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Recipes Lost And Found: Tuna & Icing

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By JEFF HOUCK

jhouck@tampatrib.com

Published: January 4, 2009

Rama Patterson of Tampa saw a request for a spreadable tuna mold from June Seaton of Tampa in this column a few weeks back. After searching around, she found a mold that sounds similar to what Seaton was looking for. The recipe runs below.

STOCK ANSWER

Pat Vassar of Clearwater e-mailed last week to say she enjoyed a recent column about making chicken or turkey stock.

"I have stockpiled bones from Sam's Warehouse Club rotisserie chickens for years in order to make a healthy soup." Vassar wrote.

"I keep glass jars of stock in the back of the fridge for making soup, barley and/or rice at all times. I leave the fat on as something of an insulator/preservative, so it lasts as long as I need it to."

Vassar liked the column's suggestion of soaking the bones first to remove any extraneous salt the Sam's rotisserie chicken likely contains. She liked the roasting idea, too. "I will try that with my next batch," she wrote.

Still, she had a question.

"I love my stock because of the gelatin formation," she wrote. "I grew up with Scandinavian jellied veal for Christmas and always appreciated the added protein that long-simmering imparts. What difference does cloudiness make?"

The cloudiness, which comes from the gelatin, is mostly cosmetic - and desirable from a cooking perspective because it gives the stock good mouth-feel. But if you plan on storing it for longer periods, you'll want to strain it as much as possible to preserve the original flavor.

The problem you're having with clarity may be because you're using leftover or precooked chicken. That usually produces cloudier stock than that made using raw chicken. Another tip: Skim the albumen scum layer off the top as it accumulates early in the cooking process.

CHICKEN THANKS

Skip Erickson was grateful for the help readers gave in finding a recipe for Popeye's-style fried chicken.

"You accomplished what the Food Network couldn't," Erickson writes. "Have a blessed New Year."

IN A JAM

Mary Stallard of Tampa and her mother are searching for a recipe for canned tomato jam.

"My grandmother used to make it years ago, and my mom keeps telling me how delicious it was," Stallard wrote. "Some of the ingredients are tomato, sugar and a slice of lemon on top."

REQUEST FOR ICING

Mike Cook of Zephyrhills wrote to ask if readers might have a recipe for the birthday cake frosting used by Kirby's Bakery in Plant City in the late '60s and early '70s.

"I have such fond memories of those delicious birthday cakes from my childhood and haven't found a bakery since that can compare," he wrote. " The frosting was, as they say, 'The icing on the cake.' Any help your readers might be able to give would be greatly appreciated."

EZ BUT FANCY TUNA MOLD SPREAD

1 (10 ounce) can cream of celery soup

8 ounces cream cheese

1/2 cup water

1/4 ounce unflavored gelatin (1 envelope)

1 cup mayonnaise

12 ounces tuna, drained

1/2 cup celery, chopped

1/2 cup green onion, chopped

In saucepan, bring soup to boil and add cubed cream cheese. Remove from heat and stir until smooth. Dilute gelatin with water. Stir into soup mixture.

Stir in remaining ingredients and pour into mold that has been sprayed with Pam. Chill until set, about 3 hours.

Invert mold on serving platter. (If it does not come out right away, run knife around edge of mold to help loosen, or run warm water around bottom of mold a few seconds).

Serve with crackers.

Looking for a recipe? Write to Jeff Houck, The Tampa Tribune, P.O. Box 191, Tampa, FL 33601, or e-mail jhouck@tampatrib.com. Keyword: Recipes, for more recipes and to check out our archive.

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