GREAT HOME COOKS : Pops’ Blue Ribbon

Tom Felde is a blue-ribbon cook, but it doesn’t take the prize that his kolachis won at the Manhattan Beach Hometown Fair to prove it.

That blue ribbon is framed in his kitchen, but as a day-in and day-out cook, Felde is also a winner. His seven grown children will attest to that, and so will his wife, Cindy, who lets him do all the cooking while she happily handles cleanup.

Felde’s daughter Kitty, who nominated her father as a Times great home cook, wrote: “My dad puts together a classic potato salad that every deli in the world would kill for. . . . His barbecue sauce is heavenly. But Pops’ greatest gift is his way with chocolate. When we gather for family holidays at his Manhattan Beach condo, dinner is of secondary importance compared to whatever chocolate goodies he has concocted.”

Hype? Daughterly enthusiasm? No, indeed. The potato salad and barbecued chicken are as good as she claimed. And Felde’s brownies, slightly altered from a cookbook recipe, are wonderful.

There has, however, been a change that has made him practically eliminate rich foods from his own diet (although he’s still happy to provide them for his guests). Diagnosed with high cholesterol, Felde has cut out many of his favorite dishes and altered others. He skins the chicken for barbecuing, avoids butter, milk and red meat, makes tacos and spaghetti sauce with ground turkey (adding a little beef bouillon to the sauce for meaty flavor) and has created a lean version of granola, using canola oil. These adjustments, plus a daily 3-mile walk, have whittled down his cholesterol level.

Felde’s barbecued chicken--his portion will be skinless--shows how he reasons out recipes. Because sugar burns on the grill, he bastes the meat with a non-sweet soy sauce mixture while it’s on the barbecue. Then he places it on a baking sheet, coats it with thick, sweet, garlicky red sauce and finishes it off in the oven.

The potato salad was his mother’s specialty. “I don’t think she ever wrote the recipe down,” Felde says. He’s not one for recipe writing either, but painstakingly worked out the quantities as he put together trial versions. “It varies each time,” he says. What you get with the recipe he finally produced is a big bowl of full-flavored salad, pale yellow from mustard in the dressing. It is, as his daughter wrote, classic potato salad at its best.

Felde, who writes and publishes in the real estate field, is a kitchen putterer in more ways than one. He made the stained-glass window at the top of his pantry door and has refinished some fine pieces of furniture, including a handsome dining room table.

Felde’s recipes are just right for a Labor Day barbecue. Add garlic bread, a green salad and fresh fruit for a blue-ribbon meal.

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TOM FELDE’S BARBECUED CHICKEN WITH 2 SAUCES

Soy Barbecue Basting Sauce

Red Sauce

2 small chickens, each cut in half or quartered

Prepare Soy Barbecue Basting Sauce and Red Sauce in advance and store in refrigerator for flavors to mellow.

Wash and prepare chickens, removing skin and excess fat, if desired. Baste 1 side of each chicken piece with basting sauce. Place basted side down on barbecue set to low or medium heat. Baste top side and continue to cook on both sides, basting with each turning. Chicken with fat or fatty skin will drip grease and catch fire in early stages of cooking. Move chicken over or remove briefly from grill. Do not allow to burn.

When chicken is almost done, remove from barbecue. Place on foil-lined pan and spoon Red Sauce over pieces. Bake at 325 degrees 15 to 20 minutes, or until done. Watch to see that sauce does not burn. If desired, chicken can be grilled in advance and set aside for 1 hour or so before baking. Makes 8 servings.

Each serving contains about:

541 calories; 1,728 mg sodium; 152 mg cholesterol; 31 grams fat; 24 grams carbohydrates; 41 grams protein; 0.09 gram fiber.

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Soy Barbecue Basting Sauce

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup frozen apple or orange juice concentrate, thawed

1/4 cup water

1 1/2 teaspoons chopped or crushed garlic

1 teaspoon liquid hickory smoke

1/2 teaspoon dry Italian seasoning

Combine soy sauce, juice concentrate, water, garlic, liquid smoke and Italian seasoning. Stir to blend. Makes about 1 cup.

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Red Sauce

1 cup catsup

1/4 cup frozen apple juice concentrate

1/3 cup brown sugar, packed

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon chopped or crushed garlic

2 teaspoons liquid smoke

1/2 to 1 teaspoon dry mustard

Hot pepper sauce, optional

Combine catsup, juice concentrate, brown sugar, soy sauce, garlic, liquid smoke and mustard. Season to taste with hot pepper sauce if desired. Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

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TOM’S POTATO SALAD

8 to 10 medium potatoes (russet, red or white)

1 bunch green onions, including some of tops, chopped

1/2 onion, finely chopped

2 cups chopped celery

1 (4-ounce) can pimientos, drained and chopped, or 1 cup finely chopped, seeded tomato

Dressing

Hard-cooked egg slices

Parsley

Boil unpeeled potatoes until cooked but firm. Skins begin to crack when potatoes are almost done. Test with fork. Drain and cool before peeling. If desired, store whole potatoes in refrigerator overnight.

Cut potatoes into small chunks. Place in large bowl. Add green onions and onion, celery and pimientos. Pour Dressing over salad and stir carefully to combine. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Garnish with egg slices and parsley. Makes 12 servings.

Each serving contains about:

280 calories; 400 mg sodium; 81 mg cholesterol; 15 grams fat; 33 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams protein; 0.63 gram fiber.

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Dressing

2 cups mayonnaise

1/4 cup sweet pickle juice

2 1/2 tablespoons plain mustard

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

2 teaspoons sugar

4 to 5 hard-cooked eggs, finely chopped

2 large sweet pickles, finely chopped

Combine mayonnaise, pickle juice, mustard, vinegar and sugar. Add eggs and pickles and stir to mix. Makes 12 servings.

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FELDE’S FAVORITE BROWNIES (Adapted from “Hershey’s Chocolate Treasury”)

1/2 cup vegetable oil or melted butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

1/2 cup flour

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chopped nuts

1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Powdered sugar

Blend oil, sugar and vanilla in large mixing bowl. Add eggs and beat well. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Gradually stir into egg mixture. Add nuts and chocolate chips. Spread mixture in greased 9-inch-square pan.

Bake at 350 degrees 30 to 35 minutes, or until dough starts to pull away from edges of pan. Cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar and cut into squares. Makes about 16 servings.

174 calories; 111 mg sodium; 42 mg cholesterol; 10 grams fat; 18 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams protein; 0.67 gram fiber.