Travellers in the house

Everyday Kitchen -

In spite of the miserable economy and the ridiculous price of gas, we've got a province full of visitors all craving a taste of home.

If you're fussing over family or friends this week, what are you feeding them? My money is on whatever brings back shared childhood memories, but if you're struggling a little with striking exactly the right culinary note, maybe I can tune up your table a little bit.

Pan fried cod tongues with scruncheons

If you consider yourself an accomplished cook, then by all means skip this recipe, but according to the number of nasty-tasting cod tongues I've been offered, some people need reminding.

I've heard visitors say these gorgeous little morsels must be an acquired taste, that we had to have grown up eating them to appreciate their alternatively meaty and gelatinous textures. Not true. I've eaten many kinds of fish in many places, and we have nothing to apologize for in this modest but delicious recipe. If you feel the need to experiment be my guest - I left my desire for variety in a pan of roasted breaded tongues that only served to waste my time and money. I'm sticking with the method my mother taught me when I was about 12.

6 large rashers of salt pork, cut into small cubes

2 lbs. fresh or thawed cod tongues, the biggest ones you can find

1/2 cup flour, seasoned with 1/2 tsp. each salt and pepper

1/4 cup vegetable oil

handful chopped fresh Italian parsley (OK, I added this.)

Prepare the scruncheons first. Fry them over medium heat in a heavy pan until they are crisp. Set aside, draining on a paper towel. Reserve 2 tbsp. of the fat. Dry the tongues thoroughly with paper towels. Dredge in seasoned flour and set aside for a few minutes on a metal rack. Heat vegetable oil along with reserved pork fat in a large, non-stick frying pan over medium-high until the surface shimmers and you start seeing tiny wisps of smoke. Fry the tongues in at least four batches - any more in the pan and the temperature will drop too quickly and you will end up with soggy tongues.

Once you lay them in the pan, leave them alone until they are fully browned on one side - about 4 minutes. Flip them over once and cook until equally browned on the other side. Drain them on paper towels and serve with lemon wedges and tartar sauce on the side and the reserved scruncheons and parsley on top.

I know some of you are crying because I'm suggesting you throw out the remaining pork fat, so by all means pour it over your tongues, but I think too much overpowers the delicate taste of the fish.

Baked trout with herb stuffing

Of course you're taking your company trouting while they're here. It's a bit more effort to clean fish than to buy them at the grocery store, but they're all the sweeter for having done your own dirty work.

My father taught me to gut a trout when I was no older than 10, and he was a firm believer in simple preparation to preserve the true flavour of a fine little fish. I concur, and the method in the first recipe for tongues will work perfectly, but I do relish the complementary flavour of thyme.

I don't mind my fish peeking at me from the plate, but take off the heads, tails and fins if you like.

1 stalk celery, finely chopped

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 cup fresh chopped mushrooms

1 tsp. dried savory

2 tbsp. butter or margarine

1/2 tsp. each salt and pepper

2 tsp. fresh thyme leaves

1 cup dry breadcrumbs

4 pan-sized fresh trout, about 1/2 lb. each, cleaned and dried

Fry celery, onion, mushrooms, and savory in butter until mushrooms release their liquid and it evaporates. Brown vegetables slightly then add salt, pepper, thyme and breadcrumbs. Stuff the trout, securing with toothpicks or kitchen twine.

Place in a single layer in a greased baking dish. Bake at 350 F for 25 minutes or until fish flakes easily from the backbone.

Summer rhubarb-orange shortcake

Newfoundland gardeners are always looking for a delicious rhubarb recipe, and here it is.

This is an easy dessert, great for snacking, but particularly good served lukewarm with lightly sweetened cream. Fans will appreciate the showcase for rhubarb's tart and tasty character, so choose your most colourful stalks. Lightness counts in this biscuit topping so don't skip the sifting.

Rhubarb-Orange Base:

2 cups rhubarb chopped in a 1/2-inch dice

1/3 cup each white and firmly packed brown sugar

1 tbsp. flour

grated rind from 1 large orange

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg, freshly ground if possible

pinch salt

Dough:

1 cup flour

2 tsp. baking powder

2 tbsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 cup vegetable shortening

1 egg

3 tbsp. milk

Glaze:

3 tbsp. orange juice

4 tsp. sugar

Arrange rhubarb in a single layer in a well greased nine-inch cake pan, round or square, as you prefer.

Combine white and brown sugar with flour, orange rind, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt and sprinkle evenly over rhubarb. For the dough, sift together flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt; sift again. With a pastry cutter or working lightly with your fingertips, work in the shortening to create a mealy mixture.

Whisk together egg and milk and stir quickly and lightly into dry ingredients-a fork works well.

Drop by spoonfuls all over rhubarb. Bake at 350 F for 20 minutes.

Whisk together orange juice and sugar and pour over partially baked cake; return to oven and bake 15 to 20 minutes longer, until top is golden and base is bubbling hot.

Cynthia Stone is a writer, editor and teacher in St. John's. Questions may be sent to her c/o The Telegram, P.O. Box 5970, St. John's, NL, A1C 5X7.