Fare Exchange: Here's a hot-chocolate dry mix made from scratch

Jane Henegar

Welcome to the Good Food Place. Today we are looking for veal cutlets well sauced and several areas of cookie expertise, so read on.

» Carla Laster wrote, "We loved to eat at the Gulas Restaurant on McCallie. Would anyone have a recipe for their veal cutlets? I'm especially interested in the sauce. As I remember, it had a tangy flavor."

» Roseann Strazinsky of Fairfield Glade, Tenn., has sent a lavish spread of holiday recipes, and only one request. "I have a question about baking Christmas cookies now for Christmas. I wonder if any of your readers know the best way of storing them. Can I freeze in plastic containers, or can I freeze a canister of baked cookies? Or can I store the canister of baked cookies in the refrigerator for the Christmas holidays?"

» C. Nelson wants a recipe for gingerbread men. "Plain and simple, the kind I remember growing up, and I am in my 60s."

STELLAR DRESSING

Sharon Skipper Allen sent from Charlotte, N.C., another tried-and-true family favorite. You may need a definition for this recipe. A pone is a "baked or fried bread usually made of cornmeal." Not too obscure, but you will have to estimate the size of the particular pone needed here.

Ms. Allen provided some background to make her recipe even more appealing. "This is the dressing my grandmother, Mrs. L.C. Rice, made every Thanksgiving and Christmas since I can remember. The homemade cornbread and biscuits are what made it so good. When she was teaching me the recipe, she stressed that the secret of the recipe is to have the turkey or chicken broth really HOT. The first year I made it, I forgot to heat the broth, and the dressing turned out rubbery and gooey. So now I reheat it in the microwave until it is just boiling and the dressing is always perfect. Also, this dressing freezes well, and we enjoy leftovers with the traditional New Year's Day meal of pork roast, black-eyed peas, greens and mashed potatoes."

Nanny's Holiday Dressing

1 pone cornbread

7 baked biscuits (homemade or commercial)

2 eggs, beaten

1 to 2 onions, chopped

4 to 5 stalks of celery, including leaves, chopped

2 tablespoons each of the following, or more to personal taste: salt or salt substitute, pepper, garlic salt, sage, poultry seasoning, and thyme.

2 cups HOT turkey broth or commercial chicken broth

8 to 10 pats of butter

Paprika

To do in advance:

» To make homemade broth to use in this recipe, bring turkey giblets in lightly salted water to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 30 minutes or until you can remove a bit of the neck meat with a fork. Pour liquid into a container, and store in refrigerator until needed. You may also use commercial chicken broth for this recipe. For faster preparation, allow refrigerated broth to come to room temperature before reheating.

» You may bake the cornbread and biscuits a day or two ahead of time and refrigerate in plastic bags. You may also chop the vegetables and store in the refrigerator in tightly sealed containers. Lightly grease large baking pan (I use a 14 1/2- by 10 1/2-inch) or use a cooking spray product.

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

In a very large mixing bowl, crumble cornbread and biscuits, and mix well. Add the rest of the dry ingredients and chopped onions, celery and eggs, and mix well. Add one cup of the hot broth, and stir until well mixed. Continue to add hot broth a little at a time until smooth but still thick (you may not need the entire 2 cups, depending on the size of egg and the type of biscuits you use). Pour into greased baking pan.

Top with butter pats and paprika.

Bake at 375 degrees for an hour or until set (when mixture begins to brown and leaves sides of pan). Check at 40 minutes and adjust baking time.

Leftovers may be frozen. Remove, thaw and reheat in oven at 350 degrees.

COOKIE SOPHISTICATES

Enter Ms. Strazinsky, as promised, with an entree and a dessert, but not in that order.

Italian Horn Cookies

1 cup cold butter (no substitute)

4 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups vanilla ice cream, softened

1 can (12 1/2-ounce) Solo brand cherry or poppy seed filling

Sugar (to be used lightly to sprinkle on unbaked cookies)

In a large bowl, with pastry blender, cut butter into flour until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in ice cream. Divide into four portions. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.

On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion to 1/8 inch thickness. With a fluted pastry cutter, cut into 2-inch squares. Place about 1/2 teaspoon filling in the center of each square. Overlap 2 opposite corners of dough over the filling, and seal. Sprinkle lightly with sugar. Place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes or until bottoms are light brown. Cool on wire racks.

DIVINE DIVAN

For turkey leftovers, or for just plain chicken, she offered this popular dish.

Easy Turkey Divan

2 (10 ounce) packages frozen broccoli spears

1 can (14 1/2-ounce) evaporated milk

1 can (10 1/2-ounce) mushroom soup

6 slices turkey or 2 cups turkey pieces

6 slices of cheese

1 can (3 1/2-ounce ) french-fried onion rings

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cook broccoli to crisp-tender stage. Drain.

Lightly spray bottom of an oblong baking dish (11 1/2- by 7 1/2- by 1 1/2 inches) with Pam.

Combine the milk and soup. Spoon some of this mixture into the pan. Place the broccoli along the sides of the pan and the turkey in the center. Add the slices of cheese, and cover with the milk mixture overall. Bake for 25 minutes. Cover with onion rings, and bake 5 minutes more. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Note: You can add cooked wide noodles between the turkey, lasagna- style.

Lisa Gay Miller read the shopping request for flat-topped metal turkey roasters, the old-fashioned kind, "and I found several for sale, from the low-priced Granite Ware to upper-end Viking and Chantal." She too loves the ability to use the lid "as another roaster or casserole for dressing".

Where to find? "Target, Amazon, Bed Bath & Beyond, Williams-Sonoma and QVC all have these online."

SWEET SIPPING

To top off today's column, here's a hot-chocolate recipe that longtime correspondent Bobbie Abercrombie hopes will answer the request for a homemade dry mix. "My daughter gave it to me years ago," she says.

Hot Chocolate

1 (8-quart) container instant non-fat dry milk

1 (2-pound) carton Nestle Quik

1 (16-ounce) container powdered dairy creamer

1 pound powdered sugar

Mix well. Use 1/3 cup mix to 1 cup hot water or milk

I can promise more sweet and salty, smooth and crunchy treats for next week, because a few of those have already arrived. You come along too, please.