Now that we are into December, holiday parties and gatherings will abound. Many of the recipes featured
this month will be ideal for parties or meals.
Paul Dauch, the kitchen manager at the Wood County Senior Center, was one of the winners at the annual
Wood County Throwdown, a recent competition among chefs and other cooks at senior facilities in the
county. He won in the dessert division for his pumpkin cake.
He said his cake is almost like a pumpkin pie with a cake/pudding texture. The topping features whip
cream and white chocolate chips.
(The judge’s choice facility for the overall meal at the Throwdown, Bowling Green Manor, will offer its
award-winning meal on Friday. See related story below.)
As this column recently featured another cook with a pumpkin cake recipe, Dauch is sharing a recipe his
mother always made for Christmas dinner called Chicken Supreme.
Dauch recently made the dish for those attending the Wood County Committee on Aging’s 90-plus recognition
dinner held at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church.
“They really liked it,” he said of the attendees.
One of the unusual aspects of this dish is a lower baking temperature for a longer time.
Dauch explained this allows the chipped beef at the bottom of the dish to fully cook without burning or
sticking to the bottom of the pan.
He also stressed the importance of putting a layer of the soup mixture in first to again keep the chipped
beef from becoming stuck.
One of the reasons Dauch likes this recipe is the minimal preparation time.
“Wrapping the chicken breast takes the most time,” he said, aside from the three hours in the oven.
While the WCCOA’s production kitchen prepares the noon meals for all the centers across the county, Dauch
prepares the evening meals at the Bowling Green site on Tuesdays through Thursday.
Because that meal serves roughly 30 to 40 people, he has more flexibility on the meals served as compared
to the 700 people served by the production kitchen.
“I try to do new items for the evening meal,” he said.
Despite being the chef, he also clears the evening meal menu with a nutritionist to be sure it meets
proper nutritional requirements for the people being served.  
More vegetarian dishes are being incorporated into his rotation. However, he noted that one item he tried
was not well received: a vegetarian ground nut stew which included green beans and cabbage. The sauce
featured both apple and tomato juices which were allowed to cook down. A little peanut butter was added
and served over rice.
More favorably, a recent curry chicken was served and once a month he tries to feature a different salad
as the main course.
“I try to serve a different one each month making it diverse. It just shakes things up a bit,” he said.

In addition to his duties at the Bowling Green site, he also supervises the site managers at the other
sites.
He thus enjoys his job as he said, “I keep my hand in cooking but also have diverse responsibilities.”

Dauch also joins with Angie Bradford, Director of Food Service at the production kitchen, to offer
cooking classes at the Senior Center called “Pots and Plans,”     He said those classes are “geared
toward eating healthier and on a budget.”
The classes are also diverse, mixing and matching topics to help those attending lower blood pressure, as
well as getting more fiber and less sugar in their diets. Other sessions focus on knife skills, for
example demonstrating how to cut vegetables.
When not working in the kitchen, Dauch enjoys cycling and attending food shows in the area.
He also coordinates day trips to some of those shows with seniors.
Chicken Supreme
Recipe ingredients
8 chipped beef slices
8 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
8 slices of bacon
1 cup sour cream
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
2 Tbsp cooking sherry
paprika, to taste
Cooking directions
1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees
2. Combine the sour cream, cream of mushroom soup and cooking sherry
3. Line the bottom of a lightly greased 13x9x2 inch baking dish with 1/2 cup of the soup, sour cream,
cooking sherry mixture.
4. Line the beef over the soup mixture in the bottom of the dish.
5. Wrap each chicken breast with one bacon strip and place onto the beef.
6. Pour the remaining sour cream, cream of mushroom soup, cooking sherry mixture evenly over the chicken.

7. Sprinkle, to taste, with paprika.
8. Bake uncovered in pre-heated oven for three hours.
Makes 8 servings
Paul Dauch’s winning pumpkin pecan cake
Ingredients
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin
1 can (12 oz.) evaporated milk
1 cup packed brown sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
½ tsp salt
1 package (15 oz.) yellow cake mix
1 ½ sticks butter, cut into thin slices
½ cup chopped pecans
Directions
1.     Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9×13-inch pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2.     Combine pumpkin, evaporated milk, brown sugar, eggs, pumpkin pie spice and salt in medium bowl;
stir until well blended. Pour into prepared pan and top with cake mix, spreading evenly. Top with butter
slices in a single layer, covering cake mix. Sprinkle with pecans.
3.     Bake about 1 hour or until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Cool completely
in pan on wire rack.
Makes 18 servings
White Chocolate
Whipped Topping:
Over a double boiler, melt 2 TBSP heavy cream and ¼ cup white chocolate chip together. Cool for 10
minutes. Beat ½ cup heavy whipping cream to soft peaks. Fold cooled white chocolate into beaten whipping
cream.