Fare Exchange: Recipes offered for creamy, not too spicy, savory and chocolate dishes

Good morning, good morning, good readers. We have one new request today followed by some cleanup requests from the spring, to wit: Specific instructions for Chicken Parmesan Bake, and recipes for Fehn's clam chowder; for roasted sugared or spiced raw almonds; for sprouted grains; for anything made with radishes, and for kale soup. Finally, where does one purchase and how does one prepare trout?

BAKE QUERY

G.C. asked about the Chicken Parmesan Bake printed in a recent Times Free Press story about the Ronald McDonald House. "Is the chicken frozen? Do you cook it before adding to the pasta and sauce?"

The remaining requests are repeats.

SALT SUBS

How to make food tasty without salt: this is indeed a challenge. But Valerie Bowers rose to that challenge with some fine ideas.

"One of my favorite tricks for giving some dishes (especially vegetables) a salty kick is to use grated pecorino Romano cheese in place of salt," she says. "It works on popcorn, French fries, salads, sliced summer tomatoes, roasted or grilled vegetables. It is good in salad dressings, in spaghetti sauce, mixed with breadcrumbs for Chicken Parmesan or meatballs, etc.

"Use it combined with fresh and dried herbs, freshly ground pepper, drizzles of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Your imagination is the only limit.

"The large bag of Argitoni brand I buy from Sam's Club is imported Italian cheese and has only 20 calories per tablespoon, 115 milligrams of sodium (a teaspoon of salt has 2,300 mg) and 1.5 grams of fat. Pecorino is made from sheep's milk so it may be a good choice for those who don't tolerate cow milk. This is not to be confused with those who are allergic to dairy, as this IS dairy."

"When I use salt in dishes (and I do use it as it is necessary for life and it makes food so much tastier) my go-to is pink Himalayan crystal salt. It is unprocessed and retains the minerals inherent in salt and is vastly different from the chemically processed white salt used by most people and companies that make processed foods. It is not iodized salt, so be aware your iodine needs will have to come from other sources. For a good tutorial on the benefits of real unprocessed salt check out mercola.com. You don't have to purchase it from the website. It is available in many grocery stores in our area and at Nutrition World."

PIMIENTO PREFERENCES

The family-approved pimiento cheese sent by Linda Leake is a reminder of the great loyalty and strong opinions of mayonnaise users. This recipe specifies in no uncertain terms that there is a certain taste to Miracle Whip by Kraft and that no other brand or type will yield the same results.

There are those among you, too, who buy nothing but Hellmann's, and those who would never use anything but Duke's. Do you really think there is a difference? How about the new olive-oil versions; are they really better for you than the old-fashioned mayonnaise? We need some expert opinions applied to this dilemma.

Creamy Pimiento Cheese

This recipe is from my uncle James W. Leake Sr. who lived to be 100 years old and who was the oldest of 10 children. His daughter, Mary Anne McDaniel of Dalton, gave it to me. We remember Uncle James when we make it, which is often.

1 package (12 ounces) sharp cheddar cheese, grated

1 medium-size jar pimientos, chopped or sliced

Enough Kraft Miracle Whip Salad Dressing to make it moist, about cup (Has to be Kraft because it has a certain flavor)

Use a food processor to mix all the ingredients; without a mixer, a blender or just a fork will do. This is great for sandwiches or stuffed in celery sticks.

CHICKEN CHOICE

In the not-too-spicy chicken category, again from Linda Leake, here is a chicken tetrazzini.

Mother's Chicken Tetrazzini

8 ounces spaghetti

cup butter or margarine

cup flour

1 cup chicken broth

1 cup light cream

1/3 cup shredded Swiss cheese

2 tablespoons sherry (optional)

Dash of pepper (optional)

1 (6-ounce) can sliced mushrooms, drained, or fresh, sliced mushrooms

2 to 3 cups diced cooked chicken

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Drain. Melt butter in a large saucepan and blend in flour. Gradually add broth and cream. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until sauce thickens. Mix in cheese, sherry and pepper; heat and stir until cheese melts. Add mushrooms. Remove from heat and stir in chicken.

Add spaghetti to sauce. Turn into a 2-quart shallow flameproof casserole.

Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top. Broil 3-4 inches from source of heat for 5 to 7 minutes or until light brown. Serve immediately. Serves 6-8.

ROLL RECIPES

Here are two more ways to use refrigerated crescent rolls, and it comes to us from The Clay Pot's "Recipes of the Week" cookbook.

Savory Parmesan Bites

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided

2 cans refrigerated crescent rolls

1 cup chopped red pepper

cup chopped fresh parsley

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix cream cheese and 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese.

Separate 2 cans crescent rolls to create 8 squares. Spread about 3 tablespoons of the cream cheese mixture on top of the square. Top with red pepper and parsley. Fold square over to complete rectangle. Cut each rectangle into 4 equal sizes. Top with remaining Parmesan cheese. Bake 13 to 15 minutes until golden brown.

Makes 32 servings.

Cow in a Blanket

1 can crescent rolls

pound ground meat

Chopped onions

bell pepper

A little spaghetti sauce

8 cheddar cheese slices

Separate crescent rolls into 8 portions

Cooked ground meat with chopped onions and bell pepper until meat is almost done and vegetables are soft. Add a little spaghetti sauce and simmer until done.

Spread meat mixture on crescent rolls and top each with a slice of Cheddar cheese. Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for about 15 minutes.

MORE INFO

If you noted the pound cake recipe sent recently by Linda Leake, here is the recipe again with an added sentence for clarification.

Chocolate Pound Cake

2 sticks butter

1/2 cup shortening

3 cups sugar

5 eggs

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup cocoa

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups milk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Cream butter and shortening. Add sugar gradually. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.

Sift flour, baking powder, cocoa and salt. Add dry ingredients alternately with milk to creamed mixture. Add vanilla extract before last addition of flour.

Bake in a greased and floured tube pan at 300 degrees for 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Cool and frost if desired.

This cake freezes well.

JUST A DASH

Jane Guthrie is one of Chattanooga's best-loved cooks, freely sharing her recipes as well as her helpful hints. This week she sent just a dash: "I keep buying fresh cilantro, refrigerating and throwing away at least half of it - black, suspicious and unappetizing.

"Recently I've removed any bottom leaves on the stalks, put it in a quart jar with an inch of water - enough for the bottom of the stems to be immersed - and put it in the refrigerator.

"The last bunch lasted three weeks, then the leaves begin to yellow. It's easy to pull out a stem or two or more to use."

And, of course, Jane Guthrie, I can't NOT ask you to share a recipe or two for using that delicate cilantro stem.

Salty, savory, blanketed and spiced: sounds like a Waffle House menu item. It's all good, and so we end as we began.