Welcome to Fare Exchange, and please note we are still searching for the Lemon Sauce that Mount Vernon served with their fish dishes. If you have your own version of Lemon Sauce for fish, please send that too – as well as a hearty minestrone soup with or without meat, and an old-fashioned icebox pie.
ADVICE AND A RECIPE
Surely many of us have been missing Mr. and Mrs. Sunday, our authoritative culinary conversationalists. They turned up this week two packed-full letters lost in the Junk Mail folder for Fare Exchange. I don’t know how it happened, but welcome back, Sundays. As usual, they speak on a variety of topics.
* Immersion blender: “We’ve been happy with our KitchenAid for years now. Don’t use a soft plastic container to blend in: they can be deformed into the blades by the strong suction. Wide-mouth Mason jars work well.”
* Gluten-free gravy: “Flour in gravy serves two purposes: browning to add flavor and thickening. Choose another thickener (like our favorite, tapioca flour), season heavily and darken it artificially (e.g. Gravy Master, Kitchen Bouquet). We’ve heard of a one-for-one substitute, cassava flour, which has both tapioca flour and cassava bits, which are supposed to darken and add flavor like flour. We bought a bag for a gluten-free neighbor, but neither they nor we have tried it yet.”