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Chicken Fricassee Reminds Mom Of Late Daughter

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By JEFF HOUCK | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 11, 2007

Katherine Troklus called earlier this month from Zephyrhills, asking if a chicken fricassee recipe was going to be published any time soon.

She said her daughter once made the recipe but that she had passed away in 2004 and "took the recipe with her." The mother was hoping to make her daughter's dish sometime soon.

We found a chicken fricassee recipe in our archives from a 2004 story we did on legendary Italian cook Marcella Hazan. The recipe comes from her book "Marcella Says …: Italian Cooking Wisdom From the Legendary Teacher's Master Classes" (HarperCollins, $29.95).

"That sounds delicious," Troklus said.

Recipe Requests

Nostalgia was on the menu for RLF readers this week.

Jack Parrino wrote in search of the butterscotch pie recipe made by the now-defunct Goody-Goody restaurant in Tampa. He also wanted the tomato-based sauce that was used on its hamburgers.

"Oh how I miss them so — sigh!" Parrino writes. "I am a Tampa native and one of my earliest memories is sitting as a young boy, wearing shorts and feeling the cold aluminum Navy surplus chairs on my bare skin. I am now 59 y/o and was a regular customer till they closed 2 years ago."

Jack, I have good Goody Goody news and bad news. Yes, we have the pie recipe. No, we don't have the sauce. Maybe someone reading this column will.

Pizza And Casserole

Brenda Hunter of Lithia e-mailed about Gino's Pizzeria in Plant City.

About 25 or 30 years ago, Hunter writes, Gino's "had a very unusual pizza that my husband and I really enjoyed. We have never seen another restaurant offer a pizza like this. We always like a pizza with lots of toppings. What made this pizza so different was that it was topped with a very, very thin meat layer from some sort of ground meat, and from what we remember, it had caraway seeds in it. It would be great if someone out there has that recipe or one that might be very similar."

Eva Tripp in Plant City says she's searching for a Cinnamon Fingers cookie recipe.

"I got this recipe many, many years ago from a childhood friend's mom, and she has since passed away," Tripp writes. "I am just sick about losing the recipe because I make them every year for Christmas."

She says the recipe includes butter, flour, sugar and vanilla. You roll those into a dough, refrigerate for a few hours, then shape into long, slender fingers before baking and rolling them cinnamon sugar.

"I remember the recipe but can't remember the proportions," Tripp says.

Joan Holshue is still searching for a Longestino casserole recipe.

Special Holiday Drink

We get a lot of e-mail from companies pushing recipes to promote their products. Very few of them look worth the effort. This one for infusing Woodford Reserve bourbon with candy canes looks pretty tasty. You can add the resulting mixture to your hot chocolate or eggnog.

Looking for a recipe? Have one to share? Write to Jeff Houck, The Tampa Tribune, P.O. Box 191, Tampa FL 33601, or jhouck@tampatrib.com. Recipes are not tested.

FRICASSEED CHICKEN WITH ALMONDS

1 31/2- to 4-pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces

2 ounces whole almonds, shelled but not peeled

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

1 cup flour, spread on a plate

1 cup dry Marsala wine

Fine sea salt

1 teaspoon or more chopped, dried red hot chili pepper, adjusting the quantity to the potency of the chili

Wash chicken pieces under cold running water, then set in a footed colander to drain.

Drop almonds into a small saucepan of boiling water. Two minutes after the water returns to a boil, drain through a sieve. Wrap the almonds in a dampened dish towel. Rub the almonds briskly in the towel, unwrap the towel, and remove those almonds with loosened peels. Remove the peels. Wrap remaining almonds and repeat the rubbing procedure until all the almonds are peeled. Put the almonds in a food processor fitted with steel blade and chop until pulverized.

Put butter, oil and garlic in a 12-inch saute pan, and turn heat to high; stir garlic from time to time. When the butter melts completely and its foam begins to subside, dredge one chicken piece at a time in the flour and slip into the pan to brown. When all the chicken pieces have been browned, turn them and brown the other side. When they all have been thoroughly browned, remove the breast pieces and set them aside.

Add chopped almonds to the pan, stirring with a wooden spoon for about a minute to brown. Add Marsala, salt and chili pepper, turning mixture over with the wooden spoon. When the wine has bubbled for about 1 minute, turn the heat down to the lowest setting and cover pan.

Cook 1 hour, or as long as needed for the meat to come easily off the bone, then return the breast pieces to the pan. Cook 15 more minutes or until breasts are done. Transfer fricassee to the warm platter and serve at once.

Serves 4 to 6.

Note: If you are serving the chicken later, cook it through, refrigerate and reheat gently in the same pan.

GOODY GOODY'S BUTTERSCOTCH PIE

8- or 9-inch pie crust, baked

1 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour, plus 1 tablespoon

2/3 cup boiling water, minus 2 tablespoons of reserved cold water

3 egg yolks

1 tablespoon sugar

Dash of salt

5 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon vanilla

Combine brown sugar and flour with 2 tablespoons cold water. Mix well.

Add boiling water. Bring to bubble, and cook about 10 minutes.

Combine egg yolks, sugar and salt. Add a large spoonful of cooked mixture to egg yolk mix to warm. Then add remaining hot cooked mixture. Mix well.

Cook slowly about 10 minutes. Mixture will be extra-thick. Remove from heat, and add butter and vanilla. Mix until well-blended. Cool. Pour into baked pie crust, top with meringue and brown.

WOODFORD CANDY CANE

1 750-milliliter bottle of Woodford Reserve

2 candy canes

Empty out bottle of Woodford Reserve into a clean container.

Place candy canes at the bottom of the bottle (break candy canes into smaller piece if need be).

Pour Woodford back into the bottle, and allow the concoction to infuse for 24 hours.

Serving suggestions:

Combine 11/2 ounces candy cane infusion with 4 ounces hot chocolate. Garnish with whipped cream and a candy cane.

Pour 11/2 ounces candy cane infusion into a mug. Fill with warm eggnog and stir. Garnish with whipped cream and a sprinkle of nutmeg.

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