Fare Exchange: Simple cinnamon rolls, Pot Roast Meatloaf are comforting cold-weather food

Jane Henegar

Welcome to 2016's last Fare Exchange. Let's get right to it.

Judy wrote, "I am wondering if any of your readers remember Russell's Chili that was once sold in grocery stores. It was sold in the meat department in a brick-type block. I would love a recipe for it if anyone could provide it. Thank you in advance." So then, we need a recipe for chili that tastes like the one sold in blocks.

CINNAMON ROLLS

Margaret McNeil praised these super-simple cinnamon rolls, because they start with Pillsbury seamless dough sheets. To get more servings per batch, you could cut each strip into two or three pieces and make mini cinnamon rolls. They'll cook faster so reduce the baking time. You may bake the day before." This one is from her blog, Margaret's Morsels.

Super Simple Cinnamon Rolls

Filling:

1/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1/3 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup butter, softened

Rolls:

2 (8-ounce) cans Pillsbury Recipe Creations seamless dough sheets or crescent rolls

Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon butter, softened

2 to 3 tablespoons milk

Heat oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl, mix all filling ingredients; set aside.

Unroll one can of dough into a large rectangle. If using crescent rolls, firmly press perforations to seal. Spread filling over the dough. Unroll second can of dough into a large rectangle. If using crescent rolls, firmly press perforations to seal. Place dough over filling, pressing dough onto filling. Cut dough into 9 (13-inch) strips. Roll from one end to the other, shaping each piece into a coil. Place in a greased 13-by-9-by-2-inch pan. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and place pan on a wire rack.

In a small bowl, combine all glaze ingredients, adding enough milk to make desired drizzling consistency. Drizzle over warm rolls. Serve warm.

COLD-WEATHER COMFORT

Talk about comfort food - and indeed we do talk about comfort food when the weather grows cold. Ginny Gaines began, "My husband has never been a fan of meatloaf, and I tried recipe after recipe, but to no avail, until I found this one in the cookbook 'Miss Daisy Celebrates Tennessee.' It was a winner. This is a Bicentennial Collection and tells how Tennesseans came to 'set a fine table' for former statesmen, our presidents, foreign diplomats, literary geniuses, talented musicians, etc., and the most important being our families."

Pot Roast Meatloaf

1 pound ground sirloin or round

2/3 cup evaporated milk

1/3 cup cracker crumbs

1/4 cup chili sauce

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon salt (optional)

1/4 teaspoon pepper

3 medium onions, sliced

3 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced

3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced

1 tablespoon dried parsley or fresh

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

For the meatloaf, combine the first seven ingredients thoroughly. Shape into a loaf in center of a 13-by-9-inch baking dish.

Slice all veggies. Combine salt and pepper and parsley. Arrange vegetable in layers around meat loaf. Sprinkle each layer with parsley mix. Bake in 350-degree oven, covered, for 60 minutes or until veggies are tender. Uncover and bake for another 10 minutes.

Variation: I do not put the potatoes around the meatloaf, as we like mashed potatoes with meatloaf, so therefore, I just spread vegetables (onions and carrots) around loaf rather than layer. I also have baked at 400 degrees for an hour uncovered, and it works well. With an addition of a fruit salad or fried apples, it is a delicious meal, not at all like the meatloaf one usually has.

CHILD'S HOLLANDAISE

Mr. and Mrs. Sunday read in this column an Eggs Benedict Casserole that calls for packaged hollandaise, and they recommend an alternative version from Julia Child instead. Note Child's key phrase "cannot fail."

The Sundays quote Julia:

"This very quick method for making hollandaise cannot fail when you add your butter in a small stream of droplets. If the sauce refuses to thicken, pour it out, then pour it back into the whizzing machine in a thin stream of droplets. As the butter cools, it begins to cream and form itself into a thick sauce. If you are used to handmade hollandaise, you may find the blender variety lacks something in quality; this is perhaps due to complete homogenization. But as the technique is well within the capabilities of an 8-year-old child, it has much to recommend it."

Julia Child's Hollandaise

3 egg yolks

2 tablespoons lemon juice

14 teaspoon salt

Pinch of pepper

4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter

Mix egg yolks, lemon juice, salt and pepper in blender. Cut the butter into pieces and heat it to foaming hot in a small saucepan. Cover the blender jar and run it at the highest speed. While the blender is still running, take out the small "additions" cover and immediately start pouring in the butter as a stream of small droplets. Omit the milky residue at the bottom of the pan. Adjust seasoning as needed. Makes about 34 cup.

The next words on hollandaise are from the Sundays, not the Child.

"Now, on to the cheats: We rarely use unsalted butter and add all the solids for convenience's sake; if you do this, omit the salt in the recipe as it will be too salty if you don't. Originally salt was added to inferior butter to mask problems, but that's not so much a problem these days. We almost always omit the pepper and when we do add it we prefer white pepper; no flecks in the sauce. The microwave does a fine job of melting butter but sneak up on it so you don't have a foam-over.

"Today's modern blenders don't choke as easily as those in Julia's day, so have a stick and a half melted; just stop pouring if the sauce starts to get super thick. Check seasoning, as you may not have added all the salt yet.

"Go check out Julia's original for the billion-and-one variations. For example, replace the lemon juice with strained, reduced (to 2 tablespoons) wine and wine vinegar (1/4 cup each) in which you've cooked 1 tablespoon each of shallots and tarragon and you have Sauce Béarnaise, traditional on meat."

On that lovely combination of elegance and ease, we will close our last Fare Exchange for 2016. Please join us next year.