Fare Exchange: Readers weigh in on pound cake, biscuits, burritos

Good morning, readers. We continue the biscuit conversation with a question from Becky G. "I have heard that frozen butter is good to use in a biscuit, but I don't have directions, and I don't have proof. Has anyone found that butter works as well as Crisco in making a 'short' biscuit as was discussed last week?"

Debbie Pataky grew up on Crisco biscuits. "My mother made the best biscuits ever, and she used Crisco and White Lily self-rising flour. Alas ... I wish I had that gene." There does indeed seem to be a green-thumb-like gift with biscuits, a thumb that I, too, lack.

Jane Henegar

Finally, here's a repeat request for grilled fish tacos.

Yeast of the Ridge has a non-food but yes-dinner question. "We often like to eat by candlelight, and I cannot find candle tapers in any of my favorite stores. Can anybody help?"

POUND CAKE

Jane Guthrie ramps up the pound cake discussion with Frances Bradley's version. Mrs. Bradley was in charge of The Chattanooga Times food section; her husband was the newspaper's editor.

"I still have that ragged piece of newsprint when I cut this pound cake out of the paper in 1962. It is a wonderful cake.

"Our son was born in 1962, and for his christening occasion, I cut this recipe out of The Times to make. I carefully prepared the recipe following Mrs. Bradley's instruction. However, my mother, another good cook, only used self-rising flour, so you know what I did.

"I had two cakes in the oven, one in the Bundt pan, another on the oven floor. Small panic and frantic cleaning - the one for the christening wasn't very pretty but good, and the scraped-up crumbles in the oven were good too."

Mrs. Norman Bradley's Pound Cake

1 pound butter at room temperature (no substitute)

3 cups sugar

8 large eggs

3 cups plain flour

1/2 cup whipping cream

1 tablespoon good vanilla extract

Heat oven to 325 degrees.

In a mixer bowl, cream butter with sugar.

The recipe says to separate yolks and whites of eggs, but I just beat them vigorously together and add them. Add half of the flour (1 1/2 cups), and mix well. Add whipping cream, then mix in the remaining 1 1/2 cups flour. Add vanilla.

Bake in greased and floured Bundt pan in preheated oven for 45 minutes (This varies depending on the oven, so watch carefully.)

Makes a huge dense cake. Slices well thick or thin.

MARINATED ASPARAGUS

Ms. Guthrie found another recipe in her well-supplied recipe file, this one for asparagus. She described it as "another keeper, like the pound cake."

Susan Klapman's Marinated Asparagus

1 or 2 (8-ounce) cans of asparagus, juice saved

1/2 cup cider vinegar

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon seasoned pepper

Mix reserved juice from can of asparagus with vinegar and lemon.

Add sugar, salt and seasoned pepper, and boil the liquid, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves. (I use the microwave.)

Pour over asparagus, and refrigerate overnight.

I have saved the marinade, refrigerated it and used over fresh-cooked asparagus.

SYRUP IN CAKE

Chocolate syrup in the middle of a cake? S. Pedigo asked, and Lavonne May answered, with her grandmother's recipe from the 1960s.

Devil's Float

You will need a 2-quart oven proof casserole dish/pan. My Mamaw used a 7- by 11-inch pan. I have a Corning Ware loaf pan, and the only thing I use it for is this cake. The pan needs to be deep so there is a lot of sauce under the cake.

2 tablespoons melted butter or margarine

1 cup self-rising flour

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups water or coffee

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt butter or margarine. Add flour, sugar, cocoa powder and milk. Stir to mix. The batter will be lumpy.

In a separate bowl, mix brown sugar, granulated sugar and cocoa. Sprinkle this over the batter in the pan, then top with water or coffee.

Bake in preheated oven for exactly 45 minutes.

GREEN CHILI SAUCE

Clifford Burdette cooked up a batch of green chili sauce in answer to your request, and the sauce cooks up quickly as well. "It's ready in 35 minutes. The sauce can be put on eggs or potatoes for breakfast, or burritos." We'll have a first idea for how to use this sauce from him today, with more to come next week.

Hatch Green Chile Sauce

1 cup onion, chopped

3 tablespoons corn oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 cups roasted Hatch green chilies, peeled, seeded and chopped (can use Anaheim chili peppers)

2 cups beef broth (can use chicken broth)

1 teaspoon salt

In heavy-bottomed saucepan, saute onions in corn oil until they begin to brown.

Add garlic, and cook another 2 minutes.

Stir flour in with onions and garlic so that it thickens.

Add chopped chilies, broth and salt, and mix well.

Bring to a boil, and simmer 10 to 15 minutes to allow mixture to reduce.

The sauce should be thick enough to bind chilies and onions together. Sauce can be refrigerated for three days, or frozen. Makes 4 cups.

MOBILE BURRITOS

Burritos are the ultimate hearty meal on the go. They are typically made with a flour tortilla. You fill with meat, beans, cheese, salsa or a combination of these, and roll up. When not served "to go," they are often served smothered with chili sauce and melted cheese.

Burritos on the Go

2 cups or 1 (16-ounce) jar green chili sauce

1/2 pound meat of your choice (vegetarians can use rice or beans)

1/2 cup grated cheese

4 flour tortillas

Warm up the green chili sauce.

Add meat, green chili sauce and cheese on warm tortilla, and roll up.

- Recipe courtesy of El Pinto Restaurant & Cantina

JUST A DASH

Here's an anonymous tip for flavoring plain yogurt. "Thaw a package of frozen, unsweetened raspberries. Sprinkle with sugar, and let sugar dissolve. Put plain yogurt in individual bowls, add chopped fresh peaches if it's July, and spoon the sweet raspberry sauce over the top. You may add granola if you want."

Thank you for your welcome company this morning.