In the “gee, I wish I could find the recipe for whatever” category, let’s return to an incredibly popular, previously published-repeatedly recipe. Albeit one from, sadly, a now long-gone restaurant.
Because we here at the Forum figure that anybody who’s brave enough – stalwart or heat-resistant enough – to fire up the oven, even though it has cooled down a wee bit, deserves to be rewarded. That’s the why.
Getting to the how, in addition to its apparently great appeal, what’s interesting about this particular raspberry recipe is that it calls for frozen, not fresh, berries. So buy or pick them, bag and freeze – or, presumably, the recipe also works well with fresh berries. Yes? No?
At any rate, here we go with the specifics, most recently reprinted in the Forum Dec. 17, 1997, per a new request from Phyllis Roberts, who writes, “Many years ago, you featured a raspberry dessert from Pelican Pete’s in your Forum column. I don’t have the recipe now, but look forward to using it for our raspberry crop. It was delicious and easy to make.”
Pelican Pete’s raspberry almond crisp
11/4cups flour
1/4cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar, divided
1/2cup butter, softened
1package (10 ounces) frozen raspberries, thawed
1teaspoon grated orange peel
1/4cup cold water
1 1/2tablespoons cornstarch
Streusel topping (recipe follows)
Ice cream or whipped cream
For the crust, in medium bowl, combine flour and 1/4 cup sugar; cut in butter and mix until dough comes together in ball. Evenly pat mixture on bottom of greased 8-inch square baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees 10 minutes or until lightly browned.
For the filling, place raspberries, remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar and orange peel in small saucepan; bring to simmer. In small bowl, whisk water and cornstarch together to make a smooth paste; add to raspberry mixture, stirring constantly. Cook over low heat 3 to 4 minutes to thicken. Remove from heat and spread over baked crust.
Prepare streusel topping; sprinkle evenly over raspberry layer. Bake at 350 degrees about 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and allow to cool 30 minutes, then cut into 6 to 8 squares. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.
Makes 6 to 8 servings.
Streusel topping
1/2cup brown sugar
1/3cup flour
1/3cup rolled oats
1/3cup butter
1/3cup sliced almonds
In large bowl, combine brown sugar, flour and oats; cut in butter. Add almonds and stir just to combine.
SOS: “Please help me!” Connie J. Webster of Snohomish writes, explaining, “The year of 1968, when my children were small, I always made thin, sliced cucumbers put in a bowl with vinegar and ???. I let them soak for half- to one hour, then we ate them as finger food. I can’t, for the life of me, remember what went with the vinegar.
“Please give me any help you can – I want to make these for my nine grandchildren.”
Sound familiar to you? Sounds somewhat similar to, but also somewhat different from, what my gram and mom made. We called this dish cukes ‘n onions. Cukes and onions were thinly sliced, layered in a shallow glass bowl, covered with a mixture of cider vinegar, water, salt and pepper, covered and put in the refrigerator in the morning to be served at suppertime.
The cukes (and onions, for those of us who liked them) were then lifted out of the vinegar mixture and transferred to our plates to be eaten as a vegetable. Well, sort of.
So then, if you can come up with the proper how-to for Connie, please write to Judyrae Kruse at the Forum, c/o The Herald, P.O. Box 930, Everett, WA 98206.
We are always happy to receive your contributions and requests, but please remember that all letters and all e-mail must include a name, complete address with ZIP code and telephone number with area code. No exceptions and sorry, but no response to e-mail by return e-mail; send to kruse@heraldnet.com.
The next Forum will appear in Wednesday’s Food section.
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