Fare Exchange: Time to talk mayo, toffee, chicken and apple pie

Jane Henegar

It's the season to be patriotic and that calls for food, picnic and otherwise. Today's requests came from Severine Lemagny. Please give her instructions for cooking catfish and any other way to prepare the less-expensive kinds of fish. She also would like a recipe for Molten Lava Cake.

"I sampled one at a restaurant and the dessert was gluten-free but was grainy rather than smooth. I want smooth."

Sally Durand saw the request for a Dutch apple pie with no crust and a crumb topping and produced a versatile solution. She wrote, "Here is a good and easy one with a topping using flour, but I am sure you could substitute oatmeal and it would be delicious. It is from a 2003 cookbook, 'America's Best Recipes' from Oxmoor House.'"

Swedish Apple Pie

8 Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Topping:

1 cup sugar

1 cup flour (or you can use oatmeal)

I large egg, beaten

1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted

Grease bottom of a 9-inch pie plate: fill with apple slices. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg over apples. Combine 1 cup sugar and flour (or oatmeal); stir in egg and butter. (The mixture will be thick.) Spread topping over apples.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Increase temperature to 400 degrees and bake 10 minutes until golden. (If topped with oatmeal watch carefully to avoid burning at 400 degrees.) Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Makes 8 servings.

MORE MAYO

There is more to say about mayonnaise. Mary Ann McInturff passes through this column a message for "my friend of many years, Marcia Kling. Though I really like Hellmann's and feel one can always rely on its being consistently good, I have to say I favor Duke's for flavor. Duke's contains no added sugar, whereas Hellmann's does. Also, I think another of my favorites, Blue Plate, is made with only egg yolks as opposed to whole eggs. Blue Plate can be a little hard to find, but Publix usually has it."

FAIL-SAFE TOFFEE

The toffee that follows is from Diane Marrs, who describes it as fail-safe. The trick for fail-safe, as she carefully explains, is that one must follow it exactly. To wit:

"You must use real butter and the brown sugar mixture must be timed at exactly four minutes once it comes to a boil. This is the original recipe and it is absolutely decadent."

She noted that some versions and variations of this recipe don't call for chocolate "and that's downright sad."

Fool's Toffee

12 to 14 graham crackers

1 cup real butter (no substitute)

1 cup brown sugar (packed)

12 ounces chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped nuts (pecans)

Cover a 10- by 15-inch jellyroll pan with foil and spray with Pam.

Place single layer of crackers on foil close together.

In medium saucepan over medium-high heat, blend butter and brown sugar. Heat to boiling and once it comes to a boil, boil for exactly four minutes. Use a timer.

Pour butter mixture over crackers, spreading evenly. Bake at 350 degrees for five minutes. Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle chocolate chips on top. Allow chips to soften a few minutes and then spread evenly with spatula or butter knife over crackers. Immediately sprinkle with nuts.

Place pan in refrigerator until toffee is cool. Break into pieces and store in refrigerator in an airtight container.

Note: For a thicker chocolate layer, use 18 ounces of chocolate chips. Also increase pecans to 1 cup if cup seems skimpy.

SLOW CHICKEN

Nancy Eden has tested this slow-cooker chicken dish on her family, and they approved.

Slow Cooker Chicken Thighs Over Rice

For the chicken:

6 skinless chicken thighs, bone-in, up to 2 pounds

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes, not drained

1 (4-ounce) can diced green chilies, not drained

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Salt and pepper to taste

Place chicken thighs in a slow cooker. Top with mixed peanut butter, diced tomatoes and green chilies. Add red pepper flakes and salt and pepper. Cook on low for eight hours or high for four hours.

For the rice:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/4 cup chopped onion

1 cup brown rice

Salt and pepper

2 1/2 cups chicken broth

1 clove garlic, smashed

2 sprigs fresh thyme

3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

3 green onions, thinly sliced

When chicken is almost done, cook the rice.

Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan, then add onion and cook until tender. Add the rice and toss to coat it with oil, then season with salt and pepper to taste.

Add the chicken broth, garlic and thyme. Cover with a lid. Cook for about 30 minutes. Remove the thyme sprigs and garlic. Fluff with a fork and add parsley and green onions.

Serve thighs and tomato mixture over brown rice.

Serves 6.

JUST A DASH

Thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Sunday for this sage advice on how to proceed if you find your dish is too bitter.

"The classic response is to add fat and/or sugar; most of us start our experience of coffee this way, as black coffee is way too bitter for young palates.

"What do you do, though, when faced with a super-taster (more bitter sensors on the tongue than the rest of us) and a dish for which fat or sugar would spoil it?

"Add a little salt. It can mask enough of the bitterness that a super-taster can enjoy foods that are otherwise out of reach.

"As an experiment, try adding a pinch or so to black coffee or grapefruit to see what we mean."

HELPFUL HINT

Here is a tip for neighbors on moving day. We recently visited a home where the occupants were in the middle of a move, with all the confusion and empty cupboards that ensue. Across the terrace lived a well-known travel writer named Kate, who saw what was happening and brought a pristine tray filled with just what was needed: a large bottle of chilled sparkling water and cups and ice; some fabulous goat cheese and slices of Port Salut cheese and crackers; a perfect peach, sliced with lime slices alongside, and a dish of mixed nuts. Later in the day came another tray, this one with china teacups, tea bags straight from her South African travels, a pitcher of cream and some energy bars.

No cooking needed: just kindness. That's the tastiest gift of all.

Let's pass that around.