Fare Exchange: How to make warm goulash for cold winter months

Good morning, November cooks and diners. We are entering a season of feasting and what you read today will be fodder for winter feasts. Requests, however, as always come first.

One anonymous requester is thinking ethnic, wanting a recipe for sarma or stuffed cabbage and any recipes for Vietnamese food. “Also, where can I buy ingredients for these dishes locally?”

This is an answer containing another request, and it came from the reader who first sought J. Alexander’s blue cheese dressing. We do not have the authentic recipe … yet. However, our hungry sleuth, the Rev. William Thomas, has an idea of the ingredients. He asks for help in figuring out the proper proportions for a salad dressing made with mayonnaise, sour cream, sugar, Worcestershire sauce, buttermilk and seasonings including Dijon mustard, cider vinegar and Tabasco. And yes, of course, Maytag blue cheese.

Margaret Mcneil has produced a sought-for goulash recipe, this one using both macaroni and ground beef. “This is one of my favorite recipes,” she writes, “especially during cold weather months.”

Goulash

1 pound ground beef

1/2 onion, chopped

2 tablespoons chili powder, divided

1 cup elbow macaroni, cooked and drained

1 (15 3/4-ounce) can pork and beans

1 (10 3/4-ounce) can tomato soup (undiluted)

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Brown the ground beef, onion and 1 tablespoon chili powder; drain. Combine the ground beef mixture with the macaroni, pork and beans, soup and remaining 1 tablespoon chili powder. Put in a lightly greased 13-by-9-inch pan. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

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Just a Dash

Mia Lanier learned a trick from her own mother. “Use melted butter to butter the slices of a big loaf of bread for dinner. This works great with the big loaves at the Bread Basket. Melted butter oozes down in the bread and makes it delicious. Cover in foil and heat gently before serving.”