Welcome to Fare Exchange, and please note we are still searching for the Lemon Sauce that Mount Vernon served with their fish dishes. If you have your own version of Lemon Sauce for fish, please send that too - as well as a hearty minestrone soup with or without meat, and an old-fashioned icebox pie.
ADVICE AND A RECIPE
Surely many of us have been missing Mr. and Mrs. Sunday, our authoritative culinary conversationalists. They turned up this week two packed-full letters lost in the Junk Mail folder for Fare Exchange. I don't know how it happened, but welcome back, Sundays. As usual, they speak on a variety of topics.
* Immersion blender: "We've been happy with our KitchenAid for years now. Don't use a soft plastic container to blend in: they can be deformed into the blades by the strong suction. Wide-mouth Mason jars work well."
* Gluten-free gravy: "Flour in gravy serves two purposes: browning to add flavor and thickening. Choose another thickener (like our favorite, tapioca flour), season heavily and darken it artificially (e.g. Gravy Master, Kitchen Bouquet). We've heard of a one-for-one substitute, cassava flour, which has both tapioca flour and cassava bits, which are supposed to darken and add flavor like flour. We bought a bag for a gluten-free neighbor, but neither they nor we have tried it yet."
* Pork tenderloin: "Pork tenderloin is the poster child for sous vide cooking, as most other cooking methods leave you overcooked dry meat with no fat to relieve the dryness. It goes from raw to dry in a heartbeat. We never make it non-sous vide without a sauce. Here's a recipe.
* Sauce for Pork: The recipe that follows is an emergency sauce we've used (originally a copy of a Toccoa Riverside Restaurant version, also for pork).
Sauce for Pork
1 cup blackberry jelly or jam
4 tablespoons dry white wine
1/4 teaspoon fish sauce (no the sauce won't taste fishy)
1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke
Dump it all in a saucepan, and stir over low heat to melt the jelly and combine.
Taste, and adjust seasoning.
Make more than you think you'll need; it generally sells well and can be reheated (or leave it stiff and make sandwiches).
(Remember to mutter about family secret recipes and long hours in the kitchen.)
Vegans may substitute soy sauce (or Vegemite or Marmite) for the fish sauce. You need the salt to cut the sweet of the jam and funky flavor to add depth to the sauce. Depth is also helped by the smoke. Don't overdo the smoke.
Wine thins the jelly as well as adding acid to balance the sweet and can improve depth if you use a flavorful one. Could you use a red? Sure, it's your happy little sauce after all.
Can't have alcohol? Try water plus a little vinegar (wine, balsamic or whatever you have).
Variations: A couple of Christmases ago, we made one with orange marmalade, red vermouth and no smoke as a topping for ice cream.
BEST-OF CONTENDERS
Responding to the prompt of Best Dish Cooked or Served in 2019, college student Kayla Brown knew exactly: rice pudding. She brought the recipe from home.
Rice Pudding
1/2 cup rice (I prefer Jasmine, but any rice works)
5 cups milk (I use Lactaid, a lactose-free milk, but any milk works, even chocolate milk)
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Bring rice and milk to a boil, and simmer for 45 minutes with lid on.
In a separate bowl, beat eggs, sugar and vanilla extract.
Bring milk to a boil, then add egg mixture to milk, and stir for about 8 minutes.
Let cool, stirring often while cooling.
Laurice Flasnick of Harrison sent a recipe for your 2020 holiday file, also a Best of the Best entry.
"Of course, I made Spectacular Squash (a recipe recently printed in Fare Exchange, but it's a long-standing family favorite so it really doesn't count. For Thanksgiving with my family in Athens, Georgia, my husband, Steve, tried out a new recipe for Oyster and Andouille Cornbread Stuffing, and it paired beautifully with the smoked turkey that my brother-in-law prepared. The dish was so delicious that Steve once again prepared it for the Christmas potluck we attended for the Chattanooga Sail and Power Squadron boating club in mid-December. One of our friends there liked it so much that she requested that we bring it to enjoy for Christmas Day luncheon."
Oyster and Andouille Cornbread Stuffing
Cornbread baked in 9- by 13-inch pan (see note)
1 teaspoon olive oil
8 ounces andouille sausage, sliced into coins (andouille comes in many levels of spiciness, so select according to your preference)
1 cup diced onion
1 1/2 cups diced celery
1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic
1/4 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
2 teaspoons dry rubbed sage
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne (adjust according to your taste)
3 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup butter, melted
4 to 5 large eggs
1 pint fresh oysters, roughly chopped, with liquor
* Note: You can make your own favorite cornbread recipe, or use a boxed mix like Martha White Yellow Cornbread Mix or Krusteaz Southern Cornbread Mix. If you use your own recipe, go easy on the sugar since you don't want the dish to be sweet. After baking, cool thoroughly, then crumble into a large bowl, leaving some fairly large chunks. Set aside.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Brown sausage, then remove sausage and set aside.
In same skillet, sauté onion and celery for 2 minutes, then add garlic and thyme; continue cooking until veggies are softened.
Spoon veggies into the bowl with the cornbread crumbles, then stir in the sage, salt, pepper, cayenne and sausage.
In a separate bowl, whisk together broth, butter and 4 eggs; add the oysters and liquor, then pour over the cornbread mixture.
Mix until well moistened. If it seems too dry, you can add that fifth egg, beaten.
Spoon dressing into an 11- by 15-inch baking dish (about 5 quarts).
Bake covered at 350 degrees 30-35 minutes. Uncover, and cook another 10-15 minutes until cooked through and golden brown.
Serve hot.
Next week there will be more of your best. Always.
REQUESTS
* Lemon sauce for fish, preferably Mount Vernon's
* Minestrone soup
* Icebox pie
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
Email: chattfare@gmail.com