Fare Exchange: Ways to make single-serve cake, ‘Grand’ quiche and stuffed eggplant

September will give us one more Wednesday, fit for answers to the following questions. We are looking for a meatless dish for two that contains an entire head of garlic, for liege waffles, essential oils information and your favorite cooking mentor.

Lucy Boyd has garlic on her mind – or in her pantry. She explained that, “I love keeping fresh garlic, but am constantly having to throw it away because I don’t use it up quickly enough. Is there a go-to simple meatless dish for two that I can fix to use an entire head of garlic rather than losing it?”

The liege waffles are a repeat request. And Health Nut of Trenton has been hearing a lot about essential oils. “Do you consume them? If not, how do you use them and why? And how do you prepare essential oils?”

Now about those mentors. Although some of you wrote to name someone in whose kitchen you had trained, others of you might want to name a professional cook you have never met. I know someone who has a supply of Thomas Keller’s giant cookbooks and goes there before he goes anywhere else. Where do you go before you go anywhere else?

PURE ‘GENIUS’

We discovered two more treasures in Marcia Steele’s Signal Mountain cooking compendium. She described this dessert as “awesome for those of us who want something sweet every now and then without making the entire cake.”

Genius 1-2-3 Cake

2 boxes of cake mix; one can be any flavor; the other must be angel food

3 tablespoons water

Topping of choice

Mix together dry cake mixes; shake them in a big bowl. Then simply store the mixture in an airtight container until you get the urge for dessert. Put 3 tablespoons of dry mixture in a big coffee mug and stir in 2 tablespoons water. Microwave for 1 minute and you have a single serving of cake.

Top with fruit, ice cream, whipped cream or whatever.

Mexican Soup

1 1/2 pounds ground beef or turkey

3 cans (14 1/2 ounces) crushed tomatoes

1 can great northern beans

1 can kidney beans

1 can white hominy or white corn

1 can yellow hominy or yellow whole kernel corn

1 can water

1 package Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing

2 packages taco seasoning

1 medium onion chopped

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Brown meat and onions. Add to large pot along with all the other cans. Simmer for a minimum of 30 minutes.

‘MALLOWS

Phyllis Burzese found a recipe for traditional marshmallows.

Marshmallows

2 cups granulated sugar

3 envelopes unflavored gelatin

teaspoon salt

1 cup water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Powdered sugar

In a medium saucepan, combine granulated sugar, gelatin and salt. Stir in water; heat until sugar is dissolved, then bring just to boiling. Remove from heat; cool slightly, about 5 minutes. Stir in vanilla. Transfer to a large mixer bowl. Beat on high speed of electric mixer about 10 minutes or until mixture resembles thick marshmallow crme. Pour into buttered 13-by-9- by-2-inch pan. Cool. Cut with kitchen shears dipped in hot water.

GEORGIA EATERIES

The mention of a restaurant in tiny Chickamauga, Ga., brought a note from Linda Leake of LaFayette, Ga., to remind us that “we have some great local restaurants down here.” She mentioned Queen City Bistro on the square for its “certified chef and great food. Ivy Cottage has elegant Southern food. Dari-Dip has country comfort food and Los Guerreros is Mexican food.” And she added this invitation: “Come visit.”

GRAND QUICHE

The recent discussion of the lightness of quiches brought forth another recipe from the quiche collection of Sue Mickel of Hixson. This one is full of spices and contains broccoli and turkey; it is attributed to Embree’s Old Town Restaurant in Garland, Texas, and makes eight servings. There is a sometimes a difference between making eight servings and serving eight – just reminding you.

Quiche LeGrande

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter

1 small white onion, finely chopped

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups half and half

6 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 1/4 cups chopped broccoli, blanched and well drained

2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter, melted

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/4 teaspoon dried fines herbs

1/4 teaspoon dried tarragon

1/8 teaspoon ground coriander

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon garlic salt

1/8 teaspoon ground cumin

Dash paprika

Pinch salt

1 (9-inch) baked deep-dish pie shell

1 1/2 cups cooked turkey breast, cut into -inch cubes

2 cups grated Swiss cheese

Position rack in center of oven and heat to 350 degrees. Melt cup butter in a small skillet over low heat. Add onion and cook until soft, 12 to 15 minutes. Set aside.

Beat eggs on high speed of electric mixer until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to medium and blend half and half, 1/4 cup Parmesan, nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste.

Combine broccoli, 2 tablespoons melted butter, basil, Worcestershire sauce, fines herbes, tarragon, coriander, cinnamon, garlic salt, cumin, paprika and salt in medium bowl and toss lightly until thoroughly mixed.

Sprinkle pie shell with remaining Parmesan. Add sautéed onion, spreading evenly. Arrange broccoli mixture over onion. Top with turkey. Cover completely with Swiss cheese. Pour in egg mixture to just below rim of pie shell.

Bake until quiche is set, about 50 minutes (filling will be slightly sticky). Let stand 15 to 20 minutes before serving.

CROCKER EGGPLANT

Anonymous Sender (we’ll personalize by calling him or her A.S.) included this in a sheaf of pages from a 1950 Betty Crocker cookbook.

Stuffed Scalloped Eggplant

1 medium-size eggplant

1/3 cup chopped onion

3/4 cup sliced mushrooms

4 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons flour

2 cups milk

Pie shell (optional)

Buttered bread or cracker crumbs

Cut thick slice off side of medium-size eggplant. Cook in boiling salted water until tender (15 minutes). Scoop out pulp, leaving shell 1/4-inch thick. Cook onion and mushrooms in butter. Blend in flour and milk. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture boils. Boil 2 minute.

Add cut-up eggplant pulp (about 2 1/2 cups). Season. Pour into partially baked pie shell or straight into a 10-by-6-by 2-inch baking dish. Top with buttered bread or cracker crumbs. Bake 20 minutes in a moderately hot oven. Makes 6 servings.

FRUITS ‘N’ VEGGIES

There was a lunch at a certain church and everybody brought food (of course they did; this is the South). We will introduce you to one particular contribution of note, or should I say particular contributor. She meticulously cut a huge bowl of many kinds of fruit. And then she cut a smaller bowl of fruit, just in case the big one ran out. She made one of those round trays of raw vegetables, except she cut all the veggies save for the carrots. She filled another tray with celery hearts stuffed with pineapple cream cheese. You will note that it was all healthy. And there was not only plenty to go around, but plenty to send home. May we all go and do likewise.

And let’s all meet back here next week. You hear?