Fare Exchange: Ongoing conversation covers ponzu sauce, stem trims

Welcome, April readers. We’re out of pocket as the month begins but bring you several requests from a cook in the far-off land, Marie-Laure Poiret. She is seeking a recipe for beet and butternut squash (or any combination of root vegetable soup), for where to find and what to do with Jerusalem artichokes and, finally, for plain meringues (“but not the chocolate chip kind; the recipe I have is way too sugary”).

BROCCOLI STEMS

Thanks to Mignon Ballard of Calhoun, Georgia, for this answer. “This is for Clare King who is looking for a use for broccoli stems. I peel the larger ones and use them in salads. You can slice them or make ‘broccoli straws.'”

PONZU SAUCE

Nancy Ruby wrote in praise of ponzu sauce. “I have been using ponzu sauce for several years. It is in the Asian section at both Walmart and Food City and perhaps other places. Kikkoman makes it; yellow cap for lemon, green cap for lime. Just this week I used some on my lamb chops. I put them on a pan, sprinkled the lime version on them, added some chopped fresh rosemary and salt and pepper. I let them sit for 30 minutes or so before I prepared them in my stovetop grill pan. Adding fresh asparagus and crusty bread made for a great dinner.”

Lamb chops head a special dinner in celebration of her husband Walter’s birthday. “I also made Paula Deen’s caramel cake,” Mrs. Ruby wrote. “Between the cake, filling, and frosting, five sticks of butter were used. My mother would have said I was trying to kill him the lemon meringue, apple pie way.”

Mr. and Mrs. Sunday sent a message that is really more like a conversation around the subject of food, and they know their stuff. It’s easy to tell that many hours of kitchen experimentation have produced ideas and adaptations like these. We’ll put the topics in bold.

“Publix (at least on the North Shore) carries ponzu sauce in their international section. Before you buy, see if they have yuzu juice (ponzu is about 50 percent yuzu, 50 percent soy sauce). Bottled yuzu juice keeps in the fridge for months. In a pinch, lemon or lime juice will do (use a little less). Meyer lemons are particularly nice and are in season now. You can fake Meyer lemon juice by adding a little orange juice to lemon juice.

VEGGIE TRIMS

The Sundays continue: “There are two ways to go on vegetable trimmings: Put them in your soup bag or trim less.

“For the soup bag: We keep a gallon zip-top bag for trimmings and rotisserie chicken bones and scraps in the freezer. When the bag’s full, it’s time for another batch of chicken broth. Cover with water, and pressure-cook for 45 minutes (or simmer for a few hours). Strain.

“Trim less: A nice Korean lady taught us to peel broccoli stems instead of tossing them (peelings go in the soup bag). The peeled stalks are tender and flavorful and can be cut into coins and cooked normally. The same is true for fat asparagus spears (thin ones usually don’t need peeling). We only trim the bottom 1/2 inch or so. Yes, into the soup bag they go. Onion skins make the broth an appealing brown. Carrot peels and trimmings add color and flavor and on and on.”

What to do with all those wonderful soup ingredients? “When you have broth, cook your rice in it, serve it as soup (cook the noodles in the broth) or use it in stews and braises instead of water. We freeze unused broth in one-cup plastic boxes, which stack well and defrost quickly.

SOAKING PECANS

“As for soaking pecans before roasting, we’ve never done it and can’t see much advantage except perhaps if the pecans have dried out and need to be hydrated to avoid burning. Plain water added to fresh pecans would just have to be boiled away in the oven before roasting could begin. Perhaps if you were adding salt or other flavors to the soaking water …”

And so the last topic, soaking pecans to prepare for roasting, remains on the table. If you have thoughts, please join the discussion. The Sundays concluded, “We hope people picked up on the ‘salt your apples to avoid browning’ trick buried in the recent ‘Sunday at Joe’s’ appetizer recipe. Since you rinse the salt away, it’s great for fruit plates, etc.”

WHOOPIE PIES

The final recipe in a recent envelope from Fairfield Glade and Roseann Strazinsky sounds like something to whoop about.

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies

1 (12-ounce) package miniature semi-sweet chocolate pieces, divided

2 tablespoons milk

3/4 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 recipe Filling (recipe follows)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Set aside 1/4 cup of chocolate pieces to sprinkle on cookies.

In a microwave-safe bowl, combine 1 cup of the chocolate pieces and 2 tablespoons milk. Microwave on 50 percent power (medium) for 1 minute or until melted, stirring once. Set aside.

In electric mixer bowl, beat butter and peanut butter until combined. Add sugar, soda, baking powder and salt. Beat to combine well. Add eggs, 1/2 cup milk, vanilla and melted chocolate. Beat till well blended. Add cocoa powder and flour, and combine all. Stir in remaining chocolate pieces.

Drop by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Sprinkle with reserved chocolate pieces. Bake for 9 minutes or until tops are set. Cool on sheets about one minute. Transfer to wire racks; cool completely. To assemble, spread flat sides of half the cookies with filling; top with remaining cookies. Makes 30 sandwiches.

Filling

1 cup softened butter

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1 cup marshmallow crème

2 cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons milk (if needed)

Mix all ingredients with electric mixture until combined. If needed, beat in milk to get proper spreading consistency.

A dessert with many layers of flavor is a fine ending to today’s repast. Please do return.