Recipes to toast the engaged couple

My precious niece Christa Bollinger will be a beautiful bride when she marries William Zickfield in October. Plans for their special day are well underway, and the excitement is building. Recently, some friends and family gave a bridal shower brunch for them to celebrate the beginning of their journey together.

A buffet was planned for the shower, so I thought I would share just a few of the recipes we used to prepare the refreshments. Other items were served, but space limits me to share only a few of them here.

Congratulations, Christa and William!

Fresh fruit was served in small clear-stemmed dessert dishes, and to accompany this were cheese straws and orange-glazed pecans.

Fresh Fruit with Orange Vanilla Bean Syrup

Orange Vanilla Syrup:

1 cup sugar

Zest and juice of 1 orange

1 vanilla bean, split with vanilla bean seeds removed, set aside

Fruit:

4 pints strawberries, hulled and halved

2 pints blueberries

2 cups green grapes, halved

2 cups red grapes, halved

2 mangoes, peeled and diced small

3 kiwis, peeled and diced small

Fresh mint leaves

* Place the sugar, 1 cup water, orange zest, orange juice, vanilla bean and vanilla bean seeds in a small pan and stir to dissolve sugar. Then bring to a boil.

* Turn the heat to low and simmer for about 15 minutes to thicken. Set aside to cool.

* Prepare all the fruit in a large bowl, pour the cooled syrup over the top and toss together. Decorate with mint leaves and chill until ready to serve.

Chicken and Asparagus Strata

1 loaf Italian bread (break into cubes) or 1 loaf French bread (break into cubes)

6 eggs

2 cups milk

16 ounces shredded Swiss cheese

1 rotisserie-cooked chicken (Picked off the bone. I use only the breast, but you can use the whole chicken.)

1 bunch asparagus

3 shallots

2 tablespoons olive oil

Pam cooking spray

* Spray a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

* Pick rotisserie chicken from the bone and set aside. Let cool.

* Finely chop 3 shallots and sauté in olive oil. Add shallots to chicken and let cool.

* Boil a small pot of water, cut the fresh asparagus into 1-inch pieces. Add asparagus pieces to boiling water and cook 2 minutes.

* Strain and put asparagus pieces in an ice water bath to stop cooking. Remove asparagus and dry on a paper towel. Add to the chicken.

* Mix eggs and milk in separate dish, making sure eggs are well beaten. Add cubed bread, shredded cheese, chicken, shallots and asparagus to the egg and milk mixture. Make sure chicken, asparagus and shallots are all cooled before adding them to the egg mixture.

* Pour all ingredients into your baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees 45 minutes. It will puff up slightly, like a quiche.

* Let it set about 15 minutes before serving. It will settle and fall a bit.

Seafood Quiche

1 pound frozen chopped spinach

8 ounces shredded Swiss cheese

8 ounces cooked, peeled shrimp or crab, or a combination of both

1/2 cup diced onion

2 (9-inch) unbaked deep-dish pie shells

1 pound 5 ounce frozen or liquid eggs, about 10 fresh eggs

2 cups skim milk

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

* Cook and drain spinach well. Combine spinach, cheese, shrimp or crab and onions. Spoon 1/2 of this mixture into each pie shell.

* Blend eggs, milk, lemon juice, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Pour 1/2 of this mixture into each pie.

* Bake at 350 degrees 50 to 60 minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. You may need to shield the top with loose foil until completely done.

* Let stand 10 minutes. Cut into 6 or 8 pieces. Yields 2 quiche.

Gouda Grits

4 cups chicken broth

1 cup whipping cream

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

2 cups uncooked quick-cooking grits

2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Gouda cheese

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup butter

2 teaspoons hot sauce, or to taste

* Bring first 4 ingredients plus 4 cups water to a boil in a Dutch oven over high heat.

* Whisk in grits, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes or until thickened.

* Remove from heat and stir in Gouda and remaining ingredients. Yields about 8 servings.

Maple French toast Casserole with Praline Topping

16 slices French bread, cut into 1-inch pieces

8 ounces cream cheese

12 large eggs

2 cups whipping cream

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon maple flavoring

For the topping:

2 sticks butter

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1 cup chopped pecans

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

* Spray a deep 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Place bread into pan.

* Beat cream cheese until smooth, using an electric mixer. Add eggs and next 3 ingredients, beating well. Pour over bread cubes, cover and refrigerate overnight.

* Remove from refrigerator; let stand 30 minutes at room temperature.

* Mix topping ingredients and spread over bread using a rubber spatula. Bake at 375 degrees 40 to 50 minutes, shielding with foil after awhile if necessary, so as not to become too brown. Serve with warm maple syrup.

Banana Crunch Coffee Cake

2/3 cup butter or margarine

1 2/3 cups sugar

3 eggs

Splash of vanilla

1 1/4 cups mashed bananas

2 1/4 cups flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup buttermilk

* Cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs, beat well. Add vanilla and bananas. Combine all dry ingredients and add alternately to mixture with the buttermilk.

* Pour into a prepared 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees 35 to 45 minutes.

* Spread topping over warm cake, then broil until bubbly and golden brown, watching not to get too dark.

For the crunchy topping:

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup chopped pecans

3 1/2 ounces coconut

1/3 cup margarine, softened

2 tablespoons milk

* This cake freezes very well. Add the topping to the warm cake. Allow to cool.

* Cover and freeze. When ready to serve, remove from freezer, thaw, then broil cake.

Kiwi-Pineapple Yogurt Parfaits

For this recipe, we used the smaller clear plastic cups and only made one layer of each, to be smaller for the brunch. I think toasted coconut on the top would be a nice touch. Any fruit combination could be used in this recipe.

4 Nature Valley Oats 'n Honey Crunchy Granola Bars, 2 pouches from a 8.9 ounce box, unwrapped, broken into small pieces

12 to 14 whole macadamia nuts

Yogurt mixture:

1 6-ounce light fat free very vanilla yogurt

1/2 cup light whipped topping, thawed

1 tablespoon shredded coconut

1 tablespoon finely grated white chocolate baking bar

Fruit mixture:

1/2 cup coarsely chopped peeled kiwifruit, about 1 1/2 medium kiwi

1/2 cup coarsely chopped drained fresh pineapple or well-drained canned pineapple tidbits

1 1/2 teaspoons honey

Garnish, if desired, using a white chocolate baking bar, making curls or shavings

2 kiwi slices

* In a food-processor or gallon-size resealable plastic bag, place granola bars and nuts; process or crush with meat mallet until chopped.

* In small bowl, mix all yogurt mixture ingredients until well blended; set aside. In another small bowl, gently toss all fruit mixture ingredients until coated; set aside.

* In each of 2 (12- to 14-ounce) tulip-shaped parfait glasses, alternately spoon about 3 tablespoons granola mixture, 1/4 cup yogurt mixture and 1/4 cup fruit mixture; repeat layers.

* Top each parfait with a sprinkle of remaining granola mixture. Garnish with white chocolate curls and kiwifruit slice. Serve immediately.

Virgin Sangria

1 peach, pitted and sliced

1/2 cup strawberries, stems removed and quartered

1 lemon, halved and sliced

2 cups cranberry juice, and/or orange juice

2 cups sparkling water or club soda

* Place the first four ingredients in a pitcher and chill in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight.

* When ready to serve, stir in the sparkling water or club soda. Serve well chilled.

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

Susan McClanahan is administrator at the Cape Girardeau Senior Center. Send recipes to her at news@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.