Let's settle down comfortably across our kitchen tables, unmasked at least in the distance, and see what's cooking. But before that, here is a crumb or two found in the 2020 file: Do you have a Splenda coffee cake, or recipes using coconut flour, or a mac and cheese that includes meat?
CRUSTLESS QUICHE
Although this is the Christmas Day brunch special at the home of Carolyn Fox, it's well-suited to any day, any home, in 2021. Ms. Fox wrote, "Our daughter, Sara Lorraine Fox Bell, makes this quiche without a crust and it works great - no soggy crust to deal with." Mama Fox is correct that a soggy crust is always a danger with quiches. If you have a foolproof method to avoid that, please share it.
Quiche Lorraine a la Sara
3 eggs
8 ounces milk
8 ounces half-and-half
Salt and pepper to taste
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon mustard
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Dash Tabasco sauce
1/4 cup flour
4 ounces ham, diced
4 ounces bacon, crumbled
3 ounces Swiss cheese, shredded
1/2 medium onion, sliced and sautéed
1 pie shell (or make it without a crust)
Mix eggs, milk and half-and-half together; add all seasonings and flour, and beat well. Spread ham, bacon, cheese and onions in a pie pan that has been sprayed with Pam (or spread in pie shell, if using). Mix evenly to disperse. Pour batter over mix, whisk to spread ingredients around and bake for approximately 45 minutes in a 350-degree oven. Quiche is done when it no longer jiggles when shaken, and a knife comes out clean.
Let cool slightly, and cut and serve.
TROPICAL PIE
This recipe came from the Brass Register restaurant, which used to be located on Georgia Avenue in downtown Chattanooga.
Clifford Burdette worked on this recipe until it was good enough to enter in a Southern Living contest. That was over 30 years ago, and though his recipe didn't win, it is still a winner in his kitchen.
Pineapple Paradise Pie
Crust:
1 stick margarine, melted
1 cup self-rising flour
cup chopped macadamia nuts (or pecans)
Heat oven to 350 degrees. To make crust, combine margarine, flour and nuts.
Spread into a 9-inch ungreased glass pie pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes or until lightly browned.
Filling:
1 can (20-ounce) crushed pineapple, well-drained
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
2 cups Cool Whip
2 cups confectioners sugar
Toasted coconut for garnish
To make filling, drain pineapple through a colander and set aside.
In a large bowl, beat together the softened cream cheese, Cool Whip and confectioners sugar.
Add drained pineapple, mixing well. Spread the mixture in the pie crust.
Refrigerate until firmly set. Sprinkle top with toasted coconut.
This makes 8 servings.
FRUITY CAKE
A 2004 Southern Living article about the very best sheet cakes included this strawberry version. Thank you, Jody Poindexter, for sending.
Strawberry-Lemon Sheet Cake
You can bake this in a jellyroll pan, and then stack the halves with a simple strawberry-lemon filling.
2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
3/4 cup whole milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled
1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Strawberry Lemon Filling (recipe follows)
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
6 tablespoons sugar
Line a lightly greased 15- by 10-inch jellyroll pan with parchment paper. Lightly grease parchment paper.
Combine cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.
Whisk together eggs and next 5 ingredients in a medium bowl until blended. Whisk into dry ingredients just until blended. Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool cake in pan on wire rack 10 minutes. Invert cake onto a wire rack, and remove parchment paper; let cool completely. Transfer cake to a large cutting board.
Cut sheet cake in half to make 2 squares. Place 1 cake layer on a serving plate. Spread top with half of Strawberry-Lemon Filling. Top with remaining cake layer. Spread remaining filling over top.
Beat whipping cream and sugar at high speed with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Spoon into a 1-gallon zip-top plastic freezer bag, press whipped cream into one corner of bag, removing excess air, and snip a 1/4-inch hole in corner of bag. Pipe whipped cream, vertically onto cake sides.
Strawberry Lemon Filling
1 (16-ounce) package whole frozen strawberries
6 tablespoons sugar, divided
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
Bring strawberries, 4 tablespoons sugar and lemon juice to a boil in a medium saucepan, and cook 5 minutes.
Whisk together remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and flour in a saucepan. Whisk in strawberry mixture, and cook over medium heat 5 minutes or until thickened and bubbling around edges. Pour into a glass bowl, cover surface with plastic wrap and chill at least 2 hours.
This makes 1 2/3 cups.
NEW YEAR'S EGGNOG
It's after the holidays, but eggnog keeps on being delicious. Here's a vegan version, thanks to Rose Secrest.
Vegan Eggnog
Plant milk or vegan cream or creamers
Vegg (powdered egg yolk substitute)
Your favorite sweetener
Fresh-ground nutmeg
Go get some plant milk you like, the creamier the better, and put it in a blender. (For even creamier eggnog, buy vegan cream or creamers, too, or instead.) For the egg yolk, you must get Vegg. Figure out how many egg yolks you want, and put the powder in the blender with the milk, cream and/or creamer. Add your favorite sweetener to taste. Then add some freshly ground nutmeg to the blender. This is the most important part, so don't be stingy. Once it is nicely blended and in a tumbler, sprinkle that nutmeg on top, and add it as you go if you must. I do.
JUST A DASH
From A.E. came this simple supper solution. "Steamable vegetables go straight from their freezer bag into your microwave. We buy ours for about a dollar a bag at WalMart or Aldi. Broccoli florets are our favorite. We cook jasmine rice in 15 minutes on the stovetop, then top it with cooked broccoli tossed with butter and lemon and salt. This is all the supper you need."
So we are off and running, off and hoping, together in 2021.
REQUESTS
* Splenda coffee cake
* Recipes using coconut flour
* Meaty mac and cheese
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
Jane Henegar