Chocolate-Peanut Pie and Calories

Dear SOS: My husband has been threatening to turn me in for a new model if I don’t come up with a recipe for chocolate-peanut pie like the one served at the Sonora Cafe in downtown Los Angeles. What’s the chance they’ll part with the recipe?

--Sharon

Dear Sharon: Pretty good, actually. The pie is quite nice--and caloric, but who cares--with its molasses-peanut filling, cookie crust and chocolate glaze. That should tranquilize hubby for a while.

SONORA CAFE CHOCOLATE-PEANUT PIE

Pastry for 2-crust pie

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

1/4 cup butter

1 cup whipping cream

2 tablespoons molasses

1 pound dry whole peanuts, roasted

Ganache

Roll pastry and divide into 2 portions. Reserve 1 portion for top crust. Fit remaining pastry in 10-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Partially bake at 400 degrees 5 minutes. Cool.

Meanwhile, caramelize sugar in heavy skillet until golden. Stir in butter, cream, molasses and peanuts. Turn into partially baked pie crust.

Cover with rolled out reserved pastry dough. Make 4 or 5 holes or incisions on top. Bake at 350 degrees 30 minutes or until golden. Remove and allow to cool completely. Remove sides of pan. Spoon Ganache over pie to cover. Chill until set. Serve at room temperature. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Ganache

3/4 cup whipping cream

8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

1 tablespoon corn syrup

3/4 cup unsalted butter

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Place cream, chocolate, corn syrup and butter in large saucepan over moderate heat. Stir constantly until ingredients melt and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Place saucepan in bath of ice cubes and water and beat with hand-mixer at high speed until pale in color, thick and airy.

Dear SOS: I have heard a lot about how good the navy bean soup is at the U.S. Senate cafeteria. Do you have the recipe?

--Mrs. R.R.H.

Dear Mrs. R.R.H.: Yes, it is quite good and we do have it. The original bean soup was said to have been added to the cafeteria daily menu by mandate of Sen. Thomas Dubois of Idaho who served as chairman of the committee in charge of the Senate cafeteria from 1901 to 1907. Another story credits Sen. Knute Nelson of Minnesota for requesting his favorite bean soup from Senate cafeteria chefs in 1903 when it first appeared on the menu.

SENATE NAVY BEAN SOUP

2 cups dry navy beans

3 quarts water

1 meaty ham bone

1/2 cup mashed cooked potatoes

3 onions, minced

4 to 5 stalks celery, minced

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 cup minced parsley

Salt, pepper

Lemon slices, optional

Soak beans overnight in water. Add ham bone and simmer 1 hour or until beans start to get tender. Add mashed potatoes and mix until smooth. Add onions, celery, garlic and parsley and simmer 1 hour longer or until beans are soft.

Remove ham bone, then dice meat and return meat to soup. Thin with hot water, if necessary (soup should be thick). Season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish with lemon slices. Makes 10 to 12 servings.

Dear SOS: Help. I need a recipe for potato chip cookies, a basic drop sugar cookie with crushed potato chips in place of walnuts, etc.

--Nancy

Dear Nancy: This recipe from Frances Dewar back in 1975 is pretty standard--and good.

FRANCES DEWAR’S POTATO CHIP COOKIES

1 cup butter or margarine

Sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup crushed potato chips

1/2 cup chopped nuts

2 cups flour

Cream butter and 1/2 cup sugar. Add vanilla, potato chips, nuts and flour and mix well. Form into small balls and place on ungreased baking sheets. Dip glass in sugar and flatten cookies. Bake at 350 degrees 16 to 18 minutes. Makes 80 cookies.

Dear SOS: You’re my last hope. Jack Abbott on “The Young and the Restless” television soap opera loves beef Wellington. On special occasions his maid fixes it for him. I can’t find the recipe anywhere. Can you please help?

--JENNIFER

Dear Jennifer: And what character do you play?

FILLET OF BEEF WELLINGTON

1 (2- to 2 1/2-pound) piece beef tenderloin

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

1/2 pound mushrooms, minced

3 shallots, minced

1 (4-ounce) can liver pate

2 (10-ounce) packages frozen patty shells, thawed

1 egg yolk

2 tablespoons half and half

Trim fat from meat. Roast tenderloin on rack at 400 degrees 10 minutes or until browned. Cool completely.

Heat butter in skillet, then add mushrooms and shallots and cook until lightly browned and dry, about 5 minutes. Mix in pate. Cool.

Press sections of thawed patty shells together to form sheet of dough, then roll out to 1/8-inch-thick rectangle. Spread mushroom mixture in center of pastry in shape of tenderloin. Place meat, rounded side down, on mushroom mixture. Bring up sides of dough over meat, roll up ends and press to seal firmly, cutting off any excess dough. Roll out trimmings and cut into shapes with miniature aspic cutters or free form.

Place pastry-wrapped meat, seam side down, on lightly greased and floured baking sheet lined with foil. Carefully press pastry cutouts onto pastry wrap in design of choice. Combine egg yolk and half and half. Brush egg yolk mixture over pastry cutouts, then brush over entire surface of dough. Bake at 400 degrees 30 to 40 minutes depending on rareness preferred. If pastry browns too rapidly, cover with loose tent of foil. Cool a few minutes before slicing. Serve with mushroom or Madeira sauce, if desired. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Note: Tenderloin may be roasted initially on bed of aromatics such as celery leaves, parsley sprigs, bay leaf, rosemary or dill. Discard aromatics after roast has cooled.

Dear SOS: During the process of my divorce I either misplaced or lost to my “ex” a recipe for homemade Coffee Liqueur.

--LORI

Dear Lori: Cheers.

COFFEE LIQUEUR

2 cups instant coffee powder

7 cups sugar

1 quart boiling water

1 quart vodka

1 vanilla bean

Mix coffee powder and sugar. Pour boiling water over coffee mixture and stir to dissolve. Cool. Stir in vodka.

Drop vanilla bean into 1/2-gallon bottle or jug. Add vodka mixture. Seal and allow to stand 3 to 4 weeks. Makes about 2 1/2 quarts.

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.