Fare Exchange: A week of R's: Risotto, Roasted Tomato Basil Soup, Rumaki

Jane Henegar

Good morning, readers. We are looking today for blackberry cobbler, a cake made with tea and tomato-zucchini soup.

Janet Chandler Nuckolls, a former Chattanoogan now a retired returnee, asks the rest of you "if you could help me find the recipe for blackberry cobbler that was in Helen Exum's 'Chattanooga Cookbook'? I used to make it quite frequently and still have the cookbook. I have not made this recipe in several years. Unfortunately, I am a messy cook and must have spilled something on that page. I looked up the recipe the other day and the pages were stuck together. When I peeled it apart the recipe was destroyed. The pastry recipe is delicious. Can you or your readers supply me with this recipe?"

There's a true taste test: a recipe spattered and splattered with repeat applications. Last week, someone mentioned Celia Marks, and this week, Helen Exum, both unforgettable names in Chattanooga cookery.

The other two requests are from Sylvie Chapoy. "I saw a recipe for cake made with tea and lost it before I could copy it. I also want to know who has tested this recipe and whether they approve. Our family sampled the tomato-zucchini soup at Whole Foods and it was delicious. Since we have some of both of those ingredients in our garden, we want to make the recipe."

And now, from inbox to mailbox. I went to the mailbox one mid-day to discover a handwritten letter in the familiar script of Bobbie Abercrombie, who has been sending recipes for many a year. As I read it, I thought about the three beloved people who would be sitting at our table that night. Realizing that every ingredient of Abercrombie's recipe was on hand, I made my first risotto (except for one made in a crock pot) from her recipe. Although we can't test all the recipes you send, this one has four taste testers' four stars.

Risotto

1 cup Arborio rice

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided

1 large onion, chopped

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1/2 cup dry white wine

3 cups hot chicken broth (more if needed)

3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Fresh-ground pepper

In a heavy saucepan, sauté rice in 1 tablespoon butter, stirring constantly. Add onion and garlic salt. Sauté until onion is tender. Add wine and sauté until absorbed. Slowly add 1 cup hot broth, stirring frequently as the liquid cooks down. Continue to add broth 1/2 cup at a time until all broth is used and mixture is very creamy. Fold in cheese, pepper and butter. Serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings.

Tester's note: This takes a long stirring on the stove top, so get a kitchen stool and someone to keep you company; stir until the creaminess comes. Four servings vanished pretty fast.

Nancy from Harrison wrote next. "G.B. asked for a recipe for tomato basil soup. This is one that I discovered a few years ago and my husband loves it. It is great with a bit of cheese sprinkled on top and some garlic toast.

"I gather the Roma tomatoes from our garden in the summer, roast them as directed in the recipe, then freeze them for use in soup during the winter. This works great and saves a few dollars."

As tomato season winds down, this recipe - which comes from Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa - arrives none too soon.

Roasted Tomato Basil Soup

3 pounds ripe plum or Roma tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

2 cups chopped yellow onion (2 onions)

6 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

28 ounces canned plum tomatoes with their juice

4 cups fresh basil leaves, packed

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

1 quart chicken stock

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Toss together the tomatoes, 1/4 cup olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread the tomatoes in one layer on a baking sheet and roast for 45 minutes.

In an 8-quart stockpot on medium heat, sauté the onions and garlic with 2 tablespoons olive oil, butter and red pepper flakes for 10 minutes or until the onions start to brown. Add canned tomatoes, basil, thyme and chicken stock. Add the oven-roasted tomatoes, including the liquid that remained on the baking sheet. Bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for 40 minutes. Place in food processor or blender and process until smooth. Taste the seasonings. Serve hot or cold.

Nancy's Note: I only use about 1 cup of the fresh basil, which is usually an entire package purchased in the produce department in the grocery store.

An appetizer containing chicken livers? Yes indeed, says Pat in Flintstone, Ga., who found the lost recipe. "I have my old cookbook from 1967, 'Betty Crocker's Hostess Cookbook,' and remembered Rumaki from it. Here's the recipe.

Rumaki

Oriental Sauce (recipe follows)

6 chicken livers, cut in half

1 can (5 ounces) water chestnuts, drained and cut into 12 slices, or use 12 slices fresh water chestnuts

6 slices bacon, cut in half

1/4 cup brown sugar

Pour Oriental Sauce over chicken livers and water chestnuts in baking dish. Cover dish with plastic wrap; refrigerate 4 hours.

Set oven control to broil and/or 550 degrees. Remove chicken livers and water chestnuts from marinade. Wrap 1 liver and water chestnut slice in each piece bacon; secure with wooden pick. Roll in brown sugar. Broil 3 inches from heat 10 minutes, turning occasionally, until bacon is crisp. Makes 12 appetizers.

Oriental Sauce

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup salad oil

2 tablespoons ketchup

1 tablespoon vinegar

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 cloves garlic, crushed

Mix all ingredients. Makes about 1 cup.

This was a week of savory recipes; just a little brown sugar in the appetizer finale. There's saffron rice waiting to be printed next week and who knows what else from you?