Fare Exchange: Coke and Jell-O salad, garlic mojo and Tassajara bread

Welcome to Fare Exchange on this Ash Wednesday. We begin with requests: the Boathouse Rotisserie and Raw Bar's Lotta Lotta Garlic Chicken, liege waffles and Ruth's Chris Steak House recipes for its creamed spinach, barbecue butter as used to sauté shrimp, and their harvest salad with a white balsamic vinaigrette. A final query is for a definition of unbolted corn meal and how to use it.

Joy Fox of Rocky Face, Ga., is a garlic lover, believing that "there is nothing like garlic for flavor, aroma and health benefits. I would love the recipe for The Boathouse's Lotta Lotta Garlic Chicken or something similar."

Hungry Husband has read about liege waffles, hence the request for more information or how to make them. Next, he and the wife sampled their first dinner at Ruth's Chris Steak House. "I would like to duplicate or come close to their creamed spinach, and the barbecue butter for sautéing shrimp, and their harvest salad along with the white balsamic vinaigrette that accompanies it. In addition, my neighbor asked me to pass on a question about unbolted corn meal." Specifically "What is it and how should it be used in recipes?"

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Barbara began the reminiscing for salads made with Jell-O by sending this one made with half a can of Cherry Coca-Cola. There are a few more such salads already on our desk, so why not add your favorite?

Cherry Coca-Cola Salad

1 can sour cherries and juice

1/2 cup water

3/4 cup sugar

6 ounces cherry Jell-O

6 ounces Coca Cola

1/2 cup pecans

1 cup drained crushed pineapple

Boil together cherries with water, juice and sugar. Add Jell-O, dissolve and cool. Add Coca-Cola, nuts and pineapple. Chill until set.

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You asked about Tassajara bread and who should answer but Harvest Grain Person, hereafter to be known as HGP. He or she wrote, "The Tassajara books are available on Amazon. The 1971 edition is $8.99 and the 2011 edition is $6.63 used. I have made hundreds of loaves of bread following the basic recipe. You can't go wrong if you use a good yeast, such as Red Star regular -- not instant. There are dozens of variations. I prefer adding dried fruits such as apricots or raisins. The reader will be pleased with this recipe."

So appealing was the thought of can't-go-wrong-homemade-bread that I stirred up a batch myself, and will report when the baking is done, which should be before this column is done.

Tassajara Yeasted Bread

3 cups lukewarm water (85 to 105 degrees)

1 1/2 tablespoons dry yeast (2 packages)

1/4 cup sweetening (honey, molasses or brown sugar)

1 cup dry milk (optional)

4 cups whole-wheat flour (substitute 1 or more cups unbleached white flour, if desired)

4 teaspoons salt

1/3 cup oil or butter or margarine

3 cups additional whole-wheat flour

1 cup whole-wheat flour for kneading

In a large ceramic bowl, dissolve the yeast in the water. Stir in the sweetening and the dry milk, if using. Stir in the 4 cups of whole-wheat flour to form a thick batter. Beat well with a spoon, at least 100 strokes.

Let the dough rise for 45 minutes.

Fold in the salt and the oil, then fold in the additional 3 cups of flour until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl. Knead on a floured board for about 10 minutes, using the additional 1 cup flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking to the board. Stop when the dough is smooth.

Let the dough rise for 50 to 60 minutes, or until doubled in size. Punch it down. Let the dough rise for another 40 to 50 minutes, or until doubled in size. Shape the dough into loaves and place in 2 oiled loaf pans or a single heavy oiled baking dish. Let rise for 20 to 25 minutes.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Brush the tops of the loaves with an egg wash (an egg beaten with a few tablespoons of water or milk) and bake for 40 minutes to an hour or until golden brown. Remove from the pans and let cool before slicing.

Variations: You can replace part of the water with milk. And, if you like a lighter bread (and quicker risings), use an additional package of yeast.

Yield 2 loaves.

-- From "The Tassajara Bread Book" by Edward Espe Brown

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Joy Fox, garlic aficionado, confirmed that "this recipe for Garlic Mojo is awesome. It may be found on chef and restaurateur Rick Bayless' website, with this recommendation: 'Use it to season chicken, steaks, fish, vegetables: just about anything. In fact, in Season 7 of 'Mexico, One Plate at a Time,' Rick will be using it for several recipes including as a seasoning for popcorn."

Garlic Mojo

4 large heads of garlic or 10 ounces (about 1 3/4 cups) peeled garlic cloves

2 cups fruity olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup fresh lime juice

Heat the oven to 325 degrees.

Break the heads of garlic apart; to release the clove from its papery skin, mash each clove (a fist against the side of a knife is the chef method); if using already-peeled garlic, scoop the cloves into a heavy, sealable plastic bag and use a rolling pin to mash them slightly.

Stir together the garlic, oil and salt in an 8-by-8-inch pan (make sure all the garlic is submerged), slide it into the oven and bake until the garlic is soft and lightly brown, about 45 to 55 minutes. Add the lime juice and return to the oven for 20 minutes for the garlic to absorb the lime and turn golden brown.

Using an old-fashioned potato masher or large fork, mash the garlic into a coarse puree. Pour the mixture into a wide-mouth storage container and refrigerate it until you're ready to enjoy some deliciousness. This mojo will keep for up to three months in the refrigerator as long as there's enough oil to keep the garlic covered.

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Anybody who spends time around the vast and bustling complex of Alexian Village on Signal Mountain has probably heard of Marcia Steele. The Steeles love to cook and usually make plenty to share. Here's a Steele soup favorite.

Mexican Soup

1 1/2 pounds ground beef or turkey

1 medium onion, chopped

3 cans (14.5 ounces each) crushed tomatoes

1 can great northern beans

1 can kidney beans

1 can white hominy or white corn

1 can yellow hominy or yellow whole kernel corn

1 can of water

1 package Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing mix

2 packages taco seasoning

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Brown meat and onions. Add to large pot along with all the other cans. Simmer for a minimum of 30 minutes.

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Fare Exchange is about to be done this week and, sure enough, I finished baking the Tassajara bread long before I finished writing it. The bread has several risings, so it's not a quick bread. I used 1/4 white flour to 3/4 whole wheat and 3 packages of instant yeast, then added dried cranberries and toasted walnuts. It yielded two great big loaves, a kitchen that smelled delicious and enough to take next door, where our neighbor countered with a bag of home-milled red wheat flour. All in all, a good cooking day.

We will be watching for you, in the inbox, in the mailbox or at your end of this newspaper.