Feels like France with Nicoise salad, chanterelle mushrooms
Welcome to Fare Exchange. The first question for this morning came from my neighborhood, and hopefully someone in your neighborhood has the answers. The questioner wrote, “A knowledgeable tree expert came to our property this week, picked up something from the woods and took a satisfied bite. ‘These are chanterelle mushrooms,’ he instructed, ‘and they are fabulous.’ So we are wondering, how does one spot a chanterelle, the wavy orange mushrooms we saw? Are they always safe to eat, and how do you prepare them?”
There was this coincidence. The day after this request arrived we were ordering from Bread & Butter on Dayton Boulevard, delighted that one can pick up heirloom tomatoes, focaccia, quiches and fine cheeses from them — and, sure enough, foraged chanterelles.
June Krantz’s request is just the kind of quest you readers love. “The 1988-90 paper had a recipe for fresh peach pie using puréed peaches, Eagle Brand milk, Cool Whip, peach Jell-O and something else. It probably would have been a Sunday issue. We lived in Hixson at the time. When we moved to Aiken, South Carolina; Carlsbad, New Mexico; Brookfield, Colorado; and back to Loudon, Tennessee, I had it with me making pies. My son who just got out of the Army at Fort Campbell asked for one of those pies, and I have lost the recipe.”
Among the senders of last week’s Bavarian Cheese Pie were Bonnie Rogers and Gladys Edwards. Ms. Rogers received Helen Exum’s cookbook from a family member. For Ms. Edwards, the mere mention of the pie, which she has never made, filled her with her own family memories. “My mother would pre-order this pie from the Read House, and after picking up my sister and me from school, she would drive us there so Sandra and I could go in and capture the prize of this most delicious pie, which barely lasted two days at our house. This pie’s goodness is a heavenly memory of happy times together gathered round the dinner table with my precious parents and siblings.”
She made a point: The fondest memories are made when gathered round the table.
And have you noticed (we have) that pandemic policies and 6-feet distances can’t keep those memories from the making?
SUMMER SPECIAL
Thank you, Anne Braly, for passing on a treasure from Carrie Potts, who got that treasure from her mother. These fried green tomatoes are stacked with onions and sound irresistible. Carrie’s mom always served them with cornbread drizzled with country gravy.
Fried Green Tomatoes
1 green tomato with just the slightest blush of pink, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 onion, sliced 1/4 inch thick
Flour
Salt and pepper
Bacon grease
Dredge tomato and onion slices in flour, salt and pepper. Place tomato slices in skillet in hot bacon grease, and top each with an onion slice. Fry until golden brown, then flip so that the onion is now on the bottom. Continue frying until onion is golden brown.
SUMMER STAPLE
Mrs. Nicholas Aspen’s latest offering is an ideal summer staple, even though its base is canned tomatoes. She gives you Anne Byrn’s recipe from “The Dinner Doctor,” one of Mrs. Aspen’s favorite cookbooks, with Aspen additions.
Five-Minute Gazpacho
1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano, with their liquid, chilled
1 large cucumber, seeded, peeled and cut into large pieces
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine
vinegar
Put tomatoes and liquid, cucumber, olive oil and vinegar in a food processor, and process in short pulses until the mixture is soup-like in consistency, smooth with a few chunks. This will take 15 or 20 seconds. Or you may purée ingredients in batches in a blender.
This is so perfect for an abundance of summer produce.
Aspen additions (take your choice):
1 ripe tomato
More cucumber chunks Chunks of onion, red or green bell pepper or stronger pepper
More basil as a garnish
HASH BROWNS AND WAFFLES
For many Southern diners, Waffle House is holy ground. And so R.J. Johnson’s missive will be welcomed. “The reader who, in February 2019, wanted to make hash browns as good as those at Waffle House is in luck. You can currently buy a 53-ounce carton of the world-famous hash browns. Just go to their eponymous website, and click on Shop. Also available is a 52-ounce bag of their waffle mix.” A caution: The website says this is a limited-time-only offering.
NOTHING BY OVEN
Edward Jewell’s salad is a jewel. He wrote, “I recently made this delicious and easy-to-make Nicoise salad, an excellent choice on hot-weather days. I was first introduced to this dish when vacationing in the south of France a few summers ago during a period of extreme heat. I attempted to order a hot meal from the menu. The waitress refused to turn in the order to the kitchen. She told me it was simply too hot for the chefs to make a hot meal and instead she would bring me a more weather-appropriate Nicoise salad. She was right — it was the perfect choice.”
Salade Nicoise
1 (20-ounce) package frozen roasted red potatoes
1 (12-ounce) package frozen whole green beans
4 large eggs
¾ cup dry-packed sundried tomatoes, halved
3 tablespoons white balsamic or white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon dried thyme
1/3 cup olive oil
2 (5 ounce) cans solidpacked tuna in oil, drained
½ cup pitted Kalamata olives
Cook potatoes and beans according to package directions.
Meanwhile, put eggs in a saucepan, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil. Cover, remove from heat, and let stand 12 minutes. Drain, run eggs under cold water, and peel. Halve each lengthwise.
Blanch tomatoes in a pot of boiling water to soften, 30 seconds. Drain well.
Whisk together vinegar, mustard, salt, pepper and thyme in a bowl. Gradually add oil, whisking until combined well.
Arrange potatoes, beans, tomatoes, eggs, tuna and olives on a platter, and drizzle dressing over top.
Here endeth the reading of your good food. Down the road there, next Wednesday, there will be more.