Down-Home Ham and Limas

DEAR SOS: Hollander Cafeteria in Downey serves a wonderful ham and limas dish just the way my Southern grandmother used to make. I would love the recipe.

--JOHN

DEAR JOHN: This is a great time of year for limas and ham.

HOLLANDER CAFETERIA HAM AND LIMAS

1 pound dry lima beans (about 2 1/2 cups)

2 quarts water

1 tablespoon minced onion

2 1/4 cups diced ham (about 3/4 pound)

Salt

White pepper

Pick through lima beans to remove rocks and dirt. Rinse beans in cold water and drain.

Cover beans with water. Add onion and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until beans are tender, about 2 hours, adding more water if necessary to keep moist. Stir in ham and salt and pepper to taste.

Note: Beans may be soaked overnight to shorten cooking time, but they will break apart and not be as attractive as non-soaked beans.

Makes 6 servings.

Each serving contains about:

166 calories; 770 mg sodium; 30 mg cholesterol; 5 grams fat; 15 grams carbohydrates; 15 grams protein; 1.24 grams fiber.

AWOL Cookie Returns DEAR SOS: This may be the molasses cookie recipe Sara is looking for. It is delicious.

--MARGE

DEAR MARGE: How nice of you to send us our long-missing recipe. It came originally from a My Best Recipe column contributor, Mrs. Jerry Suszczynski of Glendora.

MRS. SUSZCZYNSKI’S MOLASSES COOKIES

3/4 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup molasses

1 egg

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Melt shortening. Stir in sugar and molasses. Add egg, beating very well. Add baking soda, flour, cloves, ginger and cinnamon. Mix until well blended. Chill dough few minutes. Shape dough into size of small walnuts and roll in sugar. Place on greased baking sheet about 2 inches apart.

Bake at 375 degrees 10 to 12 minutes. Cool 2 minutes before removing from baking sheet. Place cookies on rack to finish cooling.

Makes about 3 dozen.

Each cookie contains about:

90 calories; 3 mg sodium; 6 mg cholesterol; 4 grams fat; 12 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram protein; 0.02 gram fiber.

One-Pot Spaghetti DEAR SOS: A long time ago, you printed a recipe for Mexican-style spaghetti in which the spaghetti cooked in the sauce.

--JOANNE

DEAR JOANNE: We have the recipe for a basic skillet spaghetti using tomato sauce. But you can doctor it up to taste Mexican by using enchilada sauce instead.

SKILLET SPAGHETTI

1 pound ground beef

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 tablespoons oil

1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce or enchilada sauce

3 cups hot water

7 ounces spaghetti

1 (1 1/2-ounce) envelope spaghetti seasoning mix or chili mix

Brown beef and onion in oil, stirring now and then. Add tomato sauce, water, uncooked spaghetti and seasoning mix. Cover and simmer until spaghetti is tender, about 30 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Each of 8 servings contains about:

269 calories; 507 mg sodium; 32 mg cholesterol; 13 grams fat; 26 grams carbohydrates; 12 grams protein; 1.51 grams fiber.

A Barbecue That Isn’t DEAR SOS: Sometime ago you published a recipe called Jonah’s Barbecue Shrimp. As I recall it was from a restaurant and had nothing to do with barbecue in the usual sense. Any chance of locating the recipe?

--ANN

DEAR ANN: The recipe goes back to 1978. And you’re correct: It is more of a saute than barbecue. But the marinated shrimp can be grilled on a barbecue and the vegetables cooked separately, as directed.

JONAH’S BARBECUE SHRIMP

1 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon seasoned salt, or to taste

1 tablespoon paprika

1 teaspoon garlic powder

20 shrimp, peeled, deveined and halved lengthwise

2 tablespoons chopped shallots

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper

1/4 cup chopped green onions

1/4 cup diced red bell pepper

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Combine olive oil, seasoned salt, paprika and garlic powder. Add shrimp and marinate in refrigerator about 24 hours.

Saute in about 2 tablespoons marinade until shrimp turns bright pink, about 7 minutes. Add shallots, garlic, green bell pepper, green onions, red bell pepper and parsley. Cook and stir until vegetables are tender.

Makes about 6 servings.

Nutritional data not available.