88-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, September 2, 2000
If you are looking for a recipe but can’t find it, send
your recipe request to Lou Ann Good, Cook’s Ques
tion Corner, in care of Lancaster Farming, P.O. Box
609, Ephrata, PA 17522. There’s no need to send a self
addressed stamped envelope. If we receive an answer to
your question, we will publish it as soon as possible.
Check your recipe to make sure you copy the right
amounts and complete instructions for making the reci
pe. Sometimes we receive numerous answers to the
same request, but cannot print each one.
Answers to recipe requests should be sent to the
same address. You may also e-mail questions and an
swers to igood.eph@lnpnews.com
Notice: Several readers write that they have
problems accessing this address. The common
mistake is that readers are substituting an “i”
for the lowercase “I (L)” needed in two places.
If you are having problems reaching this ad
dress, please check to make sure you are typ
ing an “I (L)” in both places and not an “i.”
QUESTION Elam Lapp, Myerstown, wants
a recipe for making homemade hard cheese
similar to farmers’ cheese by using Jersey cow
milk.
QUESTION Durwood Tuttle, Knoxville,
makes sweet pickles in a crock that he stores
in a cellar. About three weeks ago, a gray fuzzy
mold formed all over the crock. He washed the
crock thoroughly with bleach water but it
doesn’t keep the mold from forming again. Any
help would be appreciated.
QUESTION Bob Snyder wants recipes for
hot rice. Also rice recipes of all kinds are
needed for the upcoming rice feature on
Sept. 16.
QUESTION A reader wants to know why
there are strings and other sediments that at
tach to mixer beaters while mashing potatoes.
Is it the potato variety used, the speed used to
mash the potatoes or some other reason?
QUESTION Rachel Musser is searching
for a spaghetti sauce recipe that tastes similar
to Prego pasta sauce (traditional).
QUESTION Lynda Bell, Lincoln University,
requested two recipes about a year ago, which
were answered. Unfortunately, Lynda mis
placed the recipes. She writes if readers will
send them again, she promises not to lose
them this time. She wants a recipe for ginger
bread with butterscotch sauce from the Dinah
Shore cookbook. She also wants a recipe for
horseradish jelly.
QUESTION Sheila Roney is looking for a
sweet potato pie recipe that includes the in
gredients of French vanilla pudding, sweetened
condensed milk, and cinnamon.
QUESTION Charles Cramer, New Market,
Md., would like a copy of the “Lancaster Level
Flo Cookbook (Recipes From the Land of the
Pennsylvania Dutch).” His family enjoyed a rec
ipe that they believe was originally published in
this 1970’s cookbook. The potato salad recipe
had a delicious salad dressing.
QUESTION A reader wants a recipe to
make elderberry wine from fresh elderberries.
QUESTION A subscriber from Leesport
writes that she has a problem with sponge and
chiffon cakes. Although the cakes bake well,
she ends up cutting off one-inch from the bot
tom of the cake because It is a gummy consis
tency.
QUESTION Kenneth Hixon, Warfordsburg,
would like a recipe for making gherkin pickles.
QUESTION Don Love wants a recipe to
make homemade marshmallow creme.
QUESTION Several months ago Michael
Brennan, Wilkes Barre, was at an auction in
Sullivan County where he ate chicken noodle
soup. He writes that it was delicious and look
ed to be only noodles and chicken. He believes
the people at the food stand were from Berks
County and were also selling beef vegetable
soup. Brennan would like both recipes.
QUESTION A reader is looking for recipes
for hot pepper jam and for sweet pepper jam
that tastes similar to that made by Kitchen
Kettle.
QUESTION A Newburg reader would like
recipes for jams and jellies or fruit spreads
without sugar or artificial sweetener. She’d like
recipes that taste similar to brands such as Po
laner’s All Fruit, Spreadable Fruit, or Smuck
er’s Simply 100% Fruit.
Cook*
kiestion
Corner
QUESTION Sylvia Allgyer, Christiana,
would like a recipe for sourdough seven grain
bread.
QUESTION Like many of our readers,
Bonnie Koons, Harrisburg, writes that she
loves B section and all the recipes she tries
from it are great. She wants a recipe for
cheesecake cookies, which have a snickerdoo
dle recipe base, cheesy center, and a cherry
on top.
QUESTION Shirley Schwoerer, Wysox, re
quests a recipe for canned pickled sausages or
ring bologna. If we do not receive an answer to
this request within two weeks, we assume our
readers do not know the answer and will drop
the request.
QUESTION Ruth Erb, Beavertown, wants
a recipe called Ann-Margaret’s Favorite Choco
late Cake. If we do not receive an answer to
this request within two weeks, we assume our
readers do not know the answer and will drop
the request.
QUESTION Steven Skramko, Richfield
Springs, N.Y., would like a recipe to make Shoe
Top cookies, which look like leather used for
repairing shoes. He writes the recipe is from
60 years ago. If we do not receive an answer to
this request within two weeks, we assume our
readers do not know the answer and will drop
the request.
ANSWER Don Love wanted to know how
make homemade cottage cheese, cream
cheese or a substitute. Thanks to Pat Sweet
man who writes that when she lived in the Mid
dle East, she could not get sour cream, cream
cheese, or cottage cheese so she made her
own version by using fresh yogurt. Let the yo
gurt drain for different periods of time to get
the different thickness consistencies desired.
Adding a little cornstarch helps it hold up bet
ter on baked potatoes. (She did not say if this
was cooked but imagine it would need to be).
Pat did not write how she drained the yogurt
but one method is to line a strainer with two
coffee filters. Let yogurt drain overnight in the
refrigerator.
For cottage cheese, see recipe for Farmer’s
Cheese in answer to Eva Mae Oberholtzer.
ANSWER Eva Mae Oberholtzer, Ephra
ta, would like recipes to make goat cheeses
and soaps. Thanks to Pat Sweetman, who
writes that she has a soap recipe she will glad
ly send to her. Pat operates Stone Haus Herbs
and is an expert at making soaps and teaching
classes. Her address is 2595 Rehmeyer Hollow
Rd., Stewartstown, PA 17363-8940. Her e-mail
address is stonehausfarm+Amciworld.com
Thanks to a writer for sending a recipe for
goat’s cheese.
Farmer’s Cheese
Heat 2 gallons milk (cow’s and goat’s)
Heat milk in stainless steel kettle to 180 de
grees. If you have no thermometer, heat until
scalding, but do not boil. Remove from heat
and add about Vi cup vinegar until it separates
while stirring.
Pour cheese into a colander lined with
cheesecloth and set on a pail (liquid will go
into the pail).
Mix 2Vz teaspoons and salt into the curds in
the colander and gather the corners of the
cheesecloth. Lift from the colander and set a
large can with both ends cut out into the co
lander. Place cheesecloth filled with cheese
into this can. Fill a 2-quart jar with water to
use as a weight and set on top of cheese. Let
set about 3 hours to cure on a platter or eat
immediately.
Variation: Add dried ground jalapeno pep
pers for a more flavorful cheese and use aged
milk or buttermilk.
For cottage cheese, drain after the curd
separates.
ANSWER Mary Zimmerman, New Holland,
sends a potato salad recipe in answer to the
Somerset County reader.
Dressing:
5 eggs, beaten
Vz cup vinegar
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon flour
Vi teaspoon turmeric
Mix together all ingredients and bring to a
boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and
cool. When cool, add:
1 cup cream
1 cup mayonnaise
Pour over potato mixture made with the fol
lowing ingredients:
1 gallon diced potatoes, cooked, cooled
4 sticks celery
1 onion
5 hard-boiled eggs, diced
ANSWER - Thanks to K. Wagner, Mt. Joy,
for sending a rice recipe requested by Bob
Potato Salad
Snyder.
Tuna Rice Cakes
1 can tuna
2 cups cooked rice
V« cup chopped celery
2 tablespoons chopped onion
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons flour
Combine well. Beat two egg whites until stiff
and fold into tuna mixture.
Heat one cup oil in skillet. Drop tuna mixture
by spoonfuls into hot oil and fry on both sides.
ANSWER George Spencer wanted to know
where to obtain old-fashioned buttermilk.
Thanks to David Nolt, Ephrata, for writing that
she has about an extra gallon to sell once or
twice a week. Call (717) 354-7595.
ANSWER Shirley Miller, Nazareth, wanted
information about potato flour. Thanks to a
reader for sending the following: Potato flour is
chiefly used in soups, gravies, breads, and
cakes in combination with other flours. To
avoid lumping, blend it with sugar before mix
ing or cream it with the shortening before add
ing a liquid. In bread recipes, potato flour gives
a moist slow to stale loaf. To substitute potato
flour as a thickener, use the following: IVz tea
spoons potato flour for 1 tablespoon all-pur
pose flour. In baking, % cup potato flour for 1
cup all-purpose flour.
Because rice and potato flours have differ
ent glutens from wheat, do not expect the
same cake texture.
Rice Or Potato Flour Sponge Cake
Sift 3 times or more:
% cup potato or rice flour
Vz cup sugar
Beat until light and cream:
8 egg yolks
Stir egg yolks into the flour mixture. Beat
until stiff, but not dry:
9 egg whites
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Fold the egg
whites into the yolks gently but rapidly. Bake
the cake for about 45 minutes. When cake is
done, reverse the pan after removing from
oven, using an inverted funnel to rest the pan.
Let cake cool for about IVz hours before re
moving from pan. Use a 9-inch tube pan.
ANSWER Thanks to Arvilla Keeny, New
Freedom, for sending a recipe for small pearl
tapioca.
Small Pearl Tapioca
4 cups milk
Vz cup tapioca
Pinch salt
1 egg, beaten
3 A cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Combine milk, tapioca, and salt. Cook 20-30
minutes, stirring constantly until tapioca is
fairly clear. Mix together egg and sugar. Stir a
little tapioca mixture into egg, then add to tapi
oca mixture. Cook one minute or more. Re
move from heat. Add vanilla. Milk can be
heated first so you don’t have to stir so long.
This can be made in crackpot. Cook three
hours on high before adding eggs. Cook 20
more minutes after adding eggs. Stir occasion
ally while cooking.
ANSWER Thanks to Fran Romig, Potts
town, for sending this answer for Kenneth
Hixon.
Stuffed Qreen Peppers Or Green Tomatoes
12 medium green peppers or green toma
toes
1 quart shredded cabbage
1 cup salt
4 quarts water
Vs cup sugar
2 tablespoons mustard seed
1 teaspoon salt
Vi teaspoon white pepper
1 quart vinegar
2 cups water
Cut tops off peppers or tomatoes; save.
Scoop out centers. Dissolve 1 cup salt in 4
quarts cold water, pour over vegetable shells
and tops; let stand 24 hours in cool place.
Drain; rinse, and drain thoroughly. Combine
cabbage, 1 teaspoon salt and pepper and mus
tard seed; press into shells. Replace tops and
fasten with toothpicks or sew with coarse
thread. Pack into hot jars, leaving V4-inch
headspace. Combine vinegar, water, and
sugar. Bring to boiling and pour hot mixture
over peppers or tomatoes, leaving Vo-inch
headspace. Remove air bubbles. Adjust caps.
Process 15 minutes in boiling water bath.
Yield: about 3 quarts.
ANSWER Here is a different recipe for
vegetable pizza from Sue McKinsey.
Garden Fresh Veggie Pizza
Vi medium red pepper, sliced
V* cup mushrooms, sliced
V* cup yellow squash, sliced
1 small onion, thinly sliced
(Turn to Page B 9)