Good morning, Wednesday companions. One day recently I sat down with a neighbor who is a relative newcomer to the kitchen. Here are some of the things over which Mr. N was musing. His topics: margarine, oils, sugar substitutes, onions and garlic.
The musing began. "When is margarine a good idea in cooking? It was brought in during World War II, and it wasn't even yellow when introduced. You had to knead into it a yellow capsule that made it look more like butter and less like lard. Why margarine? Has it outlived its usefulness? Is there a recommended use for it, since it doesn't have any taste?"
Next topic is sugar substitutes. "I have sampled erythritol, and it doesn't seem to have the artificial taste of other sugar substitutes. I would like a recipe or two for candy and other simple recipes made with erythritol."
Mr. N finished his musings with onions and garlic, asking for "ways to prepare whole baked onions and whole heads of garlic."
At the end of today's column, you will discover three pies and a challenge to add your favored pie to the mix, so keep reading.
HASH, FAST
Dan Cobb offers his welcome expertise in the" fast and easy" category of cooking. Of this one he reports, "It's clearly fast, but the problem is it is also very easy to overindulge in one sitting."
Fast Texas Hash
1 pound lean ground beef
2 large onions, sliced (not chopped)
1 cup diced green bell pepper
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 cup water
1 can diced tomatoes with juice
1 cup Minute Rice, uncooked
In a large, covered skillet, brown meat until pink is gone.
Remove meat, and drain, leaving about 2 tablespoons of drippings.
Very lightly sauté onions and peppers in drippings.
Add rest of ingredients to skillet; bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 10 minutes or until rice is tender.
GROUPER RESPONSE
Yeast of the Ridge read the request for grouper stuffed with crab, "and it was intriguing. I have not tried this recipe, but it looks delicious. It was in an article about Southern restaurants, attributed to chef Billy Ballou. The stuffing is actually a generous topping."
Crab Stuffed Grouper
6 (6-ounce) grouper portions
Crab stuffing:
Oil for sautéing
2 cups diced onion
2 cups diced fennel
2 cups diced celery
2 cups diced red bell pepper
1/4 cup minced garlic
3 cups heavy cream
1 pound mascarpone cheese
2 tablespoons Old Bay seasoning
2 pounds lump crab
2 lemons, zest and juice
To make stuffing: In skillet, add enough oil to sauté onion, fennel, celery, pepper and garlic until vegetables are soft. Add heavy cream, and simmer for 15 minutes or until creamy. Remove from heat, and stir in mascarpone cheese. Add Old Bay, and let cool. Once cool, fold in lump crab with lemon juice and zest.
Place portions of grouper on greased sheet pan, and place about 4 ounces of crab mixture on top of grouper. Put in oven at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes. Once pan is removed from oven, squeeze fresh lemon over grouper, and serve.
Makes 6 servings.
PIE X 3
A sheaf of recipes arrived on our desk, and neither cookbook nor sender was named. A couple of those pages raise the delicious topic of pie, and hopefully will stir you to add your favorite pie to our conversation.
Grasshopper Pie
Crust:
2 tablespoons melted butter
14 crushed Hydrox or Oreo wafers
Combine butter and wafers, and press into pie plate.
Filling:
24 marshmallows
1/2 cup milk
4 tablespoons green crème de menthe
2 tablespoons white crème de cacao
1 cup heavy cream, whipped
Melt marshmallows in milk in a saucepan. Add crème de menthe and crème de cacao. Chill. Fold in whipped cream. Pour into shell, and freeze. Serve frozen.
Chocolate Ice Cream Pie
4 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup sugar
1/2 pint heavy cream
1 cup Hershey's fudge sauce
1/2 teaspoon peppermint or almond flavoring (optional)
1 quart vanilla ice cream
Beat egg whites until frothy with cream of tartar. Slowly add sugar, beating until stiff. Spread the meringue in a big, buttered pie plate. Bake at 300 degrees for 50 minutes. Cool.
Whip cream slowly; fold in fudge sauce and peppermint or almond flavoring if using.
Soften ice cream, and spread in meringue shell. Cover with chocolate whipped cream. Keep in freezer 24 hours before serving.
Pontchartrain Ice Cream Pie
Pie:
1 quart vanilla ice cream
1 quart coffee ice cream
1 (10-inch) baked pie shell
5 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup sugar
Soften ice cream, and spread in the baked pie shell. Freeze.
Beat whites and vanilla until soft peaks form. Add sugar 2 tablespoons at a time, and beat until stiff. Spread over frozen ice cream. Broil 5 to 6 inches from the heat until golden brown. Return to freezer.
Sauce:
1/2 cup sugar
12 ounces semisweet chocolate bits
2 squares unsweetened chocolate
3/4 cup light cream, divided
In the top of a double boiler, stir sugar and chocolate with 1/2 cup of the cream until thick. Remove from heat, and gradually beat in remaining cream. Makes 2 cups sauce.
To serve: Serve pie in wedges with chocolate sauce.
PIE CHALLENGE
There's just something about a homemade pie. Two families illustrate that for me. A certain Oklahoma brood every Thanksgiving serves a favorite homemade pie from each household present at the meal. Collaboration, not competition, is the spirit.
The second family commemorates their late patriarch's birthday every March. Four families, from California to Texas, attempt Pawpaw's favorite pie: chocolate meringue. It's not just about the creamy filling; it's the most outrageous peaks of meringue, perfectly browned. In this case competition prevails, especially across their social-media accounts. I can note this because these people are my people too.
In both families, love rules. And the pies aren't bad, either.
If you have a favorite family pie, or pie tradition, let the rest of us know, would you?
REQUESTS
- Margarine vs. oil
- Candy made with erythritol sweetener
- Whole baked onions, garlic
- Pie challenge
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, and know we cannot test the recipes printed here.
Mailing address: Jane Henegar, 913 Mount Olive Road, Lookout Mountain, GA 30750
Email: chattfare@gmail.com
Jane Henegar