Recipes that appear in Idea Alley have not been tested by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Contrary to the old adage that too many cooks in the kitchen spoil the soup, when Alley Kats turn to each other for help, answers are easy to find.
Several Kats spotted the solution right away to Betty Caton's query about the types of syrup to use in a pecan pie recipe.
The original recipe listed 3/4 cup syrup, 1/2 cup white corn syrup and 1/4 cup maple syrup. Caton (and I) read the recipe as calling for three syrups. The helpful Kats (Leta Boone, Lanette Taylor, Linda Bobo, Janne Jones, Bonnie Tumlison) suggested the recipe calls for 3/4 cup syrup total composed of 1/2 cup white corn syrup and 1/4 cup maple syrup.
The clarified recipe follows.
But while we're talking pecan pie, Brenda McDougal suggests this trick for making pecan pie even better: adding a bit of ground cinnamon to the filling. "You can't detect the cinnamon flavor, but the cinnamon subtly changes the overall flavor to the most wonderful filling that you've ever tasted," McDougal writes.
And regarding pies made with syrup, Francie Graham Smith noted that she's still trying to find a good substitute for Karo Amber syrup, which was discontinued some time ago. She has tried using different ratios of light to dark corn syrup but hasn't found one that has the "rich" taste of the amber.
Favorite Pecan Pie
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup sugar
½ cup white corn syrup
¼ cup maple syrup
¼ cup margarine, melted
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups pecan halves
1 (9-inch) unbaked pie crust
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine eggs, sugar, syrups, melted margarine, salt and vanilla and mix well. Pour into unbaked pie shell. Arrange pecan halves, top side up, over filling. Bake 45 minutes to 1 hour or until set. If crust browns too quickly, reduce oven to 325 degrees.
Makes 1 pie.
And for a break from all that sugar, this recipe is for Hope (last name not given). It is adapted from Cook's Illustrated.
Chicken-Fried Steak
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
Salt and ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne)
4 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 pound sirloin steak tips, trimmed and cut into 4 (4-ounce) pieces
1 1/2 cups peanut or vegetable oil
Whisk flour, cornstarch, garlic powder, onion powder, baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons black pepper and the cayenne in a large bowl. Transfer 1 cup of the seasoned flour mixture to a shallow dish.
Beat eggs in a second shallow dish.
Add milk to the bowl with the remaining flour mixture. Using your fingers, rub until mixture resembles coarse meal.
Season steaks with salt and pepper. Score meat lightly in a crosshatch pattern, or pound very lightly with the rough side of a meat mallet. Dredge steaks in seasoned flour. Use the smooth side of the meat mallet to pound steaks to 1/4 inch thick.
One at a time, coat steaks in seasoned flour again, dip in egg mixture, then transfer to the bowl with the milk-flour mixture, pressing to adhere. Refrigerate steaks 15 minutes to 4 hours. Reserve milk and flour mixture.
Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking. Return 2 steaks to the bowl with the milk and flour mixture and turn to coat. Fry 2 steaks until golden brown and crisp, 2 to 3 minutes, per side. Repeat with remaining steaks.
Makes 4 serving.
REQUEST
• Grapenut dressing for Jo Ann Watts. "Many years ago there was a recipe for holiday 'dressing' found on boxes of Grapenut cereal -- not the flake type. Following that recipe yielded a wonderful pan of dressing," Watts writes.
Send recipe contributions, requests and culinary questions to Kelly Brant, Idea Alley, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, P.O. Box 2221, Little Rock, Ark. 72203; email:
kbrant@arkansasonline.com
Please include a daytime phone number.
Food on 11/04/2015