Fare Exchange: Recipes for making pies and biscuits

Good September morn, good company. We begin with a quartet of recipes sought by Patty Hawkins: Gulas Chili, Gulas Corn Sticks, Gulas Bavarian Cheese Pie and Tick Tock's Crab Ravigote; then a fifth: baked goods that keep well and ship well.

Hawkins hopes that, although "restaurant owners and cooks usually don't give out their real recipes, since these restaurants are no longer in existence, I was wondering if some family members might still be around and willing to divulge recipes. I have never had anything like Gulas's thick, rich and tasty chili. Their corn sticks were fabulous, but the Bavarian Cheese Pie was the best. And the Tick Tock's Crab Ravigote was thick and creamy."

And here's a final request from "Good Granny" for baked goods that keep well that can be shipped in warm weather to a beloved child far away. "Still hot weather, so no chocolate. And that makes it a challenge."

Jane Guthrie read a summer Just A Dash item about Carren Bersch's avocado and grapefruit salad, and that reminded her of "a restaurant on the wharf in the French Quarter of New Orleans. The salad itself included avocado, the thinnest-sliced red onion and oranges. The traditional dressing of Dijon mustard, olive oil and vinegar was thinner than usual."

If you have recipes similar to Guthrie's, recipes that remind you of New Orleans, please add them to the supply. Guthrie commented, too, on fettuccine as the perfect entrée with this salad.

Nancy Klein serves up two pies.

Klein wrote that, "for some reason, I believe this is the Fehn's macaroon pie recipe that I had copied ... I had copied it in my personal recipe book but failed to note that it was the Fehn's recipe. Anyway, it should be very close. I am also including the recipe for Lemon Rub Pie, which I also believe to be a Fehn's recipe. They were two of my favorites. I have many good memories of Kappa Delta dinners at Fehn's when I was at UC. This pie was always our dessert. My favorite lunch of the week was to go to Fehn's on Friday for a bowl of their wonderful Clam Chowder and a piece of Lemon Rub Pie. The lemon filling is very rich and dense, almost like a custard."

Macaroon Pie

18 saltine crackers, crushed

1 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

15 dates, cut fine

1/2 cup nuts, chopped fine (walnuts or pecans, whichever you happen to have)

3 egg whites

1 teaspoon almond extract

Crush crackers fine in mixing bowl and mix (with fingers) with sugar, baking powder, dates and nuts. Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry. Fold into other mixture with almond extract. Pour into a well-greased and floured pie pan and bake in a preheated 325-degree oven for 30 minutes. Serve with whipped cream.

Lemon Rub Pie

Egg crust

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup shortening

2 tablespoons butter

1 egg well beaten

1 tablespoon white vinegar

5 tablespoons ice water

Sift flour and salt together; cut in shortening and butter. Quickly blend in egg, vinegar and ice water. Roll out crust and place in 9-inch pie pan. Makes 2 crusts.

Filling (enough for one 9-inch pie)

4 eggs

2 cups sugar

1 tablespoon flour

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 tablespoon grated lemon zest

1/4 cup melted butter

Beat eggs; gradually add sugar mixed with flour. Add lemon juice, zest and butter. Mix and pour into 9-inch pie pan lined with the unbaked crust. Bake at 325 degrees for 50 minutes to one hour.

Judy Bellenfant found this recipe for club soda biscuits. We are still on the lookout for a similar recipe that contains yeast along with lots of butter and club soda, a recipe attributed to Eat Street.

Club Soda Biscuits

5 cups biscuit mix

2 1/2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup club soda

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 egg, beaten

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Combine all of the ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Flour your hands and the surface and knead the dough by hand until smooth. Roll the dough to a -inch thickness. Cut out biscuits. Bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Bellenfant's recipe suggested the use of a copycat Bisquick recipe, this one claiming to be the original copy for the original recipe.

Copycat Bisquick Recipe

Use this as an exact substitute for original Bisquick in recipes. Original Bisquick does not contain powdered milk. Neither does this copycat recipe. This recipe also uses canola oil as a healthful substitute for solid shortening.

6 cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons baking powder

2 tablespoons powdered sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons table salt

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

9 tablespoons canola oil

Whisk dry ingredients together. Mix well. Using an electric mixer, slowly stir in canola oil. Mix until all lumps are gone and mixture is a uniform texture, about 1 minute.

Store in an airtight container.

Just a Dash

R.E.B. is waiting eagerly for more chicken salads from your repertoires, and in the meantime she sent you her Just a Dash idea for the week, a quick salad.

To your choice of lettuce and greens, make your favorite choice from each category:

A nut or seed

Cheese

Vegetable

Meat (if desired)

And what does that look like in the home of the REB Family? "Tonight is pumpkin seed, goat cheese, corn and grilled steak. These salads come together so quickly, and the limited ingredients keep it from looking like 'a dog's breakfast,' to quote a favorite expression from Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa."

Please write, and do come back next week.