You Asked For It

By ANNE LONG

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 23, 2001

Olga Cheyunski, a native New Englander, sends the recipe for Indian pudding from The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book, first published in 1896. Several million copies of this respected cookbook have been sold. Many readers shared their recipes, and most had the advice that the secret of preparing this traditional dessert is long, slow cooking.

Carol Haynes-Finch asked for the recipe for a cheese ring made with Cheddar cheese and other ingredients formed in a ring mold, unmolded and then filled with grape jelly or other jam. This recipe calls for cayenne pepper instead of the jalapeno peppers that Carol mentioned, but you can use the peppers if you wish.

Chinese cole slaw made with cabbage, Ramen noodles, almonds, green onions and rice vinegar among the ingredients is the recipe Roberta Ashkenase wants. We have that one and one for Chinese chicken salad as well. Both have an interesting blend of textures and flavors.

For: Ann Mannion of Lecanto.

From: Olga Cheyunski of St. Petersburg.

Recipe: Indian pudding, from The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book. Olga's copy was printed in 1939.

Indian Pudding

• 2 cups scalded milk
• 1/3 cup corn meal
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger or cinnamon
• 2 cups cold milk

Pour scalded milk slowly on corn meal; cook in double boiler 20 minutes, stirring. Add molasses, salt, sugar, butter and ginger.

Pour into buttered pudding dish; pour cold milk over the corn meal mixture; set in a pan of hot water and bake for 3 hours at 250 degrees.

Serve with cream. If desired, add 1/2 cup raisins to the corn meal mixture.

For: Carol Haynes-Finch of Palm Harbor.

From: Sherry Berry of Bradenton.

Recipe: Plains special cheese ring, possibly a Rosalynn Carter recipe.

Plains Special Cheese Ring

• 1 pound grated Cheddar cheese
• 1 cup chopped nuts
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• Black pepper to taste
• Dash of cayenne pepper (or finely minced jalapeno pepper)

Mix all the ingredients and put in ring mold with open center. Chill well in refrigerator.

When ready to serve, unmold and fill center with grape jelly or preserves (such as strawberry, peach, apricot or whatever you prefer).

For: Roberta Ashkenase of Largo.

From: Miriam Williams of St. Petersburg.

Recipe: Cabbage crunch from Bon Appetit magazine.

Cabbage Crunch

• 4-5 cups thinly sliced cabbage
• 4-5 thinly sliced green onions
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 3 tablespoons white vinegar
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 package Ramen noodles, spicy chicken or sesame chicken flavor
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted
• 3 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted

Whisk together vegetable oil, vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper and seasoning packet from Ramen noodles, then toss with cabbage and onions.

Crush uncooked Ramen noodles; combine with toasted almonds and sesame seeds, then sprinkle on top of cabbage mixture. Serves 8-10.

From: Ron Tindle of Belleair Bluffs.

Recipe: Chinese chicken salad.

Chinese Chicken Salad

• 3-4 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
• 1 head cabbage, shredded
• 4 green onions, chopped
• 3 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds
• 2 packages Top Ramen noodles, chicken flavor, uncooked and broken up

Dressing:

• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup sesame oil (usually less)
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 4 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
• 2 packets Top Ramen seasoning

Toast almonds and sesame seeds in 325-degree oven for about 7 minutes.

Mix chicken, cabbage and onions. Mix dressing ingredients thoroughly. Toss everything together before serving.

Recipe requests

Katherine Buchanan of St. Petersburg notes that, at the end of The Sopranos' second season, there was an article on the series. In the article was a recipe for baked ziti, which was superb. Katherine hopes you clipped the recipe and will send it for her.

When he lived in Brooklyn, Frank Buonemani of Clearwater used to buy hard Italian biscuits that were loaded with black pepper. He has not been able to find them here and has not been able to find the recipe in his Italian cookbooks.

Do you have a recipe for lentil bread? Please send it for Angie Aurelia of Gulfport. Angie is also fond of the bread served at Leverock's Restaurant and would like to have the recipe or a similar one.

Jacqueline McFadden of St. Petersburg writes that she is a great fan of the chicken and pasta with creamy garlic sauce served at Hops Restaurant. Any chance of getting the recipe?

Edward Brogik of Tampa needs a good recipe for rice pudding. Edward has used instant rice and regular rice, but the rice pudding always ends up harder than it should be. What is the secret?

Scalloped potatoes are the stumbling block of Tracy Jesse of Brooksville; they always look curdled. The recipes that she has found call for boiled potatoes combined with a cream sauce. Tracy likes the old-fashioned method of preparation used when she was a child, but she needs your help.

Shirly Wall of Hernando is from Boston and writes that two-crust fig squares are famous there. She would like to have the recipe so that she can make them.

Bill Sutton of Clearwater writes that the recipe for Eileen's eight-bean soup was popular in the 1980s. He remembers that eight varieties of dried beans were soaked overnight, drained and then were cooked with ham hock, water and other ingredients. That is the extent of Bill's memory, and he hopes you can supply the rest of the recipe.

If you have a cooking question or the answer to someone else's question, write to You Asked For It, the St. Petersburg Times, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731. Be sure to include your full name, city and phone number with your letter. Letters without this information will be discarded. Requests cannot be answered by phone or mail.

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