Winner of two James Beard Awards for food writing. SPONSOR LINKS Fresh Seafood from Boston Totally Cooked Will you run out of money in retirement? Babin Kitchen & Bath Discount Restaurant Gift Certificates FAVORITE SITES Dad Cooks Dinner King Arthur Flour Penzeys Spices Rare Seeds Sushi Katsu USDA Nutrient Database Del Mio Pick Your Own Farms Caranos Cucina Exploring Food My Way Mimi Vanderhaven CONTACT JANE Email Jane Jane's Personal Appearances Subscribe To This Newsletter  Subscribe Free October 15, 2009 Dear Foodie friends: Hallelujah! We finally have the recipe for one of the area’s most-missed concoctions, the Coney sauce from the Montrose Freeze. I think. I’ve searched for this sauce for years, to satisfy a never-ending flow of requests from folks who have missed the legendary Coney dogs of ice cream stand that once stood at the intersection of West Market Street and Cleveland-Massillon Road. I never tasted the Coney dogs, but I do vaguely remember driving past the Freeze after I moved to Akron in 1978. I don’t recall when it closed, but the requests started coming almost from the beginning of my tenure as food editor at the Beacon Journal in 1983. I was thrilled, then, when my neighbor knocked on my door last week and handed me the recipe. Jack Welton, who grew up on a farm in Montrose at the Market Street-Cleveland Massillon Road intersection, rounded up the recipe when prodded by his wife, Barbara, who reads my newsletter. Jack and Barbara knew that another neighbor, Margaret Weger, used to be the cook at the Freeze. She worked for former owner Lou Raitner, who died last year in Florida at age 100, Jack said. Margaret didn’t mind sharing the recipe. Jack keeps track of such things because he is assembling an informal history of Montrose. If anyone has any information they think Jack could use, send it to me and I’ll see that he gets it.  That would be a nice payback for providing all of us with a recipe that has been lost for so long. THE FREEZE’S CONEY SAUCE (Printer Friendly Recipe Archive) • 2 lbs. lean ground chuck • 2 tbsp. oil • 1 large sweet Spanish onion, chopped • 1 large can (28 oz.) tomato sauce • 1/3 cup ketchup • 1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce • 1 tsp. hot pepper sauce • 2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes • 1 tbsp. vinegar • 4 tsp. chili powder Brown ground beef in a heavy saucepan and drain off grease. In a skillet, heat oil and sauté onion until limp. Add to ground beef with remaining ingredients. Simmer until flavors are blended. HELP U COOK I heard my teen-ager and his friend discussing the date printed on the milk container in the fridge, and deciding not to drink it. The friend then confidently said eggs are safe to eat for two weeks after the date on the carton, but no longer. Arrrgh. Those dates have caused more confusion than clarification for consumers. I think the sell-by dates are helpful, but the use-by dates – not so much. How long a perishable product remains  safe to eat depends mostly on how it was handled and stored on the farm, in transit, by the store and by the consumer. If you leave the carton of milk on the counter for an hour, it will eventually spoil more quickly than if you keep it refrigerated every minute when not in use. If the cheese sat on the loading dock for a while, it won’t keep as long. The use-by dates for most perishable products are merely informed guesses, and in many cases intended to indicate not when the product will spoil but when it will begin to decline in quality – vitamin content and color, for example. So don’t toss out a carton of milk just because the date has passed. Sniff the milk and trust your nose.   THE MAILBAG From Beth Knorr, manager, Countryside Farmer’s Markets: Regarding the green chiles – anaheims, as you stated, are the ones to look for. They are available fairly reliably at the farmers' markets throughout the summer. They are usually available earlier than sweet red peppers, as we don't have to wait for them to ripen before harvesting,  although if left on the plant long enough they will eventually turn red. Another good one for roasting, with slightly more kick, is a poblano – the ones traditionally used for chile rellenos. (A family favorite, stuffed with fresh corn, cilantro and a non-traditional smoked gouda.) These are dark green (almost black) and glossy.   Wish we had a few more farmers growing chiles for ristras!  But we do have a lot of chile varieties at the market, though they are waning a bit now. Beth: Your chile rellenos sound pretty good. Those who want to check out the chiles at the Countryside Farmer’s Market can find information here: www.cvcountryside.org. From Rett Lewandowski: We don't bother to wrap our green tomatoes any more. We just set up a card table in the cool, dry basement with several layers of newspaper on it. We spread the tomatoes out, stem down. They ripen slowly  and  it is very easy to see which ones need to get eaten first. I look forward to trying your End of Summer Salad since we did the same thing that you did – pulled up all the plants and brought all the produce inside. Rett: I’d try your method, but Tony threw out all the green tomatoes last weekend. I have no idea why, and I’m afraid to ask. This is a man who has “collected” about 30 plastic soy-sauce buckets, and adds to his stash each month. I’d like to get inside his mind: Empty buckets, whoo-hoo!! Tomatoes, pffft. From Donna Norfolk: I have a great pumpkin roll recipe! Yippee, I can help!   EASY PUMPKIN ROLL (Printer Friendly Recipe Archive) Cake: • 3/4 cup flour • 3 eggs • 1 cup sugar • 2/3 cup pumpkin • 1 tsp lemon juice • 1 tsp baking powder • 2 tsp cinnamon • 1 tsp ginger • 1/2 tsp nutmeg • chopped nuts   Filling: • 1 cup powdered sugar • 2 - 3 oz cream cheese • 4 tbsp. butter • 1/2 tsp vanilla   Beat eggs on high speed 5 minutes. Add sugar, pumpkin, lemon juice. Fold in remaining ingredients. Spread mixture on greased, floured 15 x 10 cookie sheet. Top with nuts. Bake at 350 degrees 15 minutes. Cool on rack. Turn onto sugared towel and roll up. Cool 30 more minutes and unroll. Cream the filling well and beat until creamy. Spread over cake and re-roll up. Wrap in foil and refrigerate.  May be frozen. From Dorothy: Jane, I  am betting you get a huge response, but here is one delicious, easy recipe. Dorothy: I did get a big response, so I’m printing two easy recipes that vary slightly in ingredients and flavor. Thanks for sending this recipe from Libby’s. LIBBY’S PUMPKIN ROLL WITH CREAM CHEESE FILLING (Printer Friendly Recipe Archive) • 1/4 cup powdered sugar (to sprinkle on towel) • 3/4 cup flour • 1/2 tsp. baking powder • 1/2 tsp. baking soda • 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon • 1/2 tsp. ground cloves • 1/4 tsp. salt • 3 eggs • 1 cup granulated sugar • 2/3 cup pumpkin • 1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional) • 1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened • 1 cup sifted powdered sugar • 6 tbsp. butter or margarine, softened • 1 tsp. vanilla • 1/4 cup powdered sugar (optional) Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease a 15-by-10-inch jelly-roll pan; line with wax paper. Grease and flour paper. Sprinkle towel with powdered sugar. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt in small bowl. Beat eggs and sugar in large mixer bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle with nuts. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. Immediately loosen and turn cake onto prepared towel. Carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake and towel together, starting with narrow end. Cool on wire rack. Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl until smooth. Carefully unroll cake; remove towel. Spread cream cheese mixture over cake. Reroll cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if desired. From Jan Coburn: In your article about apples, I noticed that there was no mention of a Northern Spy. They are difficult to find, but my husband is very picky about apples. My husband goes to Rittman Orchards for his apples. I make applesauce by peeling, coring, and quartering the apples and placing in a heavy-bottomed pan with no water. I add a smidge of allspice and cinnamon and cook, covered, on low heat, until the apples are  done. I remove from the heat and add sugar to taste ( his taste). I freeze applesauce in margarine containers, and my niece takes home a couple containers at Christmas.   I was raised by a Scotch Irish mother and father, and we ate plain food. Every year we made the trek to an apple orchard where you could pick your own apples. Jan: Thanks for pointing us in the right direction for Northern Spy, one of the great antique varieties of apple. From Fran Sharp: One of your Foodie Friends asked for an appetizer recipe and this is too good to not pass on.   ARTICHOKE APPETIZERS (Printer Friendly Recipe Archive) • 2  jars (6 oz. each) marinated artichoke hearts • 1 small onion, finely chopped • 1 clove garlic, minced • 4 eggs, beaten • 1/4 cup fine dry breadcrumbs • 1/2 tsp. salt • 1/8 tsp pepper • 1/8 tsp. oregano • 1/8 tsp. hot sauce • 2 cups (8 oz. by weight) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese • 2 tbsp. minced fresh parsley   Drain liquid from artichoke hearts; reserve half the liquid. Chop artichoke hearts and set aside. Sauté onion and garlic in reserved artichoke liquid for about 5 minutes. Combine eggs, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, oregano and hot sauce in a large bowl; add cheese, parsley, sautéed vegetables and chopped artichokes; mix well. Press mixture into a greased 10-by-6-inch baking dish. Bake at 325 degrees for 40 minutes or until lightly browned. Cut into 1 inch squares to serve. Serve hot or cold.

ABOUT JANE SNOW
Jane Snow is the former food editor of the Akron Beacon Journal. Her work has appeared in newspapers nationwide. She has won two James Beard Awards for food writing and has been nominated twice for the Pulitzer Prize. She lives in Akron, Ohio, with her husband, Tony, a sushi chef and owner of Sushi Katsu, an Akron sushi bar.

A portion of the proceeds generated through sponsorships of this newsletter go to the Jane Snow Fund For Hunger at Akron Community Foundation.


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