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2004

TODAY's CASES:

Relleno Negro

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Mindy
To: phaedrus
Sent: Sunday, December 28, 2003 12:02 PM
Subject: Relleno Negro

I'd love to find a recipe in English for Relleno Negro, a Yucatecan
specialty stew.  The broth is pitch black, and in the stew are pieces of
turkey, a hard-boiled egg, and chunks of chorizo sausage.  The flavor is
fascinating; perhaps including oregano and/or epazote.

Mindy

Hi Mindy,

I found many web pages that raved about relleno negro. I also found the name "relleno negro" applied to dishes made with turkey, chicken, rabbit, pork, shrimp, and other things. The reason would seem to be that "relleno negro" means the sauce, rather than the meat, poultry, or seafood. "Negro", of course, is Spanish for "dark", and "relleno negro" may be translated as "dark sauce" or "dark broth". Below is a Yucatan recipe for "Pavo de relleno negro" or "turkey with dark sauce", also known as "chilmole" in some areas. This recipe is one that tends to be made differently in different parts of the Yucatan, so the below recipe may not be exactly the same as what you had there. It is, however, the only relleno negro recipe that I could find.

Phaed

Pavo de relleno negro or "chilmole"

For the recado (seasoning mixture):
Ingredients:

2 tablespoons achiote seeds
3/4 cup bitter orange juice (or a mixture of sweet orange juice and fresh lime juice)
2 lbs. dried ancho chiles, seeded and deveined
2 large whole cloves
4 large whole allspice
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 head garlic, peeled (about 10 large cloves)
salt to taste

Preparation:

Place the achiote seeds in a small bowl, pour the juice over them, and allow
to soak 2-3 hours.

Toast the chiles just until they give off their fragrance, soak them in hot
water until they soften, and drain them well.

Place all ingredients in a spice mill or food processor and process until
they are well blended. They should form a thick paste, the consistency of a
chilled cookie dough.

Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

For the chilmole:

Ingredients:

6 cups leftover cooked turkey, skinned and boned
8 cups turkey or chicken broth
2 oz. recado negro (above)
2 hard boiled eggs, sliced

Preparation:

Heat the turkey in the broth.

Mix the recado with a bit of broth to dissolve it, add it to the turkey and
broth, and cook to desired consistency. (It usually has the texture of a
medium-thin mole.) serve in bowls, garnished with hard-boiled egg slices.

Slices of a homemade pork sausage called but are sometimes served as an
additional garnish, but the dish is rich enough without it.

Accompany with plenty of hot tortillas.

Serves 6.

Army Donuts

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Bill
To: phaedrus
Sent: Tuesday, December 30, 2003 5:39 AM
Subject: Army Recipe for Doughnuts

> Dear Uncle Phaedrus.
>
> My Father-in-Law served as a cook in the Army during the Korean War. He
>has fond memories of many of the things he cooked for the troops. One of
>things he especially remembers is baking doughnuts for "hundreds" of the
>troops in his platoon. He remembers the doughnuts as being even better than
>some of the best that can be found in this day.
>
> Here is his dilemma: he doesn't remember the recipe. In your archives do
>you have access to the Army cookbook that would have been used at that time?
>He remembers it as being a very large volume and thinks it had been used for
>possibly decades before the Korean War. If you can access the Army
>recipes for that time and find a recipe for doughnuts he would greatly
>appreciate a copy of the recipe.
>
> Thanks in advance for any help you may be able to provide.
>
> Bill
>

Hello Bill,

I have no way to obtain Army recipes from the Korean War or before. However, I can access the current Armed Services recipe database, which is accessible from the Internet. Below is the current Armed Services recipe for 100 glazed doughnuts and vanilla glaze. Perhaps it hasn't changed very much? I don't know about a substitute for frozen eggs - I guess an equal weight or volume of fresh eggs would be equivalent. Note that FLOUR, WHEAT doesn't mean "whole wheat flour" - just regular all purpose flour. If you used fresh milk instead of dry, you would have to reduce the amount of added water accordingly.

Phaed

Breads And Sweet Doughs
Glazed Doughnuts

Yield 100
1 Doughnut Portion

Ingredient         weight      measure

Flour, Wheat,      5 1/2 lbs  5 qts
Baking Powder      3 7/8 oz   1/2 cup
Milk,Nonfat,Dry    1 5/8 oz   1/2 cup plus 2 2/3 TBSP
Salt               5/8 oz     1 TBSP
Nutmeg,Ground      1/4 oz     1 TBSP
Shortening         1/4 oz     1 cup
Sugar,Granulated   1 1/2 lbs  3 3/8 cup
Eggs,Whole,Frozen  1 1/4 lbs  2 1/4 cup
Water              2 lbs      3 3/4 cups
Extract,Vanilla    1/2 oz     1 TBSP
Vanilla Glaze      -          2 3/4 cup

Method:

1. Sift together flour, baking powder, milk, salt, and nutmeg. Set aside for
use in Step 5.
2. Place shortening and sugar in mixer bowl; cream at medium speed until
light and fluffy.
3. Add eggs; beat at medium speed until light and fluffy.
4. Combine water and vanilla. Add to creamed mixture.
5. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture alternately with liquids; add
about 1/3 flour mixture each time. Blend at low speed after each addition.
DO NOT OVERMIX. Let dough rest 10 minutes.
6. Roll dough 3/8-inch thick on well-floured board; cut with doughnut cutter.
7. Fry 1 minute on each side or until golden brown. Drain on absorbent paper.
8. Prepare Vanilla Glaze, Recipe No. D 046 00. Keep glaze warm; dip
doughnuts to cover. Place on racks to drain.

Notes:
1. In Step 5, dough may be chilled 1 hour for ease in handling.
2. Omit Steps 6 and 7 if dough machine is used.
----------------------------------
D 046 00
Vanilla Glaze

Ingedient              weight     measure

Sugar,Powdered,Sifted  1 5/8 lbs  1 qt, 2 cups
Butter,Softened        1 1/2 oz   3 TBSP
Water,Boiling          6 1/4 oz   3/4 cup
Extract,Vanilla        1/4 oz     1/4 tsp

Method:

1. Combine powdered sugar, butter, boiling water, and vanilla. Mix until
smooth.
2. Coat or dip fried doughnuts in glaze.

Homemade Chocolate Chips

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Nym" 
To: phaedrus
Sent: Tuesday, December 30, 2003 3:13 PM
Subject: chocolate chips

> Hi,
>   My name is Nym, and I have a two year old son who has allergies to soy,
dairy, eggs and peanuts.  I would like to make him some chocolate chip
cookies, but I cannot find any chips that aren't made with either soy or
dairy in any of the stores.  So, I thought, maybe I could make some
chocolate chips to use in the cookies.  I have margarine, egg replacer,
cocoa, Rice Dream, and shortening that I use in baking and cooking for him,
that are soy, dairy, egg and peanut free.  What I do not have is a chocolate
chip recipe.  Do you think you can find one for me?  As you can see, I have
substitutions for most basic ingredients, if it comes to that.  Thank you
for your help in this matter.
> Sincerely,
> Nym 
>

Hi Nym,

I've been asked about making chocolate at home before. It's just not something that you can do in your kitchen with supplies that you can easily find on the Internet. To make chocolate from scratch, you have to have cocoa beans. See:

Chocolate Manufacturing

Processing cocoa beans into chocolate is not a hobbyist type thing. You can't make your own chocolate out of cocoa powder because cocoa powder has had the cocoa butter removed, which is an integral part of real chocolate.

Dark chocolate, such as dark baking chocolate, doesn't have dairy or soy in it. However, it's really strong-tasting. In order to make it taste like chocolate chips, which are milk chocolate, you'd have to melt it, add sugar, and add something to lighten it. That's what the dairy and soy are usually used for - to lighten it, both in color and in taste. I did not find any recipes.

You can, however, buy soy-free/dairy-free chocolate chips here:
Choclat

It's easier to find soy-free/dairy-free chocolate products in the weeks before and during the Passover Jewish holiday. They are sold a lot then because of Passover dietary restrictions. It might be a good idea for you to stock up on chips then.

The "Soy-Free Chocolate Company" also sells soy-free/dairy free chocolate chips. Their website is down, but here's the company information:

The Soy-Free Chocolate Company
5186 Detroit Avenue
Elyria, OH 44035
United States
Contact:
Steve
Owner
440-934-7070

Company Description:
The Soy-Free Chocolate Company offers organic specialty chocolates for your discerning pallet. Our company caters to your fine taste of organic chocolates without soy and dairy products. This specialty chocolate offers the fine taste of chocolate for a reasonable price. The Soy-Free Chocolate Company's products include chocolate covered peanuts, marshmallow creams, cherries, pretzels, and flavored chocolate covered spoons to add that special taste to your coffee.

Phaed

Gord sent the below recipe:

Greetings.

On page m0126M04.htm, someone had a request for homemade chocolate 
chips, because they had a child with a number of food sensitivies.

A long time ago, I seen a show on TV about making homemade 
chocolate, which can probably be adjusted for this purpose.

The recipe then started with a low fat yogurt, which one turned 
into a yogurt cheese.  This is nominally the replacement for the 
cocoa butter.  To this, one adds cocoa powder and powdered sugar.  
You put in some powder, and kneed it.  You put in some more 
powder, and kneed it some more.  And repeat until it is as 
chocolatey as you need.  Typically this means you get a LOT of 
exercise, as the kneeding gets difficult after a while.  Maybe 
something like a pasta machine could work the  "dough"?  I never 
did try to melt it, but being cheese I suppose it would melt.

I gather you can make cheese replacements from "almond milk" (or 
other nut milks), as well as coconut milk.  I don't know enough 
about soy and milk free cheese replacements to offer a suggestion 
there.

I'm a materials engineer that has been cooking since I was 5.

Have a great day!

Vanilla Ice Box Cookies

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Julie" 
To: phaedrus
Sent: Monday, December 29, 2003 8:00 PM
Subject: vanilla ice box cookies (old recipe-1950's ?)

Dear Phaedrus,

   My husband's grandmother used to make a Vanilla Ice Box Cookie that was 
fantastic. We have been looking for the recipe. It was probably from the 
late 1940's or 1950's. My husband had them growing up (he is now in his 50's). 
So, if you can help, I would really appreciate it. I have looked through your 
recipes, and did not see one specifically for these cookies. I think that this 
is a great idea. You have so many neat things on your site. It brought back 
memories for me to see some of the old brands, etc. Thanks again for trying. 
Julie :-)

Hi Julie,

See below.

Phaed

Vanilla Icebox Cookies

4 cups sifted flour
3 tsp baking powder
l/2 tsp salt
l cup butter or lard
l/2 cup sifted brown sugar
2 cups white sugar
2 eggs, well beaten
l tbsp vanilla

Sift flour, baking powder, salt. Cream butter, add sugars gradually and
cream together until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla. Add flour
mixture, mixing well. Shape in rolls. Cover and chill overnight. Slice
thinly and bake in hot oven for 5 minutes or done. Makes 7 dozen cookies.
-------------------------
Vanilla Icebox Cookies

Prep. time: 15 minutes      Cooking time: 8-10 minutes
Serves: 30

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups sifted flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup (or more) chopped nuts

Directions

Cream butter and sugar; beat in egg and vanilla. Re-sift flour with salt and
baking powder; add gradually to butter mixture. Add nuts, mix well. Form
into two rolls; wrap in wax paper and refrigerate until firm. Cut into 1/8
inch slices; place on lightly-greased cookie sheets. Bake at 400 degrees for
8-10 minutes, or until cookies are lightly brown around the edges.

Kolatchen

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Anne" 
To: phaedrus
Sent: Sunday, December 28, 2003 1:56 PM
Subject: Request

> My grandmother made a marvelous pastry, the recipe for which has been lost
> to my family and I would love to be able to revive it.  She was from
> Lithuania and called it Ice Kolatchen.  It was a very flaky pastry dough
> cut into small rounds, filled with jam, folded in half, crimped, sprinkled
> with sugar, and baked.  I remember watching her make the dough, which was
> in two parts.  The first was a flour and ? mixture that included
> yeast.  The other was butter with a little flour worked into it.  This was
> chilled and rolled out quite thin on top of the first dough, folded and
> rerolled a few times, much like the process for puff pastry (the yeast
> dough being the chief difference).  I have tried authentic Danish pastry
> recipes, but they are "doughier", and not as flaky.  I hope someone can
> find it.
>
> Anne

Hello Anne,

I could not find a recipe exactly like the one you describe. I did find the one below.

Phaed

Kolatchen

1 c. Milk, scalded
1/2 c. Butter
1/4 c. Sugar
1/2 tsp. Salt

1 Egg, beaten
2 3/4 c. Sifted flour
1 Yeast cake dissolved in 1/4 c. lukewarm water.
1 Jar of jelly or jam of choice.


 Add butter, sugar, and salt to scalded milk. Add dissolved yeast. Add
beaten egg and flour. Beat well to make a stiff batter. Place in a large
mixing bowl and let rise. Place on a floured surface and roll to 1 inch
thick. Cut with biscuit cutter. Place in greased baking pan. Let rise. Dip
fingers in flour and make a cavity in the middle of each biscuit. Fill with
jelly or jam. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.

""


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