My Favorite Recipes By Linda Marler

 

February 27, 2013



Meet Cathy Ensley, Colfax

Cathy and Mike Ensley live in a beautiful country home which they built in 1979. Now they are in the process of redecorating, updating, and freshening their home. When they installed new siding, Mike removed the old. Their son-in-law, who owns a bathroom remodeling firm, just completed their upstairs bath remodel, and the grandkids are eager to come try out Grandma’s new large bathtub.

Fresh paint and many “country” decorating touches give their home an updated appearance, and new windows and furnace improve their energy bills.

Cathy grew up in the Seattle area and graduated from Auburn Senior High School. She was a foods and nutrition major at Washington State University when she enrolled in a logic class, where she met Mike Ensley. The rest is history.

Mike and Cathy have three grown children, Mary Ann Fiorillo, Moscow; Jeremy, Colfax, and Rosanna, Seattle. Mary Ann and her husband have three children, and Jeremy and Jessie have two. The five grandchildren are ages 11, 9, 8, 5 and 3, and birthdays for children and adults in the family occur every month of the year.

Cathy began working about the time their children started school. She began as a part-time nutritionist for the WIC (women, infants, children) nutrition program in the Whitman County Health Department. A master’s degree in English Literature claimed her time for the next few years, followed by a return to the WIC program half-time for five years. She spent a good deal of time counseling people to eat more green vegetables and drink more milk, but it was often a little more complicated than that.

Waldenbooks offered Cathy the chance to work among books all day every day, and she moved next to Whitman County Library in Colfax. She worked part-time and truly enjoyed it, especially the children’s programming part. When a full-time children’s librarian position opened in Moscow, she was hired there.

Cathy spent eleven busy years as a children’s librarian. She was in charge of buying youth materials for the library, put on more than 1,500 programs, including storytimes for different age groups, and summer reading programs. Designing the interior of the updated children’s section was a pleasure. Cathy loved the job.

Cathy has written seven or eight novels in her life, and completed two of them in the last six years. Young adult novels and inspirational romances are her preferred genre. She has not yet been published traditionally. Getting an agent is difficult, not to mention getting a publisher to buy your book. She attends writers’ conventions and is very aware of the involved process in getting a book published.

Self-publishing her fiction is not appealing to Cathy, as it is rather expensive and difficult to sell. There is a niche market for self-published non-fiction, in which local writers sell within the region.

Mike and Cathy love to fly. Mike enjoys flying so much that on a cold winter evening is likely to watch Youtube videos of people flying on his laptop computer instead of watching television. He built a Vans RX-7, and they fly as much as possible since Cathy’s retirement. Mike has been certified as an instructor pilot, and can be re-certified when Jeremy has time from farming and family to learn to fly.

During the next few years, the Ensley’s plans include flying the RX-7 to see the national monuments in Utah and visiting the Southwest and enjoying flying there in the winter. Around the Fourth of July this year they plan to fly to Saskatchewan for the holiday.

Mike has enjoyed owning his own business, which has passed from his father to Mike, and now their son Jeremy is farming with them. Farmers are jacks of all trades, according to Mike, and by the time they get really good at something, they no longer need to do it.

Cathy learned to cook with her mother, first baking cookies on her own and expanding from there. Home economics classes in high school led her to WSU and a degree in foods and nutrition. This wasn’t Cathy’s only option; she loved literature and writing, but wanted to be able to find a job when she graduated. From all appearances, she has fulfilled her plans in both fields.

When the family was home, Cathy ground her own wheat and made bread, cooking lots of everything. With the children grown, she cooks less, especially desserts and breads. Cooking for the holidays is a task she loves. She hosts Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve dinners for the family, and others bring accompaniments. This last Christmas Eve, the family dined on bacon and blue cheese-stuffed chicken breasts, which are a family favorite.

Recipes:

Bacon Blue Cheese-Stuffed Chicken

8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

5 slices bacon

1 onion, chopped

2 3-ounce packages cream cheese, softened

3 Tablespoons Dijon mustard

1/2 cup minced fresh basil leaves

2/3 cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese

1/3 cup flour

1/4 cup ground walnuts

1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt

2 eggs, beaten

3 Tablespoons butter

Place chicken breasts between two sheets of waxed paper and pound until 1/4 inch thick. Remove top sheet, sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper, and set aside.

In a large skillet, cook bacon until crisp; drain on paper towels, crumble, and set aside. Drain bacon fat from skillet; do not wipe. Add onion to skillet; cook and stir until tender, about 5 minutes.

In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese with Dijon mustard until smooth. Add crumbled bacon, cooked onions, basil leaves, and Gorgonzola; mix well. Spread this mixture on the chicken breasts.

Roll up chicken breasts with filling on the inside; fasten edges with toothpicks. On a plate, combine flour, walnuts, and seasoned salt. Dredge chicken rolls in beaten egg, then in the flour mixture. Melt butter in the same skillet and brown chicken on all sides, turning frequently. Place chicken in a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Bake chicken rolls for 15-20 minutes or until chicken is thoroughly cooked.

Serves 8.

Make ahead: You can make the chicken rolls ahead of time and chill in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook the dish. Prepare the flour and walnut mixture, but don’t beat the egg until the last minute. Then dredge the chicken as directed, brown in the skillet, and bake in the oven until done.

Broccoli Bacon Salad

10 slices bacon

2 heads broccoli, cut into florets

1/2 cup chopped red onion

1/2 cup golden raisins

1/2 cup toasted sliced almonds

1 cup diced Swiss cheese

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup low-fat mayonnaise

1/2 cup plain yogurt

2 Tablespoons buttermilk

2 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar

3 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Cook bacon until crisp; drain on paper towels, crumble, and set aside. Cut broccoli into small florets. Combine broccoli in large bowl with bacon, red onion, raisins, almonds, and cheese; toss gently.

In a small bowl, combine remaining ingredients and mix well. Pour over the broccoli mixture and stir well. Cover and chill for at least 12 hours before serving.

Serves 8-10

Lemon-Cheese Filled Cake

1 package Pillsbury Yellow Cake mix

1 cup apricot nectar or water

1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened

3 eggs

Filling

2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sugar

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

1 cup flaked coconut

Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

1 Tablespoon butter or margarine, softened

1-2 teaspoons apricot nectar or milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (325 for colored fluted tube pan). Use solid shortening or margarine (not oil), grease and flour 12-cup fluted tube (bundt) pan (non-stick finish pan should be greased, too.)

In a large bowl, blend first four ingredients; beat 2 minutes at highest speed. Pour into prepared pan. In same bowl, blend all filling ingredients; beat until smooth. Spoon filling over batter in pan without touching sides of pan. The filling forms a tunnel in the center of the cake.

Bake 60 to 70 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool upright in pan 45 minutes; turn onto serving plate. Cool completely.

In a small bowl, combine glaze ingredients; mix until smooth. Spoon over cake. Refrigerate. This makes a 10-inch ring cake.

 

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