Good morning, summertime friends. Today we are looking for recipes for chicken thighs, and for sweet things that inspire poetry, and tomato variations. Let me explain.
Roseann Strazinsky of Fairfield Glade proposed the first topic. "I wonder if your readers would have a recipe for baked chicken thighs. We attended a funeral reception a while ago and the ladies at the church served these wonderful-tasting chicken thighs. They were in a 9- by 13-inch pan, baked with some kind of coating, not Shake N' Bake and not highly seasoned. No gravy or sauce. Simply delicious and you could cut with a fork. I have been looking through my many cookbooks but cannot find the right recipe."
There is a line in a poem by Marge Piercy that delineates the healing, or at least comforting, power of sweet baked goods. It reads, "In the oven she made sweetness where otherwise there was none." And this point may apply to the request below.
A.E. is looking for "sweet baked goods, cookies or cakes, that still taste delicious but are made with maple syrup, honey, coconut sugar or at least less white sugar than in the old days. I tried some oatmeal cookies like this, but they weren't much good."
Finally, you will note in Betty Domal's Icebox Cucumber recipe that she has heard a similar recipe may be made with chopped tomatoes. If you have that recipe, please share it.
COOKIES
"Everybody loves cookies," opined a friend recently. Not everybody loves cakes or scones, but everybody loves cookies. So here is an easy recipe from Rebecca Hale, who got the recipe from a bed-and-breakfast in Louisville, Kentucky. "These were the best cookies," she reported. "I have never heard of cookies made with cake mix, and they were so easy and quick."
Cake Mix Cookies
1 box yellow cake mix
2 eggs
1/4 cup oil
Optional: nuts, chocolate chips, etc.
Combine cake mix, eggs and oil. Add extras above, as desired. Dough will be like regular cookie dough.
Pinch off desired cookie size; place on cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.
PORK CHOPS
When Jean Moore discussed the following pork chop recipe with husband Hugh, he advised simply, "The more onions, the better." That is a school of culinary thought followed by some of the people I love best as well: "Onions, so good for your health, cannot be overprescribed."
Ms. Moore wrote, "I am sending a recipe for juicy tender pork chops. I received this recipe for pork chops many years ago at a kitchen and recipe shower before my wedding. I have made this recipe many times, with only one major change from the original recipe, which called for one large onion for six pork chops. I realized right away that my husband was taking all the onion, so instead of using only one large sliced onion for up to six pork chops, I use one large sliced onion for each pork chop. You may cook from one chop up to a dozen as long as your skillet or covered casserole dish accommodates them in one level."
Baked Pork Chops
Center-cut pork chops up to 1 inch thick (number of chops is your choice)
Salt and pepper
Flour for dredging
1 large sliced onion for each pork chop
Chicken bouillon cubes
Water
Fat for browning (I use canola oil) to cover bottom of skillet
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Salt and pepper each pork chop on both sides. Dredge each chop in flour on all sides.
Brown chops on both sides in hot fat.
Remove browned chops to paper towels.
Drain fat from skillet if you want to bake the chops in the skillet. Return chops to skillet or to a casserole dish.
Top each chop with a sliced onion.
Add enough water to cover the chops and onions. For each cup of water used to cover the chops and onions, add one chicken bouillon cube.
Cover skillet or casserole dish, and bake in 350-degree oven for one hour.
Serve. The broth tastes good on potatoes or rice as well as on the pork chops.
CUCUMBERS
Betty Domal wrote next. "Here is an easy one that is good when vegetables are coming into gardens now. Easy to make and people always like it. It is easy to transport in a Tupperware container that has a lid or any container with a tight lid that won't leak.
I've been making it for years. The recipe came from 'Dining With Pioneers Vol. II,' from the telephone company way back when."
Ms. Domal just made this recipe for an outdoor social-distancing meeting, slicing onions and cucumbers on her mandoline.
Icebox Cucumbers
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons celery seed or celery salt
1 1/2 cups white vinegar
7 cups thinly sliced cucumbers (about 3 to 4 fairly large, whole cukes)
2 onions, thinly sliced (or 1 large)
2 green peppers, thinly sliced
Mix together salt, sugar, celery seed or celery salt and vinegar.
Add cucumbers, onions and green peppers.
This is better if prepared a few hours or a day ahead before serving. Keeps up to 2 weeks in refrigerator.
The way my family likes it is without the celery salt or seed, or peppers. I like to make it the day before I use it. I've seen similar recipes with chopped or sliced fresh tomatoes, but have never added them.
FRUIT COBBLER
A reader asked about pan size for Linda Morris' One Cup Cobbler from the June 3 Exchange. To keep it simple, here's the simple recipe again, and this one will tell you what size pan works best.
One-Cup Cobbler
1 cup flour, self-rising
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk
1 cup fruit (peaches, apples, cherries, strawberries or blueberries)
1 stick butter
Mix flour, sugar and milk together. Melt butter in 8- by 8-inch (or 9- by 9-inch) baking dish, then pour in flour mixture. Pour fruit on top and bake for 1 hour at 375 degrees. Recipe may be doubled for a 9- by 13-inch pan.
Here endeth your reading, and here beginneth my anticipating your returning next Wednesday.
Requests
* Baked chicken thighs
* Ode-worthy sweets
* Tomato variations
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
Jane Henegar