RECIPE SWAP: COOKBOOK SALES BRISK

Cookbook sales are brisk, and it is an exciting time for Recipe Swap and it's readers. There is so much joy in this project for me because of all of the nice people and wonderful cooks I have had the pleasure to get acquainted with. It has been fun to hear where the books are being sent to. Some of the books that I have sold are being mailed to friends and family all across the country.

Last weekend my parents went to a family member's funeral in Nashville, Ill., and Mom saw that about 10 books made their way into the hands of family members. Thanks to all of you who have supported this cookbook project.

A few weeks ago there was a request for Asian Slaw. There have been many responses, all with various titles, all very similar but yet each a little different. I would suggest playing with the recipes to develop your own personal favorite.

I make various varieties of this salad using cabbage or lettuce mix. I also toast the noodles for a richer flavor. If using the lettuce mix, try adding fresh mushrooms and tomato. For a nice luncheon salad, try adding strips of Zesty Grilled Chicken atop your salad. I will share that recipe with you after all of the salad recipes.

Ramen Oriental Salad

Dressing:

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup cider vinegar

3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 packages seasoning mix from Ramen noodle packages

Salad:

2 packages Ramen noodles, any flavor

10 cups cabbage, finely chopped

6 green onions, finely chopped

1/2 cup sesame seeds, toasted

1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted

1/2 cup sunflower seeds kernels, toasted

For the dressing, combine all ingredients in a glass jar and shake until well-combined. Refrigerate until ready to use.

For the salad, crush the noodles; set aside. Wash and chop cabbage and onions; place in serving bowl and refrigerate. In a shallow pan, toast sesame seeds, almonds, and sunflower seeds. Bake at 375 degrees for 5 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Stir occasionally, being careful not to burn.

Before serving, mix all ingredients and toss with dressing.

Oriental Cabbage Salad

1 head cabbage, shredded

1 bunch green onions, chopped

1 package Ramen noodles, broken, chicken or oriental flavor

1/2 cup oil

3 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons vinegar

seasoning packet from noodle package

1 package sliced almonds

1 tablespoons sesame seeds

1/3 teaspoon garlic salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Prepare salad dressing by combining oil, sugar, vinegar and flavoring packet from the package of noodles. Combine the salad ingredients, to include the cabbage, onions and noodles. Mix well. Pour dressing over the salad ingredients. Mix thoroughly. Toss in the noodles at the last minute before serving for best results. Serve immediately. Serves 10 to 12.

Crunchy Cabbage Salad

Salad:

1 package slaw mix or 1 pound shredded cabbage

1/2 cup green onions

Crunchy ingredients:

1/4 cup melted margarine

2 packages Ramen noodles, omit the seasoning packets

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1/4 cup slivered almonds

Dressing ingredients:

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup vinegar

1/4 cup oil

Mix all crunchy ingredients together and toast on a flat pan in a 350-degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring frequently. When cooled, combine with slaw mix in serving dish. Mix all dressing ingredients in blender and add to salad just before serving. Serves 6 to 8.

Sumi Salad

1/2 to 1 head cabbage, chopped

green onions, including tops, sliced

8 tablespoons slivered almonds

1 (6 ounce) package China Bay rice noodles

8 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

Sumi salad dressing:

4 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground pepper

3/4 cup vegetable oil

8 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar

Mix cabbage and onions in large bowl. Brown almonds in 1 tablespoon oil. If using regular sesame seeds, you will need to brown them with the almonds. This step can be done in advance and stored. For the dressing, mix all dressing ingredients together, dissolving the sugar. Just before serving, add sesame seeds and almonds to cabbage and toss with dressing. Add rice noodles at the last minute, using half of the package. This is a great salad for football games or outdoor dinners. Serves 6.

Now I will share the chicken recipe. It could be added to any of the above salads, but it came with the Ramen Oriental Salad recipe.

Zesty Grilled Chicken

8 chicken breasts, halved, boneless and skinless

1/4 cup olive oil or canola oil

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon brown sugar

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 whole cloves

dash pepper

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

Place chicken breasts in a glass dish. Prepare marinade with remaining ingredients. Pour marinade over chicken and refrigerate a minimum of 4 hours. May be refrigerated up to 24 hours. Grill quickly over hot coals, basting frequently. If desired, slice into strips and serve over salad.

Fresh herbs may be used by substituting 2 teaspoons fresh for the 1/2 teaspoon dried.

Sawdust Pie, according to Patti's Restaurant near Kentucky Lake is a mixture of coconut, graham cracker crumbs and pecans in an egg batter and baked in a pie shell, served with bananas and whipped cream. Wow! It sounds great.

Sawdust Pie

7 egg whites, unbeaten

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1 1/2 cups pecans

1 1/2 cups coconut

9-inch unbaked pie shell

Mix all ingredients together and stir by hand. Pour into unbaked pie shell. Bake in preheated 325-degree oven until glossy and set, about 25 to 30 minutes. Do not overbake. Serve warm with sliced bananas and whipped cream. Serves 8.

We also had a request for Sugar Pie and Jeanette Niederkorn of Cape Girardeau shares her recipe she borrowed from an old cookbook from Silver Dollar City.

Sugar Pie

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons flour

milk

2 cups milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

butter or margarine

Mix 1 cup sugar with 2 tablespoons flour and enough milk to moisten well. Spread mixture on bottom of unbaked pie shell. Pour about 2 cups milk over the sugar mixture. Add 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and use spoon to see that the sugar mixture is dissolved. Dot with butter and bake in moderate oven.

In response to the request for a spinach salad with orange dressing, I received a wonderful one from someone who got the recipe from Mary Ann Pensel of Cape Girardeau. I made this salad last weekend along side of grilled salmon, fresh from Alaska.

Spinach Salad

8 cups spinach

2 cups sliced fresh strawberries

1 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest

1/2 cup commercially prepared or homemade poppy seed dressing

1 tablespoon orange juice

1/4 cup toasted pecan halves

Combine the spinach and strawberries. Prepare dressing using the orange zest, poppy seed dressing and juice. When ready to serve, toss together and serve immediately.

Optionally, you may use some lettuce mix with the spinach, add steamed-chilled asparagus or about 3/4 pound cooked chicken. When I serve this, I sugar toasted the pecans by adding sugar to margarine in a skillet with the pecans over low heat until all was absorbed and crisp, and drained and cooled on paper towel.

And last but certainly not least, we will end with a dessert. I was able to be with Pat Klein in her lovely home in Jackson for a Longaberger Basket party recently and she served a rich frozen dessert for her guests. It can be made ahead and frozen until company drops in unexpected or it's nice to keep on hand for family as a cool summer dessert. I hope you can enjoy this with friends as I was able to do.

Oreo Cookie Frozen Dessert

1 large package Oreo cookies, crushed

1 stick margarine, softened

1/2 gallon carton French vanilla ice cream

1 (16 ounce) jar Hershey's chocolate fudge topping

1 can Spanish peanuts, divided

1 carton frozen whipped topping, thawed

Combine crushed cookies and softened margarine together, as you would for pie crust. Reserve 1/2 cup of mixture for topping. With the remaining crumb mixture, press into a lightly buttered 9-x-13-inch pan. Open ice cream carton and with a large knife, slice large thick slices and place over crumb mixture to cover completely, using all of the ice cream. Over the ice cream layer, pour on the chocolate topping, spreading to cover. Using 1/2 of the can, sprinkle Spanish peanuts over the chocolate. Cover this layer with the whipped topping and add the reserved crumbs as the garnish on the top. Cover and freeze until ready to serve. Allow about 5 minutes out of the freezer to soften when serving.

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We have two requests this from Sandy Vinson of Perryville. She is looking for recipes for Apricot Butter and a coffee cake made with a cottage cheese topping. We have featured coffee cakes recipes in the past with a cheese topping, but I don't believe they were made with cottage cheese. Sounds like a good challenge for the Altenburg ladies.

Have a wonderful week and happy cooking.