Filling St. Paul’s Plate

COOKBOOK DEBUTS WITH TASTING PARTY THURSDAY

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church debuts its firstever cookbook, “Full Plate: Generous Servings of Ozark Hospitality,” at a tasting Thursday evening.

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church debuts its firstever cookbook, “Full Plate: Generous Servings of Ozark Hospitality,” at a tasting Thursday evening.

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Fayetteville is constantly a venue for plays, fundraisers, concerts and arts events without regard to religious aft liation.

This time, however, the church is raising money for one of its own programs - community meals, served to “anyone who walks in the door and needs one” every Monday and Wednesday.

That averages 175 people a day, according to Christine Klinger, co-chairwoman of the “Full Plate” cookbook project.

“The idea got started back in the fall of 2001, when we hosted the statewide Episcopal Church Women’s Group,” she explained. “A group of us was working on lunch, and a lot of great ideas get stirredup in a kitchen.”

The women decided to compile their recipes into a cookbook, and they started meeting once a month in the spring of 2002 to test and taste the recipes submitted.

“Lowell Grisham (the pastor) used to come in on that Friday,” Klinger remembered. “He said it was his favorite meeting - and that we shouldn’t be in any rush!”

Klinger’s co-chairwoman, T Fuller, and her husband, Roy, wanted to create a cookbook that had “more of a regional appeal instead of just appealing to the church community,” she remembered. “So many people buy cookbooks just to read. So on every page, we have a sidebar related to local or regional history or a cooking tip. It’s really two books in one.”

But readers can count on the recipes, Klinger promised.

“All of them were tested at least three times,” she said, “and on the first round, no one tested their own. The idea was to be sure somebody else could reproduce what had been written down.”

It wasn’t until 2009 that the project kicked into high gear, Klinger said, “because theywere starting to refer to us as the ‘Never Ending Cookbook Committee.’”

The bonus to the time invested, she said, was that “we were able to get a little bit more contemporary (recipes) and some from diff erent cultures, things that reflect how the region has changed over the past decade.”

The cookbook ended up containing 308 recipes, Klinger said, but “probably three times that were submitted.”

“It was a tough job, but somebody had to eat all that food!”

The cookbook will debut Thursday with a tasting party from 5 to 8 p.m. in Parish Hall. The books will be for sale at $25 and at the church oft ce on weekdays after the premiere.

The first goal is to repay the loan taken out from the church, Klinger said, the second to donate to community meals and the third to reach out to feeding programs elsewhere, if enough money is raised.

Here’s a possible Thanksgiving Day menu from the cookbook:

Autumn Apple

& Spinach Salad

Dressing:

2 tablespoons fresh orange juice

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

2 teaspoons Dijon-style mustard

2 teaspoons honey

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Salad:

8 cups (about 8 ounces) bagged, prewashed baby spinach

1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion

1/2 cup sweet & spicy pecans

1 large, firm sweet-tart apple, cored and thinly sliced

1/4 cup (1 ounce) crumbled blue cheese

Whisk orange and lime juices, mustard, honey, salt and pepper in a small bowl, blending well.

For salad, place spinach, onion, spicy pecans and apple slices in a large bowl. Toss to combine.

Drizzle with dressing, then toss gently to coat.

Sprinkle with cheese and serve.

Yield: 6-8 servings Baked Herbed Chicken

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary

1 tablespoon fresh thyme

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 onion, quartered

2 carrots, sliced 1-inch thick

12 whole fresh mushrooms

2 stalks celery, sliced 1-inch thick

3 medium red potatoes, quartered

6 garlic cloves

2 tablespoons oliveoil, divided

3-4 pounds whole chicken

Stir rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper in a small bowl.

Place onion, carrots, mushrooms, celery, potatoes and garlic in a roasting pan. Add half the seasoning mixture and 1 tablespoon oil, stirring to coat vegetables.

Rub chicken with the remaining oil and seasoning mixture, and place on top of vegetables. Cover and place in a cold oven.

Turn oven on to 475 degrees.

Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until juices run clear. Remove the lid during the last 10 minutes to brown chicken.

Yield: 6 servings Classic Corn Pudding

1/4 cup granulated sugar

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

11/2 teaspoons salt

6 large eggs

2 cups heavy cream

1/2 cup butter, melted

6 cups frozen whole-kernel corn, thawed

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly greased a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.

Combine sugar, flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.

Whisk together eggs, cream and butter. Gradually add sugar mixture, whisking until smooth.

Stir in corn.

Pour mixture into the prepared baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes until deep golden and pudding has set.

Remove from the oven and let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Yield: 8 servings

Pecan Pie Bars

Crust:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (11/2 sticks) butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

Filling:

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 cup light corn syrup

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

21/2 cups pecans, toasted and finely chopped

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Whisk flour, sugar and salttogether in a large bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or two knives until mixture has the consistency of very fine crumbs.

Press mixture into a greased 9-by-13-inch baking pan, using a piece of plastic wrap to press in firmly.

Bake at 350 degrees for 17-20 minutes, until lightly browned.

To make filling, place brown sugar, corn syrup and butter in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring gently.

Remove from heat.

Stir one-fourth of hot mixture into beaten eggs to temper eggs and add to the remaining hot mixture. Stir in pecans and vanilla. Pour filling over crust.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes, until set. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Cut into bars.

Yield: About 24 bars

Life, Pages 6 on 10/31/2012