, shredded (2 cups)
12oz. can evaporated milk
½ teaspoon black pepper
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
¼ cup dry bread crumbs (Panko is good)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 2-½ quart ovenproof casserole dish. Cook macaroni according to package directions, adding chopped broccoli the last 3 minutes. Drain and place in a large bowl. Add cheeses, milk and black pepper. Mix well and pour into prepared baking dish. Mix together the Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs. Spread evenly over pasta mixture. Cover snugly with foil and bake 20 minutes in preheated 350-degree oven. Remove foil and continue baking for another 10 minutes until lightly browned. Yummm!
Until next week, dear friends, vaya con Dios.

Greetings! Starting to get a bit nippy out there – time to start making soup. Do you remember going to a department store and having lunch? Broadway and Nordstroms used to have restaurants that served a pretty decent lunch and maybe early dinner. And what was the name of the dimestore that had a long lunch counter that served soups, sandwiches, luncheon dishes, hamburgers and, I think, breakfast? Woolworths. Do they still have Woolworth stores? Anyway, I haven’t really noticed if any of the department stores nowadays have dining rooms, but I remember Buffums in San Diego used to be a good place to take a load off your feet and enjoy a pleasant meal. I still have one of their soup recipes which I’ll share with you. This makes a big pot – about 16 good sized servings, so it can easily be cut in half if you don’t want some good leftovers.
Buffums’ Picadillo Soup
2 pounds ground beef
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 ribs celery, diced
1 cut diced carrots
1/2 cup diced onion
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups diced tomato
2 cups diced raw potato
3 quarts homemade beef stock or 7 cans (14 1/2 oz.) beef broth
2 beef bouillon cubes (optional)
1 teaspoon chili powder
Salt and pepper to taste
6 tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 cup water
1 cup frozen or canned peas
In a non-stick frying pan or iron skillet, sauté ground beef; drain and place in a large pot. In the frying pan, add oil and heat; add celery, carrots and onions; sauté about 5 minutes, adding garlic the last minute. Add to large pot with ground beef. Add tomatoes and potatoes; stir. Add beef stock, bouillon cubes, chili powder, salt and pepper. Stir until bouillon cubes dissolve. Cover, reduce heat and simmer slowly for 45 minutes. In a small bowl, mix together cornstarch and water. Add this mixture slowly to soup, stirring, to achieve desired thickness. Add peas, bring to a simmer and serve. Yummm! Good on a cold day.
Until next week, dear Reader, vaya con Dios.

Greetings! I was having so much fun catching up on paperwork that I almost forget about this week’s recipe. And if it weren’t for Kelly Lincoln, you wouldn’t have this nice, gooey dessert next time you feel decadent. Really, there aren’t that many calories in a teaspoon of…
Mississippi Mud
1 cup butter
½ cup cocoa
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 ½ cups flour
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 ½ cups chopped pecans
4 cups miniature marshmallows
Chocolate frosting (recipe below)
Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine butter and cocoa in a medium saucepan; cook over medium heat until butter melts. Remove from heat and pour into a large electric mixing bowl. Add eggs and sugar; beat at medium speed until blended. Add flour, salt and vanilla; beat until blended. Stir in pecans. Spoon into prepared baking pan and bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 35 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle marshmallows over hot cake. Immediately spread frosting over marshmallows on cake. Cool in the pan on a wire rack. Chill and cut into squares. Five cuts on long edge by three cuts on short edge yields fifteen servings.
Chocolate Frosting
16 oz. package powdered sugar
1/3 cup cocoa
½ cup milk
¼ cup butter, softened
Sift together powdered sugar and cocoa. Combine with milk and butter in a large bowl and beat at medium speed until smooth adding a tablespoon milk if frosting is too stiff. Yields 2 cups.
Good stuff, but not for those working on a healthy lifestyle. Until next week, dear Reader, vaya con Dios.

Greetings. How time flies! I was searching for a moose stew recipe when I came across a recipe my grandson Ryan made in 1998. 1998!! That was eleven years ago. My son Geof, his wife Nancy and two sons Ryan and Kyle came to Bethel in 1997 to help out here in the B & B. What a wonderful year – wish we could do it all over. Anyway, Nancy’s mom and dad, Chuck and Shirley, came up for a memorable visit. Ryan made a real Alaskan meal – caribou stew – it was great. I think we could use the same recipe for moose, so here goes.
Ryan’s Moose/Caribou Stew
3 pounds moose steak or rump (or caribou)
6 carrots, peeled, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 brown onion, cut into eighths lengthwise
6 to 8 potatoes, peeled and cut into walnut-sized pieces
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons flour
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon Paul Prudhomme Barbecue Magic or seasoned salt
¼ cup Worchestershire sauce
Wash and dry meat, removing any hair. Trim away fat and gristle. Cutting across the grain, cut meat into 1 ½ inch chunks. Heat oil in a very large skillet. Add meat, stir and fry until meat is lightly browned on all surfaces, adding more oil if necessary. Sprinkle flour, pepper and seasoning. Saute and stir about a minute more. Put onions on top of meat and pour Worchestershire sauce over. Stir about 1 minute. Add water to cover meat. Stir. Add carrots and potatoes. Stir and cover. Reduce heat to low and simmer about one hour or until meat is tender.
If meat you use is not a tender cut, cook meat until it is tender and then adding carrots and potatoes. When meat and vegetables are done to your liking, remove to a bowl with a slotted spoon, leaving juice in pan. Keep warm while you heat up some brown ‘n serve rolls and make some gravy or thicken your stew. To do this, place 3 tablespoons flour and ½ teaspoon salt (if needed, taste juice) in a mixing cup. Add ½ cup water and stir until a smooth paste is made. Now, increasing heat under skillet to medium, stir the liquid using a wire whip and slowly pour paste into the juice. Keep stirring, and when gravy begins to thicken, remove from heat and pour over meat and vegetables in the bowl. Serve immediately with rolls and a green salad or coleslaw. Yummm!!
Until next week, dear Reader, vaya con Dios.

It’s that time of year again when calls start coming in for “…that recipe for moose curry. You know, the really good, really simple recipe?” Yes, I know exactly the recipe folks want. It’s Clara Morgan’s recipe that is becoming an annual request around moose season each year. It’s a good recipe to use if you need to finish up the moose in your freezer from last year. (That is, if you have any left and its in good shape – not freezer burned.) Anyway, here again is the best recipe for moose when you want to cook up something that’s quick, easy and delicious.
CLARA’S MOOSE CURRY
One half peeled clove of garlic
Two cups sliced onion
4 tablespoons fat (shortening)
1 pound moose round steak, cut into three-quarter inch slices or cubes
1 teaspoon flour
1 and 1/8th teaspoons salt
One-eighth teaspoon pepper
One teaspoon curry powder
One-half cup tomato juice
One cup raw rice, boiled or steamed
Brown onions and garlic in fat. Mix flour, salt, pepper and curry powder in a brown bag. Add cubed moose meat and shake well. Brown meat with onions, shaking any excess seasoned flour into pan. Stir to avoid burning. Add tomato juice. Cover and simmer over low heat until meat is tender. Add more tomato juice if the sauce cooks down too much. Serve over cooked rice. Makes six servings. (Or two servings for very hungry people who haven’t tasted any moose for a while.)
I hope you all had successful hunting. I’ve heard good stories from Elders who were very grateful when some hunters shared their moose with them and who remembered to thank the moose for providing food.
Until next week, dear Friends, vaya con Dios.

Greetings! Can you take one more blueberry recipe? I heard that blueberries were not abundant in the Bethel area this year and they are about at the end. But here’s a delicious recipe to use for those last precious few berries.
Blueberry Crumble
Topping
6 tablespoons flour
6 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup old fashioned rolled oats
¼ cup brown sugar, packed
¼ cup walnuts, chopped
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
4 tablespoons butter, softened
Filling
½ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons lemon juice
½ teaspoon vanilla
4 cups blueberries
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons apple juice or apple brandy
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9 x 9 inch baking dish (or 4 each 6 ounce ceramic ramekins for individual servings).
Combine all topping ingredients in a large bowl and, using your fingers, work the butter into the mixture until crumbly. Place in freezer for 30 minutes to let chill while filling is prepared.
Mix together all filling ingredients in a large bowl. Pour into prepared baking dish – or dishes. Place topping evenly over filling and bake in preheated over for about 35 to 40 minutes until berries are bubbly and topping is browned. Serve with vanilla ice cream if desired. Makes 4 generous servings. Yummm! (Note: You may need to add more sugar to the filling if your blueberries are small and very tart.)
Until next week, dear Reader, vaya con Dios.

Greetings! Most folks are in the midst of gathering and storing food for winter – picking berries, drying fish. A busy time. Always reminds me that I need to share Joe Newhouse’s recipe for smoked salmon. Some time in the early 80’s I met Joe, a fellow CPA who was working here in Bethel as a “junior”. Now Joe has a family, his own CPA practice and sends his own “juniors” to Bethel. Later on, after I had moved to Bethel from Juneau, Joe gave me a very special smoked salmon recipe. During the summer of 2000 he smoked some Yukon Kings which were, according to Joe, “the best I’ve ever tasted”. The judges at the Alaska State Fair thought it was almost the best too, because it was awarded 2nd prize. Almost every year we’ve published the recipe and I’ve already had several requests, so here it is.
Newhouse Smoked Salmon
2 cups brown sugar
¾ cup uniodized salt
2 tablespoons seasoning salt
3 tablespoons ground black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Obtain a decent smoker (hot smoke). Filet salmon and cut into pieces about 6” x 3” x 3/4” or whatever size suits your needs. Layer chunks in a sealable bucket or container, sprinkling generous portions of dry brine on each layer. Soak fish in container in refrigerator for 12 hours; flip over and soak for another 12 hours. Remove salmon from brine, pat off excess with towel and layer on smoking racks. Smoke 4 to 8 hours depending on the smoker, how thick your fish is and how dry you want it. In a large smoker, some of the fish may not be completely cooked, so it can be baked on a broiler rack in the oven for about 15 to 20 minutes at 400.
At this point, fish may be: Eaten (my favorite choice). Vacuum sealed and refrigerated up to 1 – 2 weeks before eaten. Vacuum sealed and frozen up to 1 year. Canned. See canning instructions which come with pressure cooker or stop by the Cooperative Extension Service for a free copy of the excellent pamphlet on canning fish.
The nice thing about this recipe, other than the fact that the fish is delicious, is that it doesn’t require the fish to be rinsed, thus helping us water-poor folks. My son Geof uses this same recipe to smoke albacore and yellowtail. Again, Joe, thanks for the recipe.
Until next week, dear Reader, vaya con Dios.

Greetings. The view of the river is good - missed it while I was away. Among other things, I was diagnosed with a partially blocked (70%) carotid artery so went down to Whitaker Wellness Institute in Newport Beach for three weeks of intensive therapy – enhanced external counter pulsation, hyperbaric oxygen, reflexology, chelation, chiropractic adjustment, acupuncture – you name it. Over 60% of those undergoing treatment were diabetic – some experiencing neuropathy – and most showed marked improvement at the end of their treatments. For all of us, the most important (and difficult) part of the program is to maintain the good habits and therapeutic lifestyle needed on the road to better health.
In keeping with healthy eating (Hah!), here’s a recipe using the wonderful Tundra blueberries that are now ripe. No, the thing is to enjoy a treat like this once in a while IN MODERATION. If I could live my life having learned and practiced two things only they would be: ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you’ and ‘Everything in moderation and nothing to excess’.
Blueberry Bars
Crust
½ cup melted butter
2 1/3 cups graham cracker crumbs
¼ cup powdered sugar
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
Filling
2 large eggs, beaten
½ cup sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
Topping
2 ½ cups blueberries
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
¼ teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon lemon juice, if needed
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 13 x 9 inch baking pan.
Mix all crust ingredients together and press into prepared baking pan.
Place filling ingredients in a large bowl and beat at medium-speed until smooth. Pour into baking pan over the crust. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until filling is set in the center and puffed around the edges.
While crust and filling are baking, place all topping ingredients except lemon juice in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes or until slightly thickened. Cool. Stir in lemon juice as needed and spoon over cooled filling. Let cool and set. Cut into 12 or more bars. Yummmm!
Remember, everything in moderation. Until next week, dear Reader, vaya con Dios.

Greetings. Good to be back in Bethel after an extended (three week) medical leave. More about that later. Folks tell me salmon berries are ripe and I’ve had several requests for recipes. I dug through my files and the best I could come up with are two delicious recipes given to me by Connie Dull. They were published last year, but good enough to publish again for those of you who didn’t keep them.
Salmonberry Rhubarb Cake
1 ½ cups sugar
1 cup mayonnaise
3 eggs
2 cups flour
1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 cups rhubarb, chopped into ¾ inch pieces
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans
1 cup salmonberries
Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9x13x2 inch baking dish. Mix together sugar, mayonnaise and eggs until blended; beat one minute. Stir in remaining ingredients except rhubarb, nuts and salmonberries; beat one minute. Stir in rhubarb, nuts and salmonberries. Pour into prepared pan and bake about 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Serve plain or with the salmonberry rhubarb sauce below.
Salmonberry Rhubarb Sauce
2 cups diced rhubarb
1 quart (4 cups) salmonberries
1 cup sugar
1 8 oz. carton of Cool Whip (optional)
Place rhubarb, salmonberries and sugar in a good-sized saucepan. Stir well to dissolve sugar. (Taste to see if more sugar should be added; but this sauce is supposed to be somewhat tart.) Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring almost constantly. Boil one minute or until sauce is about the consistency of applesauce. Cool and then stir in Cool Whip if desired. Serve with Salmonberry Rhubarb Cake or over vanilla ice cream. Yumm!
Thanks again, Connie.
Until next week, dear Reader, vaya con Dios.

Greetings. Another week in paradise. Good thing we don’t have this kind of weather all year ‘round – everyone would move to Bethel. But wait – the mosquitoes would send them packing. I wonder how the folks who go camping deal with the mosquitoes and gnats and no-see-‘ems?
To the kitchen. We haven’t had a chili recipe for a while and now seems like a good time to enjoy a big bowl of chili along with some cornbread and a big glass of milk. This chili recipe is somewhat fiery, but one can cool it down by reducing the quantity of hot spices. And in the cornbread, diced green pepper may be substituted for the jalapenos.
Chili ‘n Cornbread
Chili
4 tablespoons oil
5 pounds beef chuck roast
4 more tablespoons oil
¼ cup chili powder
¼ cup cumin
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon cayenne powder
2 tablespoons dried oregano
1 tablespoon sweet paprika (Hungarian is best)
2 small cans (6 oz) tomato paste (plain)
4 onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, diced
1 tablespoon Tabasco sauce
1/4 cup flour
5 cups beef broth or plain water
4 tablespoons masa harina
Salt to taste
Trim chuck roast (or chuck steak or moose meat) and cut into ¾ to 1 inch chunks. Should end up with about 4 pounds. In a large, heavy pot, heat oil and brown meat in batches. Do not crowd pan. Remove browned meat to a bowl or platter. In the same pot, heat another 4 tablespoons oil. Add chili powder, cumin, sugar, cayenne, oregano, paprika and tomato paste. Cook and stir 10 minutes. Do not let this burn! Stir in onions, garlic and Tabasco; mix well. Stir in meat (with any juices); sprinkle flour over meat and stir and cook a few minutes before adding water. (One may use plain water, beef bouillon cubes added to water or simply canned beef broth.) Simmer over low heat about 2 hours or until meat is tender. To thicken, stir in masa harina and cook about another 5 minutes, stirring. Add salt to taste if necessary. (Note: Masa harina is the finely ground cornmeal used for making tortillas. If you have none, make a thin paste of ½ cup water and ¼ cup flour and pour it into chili, stirring, to thicken. Masa harina is better.) About 6 servings.
Jalapeno Cornbread
2 cups cornmeal
2 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
2 cups milk
2 eggs
½ cup oil (bacon fat is best)
1 cup corn kernels (fresh, frozen, or canned, drained)
½ cup sliced pickled jalapenos, diced or 2 fresh, finely diced
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Grease a 12-inch iron skillet or a 9 x 13-inch baking pan. In a bowl, mix cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat eggs into milk then beat in oil. Pour into flour, mixing well. Don’t overbeat. Fold in corn and jalapenos. Pour into prepared pan and bake in preheated oven about 25 minutes or until brown on top and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Yummm!
Until next week, Amigos, vaya con Dios.

Greetings. Beautiful weather we’ve had – and just enough wind to keep those pesky mosquitoes away. Haven’t had a lot of business, so I haven’t been spending a lot of time in the kitchen, but George’s mother, Olivia, and I talked about food a lot, especially old time recipes and dishes cooked in Portugal. I remembered a couple of “odd” cake recipes my mom made years ago. Two I recall she made frequently – tomato soup cake and mayonnaise cake. Sound weird, eh? Actually, they’re good so I dug out an old recipe for tomato soup cake I found in my old file. Give it a try – it’s easy and tasty.
Tomato Soup Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting
½ cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 cup condensed tomato soup, undiluted (use the 10 oz. can of Campbell’s tomato soup)
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon mace (optional)
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped walnuts
Grease and flour a 13 x 9 inch cake pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Blend shortening with sugar. Stir baking soda into tomato soup and add to shortening/sugar mix. Sift flour into a separate bowl; stir in remaining dry ingredients and add to shortening mixture. Stir in raisins and walnuts. Pour into prepared pan and bake in preheated oven 50 to 60 minutes. A toothpick inserted in center of cake should come out clean. Cool and frost with cream cheese frosting. Recipe below.
Cream Cheese Frosting
1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
¼ cup butter (1/2 stick), room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Beat together cream cheese and butter. Gradually beat in sugar and vanilla. Beat in a teaspoon or so of milk if mixture is too thick to spread. Spread on cooled cake. Store any excess frosting in refrigerator for up to a couple of weeks.
Enjoy! Until next week, dear Reader, vaya con Dios.

I've been thinking about those wonderful Kuskokwim River king salmon coming back especially for us. Yum-m-m! I can hardly wait for that first taste. But. What about that bit of last year’s salmon left in the freezer? Or that can sitting on the shelf? Well, until you get that first fish from the river to the frying pan you might want to try this dandy little dish.
Salmon Casserole
1 pound cooked salmon, no skins or bones
4 cups cooked egg noodles
¾ cup sliced sautéed mushrooms or a 5-oz. can, drained
1 small jar of diced red pimientos
1-1/2 cups sour cream
½ cup mayonnaise
1-1/2 cups small curd cottage cheese
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup finely diced onion
1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
½ teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese
½ cup fine dry bread crumbs (Panko, the Japanese bread crumbs, works well)
3 tablespoons melted butter
Butter a 2-quart baking dish and set aside. Combine noodles, salmon, mushrooms and pimientos in a large bowl. In another bowl, combine sour cream, cottage cheese, mayonnaise, garlic, onion, Worcestershire and salt; mix very well. Add to bowl with salmon mixture along with the grated cheese. Stir, turning, to mix everything loosely. Transfer to the greased baking pan. Stir melted butter into the bread crumbs and sprinkle over top of casserole. Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 35 minutes or until it bubbles a bit. Serves four to six people depending upon how hungry they are.
Until next week, Dear Reader, vaya con Dios. Good fishing to all.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie

4-29-09

by Millie Bentley

Anyone have a pair of size 7 ladies boots to spare? Mine sprung a leak. Looks like rain will be with us for a while. The good news is that we have some strawberries and rhubarb at the market. My friend Lucia in Spokane asked if I had a good recipe for strawberry pie, so I dug up this one from last year.
Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie
½ cup white sugar
2 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
3 cups fresh rhubarb, cut into ¾-inch pieces
2 cups strawberries, cut up
1 tablespoon butter
Preheat oven to 350 degrees about 10 minutes before you’re ready to bake the pie.
Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl in a large bowl and whisk to mix well. Add rhubarb and strawberries and mix well to coat with dry ingredients. Let sit about 20 minutes while you prepare enough pastry for a 9-inch lattice top pie crust.
Line a 9-inch pie pan with the pastry and fill with the fruit mixture. Dot with the butter. Weave the lattice top over filling.
Bake pie in the 350 degree preheated oven about 45 minutes. Place foil around edge of pie if crust is getting too brown.
Remove from oven and let pie cool at least an hour before serving (My mother used to bake fruit pies and scoop out a piece right after they were removed from the oven; she would smother the pie in butter and enjoy every bite. Never mind that the filling oozed out from the rest of the pie. I wish she were here right now to try out this recipe. She wasn’t too keen on rhubarb, ’tho. “Makes my mouth pucker,” she’d say.)
Until next week, dear Reader, vaya con Dios.

Potato and Tomato Casserole

4-22-09

by Millie Bentley

Greetings. Will we have flooding this year in Bethel? A couple of people have said that, because of the long cold winter and build up of snow, flooding is a possibility this year. I don’t remember a flood, except a minor one, since I moved here in 1990. The thing I best recall about that event was the yard of a low-lying house close to Brown Slough which became surrounded by empty plastic R&R bottles floating around in the weeds as the water rose.
That first Spring I was here I do remember feeling rather shocked when an acquaintance expressed great disappointment upon learning that there would be no flooding. She lived in Alligator Acres and told me that flooding was an exciting event – neighbors getting together, coming and going in rowboats, etc. Lots of great fun.
To the kitchen. When I was a kid my Mother served what we would now call a tomato casserole – canned tomatoes seasoned with salt, pepper and sugar poured into a baking dish, topped with saltine crackers pushed under the tomatoes and baked until hot. It served as our vegetable when nothing else was available, but we liked it. Here is a dish that’s a little more “fancy” as Mom would say.
Potato and Tomato Casserole
2 pounds red potatoes
1 can (15 oz.) diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/3 cup mayonnaise
¼ cup tomato juice
2-3 green onions, sliced on the diagonal
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a shallow baking dish. Scrub potatoes and cut into ½ inch chunks. Drain tomatoes just enough to get ¼ cup of juice to use later. Mix potatoes and tomatoes in a large bowl and drizzle olive oil over, tossing well to coat vegetables. In a small bowl, mix salt, sugar, paprika and cayenne pepper. Sprinkle over potato/tomato mixture. Bake in preheated oven about 40 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Remove from oven. Mix the mayonnaise and tomato juice and drizzle over the potatoes. Pop back into the oven for 3 or 4 minutes if desired. Serve hot. Yummmm-mm!
Until next week, dear Reader, vaya con Dios.

Tater Cakes

4-14-09

by Millie Bentley

Greetings. Hope you all had a wonderful Easter. It was so good to see good friends, Clyde and Katie, who come up every year (barring health reasons) to attend the Sunrise Service and visit their many friends here in Bethel. After a late brunch, George and I ended up just having various snacks throughout the day, so I don’t have any leftovers to deal with.
My mother hated leftovers; she almost always made just enough food to fill us up with no leftovers. (One of the reasons for that is she probably didn’t have enough to make extra food. But we never went hungry no matter how bare the cupboard. Even in later years, ‘tho, when things were less tight financially, she didn’t like leftovers.) The only thing I ever saw her make to excess was mashed potatoes. And the reason she did that was so we could have tater cakes at the next meal. Now, I generally have leftovers, but not really on purpose. I have the bad habit of “cooking enough for Cox’s army,” my Grandma used to say. (I never knew exactly what she meant; do you?)
Anyway, when I have leftover mashed potatoes, I do make tater cakes. I’ll share my “recipe” with you, but you must use your own good cooking sense, because my measurements are not exact. So just experiment until they come out the way you like them.
Tater Cakes
2 or 3 cups of mashed potatoes
½ of a medium onion, grated
1 egg
salt and pepper to taste
¼ cup, about, flour
2 or 3 tablespoons bacon grease or olive oil
Wash your hands good. Put cold potatoes in a bowl; add onion, salt, pepper and egg. Mix well with your hands. Now the tricky part is to add flour until the right consistency is obtained to shape the potatoes into little patties about 3 inches around by about ¼ to ½ inch thick. Sometimes I’ve dipped them in more flour to help hold them together better and have a little crust. You will just have to experiment to make a patty or little cake that’s doesn’t fall apart or, on the other hand, become too doughy. Also, don’t make them too thick. Heat bacon grease or oil in a skillet and add your tater cakes in a single layer (of course) with enough room to turn. Fry over medium heat until crispy, then turn and finish cooking on the other side. Place on a cookie sheet in a warm oven until all tater cakes are done. Add more oil to skillet as needed. Serve hot. Umm-mm, good! (Mine were never as good as Mother’s.)
Until next week, dear Reader, vaya con Dios.

Prime Rib Roast

4-9-09

by Millie Bentley

Why does the Easter Bunny color his eggs? So the children in Alaska can find them in the snow. Happy Easter! Hope it will be a warm one, because if it as cold as it was a couple of Sundays ago, that Easter Bunny won’t even bother to head out our way. I remember one Easter many years ago it was so cold I decided to buy a house in the California desert. But that’s another story.
We’re delving into the past this week. Is that a sign of age??? Anyway, some years back we published an Easter dinner recipe that wasn’t the usual ham or lamb roast. Judging from the input, many readers really enjoyed the recipe, so for you folks who didn’t try it – or who missed it altogether, here it is:
Prime Rib Roast
1 standing rib roast, size of your choice
Rub Mix:
1 tablespoon lemon pepper
1 tablespoon paprika (Hungarian Sweet if you have it)
1 ½ teaspoons garlic salt
1 teaspoon each dried rosemary and oregano, crushed
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon cinnamon (Yes, cinnamon.)
Wipe roast and allow to come to room temperature. Meanwhile, mix the rub ingredients together in a small bowl. Rub the mixture all over the roast using clean, dry hands. Allow the rubbed roast to sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Insert a meat thermometer into center portion of the roast, not touching any bone. Place roast in an open pan (with sides) and bake in a 325 degree oven for 20 minutes per pound for medium-rare in center. Thermometer should read 140 degrees F. (Some folks like to toss in some little scrubbed red potatoes alongside the roast during baking. I like to do this too unless I’m serving the potato casserole we published last week.) Allow the roast to sit about 30 minutes (tented with foil) before carving.
Serve with horseradish sauce (2 or 3 tablespoons prepared horseradish in a pint of sour cream) or try the following sauce as a condiment:
1 cup pineapple preserves
1 cup apple jelly
4 ounce jar of prepared horseradish
1 ½ teaspoons dry mustard
Mix all ingredients in a blender and allow to sit at least 2 hours before serving. Will keep in refrigerator for a month or so.
Enjoy your Easter Day. Hope some of you make it to Sunrise Service. Until next week, dear Reader, vaya con Dios.

Potato Casserole

4-1-09

by Millie Bentley

To those attending Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corporation’s (YKHC) Annual Tribal Gathering, “Welcome to Bethel”. I was told that last year’s gathering was an uplifting experience, so hopefully this year is the same. Again, thanks go out to Gene Peltola, the governing boards of YKHC and the folks doing the work for improved healthcare in the Delta.
Hard to believe that Easter is just around the corner. Time for another feast and the resulting leftovers. Ham or turkey along with mashed potatoes and green vegetables are the usual fare for most folks. This year you might want to try a potato casserole instead of mashed potatoes. I tried this recipe a few years back when I served prime rib and everyone really liked it. So give it a try if your family wants something a little different.
Potato Casserole
5 medium Russet potatoes (about 2 ½ pounds), skins scrubbed
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup chicken broth
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
1 ½ cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter a 2 quart baking dish.
Place potatoes in a large pot and cover with water by 2 inches. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to maintain a slow simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes or just until potatoes are barely tender. Drain and cool for about 10 minutes until potatoes can be peeled. Peel and then shred potatoes using large holes on the grater or using the shredder attachment on a food processor. Set potatoes aside in a large bowl.
Bring cream and chicken broth to a simmer in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and add garlic, butter, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Stir well and add to the potatoes, mixing gently. (Note: This is the time to add 2 cups of diced ham and about ½ cup more cream if using for a leftover main dish casserole.) Pour potato mixture into the buttered baking dish and sprinkle with cheddar cheese. Cover loosely with foil and bake 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 20 minutes or so until the top is lightly browned. Cool for 10 minutes before serving. Makes 8 to 10 servings. Yummm-m-m!
Until next week, dear Reader, vaya con Dios.

Rhubarb Betty

3-26-09

by Millie Bentley

Greetings. Spring has sprung? I don’t think so . . . doesn’t feel like it. Brr-rr! However, it did remind me that spring has arrived somewhere when someone brought in rhubarb. As a child I found rhubarb very yucky – made my mouth pucker. As an adult I find rhubarb very delicious. Yumm-m! Rhubarb and strawberry pie is about the best fruit pie I’ve ever had the pleasure of tasting. Here’s a less complicated recipe that’s really tasty. I’ve never used frozen rhubarb, but I suppose it could be used in this recipe should one not have fresh rhubarb. It’s similar to Apple Betty, so we’ll call it…
Rhubarb Betty
3 cups rhubarb, sliced about ½ inch
1 cup sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons flour
¼ pound butter, cut into little squares
1 ½ cups sweetened granola
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square baking dish. Mix flour, sugar and cinnamon. Toss with the sliced rhubarb and spread into buttered dish. Scatter the butter pieces over the rhubarb and then spread the granola evenly over the top. Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until the rhubarb is cooked through. Serve hot or cold to about six people.
Until next week, dear Reader, vaya con Dios.

Hash ‘n Eggs

3-18-09

by Millie Bentley

Greetings. We’re not even going to talk about the weather or related maintenance problems this week. Except, we want to say “Thanks!” to our City’s water and sewer workers for doing a very good job in some very bad weather. So “Thanks, Folks!” Also want to thank our Arctic Care people for the wonderful help to the Delta residents. I only regret that the weather kept them from fulfilling all their goals.
Did I say we weren’t going to talk about the weather? Oh, well. To the kitchen. We’ll talk about hash and eggs. I used to (reluctantly) serve hash and eggs here at the B & B. I’d spread out the hash in a baking pan, make indentations, fill them with eggs and bake until eggs were done and hash was heated through. Wasn’t too bad, except after a while on the warmer, the eggs would become glazed over (leathery skin on top) and they looked like eyeballs staring at the guests. Yuck! Anyway Suz Monfort came up with the idea of beating the eggs and pouring them over the heated hash. Much better!! I’ve since refined the process and come up with a very decent dish that folks really like. One of our guests, Mike Coffing of the Civil Air Patrol, asked for the recipe, so, Mike, this is for you.
Hash ‘n Eggs
3 (16 oz.) cans of corned or roast beef hash
1/3 cup flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup instant mashed potatoes
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon white pepper
15 eggs
4 cups milk
1 cup shredded cheese
1 cup cottage cheese
Turn on oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 11x15 inch baking dish with a food release agent (like Pam). Spread hash evenly over bottom and place in oven. Mix together flour, baking powder, instant potatoes, salt and seasonings. Set aside. Beat 15 eggs; add flour mixture and incorporate into eggs (stir sides of bowl with a spatula) beating on low. Add milk, cheese and cottage cheese, mixing well after each addition. Remove hash from oven. Gently pour egg mixture over hash. Return to oven and bake at 350 degrees for about 55 minutes or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool about 10 minutes and then cut into squares.
Until next week, dear Reader, vaya con Dios.

Chicken Curry

3-11-09

by Millie Bentley

Greetings! “Weathered out of Bethel” “Weathered in Bethel” In all my years here, I’ve never heard those two phrases used so often. Nor have I seen so many storms following one behind the other. I suppose the most predictable adjective one could use to describe our weather is that it is unpredictable. Very strange. Really do hope it settles down here quickly. We have a lot of disgruntled folks here in Bethel, in Anchorage and in the many villages surrounding Bethel. It’s especially difficult – and disappointing - for our Arctic Care people.
Meanwhile, here’s a dish that, if it doesn’t warm the cockles of your heart, it will warm your tummy.
Chicken Curry
2 tablespoons olive oil
1½ pounds chicken breast halves, skin on
2 pounds chicken thighs, boneless, skin on
½ teaspoon each salt and pepper
3 cups of onions, sliced then cut in half
1 piece (about 1 inch) ginger, peeled and chopped
4 cloves garlic
1 cup onions, chopped
½ cup water
2 tablespoons curry powder (Madras is good)
½ teaspoon cayenne (optional)
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon sugar
2 cups water
½ teaspoon salt
1 lemon or lime, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons lemon or lime juice
Heat oil in large skillet until very hot. Wash and dry chicken and brown skin side down in hot oil for about 5 minutes; remove to platter. Reduce heat and sauté 3 cups onion in oil until soft and lightly browned. Remove onions to platter with chicken, leaving as much oil as possible. Make a paste of the ginger, garlic and cup of chopped onion by blending with ½ cup water in food processor. Scrape paste into skillet and cook about 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add curry powder, cayenne, coriander, tomato paste and sugar; cook and stir constantly about a minute. Stir in 2 cups water and ½ teaspoon salt. Return chicken and onions to skillet; add sliced lemon, cover and simmer on low heat for about half an hour or until chicken is cooked through. To serve, remove chicken to a large flat bowl (like a pasta bowl or low salad bowl); pour lemon juice into sauce and stir well; pour over chicken in serving bowl. Serve with steamed rice. YUMMMMM!!!
Until next week, dear Reader, vaya con Dios.

Apple Plus Cake

3-6-09

by Millie Bentley

Greetings from Bethel. Well, we never made it to see Jack play basketball. He played two great games, too. What a disappointment! However, look on the bright side. Next year he’ll be playing just as well or even better. Josh is eight years behind Jack and is a terrific athlete, so we have his games to look forward to also. Then Kyle Martin, the third grandson, who was drafted by the Kansas City Royals, is still playing for one of their farm teams and we hope to catch some of his games.
Meanwhile back to the kitchen. We have had some really weird weather around here lately – people stuck here in Bethel, in the villages and even in Anchorage. It has really been soup and bread or hearty casserole weather. Here’s a good cake recipe I came across. It’s easy and delicious.
Apple Plus Cake
3 apples (green or good baking apples)
1 cup sugar
1 ½ sticks butter, softened
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/3 cups flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon mace (optional, but good)
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ cup raisins
¼ cup dried cranberries (craisins okay)
1/3 cup dried apricots, diced
2 teaspoons flour
Confectioners (powdered) sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch round baking pan.
Peel the apples (I leave the skins on if the apples are tender), core and slice into 8 pieces. Pour water over to cover and set aside. Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, and vanilla. In another bowl sift together flour, cinnamon, mace and baking powder. Add flour mixture to egg mixture, mixing well. Dice apricots; add raisins and dried cranberries. Sprinkle 2 teaspoons flour over dried fruit and mix with your fingers until fruit is covered and separated. Fold fruit into cake mixture. Pour into prepared pan. Drain apple slices and pat dry. Lay over top of cake mixture and poke down into batter until covered. Bake in preheated oven about 45 minutes. Cake will be golden brown and pull away from the sides. Sprinkle powdered sugar over top. Serve warm or cold. Yummm! Yummm!
Until next week, dear Reader, vaya con Dios.

Chicken Casserole