Holiday Recipes

Many thanks to faculty and staff who contributed recipes. We loved them so much in the last issue, we decided to include them again. Happy holidays!

MULLED CIDER

1/2 teaspoon whole allspice

1/2 teaspoon whole cloves

1 cinnamon stick

1/2 cup water

1 1/2 cups cranberry juice cocktail

1 quart apple cider

Combine all ingredients in a 2-quart container suitable for the microwave. Cover with wax paper and microwave on high for 6-8 minutes or until hot. Strain to remove spices. May also be put in a crock pot or cooked in a saucepan on the stove. Yield: 8 servings.

-- Sharon L. Mader, Extension agent, Family & Consumer Sciences

BUCKEYE PIE

1/2 cup cookie crumbs

6 tablespoons melted margarine

2 tablespoons sugar

1 4-oz. cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup peanut butter

1 cup powdered sugar

2 cups whipped topping

1 4-oz. box chocolate instant pudding mix

1 cup milk

2 additional cups whipped topping

Combine cookie crumbs, margarine and sugar in bowl; mix well. Press mixture in 9-inch pie pan. Bake for 5 to 7 minutes, or until firm. Cool. Beat cream cheese, peanut butter and powdered sugar in mixing bowl, until light and fluffy. Blend in 2 cups of whipped topping. Pour into cooled pie shell. Combine pudding mix with milk in bowl; mix until thickened. Layer chocolate mixture over peanut butter mixture in pie shell. Chill for six hours or overnight. Serves 6.

-- Shannon Wingard, media relations coordinator, Media Relations

HUMMUS

2 cans garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained

1/3 cup tahini (sesame paste)

1/2 cup warm water scant

1/4 cup good quality olive oil

juice of 3-4 lemons

8-12 cloves garlic (or less if desired)

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons ground cumin seed

freshly ground pepper, to taste

Combine chickpeas, tahini, warm water, olive oil and juice of 1 lemon in the bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth and creamy, pausing once or twice to scrape down sides of the bowl with a spatula. Add garlic, remaining lemon juice, salt, cumin and pepper to taste. Process to blend. Taste and correct seasoning as necessary. Add more lemon juice or garlic to taste. Scrape into storage container. Cover, refrigerate until ready to use. Makes 1 quart. Serve with torn pieces of hot pita bread or as part of a cold lunch or appetizer plate. Enjoy!

-- Amy Murray, assistant director, Media Relations

DUMP CAKE

1 can crushed pineapple in own juice

1 can cherry pie filling

1 box yellow cake mix

1 stick butter, sliced

9 x 13 baking dish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Dump pineapple in 9 x 13 dish, spread to cover bottom. Dump pie filling on top of pineapple. Sprinkle cake mix on top of pie filling. Dot butter slices on top of cake mix. Bake for 35 -- 40 minutes until golden brown.

-- Carol A. Miller, publications specialist, University Marketing Communications

CRANBERRY RELISH

4 medium tart apples

8 oz. fresh cranberries

2 small navel oranges

1 1/2 cups sugar

Process fruit into 1/4-inch pieces. Mix sugar and fruit and refrigerate until chilled. Best if made several hours in advance. Yield: 8 servings.

-- Sharon L. Mader, Extension agent, Family & Consumer Sciences

CHEESE SPREAD

Mix together and spread smoothly into a 9-inch glass pie pan:

8 oz. cream cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

2 cups cheddar cheese

2 tablespoons dried onion flakes

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

1/4 cup chopped green pepper

2 tablespoons milk

Mix together and sprinkle over the top of the cheese mixture:

1/2 cup chopped pecans

2 tablespoons melted butter

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Serve hot or cold with crackers.

-- Wendy Brenot, information and records manager, Alumni Development Information Services

DIVINITY (CANDY)

3 cups sugar

1/2 cup corn syrup

1/2 cup water

Combine with wire whisk in medium pan. Once you have these ingredients mixed, do not stir any more. Cook to soft ball stage. (TIP: When the syrup starts to boil, cover tightly for 2 minutes. This will allow the steam from the boiling mixture to melt the hard sugar from the sides of the pan to allow for easier clean-up.)

While the syrup is boiling, beat 2 egg whites until stiff in bowl of electric mixer. Beating continuously, slowly pour the syrup over beaten egg whites in a THIN THREAD (very important).

As soon as all of the syrup is beaten in, stir in by hand with a large spoon 1 teaspoon vanilla and 2/3 cup finely chopped nuts (nuts are optional; my family always made some with and some without.) Continue to beat with large spoon until gloss starts to disappear. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto wax paper. You must work fast at this point; the candy will start to set and harden very quickly. Two sets of hands is a good idea.

Humidity can affect the candy; my grandmother swore you could make divinity only on a clear, dry day.

-- Beth Yaple McGuffey, assistant director, University Marketing Communications

The joy of soy: Scientists bake healthful bread that tastes good

A team of scientists at Ohio State has somethin' in the oven: the first soy bread that's both good for your heart and easy on the taste buds, too.

"This is the first baked good that can legitimately carry the FDA claim that consuming it is associated with a lower risk of heart disease," said Yael Vodovotz, an assistant professor of food science. "It's a big deal."

It's an even bigger deal that people actually like the bread.

"The problem with soy products is that they just don't taste good to a lot of people," Vodovotz said. "They sometimes have that beany flavor."

The world is full of soy products -- everything from soy milk and soy cookies to soy candles and crayons, but nothing is as ubiquitous as bread. For Vodovotz, it became the Holy Grail -- to develop an affordable product that could be happily consumed every day, last a long time and, most importantly, taste good. Bingo. Bread.

Vodovotz said the bread is a little dense and chewy, and looks very much like white bread. Just to get the numbers straight, the FDA says in order to get the heart-healthy benefits of soy, consumers have to eat at least 25 grams of soy protein daily. For a soy product to meet this claim, a serving needs to provide 6.25 grams of soy protein, as well as be low in fat, low in saturated fat and low in cholesterol. Vodovotz says the Ohio State soy bread meets all of those requirements.

She and one of her students, Cory Ballard, a food scientist who is also a baker by trade, have been working on the secret soy bread recipe for months. They've field tested it at local grocery stores, and are currently negotiating an agreement to license the product to a bakery in Cleveland. It's a family-owned business that bakes and markets to grocery stores in four states. It could be just the beginning. Because soy has shown demonstrable success in preventing some kinds of cancers, "everyone wants to use it," Vodovotz said.

That everyone includes Steven Schwartz, a member of the Cancer Prevention and Control Program at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center (OSUCCC), who was recently awarded a $1.27 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to design foods that contain both soy and tomatoes. He will be joined in the effort by Vodovotz; Josh Bomser, assistant professor of food science and technology; Steven Clinton in the OSUCCC; Mark Failla, professor of human nutrition; and others from the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.

Soy is a potential cancer fighter because it contains certain ingredients called isoflavones and a variety of other phytochemicals. Isoflavones are a class of plant-based chemicals that are used by the plant as hormones to ward off pests such as insects. There is some evidence that isoflavones may mimic human estrogen. Tomatoes, on the other hand, contain substantial amounts of lycopene, which has been shown to help prevent prostate cancer. The question is, does combining them make sense?

"People haven't really looked at combinations of functional foods," Bomser said. "We know that the Asian diet is full of soy, but it really hasn't caught on here. We're interested in putting soy in tomato sauce or combining them in other soups, juices or sauces that are already part of the Western diet," he added.

So how about a tomato-soy bread? Maybe, Schwartz said.

His colleagues in the OSUCCC are already experimenting with a diet rich in soy and tomatoes as a possible way to slow the growth of existing prostate cancers.

It's multidisciplinary magic. And there is sure to be more to come. The research team has such varied and rich experience, there's no telling what they'll cook up next.

Vodovotz, for example, was lured to Ohio State from the NASA Johnson Space Center, where she worked on creating foods for astronauts. With a background like that, shelf life takes on a whole new meaning. She has actually written a book on the staling of bread, and in one breath moves from talking about stale bread to tortillas in space.

"Now there's a real story," she said.

OK, we'll bite.

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