Recipe Swap: Recipes from the Altenburg museum

One of the highlights of my entire Christmas was taking the Country Church Tour in Cape Girardeau and Perry counties. My friend Doloris Meyr and my sister Pat and I toured as many churches as we could get around to. If you have not taken the tour, I highly recommend it. At several of the churches there was singing, some in German, refreshments and lots of friendly people ready to tell you all about their church and its history.

At Altenburg, Tyson Wunderlich was playing their newly refurbished organ and a small combined choir sang the "Hallelujah" chorus; it was awesome. We are already planning our route for next year, and I am certain it will once again be one of the highlights of my Christmas season.

While in Altenburg we ran into the museum next to the church and I purchased two new cookbooks and will share a few recipes from those books today.

Cooked Cheese (yellow)

Submitted by Mrs. Olga Kuntze

In the Immanuel Lutheran Church "Favorite Recipes Volume 1 & 2" cookbook the first thing I opened up to was cooked cheese. There are several variations to nearly the same recipe, some with caraway seeds, some with a little milk, but I chose this recipe because I like the woman's name.

1 pint cottage cheese

1 cup chopped Velveeta

1 level teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 stick oleo (margarine)

Melt the margarine on the stove, remove from the heat. Stir in cottage cheese, baking soda and salt, and let stand 1 to 2 hours or until it is soft or creamy. Then add the Velveeta and put on low heat, stirring until it is melted or comes to the boiling point, but do not boil. Stir several times while it cools. Stir until smooth.

I love cooked cheese on fresh baked hot yeast rolls; yummy.

Pecan Lebkuchen

Submitted by Lori Steffens

3 1/2 cups flour

2 tablespoons cocoa

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon allspice

1/4 pound citron, diced

1/4 pound candied lemon rind, diced

1/4 pound candied orange rind, diced

1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

1/2 cup shortening

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 cup molasses

1 cup black coffee

Icing, recipe follows

Sift dry ingredients together. Mix half the dry ingredients with fruits and nuts. Cream shortening with brown sugar. Beat in one egg at a time. Add molasses. Add dry ingredients alternately with coffee. Add fruit and nut mixture. Beat well. Spread 3/8-inch thick on oiled and floured cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

Icing

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 cups confectioner's sugar

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind

Blend juice and 2 tablespoons water into sugar and rind. Spread over hot cake. Cut into 2-inch pieces. Store, tightly covered, for at least 1 week.

I would be interested to know if Lori makes her own candied orange and lemon peel or purchases it locally. I know I will get calls about this.

I pulled out a few recipes from the "Recipes to Remember" Salem-Zion PTL cookbook as well.

Bacon-Wrapped Chicken

Submitted by Danielle Huber

6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

1 (8-ounce) carton whipped cream cheese with onion and chives

1 tablespoon butter or margarine, cubed

Salt to taste

6 bacon strips

Flatten the chicken to 1/2-inch thickness. Spread 3 tablespoons cream cheese over each. Dot with the butter and sprinkle with salt. Roll up. Wrap each with a bacon strip. Place seam-side down in a greased 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Bake, uncovered at 400 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes or until juices run clear. Broil 6 inches from the heat source for 5 minutes or until bacon is crisp. Makes 6 servings.

Tim's Special Cheeseburgers

Submitted by Tim Dreyer

Our family has never met a cheeseburger that we didn't like, and so we are eager to get some of these on the grill.

1 pound ground beef

15 to 20 crackers, salted or unsalted, crumbled

1/2 teaspoon California-style garlic salt

2 teaspoons steak sauce, any brand

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon steak seasoning

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper

Mix all ingredients together. Form into hamburger patties. Fry or grill. Add cheese slice to each hamburger just before removing from heat. Makes four large cheeseburgers. Note: These are best when grilled. Yields 6 servings.

Blatz Kuchen

Submitted by Norma Kaempfe

3 egg yolks

5 tablespoons melted butter or oleo

1 tablespoon melted lard

3 tablespoons milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups flour

Mix egg yolks, oleo, lard, milk and salt. Beat 1 minute. Add flour. Mix well. Take a heaping tablespoon of the dough and roll out paper thin. Place on a heated cookie sheet. Bake until bubbly golden brown at 450 degrees. Remove from oven and brush with melted oleo and sprinkle with sugar. Break into small pieces to serve. Note: You can also use whole eggs and mix accordingly.

Just for fun, another kuchen recipe:

Blatz Kuchen

Submitted by Lois Jean Mueller

3 egg yolks

3 tablespoons milk

2 tablespoons melted butter or margarine

1 cup or more flour

Additional melted butter for top

Additional sugar for top

Cover oven rack with 18-inch square of heavy duty foil. Punch several holes in foil with fork. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Beat egg yolks quite well. Add milk and melted butter. Add the 1 cup flour and more, if necessary, to make a very stiff dough. Pinch off 1/3 of dough and roll into a 12- to 15-inch circle. Prick with fork. Transfer circle to heated oven rack. Bake until it begins to turn light brown, 4 or 5 minutes. Remove from oven onto a clean towel and brush with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar. Break into about 10 pieces for serving. Repeat with remaining 2/3 of dough.

Both of these cookbooks and many others from area churches are available at the museum in Altenburg.

I hope you have a chance to try some of these recipes and maybe add these books to your collection.

Have a good week and until next time, happy cooking.

Susan McClanahan is administrator at the Cape Girardeau Senior Center. Send recipes to her at smcclanahan@semissourian.com or by mail at P.O. Box 699, Cape Girardeau, MO 63701. Recipes published have not been kitchen-tested by Southeast Missourian staff.