Fare Exchange
By Jane Henegar
Welcome to Fare Exchange, generous cooks. Let's just dig in. The requests today are for a lemon pudding that is made with a lemon cake mix, the mint sauce served with lamb at The Chop House, and careful instructions for duplicating Parisian Ladurée macaroons, "the double-decker kind."
An appreciative reader wrote, "Years ago I had a recipe for a lemon pudding with its own sauce. It called for a lemon cake mix (I can't remember what was added to the cake mix.) Just before baking, you poured over the mix a cup of very hot water. The result was a pudding-like dessert that had its own sauce."
The second request came from a man who loved both the lamb and the mint sauce at The Chop House. "I can cook lamb, but I can't make that sauce, without your readers' help."
And finally, a visitor to Paris, who wanted to be able to order Ladurée macaroons when she returned, is looking for a recipe she can try here at home.
We've got a couple of tasty desserts suited for preparing with young but kitchen-savvy granddaughters, as per Ann Powell's request. These seem entirely adult-friendly too, and we have Dolores Bowling to thank.
Kool-Aid Dessert
1 envelope unsweetened Kool-Aid, any flavor
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 (8-ounce) container Cool Whip, thawed
1 graham cracker crust
Mix Kool-Aid and condensed milk together in a bowl. Fold in Cool Whip, and pour mixture into graham cracker crust. Refrigerate several hours or overnight before serving. Leftovers should be refrigerated.
Mounds Cake
1 box devil's food cake mix
3/4 cup sugar
24 large marshmallows
1 cup milk
1 (14-ounce) package coconut
Bake cake in a 13- by 9-inch pan, according to package directions. Cool.
Heat sugar, marshmallows and milk in a saucepan until marshmallows melt. Add coconut, and pour over cooled cake.
Topping:
1/2 cup milk
11/2 cups sugar
1 stick margarine
3 tablespoons cocoa
1 (6-ounce) package chocolate chips
Boil together milk, sugar, margarine and cocoa. Remove from heat; stir in chocolate chips, and beat until melted. Pour over cooled cake and refrigerate overnight.
From her kitchen, Jessica Stamper explained that this unique chili is "delicious and healthful, and you cannot tell it has pumpkin in it. I tailor to my family's likes, leaving out cumin, upping the chili powder and sometimes making it vegetarian without the turkey. Also it is a Crock-Pot recipe and freezes beautifully. I found it in Taste of Home."
Black Bean and Pumpkin Chili
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium sweet yellow pepper, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups chicken broth
2 (15-ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
21/2 cups cooked ground turkey
1 (15-ounce) can solid-pack pumpkin
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes
2 teaspoons chili powder
11/2 teaspoons dried oregano
11/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
Sauté the onion and yellow pepper in olive oil until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer.
Transfer to a 5-quart slow cooker. Stir in remaining ingredients.
Cover and cook on low 4-5 hours until heated through.
Nutrition: 1 cup equals 192 calories, 5 grams fat, 658 milligrams sodium, 21 grams carbohydrate, 7 grams fiber, 16 grams protein. Diabetic exchange: 2 very lean meat, 11/2 starch, 1/2 fat.
Diane Marrs came next, and her gift to us for today is a quiche without crust.
Crustless Quiche Lorraine
8 slices bacon, crisply cooked, crumbled
1/8 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 pound Swiss cheese, grated
4 eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
11/2 cups half-and-half
Heat oven to 375 F. Spray a 9-inch pie pan with Pam. Sprinkle bacon, onion and cheese in the bottom of pie pan.
Whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Add the salt, pepper and nutmeg; whisk a little more. Add the half-and-half and whisk vigorously, then pour gently over the cheese mixture.
Put the quiche into preheated oven and bake 40 minutes. Check for doneness after 30 minutes by gently jiggling the quiche. It should have just a little wiggle. It will finish setting while it cools.
Makes 6 servings. Quiche will keep for several days in the refrigerator. Reheat in a 200 F preheated oven. Recipe may be doubled for a 12-inch pie pan or tart pan.
And finally, we'll inaugurate today, and include whenever you contribute, a section we'll simply call Kitchen Sense. Oh how we need sense -- oh how I need sense -- in the kitchen and everywhere around the house and beyond it. Please deposit herein simple ideas for seeing cooking and serving in uncomplicated, sensible ways.
KITCHEN SENSE
Joyce Tawzer: Save the step of precooking celery and onion; add them to your cornbread mix when making dressing.
Linda Morris: One of my New Year's kitchen resolutions is to try to prepare a new recipe each week or two. I did this when my sons were young; it was fun and proved to be an interesting way to keep everyone acquainted with new foods. Some of the recipes turned out to be keepers, and sometimes they would suggest that I not have that one again.
That's it for today, with next week to look forward to, always.
To Reach Us
Fare 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: janehenegar @gmail.com
Fax: 423-668-5092