Marvelous Pasta Sauce and a Very Lemony Pie

Dear SOS: My husband and I love Scoma’s Restaurant on the wharf in San Francisco and would appreciate your efforts in getting their recipe for their fisherman’s pasta, which has a marvelous sauce.

--RACHEL

Dear Rachel: We love Scoma’s, too, and are delighted to have their recipe. Thanks.

PASTA FISHERMAN

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1 small onion, chopped

1/2 pound mushrooms, chopped

2 tablespoons dry white wine

3 (8-ounce) cans tomato sauce

1/2 (10 1/2-ounce) can white sauce

1/2 pound crab meat, cut up

1/2 pound shrimp, peeled

1 pound spaghetti, cooked al dente

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Heat oil in skillet. Add garlic and saute until browned. Add onion, mushrooms and wine. Simmer 3 minutes. Add tomato sauce and white sauce. Stir and heat until sauce comes to simmer. Add crab and shrimp. Stir and simmer 3 minutes. Pour sauce over cooked spaghetti. Sprinkle with cheese.

Note: Spaghetti can be cooked while sauce is being prepared. Drain spaghetti, then pour sauce over.

Dear SOS: The recipe for the lemon meringue pie from the Fish Shanty is the best-tasting lemon meringue pie I have ever tasted, but it is always runny. Should it be?

--CHARLYNE

Dear Charlyne: The water and sugar syrup formed before adding the cornstarch mixture is the trick to the thickening. Make sure the syrup does form and the cornstarch mixture becomes very thick and clear.

FISH SHANTY LEMON MERINGUE PIE

3 cups water

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon peel

1/4 cup cornstarch

4 egg yolks

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 (9-inch) baked pastry shell

6 egg whites

Combine 2 1/2 cups water, 1 1/4 cups sugar, salt and lemon peel in saucepan. Bring to hard boil over high heat. Combine remaining 1/2 cup water and cornstarch in top of double boiler. Stir to dissolve starch. Stir in boiling syrup. Cook over simmering water until very thick and clear. Remove from heat. Stir together egg yolks, 2 tablespoons sugar and lemon juice. Add to cornstarch mixture, blending thoroughly. Pour into baked pie crust.

Beat egg whites until foamy. Slowly add remaining 3/4 cup sugar, beating until stiff but not dry. Spread over filling. Bake at 350 degrees 12 to 15 minutes. Makes 1 (9-inch) pie.

Dear SOS: Perhaps you can help me locate a recipe for perogen . I haven’t made the dough in many years and have forgotten.

--K.M.

Dear K.M.: Here’s a recipe for perogen (also known as pierogi or piroshki ), using both pastry and cheese-potato filling.

PEROGEN

2 cups flour

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup water

Cheese-Potato Filling

Mound flour on board and make well in center. Drop eggs and salt into well. Add water, mix flour into liquid in center with one hand and keep flour mounded with other hand. Knead until dough is firm and well-mixed. Cover dough with warm bowl and rest 10 minutes. Divide dough in half.

On floured surface using half of dough at a time, roll dough as thin as possible. Cut out 3 inch rounds with large biscuit cutter. Place small tablespoon of filling a little to one side of each round of dough. Moisten edge with water, fold over and press edges together firmly. Drop perogen into boiling salted water. Cook 3 to 5 minutes or until perogen rise to surface. Remove with slotted spoon and drain and allow to dry on paper towels. Makes 8 to 12 perogen.

Cheese-Potato Filling

1 tablespoon minced onion

1 tablespoon butter or margarine

1 1/2 cups mashed cooked potatoes

3/4 cup cottage cheese

Salt, pepper

Saute onion in butter until tender, but not browned. Mix onion with potatoes, cheese and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Dear SOS: Is there a possibility that you can provide a recipe for the clam chowder served at the Hungry Tiger restaurants in Los Angeles?

--JUNE

Dear June: Certainly. This thick, white chowder is one of our favorites, too.

HUNGRY TIGER CLAM CHOWDER

1/4 cup butter

1/3 cup chopped onion

1/3 cup chopped leeks

1/3 cup chopped celery

1/3 cup chopped green pepper

1/4 cup flour

4 cups fish stock or water

Salt, pepper

1/2 bay leaf

Dash thyme

1/3 cup diced potatoes

2 tablespoons dry white wine

1/2 cup chopped clams or 1 (4-ounce) can clams, drained

6 tablespoons hot whipping cream

Melt butter in saucepan. Add onion, leeks, celery and green pepper and cook until tender. Stir in flour. Reduce heat and cook slowly about 10 minutes. Stir in stock and season to taste with salt and pepper. Add bay leaf and thyme. Bring to boil, stirring frequently, then add potatoes and wine. Reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes. Add clams and cook 5 minutes. Just before serving stir in hot cream. Makes 6 servings.

Only recipes of general interest will be printed. We are unable to answer all requests. Please include restaurant address when requesting recipes from restaurants. Send your letter with self-addressed, stamped envelope to Culinary SOS, Food Section, The Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles 90053.