Fare Exchange: Two shrimp salads and mushroom turnovers

TO REACH USFare Exchange is a longtime meeting place for people who love to cook and love to eat. We welcome both your recipes and your requests. Be sure to include precise instructions for every recipe you send.• Mailing address: Jane Henegar, 913 Mount Olive Road, Lookout Mountain, GA 30750• E-mail: chattfare@gmail.com

photo Jane Henegar

Welcome to October's spiciness and other glories, always richly displayed on local tables.

A longtime reader who describes himself simply as Male Box has some meaty questions. "I have been reading a lot about pork belly. What is it, where can you buy it locally and how should it be cooked? My next question is about beef brisket. I would like to try to smoke brisket but need directions. I have a lot of hickory nuts in my yard, huge hickory nuts that sound like cannonballs when they fall on our tin roof. Can I use them in the fire for a hickory flavor? Sometimes brisket cooks up very dry. How do I keep the meat moist? Is it better to buy cryo-vac or the trimmed beef?"

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Roseann Strazinsky of Fairfield Glade answered our call for favorite recipes with an appetizer and a salad.

Tiny Mushroom Turnovers

1/2 cup butter, softened

3 (3-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 cups flour, plus 1 tablespoon

3 tablespoons minced onion

1 1/2 cups finely chopped mushrooms

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon thyme

3 tablespoons sour cream

To make the pastry, combine softened butter, cream cheese and 1 1/2 cups flour. Chill for an hour.

For the mushroom filling, sauté onion and mushrooms in butter. Add 1 tablespoon flour, salt and thyme. Stir until smooth and cook 1 minute. Stir in sour cream and set aside.

Heat oven to 425 degrees.

Roll chilled pastry out to 1/8-inch thickness on a floured board. Cut into rounds with a 3-inch cutter. Place 1 teaspoon of mixture in center of each circle. Moisten edge of circle with water. Fold circles in half, and press edges together with a fork dipped in flour. Prick tops with fork so steam can escape. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes until lightly browned. Ovens vary; watch that they do not burn. Yield: 2 1/2 dozen.

Chilled Shrimp Salad with Bow Ties

1 pound salad shrimp

8 ounces bow tie pasta

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/2 cups mayonnaise

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

2 tablespoons fresh dill, minced

Salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup green onion, sliced

2 stalks celery, finely chopped

Follow directions on shrimp package for cooking for salad.

Cook pasta according to package directions; cool and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the mayonnaise, mustard, vinegar, salt, pepper and dill. Combine the cooked, cooled pasta, shrimp, green onion and celery into the dressing mixture. Refrigerate into an airtight container for at least 1 to 4 hours but preferably overnight. Serve chilled and refrigerate any leftover. Serves 4-6.

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Barbara's salad with shrimp is one she's been making a long time.

Avocado Pineapple Shrimp Salad

16 jumbo shrimp, peeled, deveined, tail on

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 teaspoon black pepper, optional

1 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1/4 cup olive oil, plus 1 tablespoon

8 slices pineapple

2 avocados, pitted, peeled, cut into chunks

Salt, to taste

For the vinaigrette, whisk together 1/4 cup olive oil, lemon juice, sugar, lemon zest and salt, to taste. Set aside

For the salad, toss shrimp with pepper, paprika, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and cayenne.

Heat oil in large pan on high. Add shrimp and brown on one side, about one minute. Turn, sauté 30 seconds and deglaze with 2 tablespoons vinaigrette. Sauté until done but be careful not to overcook.

To serve, arrange 2 pineapple slices and some of the avocado on 4 plates. Drizzle with rest of vinaigrette and top with 4 shrimp each.

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Two missives arrived today today from one pair who prefer to remain anonymous. So we will call them Mr. and Mrs. Sunday, and their opening topic is pressure cookers.

"We resisted pressure cookers for far too long, but are now converts. Some of our prior worries:

• "'It'll explode.' No, it won't. Modern pressure cookers are protected eight ways from Sunday. Pay no attention to Granny's stories.

• "'It's expensive.' No, it's not. Our Fagor was $99 at Bed Bath and Beyond and has worked great. Yes, you can spend a lot more, but why would you? Don't buy a used one unless you're sure it's modern. You can also use it as a large stew pot without the pressure feature.

• "'Regulating the pressure is tricky.' It'll take you about four uses before it becomes second nature. Every stove is different, but there's a setting on yours that'll keep the pressure cooker hissing like your old uncle's teeth. If it sounds like an angry cat, turn it down a little. If it stops hissing, turn it up a little. Pretty soon you'll know where the sweet spot is and it'll never worry you again.

• "'What will I do with it?' "

Read on:

"Make your own stock. It's dead easy, nearly free and totally shames anything you get from a can or box. Save up carrot, celery and onion trimmings in a zip-top in the freezer. Yes, peels. Yes, onion skins. Trim off rot and roots but keep everything else. Got a few outer cabbage leaves or a core? Toss 'em in.

"In another bag, save up bones, trimmings, carcass, etc., of any meat you cook or buy. Mix them up or keep them separate as you please. Don't have enough? Buy the cheapest meat you can find and add it.

"When you've built up about a half pressure cooker load, put it all in the cooker, cover with water (no higher than 3 inches from the top or the fill line) and process for 1 hour (no attention needed as long as it's hissing happily).

"At the end of the hour, let it cool and strain into freezer boxes and/or ice cube trays. Don't keep the scraps... they'll have given up their all.

"Don't be surprised when the stock cools and is gelatinous; it'll liquefy when you heat it up. It comes from the bones giving up all their flavor.

"Prepare beans in 1 hour. No, you don't need to soak them or cook them all day. Use your pork stock made from neck bones or ham hocks and about 3 parts stock (or water) to 1 part beans and let it hiss for 20-25 minutes. Add ham if you like meaty beans.

"Brown rice in 15 minutes. Use your chicken stock and brown basmati rice for a special treat. Chewy and flavorful. Use 1.7 parts stock to 1 part rice and let it hiss for 7-8 minutes (at least for the brown basmati at Whole Foods)."

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