My Favorite Recipes: Meet Shannon Buckley, Colfax

Shannon Buckley at ease in the Hill-Ray Plaza kitchen.

Shannon Buckley is a young woman of many interests – firefighting, EMT service, caring for the elderly, gardening, baking and cooking and the Palouse Empire Fair. She has raised cattle and goats, ridden horses and grown a lot of vegetables.

Her grandmother gave her family four horses, which were older and well trained.

“When we kids did stupid things and fell off, the horses just stopped and stood there.” She started with one cow and built a small herd which she recently sold. Now she kind of misses them.

Shannon has worked at Whitman Health and Rehabilitation for seven-and-a-half years and for Hill-Ray Plaza for two years. She is an emergency medical technician for the Colfax Fire Department.

At Whitman Health and Rehabilitation, she works in environmental services as a laundry person. Shannon washes, dries, folds, irons and hangs clothing of residents.

She sees residents arrive, adjust and make friends with other residents and staff. Shannon has become attached to the residents, many of whom are resistant to their new surroundings.

She also interacts with 100-pound capacity washers and 50-pound capacity dryers, and their breakdowns are a headache.

Shannon has been involved with the Colfax Fire Department for 10 years. Emergency Medical Services provides ambulance coverage for the Colfax fire department area and as needed by neighboring districts.

The fire department requires a number of licenses. Her EMT license requires 70 hours of continuing education every two years, fire fighter type II-wildland and an emergency vehicle class yearly. These licensing and certification requirements take a big commitment from the volunteers.

After being licensed and certified, volunteers invest in time to train and take calls. Drawing in and retaining people is a challenge, and more volunteers are needed. Strategic positioning of trucks during fire season helps. Fighting field fires is rigorous, and she has seen peas burn hotter and faster than standing grain, which goes fast enough.

The Buckley kids grew up knowing the firefighting crew in Colfax. Shannon commended Jim Krouse as being excellent at helping new staff learn how to be efficient fire fighters and emergency medical technicians.

At the fire department, volunteers leave their equipment ready to use, cleaned and ready to adjust for another user, although they tend to use their own gear.

Shannon has always been a Palouse Empire Fair fanatic. She showed goats and cattle, and then began working as a volunteer. She has been co-superintendent of the goat barn and then rabbits and vegetables. Her entries have included artisan breads, cookies, cakes and a few pies.

Her most recent pie was a blueberry pie while in Waterford, Va. She flew with her grandfather Jerry Shea, a retired United Airlines pilot, who enjoyed chatting with the pilot on their way home. They attended Shannon’s godchild’s First Communion. When making the pastry there, she noticed the effect of humidity on the pie dough.

Hill-Ray Plaza is Shannon’s second job, and she enjoyed learning to cook with Steve Holberg. His holding people to high standards appealed to her. She began serving and now cooks. Much of her cooking knowledge is self-taught, and her luscious Swiss buttercream icing is from her Grandmother Buckley.

Cooking and baking at Hill-Ray is gratifying for Shannon. At home, she often tries a recipe as written the first time, then tweaks it a bit each time she prepares it. She’s contemplating attending pastry school at Spokane Community College which has a pastry course that looks interesting.

Recipes:

Chicken and Cheese Molé Enchiladas

Sauce:

3 cups chopped onion

3 Tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon coriander seed

1/2 teaspoon anise seed

3 Tablespoons chili powder

2 teaspoons granulated sugar

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

2 heaping Tablespoons peanut butter (crunchy or creamy works)

2 cups chicken broth

1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes (include liquid)

2 heaping Tablespoons raisins

3 cloves garlic minced and mashed with 3/4 teaspoon salt

In a large sauce pan, heat oil and sauté onions until onions are golden brown but not carmelized. With a mortar and pestle or electric coffee grinder (especially used for spices), crush coriander and anise seeds. Mix with other spices except for garlic and cocoa powder, peanut butter, two cups of broth, tomatoes, garlic paste and salt to taste. Simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally for 20 to 25 minutes. Use an immersion blender and blend until sauce is smooth.

Filling:

2 to 2 1/2 cups cooked chicken

4 to 6 cups cheese of choice

12 flour tortillas

To assemble, dip each tortilla in sauce and place roughly 1/3 cup of filling down the center of the tortilla. Roll. Place each rolled enchilada in a greased 9 x 13-inch pan that has one cup of the sauce spread in the bottom of the pan. Continue until all enchiladas are rolled. Pour some of the remaining sauce over the enchiladas until covered. Sprinkle cheese generously over the top and bake at 375 degrees F until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbling.

Chicken and Noodles

1 2-pound chicken or a mix of boneless skinless thighs or breasts

Approximately 1 Tablespoon chicken bouillon, if using boneless chicken

1/2 medium onion, diced

2 carrots, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon white pepper

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1/4 teaspoon ground thyme

2 teaspoons finely minced parsley

16 ounces frozen home-style egg noodles

3 heaping Tablespoons flour

splash of half-and-half (optional)

Start by putting the chicken in a large pot and cover with water. At this point add the bouillon if using boneless chicken. Bring water to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Simmer for 45 minutes, and then remove chicken from the pot.

Set the chicken aside to cool briefly. To speed the cooling process, place chicken in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes. Shred the chicken using two forks, reserving the bones if using bone-in chicken. If using bone-in chicken, return bones to the pot and boil for 20 minutes and then remove and discard.

Add shredded chicken, onion, celery and carrots to the pot. Then add the salt, pepper, thyme and minced parsley. Bring the mixture to a gentle boil; then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

Stir in the noodles. No need to thaw them first. Finally, mix the flour with half a cup of water until smooth. Stir in the flour and the half-and-half (if using) into the pot. Simmer for 15 minutes, or until the noodles are tender, tasting and adding more salt if needed at the end. The soup should be thick and stew-like.

Soft Molasses Cookies

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly milled black pepper (DO NOT OMIT!)

1 stick room temperature butter

1/4 cup room temperature vegetable shortening

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

2/3 cup blackstrap molasses

1 large egg

Sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, allspice, salt and pepper. Set aside.

In a large bowl or in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and shortening for 1 minute. Add brown sugar and beat until light in color and texture. This can take anywhere from two to five minutes. Add molasses and egg. Beat until incorporated. Mixture may look like it is separating, but that’s ok.

With the mixer on low or using a wooden spoon, gradually add flour mixture. Dough will be stiff. Refrigerate dough for at least 3 hours.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Using an ice cream scoop (1/4 cup measurement), scoop out and roll in granulated sugar. Flatten slightly using the palm of your hand.

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes. Cookies should look dry on edges and “wet” in the middle. Do NOT over bake, or cookies will taste like burnt molasses.