88-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 2, 2002
If you are looking for a recipe but can’t find it, send
your recipe request to Lou Ann Good, Cook’s Question
Corner, in care of Lancaster Farming, P.O. Box 609,
Ephrata, PA 17522. There’s no need to send a self-ad
dressed 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 answers to
LGOOD.EPH@LNPNEWS.COM
QUESTION A reader would like recipes to
make candy bars that taste similar to Snickers
and Nutrageous.
QUESTION A Lebanon reader would like a
recipe for peanut butter pudding.
QUESTION Cindy Smith, Tyrone, wants
two recipes. One is a carrot salad she enjoyed
as a child. She recalled that it had shredded
carrots, raisins, pineapples, and a dressing.
The other recipe is for a cookie that tastes like
the Little Debbie oatmeal cookies with filling.
QUESTION - Melba Sheffer, Glen Rock, mis
placed her sour dough starter recipe. She is
lost without it.
QUESTION S. Jones is trying to find a reci
pe to make black licorice coal candy like that
sold in miniature coal buckets with a little ham
mer to break it.
QUESTION Victor Chmura, Pottstown,
would like to know how to can white mush
rooms. He doesn’t want pickled mushrooms,
just plain mushrooms to can and use in recipes.
QUESTION - Pollyanna Eby, Belleville,
wants recipes and instructions for making ice
cream cakes such as that sold by Dairy Queen
and Carvel.
QUESTION Ralph Nissly, Lancaster, wants
a recipe to can pumpkin to make pies.
QUESTION A steady reader is looking for
an onion soup recipe.
QUESTION Tami Balzanna, Fawn Grove,
wants to know how to keep the shell from
sticking to hardboiled eggs when trying to shell
them.
QUESTION - Gloria Miller, Christiana, lost
the recipe for mini upside down pineapple
cake, which is made in cupcake pans.
QUESTION Pamela Hoy wants to know
where to find hickory salt for sausage making.
QUESTION Eleanor Heinsey, Denver, mis
laid the recipe for Pineapple Carrot Cake that
had been printed in this column. She writes
that it was very good and she would like it re
printed. Anyone have that recipe?
QUESTION A fairly new homemaker wants
recipes that are easy but taste wonderful to
serve to guests. She would also enjoy any
pointers to help entertain guests with ease.
QUESTION How about some recipes for
dried apple slices and other ways to use an
abundance of apples?
ANSWER Margaret Emerick, Boswell,
wanted recipes for banana gobs and for pump
kin gobs. (Note: Gobs are another name for
whoopie pies). Thanks to Fern Schlegel, Dalma
tia, for sending both recipes requested.
4 cups flour
1 cup shortening
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup mashed bananas
1 /2 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
Cream shortening, sugar, eggs, and vanilla.
Add dry ingredients and buttermilk, and mix
well. Add mashed bananas. Drop by teaspoon
onto lightly greased baking sheet. Bake at 350
degrees for 10-12 minutes until lightly brown
ed.
Creamy Filling:
1 cup milk
5 tablespoons flour
Cook milk and flour together until thick.
Cool. Cream together:
Banana Gobs
1 cup Crisco shortening
1 cup sugar
V* teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
Add the cooled mixture and cream until light
and fluffy. Place between two cooled cookies.
Pumpkin Gobs
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 Vs cups cooked, mashed pumpkin
2 eggs
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 Vs teaspoon cinnamon
Vs tablespoon ginger
Vs tablespoon ground cloves
Cream together sugar and oil. Add pumpkin
and eggs. Add flour, salt, baking powder, bak
ing soda, vanilla, and spices. Mix. Drop by
heaping teaspoons onto greased cookie sheet.
Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.
Make sandwiches from two cookies filled with
your favorite filling.
ANSWER Thanks to Sara Derstine, Tioga
County Dairy Princess, for sending this recipe,
which we received too late to print with the
Pennsylvania Dutch Recipes last week.
Shoo Fly Pie
Bottom part:
1 cup molasses
% cup boiling water
Vt teaspoon baking soda
Top part:
1 Vi cups flour
V* cup butter
Vi cup brown sugar
Unbaked pastry for 9-inch pie shell
Dissolve soda and molasses in boiling water.
In another bowl, combine sugar and flour and
rub in butter to make crumbs. Pour the liquid
into an unbaked pie shell and top with crumb
mixture. Bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes.
ANSWER A Lebanon reader requested a
recipe for pizza sauce that tastes like the Ragu
brand. Thanks to Lee Laverty, Mount Joy, for
sending this one that she says tastes like the
Ragu brand. It is made with a food mill. Using a
food processor to puree the sauce will not re
move tomato seeds. If you are not comfortable
using anchovies in a canned sauce, omit them
—it will affect the flavor but in any case,
don’t leave out the saffron, as it adds a wonder
ful flavor. An alternative to canning the sauce is
freezing sauce in 1-cup freezer containers.
Pizza Sauce Like Ragu
10 large cloves garlic, peeled
Va cup extra virgin olive oil
Vi heaping teaspoon hot pepper flakes
1 Va cups chopped white onion
4 anchovy fillets (use salt-packed if you can)
Va cup tomato paste
Vz cup dry Vermouth
Small pinch saffron threads, crumbled
10 cups peeled, chopped ripe tomatoes (5
pounds or about 12 medium-sized toma
toes)
10 fresh basil leaves
In a large pan, cook garlic cloves in oil over
low heat until golden. Stir in red pepper flakes
and onion, and cook over medium-low heat
until onion is softened and gilted, about 10 min
utes. Add anchovies and mash until dissolved.
Stir in tomato paste, Vermouth, and saffron,
and bring to a simmer, cooking mixture for 10
minutes. Carefully add chopped tomatoes. Sim
mer, stirring occasionally, for about 45 minutes.
Force mixture through food mill with medium
disk, into another large pan (keep cranking until
there is only dry material left in the mill). Add
freshly ground pepper to taste. Cook over medi
um-low heat for another 45 minutes, until thick
ened. Chop fresh basil and stir into sauce. One
cup of sauce is sufficient for 16-inch pizza.
ANSWER - Melva Walters, Martinsburg,
W.V., sent this recipe that had been requested
by a reader.
Hot Dog Relish
8 large onions
1 medium head cabbage
10 green tomatoes
12 sweet, green peppers
6 red sweet peppers
4-5 carrots
Vfe cup salt
6 cups sugar
1 tablespoon mustard seed
1 tablespoon celery seed
1 'h teaspoon turmeric
4 cups vinegar
Grind vegetables with coarse blade. Mix in Vi
cup salt, let stand overnight. Drain and rinse
twice, add other ingredients and let simmer 3
minutes. Pack in jars and process 10-12 min
utes.
ANSWER For the reader who wanted a
recipe for green tomato mincemeat, here is one
from Luci Essig, Bernviile, and a cake that is
made using the mincemeat.
Green Tomato Mincemeat
Take V 2 peck (about 15 medium tomatoes)
and put through a food grinder. Add one table
spoon salt and let drain overnight. In morning,
measure drippings and throw away. Add water
equal to the amount of drippings discarded.
Add:
2V2 pounds brown sugar
2 pounds seedless raisins
1 tablespoon ground cloves
1 tablespoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon ginger
1 tablespoon cinnamon
8-ounces vinegar
Boil together for one hour and put into pint
containers. Freeze until needed for future use.
Makes 6 pints or more.
Green Tomato Cake
1 cup granulated sugar
V 2 cup butter
1 egg
2 teaspoons baking soda dissolved in V 2 cup
boiling water
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cloves
1 pint green tomato mincemeat
2 cups flour (to make a stiff dough)
Bake in a greased and floured tube pan at
350 degrees for about one hour. You can also
use other types of baking pans (cupcake, ob
long, etc. Adjust time).
Not All Treated
Cider Is Pasteurized
COLUMBUS, Ohio Just a few years ago, apple
ciders and juices were thought to be acidic enough
to be protected from bacterial problems. But in
1996, unpasteurized apple juice was blamed for an
outbreak of Escherichia coli 0157:H7 in California,
causing one death and 66 illnesses. Also that year,
the Northeast suffered outbreaks of cider-related E.
coli and Cryptosporidium parvum.
Since then, the Food and Drug Administration
has encouraged cider producers to pasteurize or
otherwise treat their product. Those who don’t must
include a warning that “This product has not been
pasteurized and, therefore, may contain harmful
bacteria that can cause serious illness in children,
the elderly, and persons with weakened immune
systems.”
To avoid the label, the FDA says producers must
treat cider to achieve a 5-log reduction in patho
gens. Each log decreases bacteria by 90 percent. So,
if you start with 100,000 cells of bacteria, a 1-log re
duction would mean 10,000 would be left after
treatment. A 2-log reduction would take it down to
1,000 cells. A 5-log reduction would take it down to
one cell after treatment.
Pasteurization is a sure-fire route to a S-log re
duction, but some consumers think it changes ci
der’s flavor. So, scientists went to work to find alter
natives. Ultraviolet (UV) light treatment is one
approved alternative that some producers use.
Another alternative is ozonation. In this process,
ozone, created by passing compressed air by UV
lights, is bubbled through cider. The ozone acts as
an oxidizing agent, destroying bacterial cells. The
ozone itself is used during this process and is not
present in the final juice product.
Although the process has been approved, scien
tists aren’t quite certain exactly how it works. Apple
researchers with the Ohio Agricultural Research
and Development Center are currently conducting
studies on the process to learn more.
Dairyspot.com Website Wins
Standard Excellence Award
PHILADELPHIA Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association
recently received a Standard of Excellence Web Award for
its Website, www.dairyspot.com.
Launched in June of this year, dairyspot.com focuses
on the health and nutritional benefits of milk and dairy
products. It features information ranging from classroom
activities and school foodservice programs to nutrition re
search and dairy recipes. It touts the tagline “the Mid-At
lantic spot for dairy.”
The Standard of Excellence Web Award recognizes
Websites that meet “the standard of excellence for which
all corporate Websites should strive.” Entries are judged
on seven criteria, including design, innovation, content,
technology, interactivity, navigation and ease of use.
In their comments, contest judges noted dairy
spot.com’s “nice mix of lighthearted (recipes) and impor
tant information (food safety).” They also liked the design
and the “clever tag line” What’s Moo for What’s New.