Welcome to Fare Exchange and to what is always a bountiful feast. But before the feast come the questions. Can you help us find the Boathouse Grill's slaw recipe, artichoke tapenade, a pasta dish made with artichoke tapenade and feta cheese, and Oreo brownies that have an Oreo crust plus a chocolate icing?
Dainy Garland Masic wrote in hopes that you can produce or imitate "the Boathouse Grill's wonderful slaw. I think it is probably rather simple and has sesame oil, but I cannot quite get that taste I am searching for." (In exchange, she provided two unusual slaw recipes, which you will discover below.)
If you copied Martha Cole's Heath bar dessert recently, here's an addendum. "I was making this recipe for my grandson and was checking the freezer to see if I had any bars frozen. I did, and also had Heath Bar toffee bits. I had forgotten that you can now buy the toffee bits. Just wanted to let you know that the bits are available and can be used rather than crushing the bars."
The next two requests are repeats, and the final one came from a very hungry teenager with an Oreo addiction.
Ruth Minter credited a Chattanooga cousin, Betty Ann Massengale, for this unusual recipe for a cake made with green tomatoes. It's about to be green-tomato season, so pay attention.
And who do you suppose first thought of such things? And how hard was it to be taken seriously, the first time, before the first taste? It makes you wonder.
Green Tomato Cake
21/4 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil or melted shortening
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup pecans or walnuts
1 cup raisins
21/2 cups diced green tomatoes
Coconut (optional)
Heat oven to 350 F. In a mixing bowl, beat sugar, vegetable oil, eggs and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. Slowly beat into egg mixture. Blend well. Stir in pecans, raisins and tomatoes.
Pour into greased 9- by 13-inch pan. Top with coconut if desired. Bake for 1 hour in preheated oven or until a wooden pick or cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Serves 12.
As promised, this column continues to be Slaw Central with the next two sent by Dainy Garland Masic. The first one came from Phyllis Wilson.
Layered Slaw With a Boiled Dressing
1 head cabbage, chopped coarse
1 large onion, chopped fine
2/3 cup sugar
1 cup vinegar
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 cup salad oil
Put 1/2 of the chopped cabbage on the bottom of a casserole. Place onion on top of this, then another layer of cabbage. Sprinkle sugar on top layer.
Mix vinegar, salt, dry mustard and celery seed in a pan and bring to a boil. Add oil, stir well and cool. Pour over slaw. Don't stir slaw until time to serve.
Hot Slaw
1 head cabbage
1 (8-ounce) carton sour cream
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons vinegar
11/4 teaspoon salt
Dash red pepper
Put cabbage in a 4-quart Dutch oven. Combine other ingredients. Stir into cabbage. Cook and stir over medium-low heat about 10 minutes until hot and creamy. Do not overcook. Serve hot. Garnish with hard-cooked egg slices and watercress. You may serve cold the next day.
And here are some more delights from the Grainger County cookbook sent by our friend Barbara Smith. The relish also could be called a salsa and might be good with chips or alongside almost anything.
Mexican Relish
1 (4-ounce) can chopped black olives, drained
1 (41/2-ounce) can chopped green chilies, drained
1 green onion, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1 tablespoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon vinegar
1 teaspoon oil
Combine ingredients; cover and refrigerate for several hours before serving. Makes about 2 cups.
Ro-Tel Potatoes
1 (101/2-ounce) can Ro-Tel tomatoes
1 (103/4-ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
1 (103/4-ounce) can Cheddar cheese soup
1/2 soup can water
1 tablespoon onion flakes or fresh-chopped onion
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 stick margarine
10 to 12 small potatoes, peeled and sliced
Heat oven to 350 F. In a bowl, mix Ro-Tel, mushroom soup, Cheddar cheese soup, water, onion and salt and pepper to taste. Pour mixture over potatoes in a greased baking dish. Place margarine slices on top and bake 1 hour or until potatoes are soft when stuck with a fork.
That's today's limit, but the possibilities are limitless in the weeks ahead. Please join us then.
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: janehenegar@gmail.com.
- Fax: 423-668-5092.