Fare Exchange: Time for Cherpumple? What the heck is that?

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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: chattfare@gmail.com

photo Jane Henegar

Have a seat at the newsprint table and let's talk food.

This week we are hunting for recipes using capers, guidance for making the dressing in the center of the salad bar at Jason's Deli, and also for homemade buttermilk dressings. Thank you, A.E., for starting those three discussions.

Frank Schriner asked for your recommendation for knife sharpeners in the Chattanooga area. And Lila Tidwell, who is new to this area, seconded the requests for where to buy tomatoes bottled in jars and advice for whether food is healthy canned in aluminum cans. Ms. Tidwell has wanted answers to those two questions long before becoming a Chattanoogan.

If you are hot on the trail of Benton's bacon and don't want to go to the source, you can find one-pound packages at Market on the Mountain on Lookout Mountain. Thank you, Sissy Tarumianz, for that tip.

DIGGIN' IN

Jules R. wrote to recommend "Forks Over Knives," a magazine newly arrived at her house. "It has lots of good recipes, and here is one as an example."

Lentil Salad with Lemon and Fresh Herbs

3 cups low-sodium vegetable broth

1 cups French lentils, rinsed and drained

2 lemons

1/2 cup green onions, finely chopped

1/2 cup fresh cilantro, finely snipped

2 tablespoons fresh mint, finely snipped

2 cloves garlic, minced

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

4 cups arugula

In a medium saucepan, bring broth and lentils to boiling; reduce heat to medium. Cook, covered, 25 to 30 minutes or just until lentils are tender; drain. Transfer lentils to a large bowl.

Remove 2 teaspoons of zest and squeeze 6 tablespoons of juice from lemons. Stir lemon zest and juice, green onions, cilantro, mint and garlic into lentils. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve lentil mixture over arugula. Makes 4 servings.

TIMES FOR GRANOLA

Jane Stewart is a subscriber to the New York Times weekly food email. From it she discovered the recipe that follows, tried it and was pleased. As to the special ingredients, she considers this a "gold-plated granola," but worth it.

Eleven Madison Park Granola

2 3/4 cups rolled oats

1 cup shelled pistachios

1 cup unsweetened coconut chips

1/3 cup pumpkin seeds

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/3 cup maple syrup

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

3/4 cup dried sour cherries

Heat oven to 300 degrees. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, pistachios, coconut, pumpkin seeds and salt.

In a small saucepan set over low heat, warm the sugar, syrup and olive oil until the sugar has just dissolved, then remove from heat. Fold liquids into the mixture of oats, making sure to coat the dry ingredients well.

Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, and spread granola over it. Bake until dry and lightly golden, 35 to 40 minutes, stirring granola a few times along the way.

Remove granola from oven and mix into it the dried sour cherries. Allow to cool to room temperature before transferring to a storage container. Makes about 6 cups.

Requests

› Recipes with capers› How to make the dressing in the center of the salad bar at Jason’s Deli› Homemade buttermilk dressings› Finding knife sharpeners in the Chattanooga area› Is canned food healthy?› Where to find tomatoes bottled in jars

COPPED 'N' TOASTED

Here's another recipe from "A Floured Hand Up," the mini-cookbook of the Northside Neighborhood House. Thank you, Lynn Carroll, for sharing a copy.

Chopped Tomato Salad with Toasted Garlic

1/2 pound ripe tomatoes

1/2 pound cherry tomatoes

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cloves garlic, sliced thin

3 sprigs oregano

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup pitted black olives, cut in pieces

Cut tomatoes in bite-size chunks and slice cherry tomatoes in half. Place in serving dish and set aside.

Heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic and cook until golden, being careful not to overcook. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Add oregano. Season tomatoes with salt and pepper. Pour warm garlic mixture and olive oil over the top. Add vinegar and olives. Toss to combine. Serve.

When in season, heirloom tomatoes make this a very colorful as well as delicious dish. Makes 4 servings.

TAKE HEARTS

Mr. and Mrs. Sunday answered your shopping questions.

"Wal-Mart carries both hearts of palm (look in upper shelves of canned vegetables section) and Sambal Oeleck (look in the International section). Wal-Mart's hearts of palm range from a little over $2 a can to nearly $4 a can (all roughly soup-can size)."

Recently, Costco also carried hearts of palm in packs of two 25-ounce cans; cost was $9, they said.

CHERUMPLE?

Charles Phoenix is the originator of the Cherpumple, a sweet cousin to the meaty hybrid Turducken. Although our requester wanted information not recipe, Mr. and Mrs. Sunday linked us to both.

Mr. Phoenix wrote: "Cherpumple is the dessert version of the Turducken. It's a three-layer cake with a pie stuffed in each layer. Cherpumple is short for CHERry, PUMpkin and apPLE pie. The apple pie is baked in spice cake, the pumpkin in yellow and the cherry in white.

"The inspiration for the Cherpumple came from the typical dessert table selection you would find at one of my family's holiday celebrations. Seems there's always cherry, pumpkin and apple pie and a cake that's a family tradition. It has a layer of spice and a layer of yellow. Since I always want to have a piece of each of the pies and the cake, I figured why not make that way more convenient? So I baked them all together as one and the Cherpumple was born."

Cherpumple Pie-Caken

1 (8-inch) frozen pumpkin pie

1 box spice cake mix

1 (8-inch) frozen apple pie

1 box yellow cake mix

1 (8-inch) frozen cherry pie

1 box white cake mix

Eggs and oil according to the cake mix instructions

3 tall tubs of cream cheese frosting

3 (8.5-inch) round cake pans

Bake pies according to instructions and cool to room temperature overnight. Mix cake batter according to instructions. For each layer pour about 1 1/3 cup of batter in the cake pan. Carefully de-tin the baked pie and place it face up on top of the batter in the cake pan. Push down lightly to release any trapped air. Pour enough batter on top to cover the pie. Repeat for other two pies. Bake according to box instructions. Cool and remove from pans. Frost, perhaps with cream-cheese frosting.

Here's a P.S. for this particular season. Dye the frosting St. Patrick's Day green or Valentine's Day pink or red.

Thus full of numerous desserts all in one thick slice, we realize it's time to quit. Come back for seconds, and then some – please.

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