Good, healthy bread available at several spots in Chattanooga area

bakery background
bakery background
photo Jane Henegar

To Reach Us:

Fare Exchange is a longtime meeting place for people who love to cook and love to eat. We welcome both your recipes and your requests. Be sure to include precise instructions for every recipe you send.• Mailing address: Jane Henegar, 913 Mount Olive Road, Lookout Mountain, GA 30750• E-mail: chattfare@gmail.com

Requests

* How to cut meats/seafood/veggies in Primo cooker* Recipe for Fehn’s fried chicken

A fine July morning to you, cherished kitchen companions. Today's topic is meaty: outdoor meats and seafood and indoor fried chicken.

F.H. wants instructions for preparing food on a Primo cooker, the American equivalent of the Big Green Egg. "I want to know how to cook any meat or seafood and vegetables as well. If anyone has a recommendation for a cookbook for these cookers, I would like that, too."

We have a request straight from Seattle for Fehn's fried chicken. Where are you, Fehn family, with your treasure trove of well-remembered foods? Marilyn Murphy has moved to Washington State and still remembers that landmark restaurant's fried chicken.

"I have looked online and in my Chattanooga cookbooks to no avail," she writes. "A friend of mine said she thought it had been published in the paper sometime over the years."

Finding bread

Lynn Carroll stepped in from her garden long enough to speak of bread, with thoughts for "a seeker of good bread." She wrote, "Chattanooga has a wealth of good breads and a bonus added to them. Bluff View Bakery at 430 E. Third St. downtown, and Niedlov's Breadworks at 215 E. Main St. downtown not only have wonderful healthy bread, they also have coupons in the Hamilton County Kids First Coupon Book which benefits our local public schools. The book is sold annually at all schools in Hamilton County for only $10. The Niedlov's coupon is 'buy one loaf get one free.' The Bluff View Bakery coupon is good for $2 off purchase for each of the 12 months, a $24 discount. What a bargain. And while we are eating healthy we are helping educate our children."

Carroll also noted that Clark Bakery breads are sold at the Village Market in Collegedale.

The Art of Chicken Salad

We sat down across the newsprint table from Barbara Babb and Mr. and Mrs. Sunday, and only chicken salad was on the menu. The Sundays wrote, "A few thoughts on Barbara Babb's recipe and chicken salad in general. We expect Ms. Babb knows most all this already from the way her recipe is constructed, but others may not.

"There is no one perfect chicken salad recipe. It will always vary by available ingredients, diners' needs, mood, time, kitchen temperature and so on; good cooks adapt recipes as needed.

"Juicy chicken salad without juicy chicken is tough. Marinating before you cook it is a great way to start. Most non-dairy salad dressings work, as does a simple brine (1/4 cup salt per quart of liquid). Even 15 minutes in brine is a big help. Try a simple brine and a half-hour soak for any of your chicken recipes and you'll be astounded at the difference it makes.

"Some folks find brined chicken too salty; rinse the surface salt away before you cook or add 2 tablespoons sugar or other sweetener to 1 quart of the brine recipe. Sweetness confuses the salt sensors in your tongue and hides the salt taste.

"In a time bind and don't want to cook chicken just for chicken salad? Buy it pre-cooked. Taste local stores' chicken to see if it's juicy. Hint: Food City and Popeye's fried chicken are very juicy and make good chicken salad if you strip off the breading and just use the meat underneath. Rotisserie chickens vary by store and we don't have a favorite yet.

"With juicy chicken you can show it off by using big chunks, but that won't work if it's dry. Instead, chop the chicken fine and then mash it with your binder (mayo, yogurt, etc.). This makes sure every dry particle is well coated with something the tongue perceives as juicy. Add texture with juicy fruits (grapes, apples) or vegetables (celery, jicama, cucumber, pickle).

"You really only need a binder if you intend to serve in sandwiches or molds that need the salad to hold its shape. Otherwise you can use a vinaigrette to add flavor and moisture. Example: Thai chicken salad (larb or laab) uses lime juice and fish sauce to add juiciness and flavor. No, it's not fishy but that's for another day

"If the chicken is flavorful and juicy, show it off by using restraint in your added flavors; if it's truly wretched, add lots of herbs to the salad and spices to the mayo. Chili or curry powder can hide a lot of sins.

"Nuts are nice to add for both flavor and texture to chicken salad. We're partial to pecans but have seen most kinds used successfully. If you have time, toast the nuts first. We keep a bag of toasted pecans in the freezer so we can just grab a handful as needed.

"Taste, taste, taste. If it's salty, add sugar. Too sweet? Add salt or acid (lemon, vinegar). Bland? Add herbs (a little dried dill is a good place to start). Maybe consider a little fish sauce or soy sauce instead of salt. Make it yours."

Having read the Sundays' chicken salad thoughts, I headed for the kitchen where a large supply of overcooked chicken breasts presented a challenge. Not to worry; I simply followed the suggestions above. As often happens, your responses are timely in my own kitchen as well as many others.

Vegan fettuccine

Rose Secrest, vegan extraordinaire and cookbook author, provided a vegan Fettuccine Alfredo.

Vegan Fettuccine Alfredo

1 cup raw cashews

1 teaspoon garlic powder

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Splash or two of white wine (optional)

Put the raw cashews in a bowl with enough water to cover, plus a few inches, since they will swell. Let them soak overnight.

Place the cashews in a blender. Add enough fresh water to blend to a consistency of your liking. Blend in garlic powder, nutritional yeast and pepper. Add the splashes of white wine if you choose. Heat the sauce gently on the stove while cooking fettuccine noodles.

Season with pepper.

Special cookbook

An Alabama reader, known here only as E. of Henagar, Ala., stopped in a thrift store recently with a friend. A self-described bookaholic, the reader went straight to that section "and on the shelf I saw 'Helen Exum's Cookbook' on the spine. That cookbook made its way to my house."

This is one of those serendipities that draws many to thrift stores. The question remains: Why did its owner pass it on? Some cookbooks are just too good to give up.

Your presence, always, is also good. I say thanks.

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