OK, all you brie bourgeoisie. And this goes for you patrons of pate and anyone who thinks that tiptoeing through the tofu is just too divine.
It’s time to put some fizz in your life, and we aren’t talking some kind of socially correct, dainty champagne cocktail. We’re talking soda here. Pop. As in Pepsi, 7-Up, Coca-Cola and the national soft drink of Texas, Dr Pepper.
For the past seven years, Marlene Blau has been writing a Cook of the Week column for the Independent, a weekly newspaper in Humboldt, Iowa, a rural town 130 miles northwest of Des Moines. A few years ago, recipes from the column were compiled in the Cook of the Week Cookbook, published by the paper. And lo and behold, it included recipes calling for pop.
But “you can’t tell by the taste,” Blau says of the fizzy, soft-drink addition. “It mixes in with the other ingredients, and you can’t tell it’s there.”
Cooking with pop is not a concoction of the pop industry, according to Phil Mooney, archivist for the Coca-Cola Co. in Atlanta. The recipes originated with cooks experimenting with unusual sweeteners, including soft drinks. As they came up with the recipes, the adventurous cooks began sending them into the soft-drink companies.
Mooney says Coke got its first recipes “probably in the ’20s, and they came from the South. Coke originated in the South, and most Southerners have a sweet tooth,” he says.
Blau knows many people today who marinate poultry and beef in Pepsi or Coke. “They’re an excellent tenderizer and give really good flavor. People tell me that Jana’s Pepsi Chicken (included in our recipe selection) is one of the tastiest ways to prepare chicken, and it’s so simple.”
Blau says the best way to spring a pop recipe on guests is to surprise them.
“If they ask, I’d tell them what’s in the dish. But if not, I’d wait until they’d finished, ask them what they thought and then tell them.”
Will recipes doused with soft drinks fly as well in other parts of the nation as they do in rural Humboldt or the South? Blau sees no reason why not. People like adventure, she says. That’s why they go to new restaurants with exotic food.
If you do announce a pop recipe barbecue (such as the one we suggest), and the people you invite begin to snicker and make outrageous excuses — “Sorry, Bunny, we’re going to Katmandu that day for lunch” — Blau has this advice:
“Tell them to try it before they knock it.”
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One word of warning to confirmed diet soda drinkers: In cooking, you must use the real thing; don’t use “diet” soft drinks in these recipes unless called for. Here’s a barbecue menu that packs a pop.
To life easier, chill the processed cheese before trying to grate it.
DR PEPPER CHEESE PECAN BALL WITH DRIED BEEF
1/2 pound processed American cheese, grated
1 (3-ounce) package cream cheese
3 to 4 tablespoons Dr Pepper
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic, minced
Pinch crushed, dried red
pepper flakes
1/2 cup pecans, chopped
1 1/2 cups chopped dried
beef
Party rye and crackers
Place cheeses in large bowl of an electric mixer; mix until blended. Add Dr Pepper and mix until light and fluffy. Add remaining ingredients except beef and mix until blended.
Shape into two balls and chill 20 minutes. Roll in chopped dried beef. Make sure all surface areas are covered. Place in plastic bag and chill thoroughly.
Serve with cheese knife for spreading on party rye slices or crackers. Makes 12 servings.
Recipe from Texas on the Halfshell (Doubleday, 1982) by Phil Brittin and Joseph Daniel).
Per serving: 171 calories, 13 grams protein, 12 grams fat, 3 grams carbohydrates, 33 milligrams cholesterol, 1384 milligrams sodium.
APRICOT SALAD
1 (12-ounce) can 7-Up
1 (3-ounce) package apricot or peach gelatin*
1 (3-ounce) package cream cheese
1 (8-ounce) can crushed
pineapple, undrained
1 cup sour cream
1 (3-ounce) package cream cheese
Lettuce leaves, for garnish
Heat 7-Up in medium saucepan over medium-high heat until boiling; remove from heat and add gelatin. Stir until dissolved. Cool.
In a large bowl, mix cream cheese, pineapple with its juices and sour cream. Combine with gelatin mixture and pour into 9-by-5-inch mold and chill thoroughly.
Line serving platter with lettuce leaves. Invert salad onto platter and serve. Makes 8 to 10 servings.
Recipe from Hospitality; An East Texas Cookbook, (Harvey’s Woman’s Club of Palestine, Texas, 1983).
Per serving: 169 calories, 3 grams protein, 11 grams fat, 16 grams carbohydrates, 29 milligrams cholesterol, 94 milligrams sodium.
—-This recipe was sent to the Sun-Sentinel by Cindy Paulakos of Hallandale.
CINDY’S 7-UP DESSERT
3 (3-ounce) packages lemon gelatin
2 cups boiling water
1 (8 1/4-ounce) can crushed
pineapple with juice
1 small banana, sliced
1 cup mini-marshmallows
2 cups 7-Up soda
Dissolve the gelatin in the boiling water. Add the pineapple with juice and bananas. Stir to combine. Add the marshmallows and 7-Up. Pour into an 8- or 9- inch round or square pan and chill until set. Cut into squares or wedges to serve. Makes 16 servings.
Per serving: 94 calories, 2 grams protein, .04 grams fat, 23 grams carbohydrates, .03 milligrams cholesterol, 55 milligrams sodium.
JANA’S PEPSI CHICKEN
1 (2 1/2- to 3-pound) fryer
chicken, cut up
2 cups ketchup
16 ounces Pepsi
Parsley sprigs, for garnish
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Place chicken in 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Pour ketchup evenly over chicken. Sprinkle Pepsi over ketchup.
Bake in preheated 400-degree oven, uncovered, for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Turn chicken occasionally and add more Pepsi if sauce gets too thick.
Arrange chicken pieces on serving platter. Garnish with sprigs of fresh parsley and serve. Makes 6 servings.
From Cook of the Week Cookbook (Jan. 1988), by the Independent newspaper, Humboldt, Iowa.
Per serving: 403 calories, 33 grams protein, 16 grams fat, 32 grams carbohydrates, 100 milligrams cholesterol, 1,058 milligrams sodium.
GRECIAN GREEN BEANS
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup chopped fresh
parsley
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves, crumbled
2 teaspoons prepared
mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Coca-Cola
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 (16-ounce) cans small
whole green beans, drained
2 shallots or small onions peeled, thinly sliced, separated into rings
In large non-reactive bowl, combine garlic, parsley, sugar, oregano, mustard, salt, Coca-Cola, oil and vinegar, stirring until sugar is disolved.
Add beans and shallots or onions. Toss lightly with a fork. Cover tightly and refrigerate for several hours or overnight, stirring occasionally to allow flavors to blend. Serve chilled. Makes 6 to 8 servings.
Recipe from International Cooking With Coca-Cola (Critt Graham and Associates, 1981), by The Coca-Cola Co.
Per serving: 109 calories, 2 grams protein, 7 grams fat, 11 grams carbohydrates, no cholesterol, 435 milligrams sodium.
COCA-COLA CHOCOLATE CAKE
Cake:
1 cup (sticks) butter or
margarine
1 cup Coca-Cola
3 tablespoons cocoa
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups tiny marshmallows
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
Frosting:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
6 tablespoons Coca-Cola
1 (1 pound) box confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup chopped nuts
To make Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with butter or margarine; set aside.
Place butter or margarine, Coca-Cola and cocoa in a saucepan; heat until boiling. Cool slightly and place in large bowl or large bowl of electric mixer.
Combine buttermilk, soda, vanilla and marshmallows in a small bowl; add to chocolate mixture and mix until blended.
Combine sugar and eggs; beat until smooth. Add flour and mix until blended. Add to chocolate mixture and mix until blended.
Pour into prepared pan. Bake 55 to 60 minutes.
To make Frosting: Place butter or margarine, cocoa and Coca-Cola in a saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in sugar; beat until blended. Stir in nuts.
Pierce hot cake with fork and let frosting run into holes. Allow to rest for at least 1 hour. Makes 10 to 12 servings.
Recipe from Texas on the Halfshell (Doubleday, 1982) by Phil Brittin and Joseph Daniel).
Per serving: 721 calories, 5 grams protein, 36 grams fat, 100 grams carbohydrates, 36 milligrams cholesterol, 531 milligrams sodium.
