COOK'S CORNER FLUFFING UP YOUR MERINGUE RECIPES.

Byline: Natalie Haughton Food Editor

Following are a few different meringue cookie recipes in answer to a request from Mary Amos. Joan Strieter shared her mother's recipe (it's excellent, she says), noting that ``you must start with a clean bowl and beaters.''

A version of the cookie sent along by Francesca Blagdon contains mint- flavored chocolate chips but other chip flavors are also an option. If you can't find mint chocolate chips, which in recent years have mostly been found in markets during the holiday season, add a few drops of mint (such as peppermint) flavoring to the egg white mixture along with semisweet chocolate chips.

Sylvia Cohen shared a variation on the theme from a Sephardic cookbook that referred to them as Ashuplados, meringue puffs traditional for bridal festivities.

Ruth Nebron came through with a duo of choices - Meringue Kisses from ``The Fannie Farmer Cookbook,'' along with one of her favorite recipes for Cocoa Kisses that are low in fat.

Now head to the kitchen and give some of these a try.

MERINGUE COOKIES

(Shared by Joan G. Strieter, Mission Hills)

1/2 cup egg whites (4 large)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vinegar

1 1/4 cups sugar

With an electric mixer, beat egg whites until frothy. Add salt and vinegar. Continue beating until stiff. Add sugar gradually, 2 tablespoons at a time, beating well after each addition. Continue beating until very stiff and glossy.

Drop by teaspoonfuls on parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. Bake in preheated 275-degree oven about 45 minutes. Carefully remove from paper. Cool.

NOTE: You can make meringue shells for fruit fillings by spooning or piping mounds of egg white mixture on parchment paper and making a large depression in centers with the back of a large spoon.

MINT MERINGUES

(Shared by Francesca Blagdon, North Hills)

2 egg whites

Pinch salt

Pinch cream of tartar 

2/3 cup sugar

Food coloring (optional)

Chocolate mint, semisweet chocolate OR butterscotch chips

With an electric mixer, beat together egg whites, salt and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, beating until until stiff and glossy. Add a few drops of food coloring (red or green for holidays; yellow or green for Easter, etc.) Fold in chips.

Drop by teaspoonfuls on a greased cookie sheet. Place in a preheated 350-degree oven. Close oven door and turn off heat. Don't open oven door for at least 6 hours (or leave in oven overnight). Makes 4 dozen.

MERINGUE PUFFS

(Shared by Sylvia Cohen, North Hollywood)

3 egg whites

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

With an electric mixer, beat egg whites until stiff. Gradually add sugar, beating until stiff peaks form. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Drop egg white mixture from teaspoon into peaked mounds 2 inches apart.

Bake in preheated 300-degree oven 20 minutes. Remove from oven and cool. Makes 50 puffs.

SUGGESTED VARIATIONS: Add nuts, flavorings or colorings, if desired.

From ``The Sephardic Cookbook.''

MERINGUE KISSES

(Shared by Ruth Nebron, Van Nuys)

2 egg whites

8 tablespoons sugar1 teaspoon vanilla

Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites until very stiff and dry. Using 6 tablespoons, beat in sugar, a tablespoon at a time. Continue beating until mixture holds its shape when you lift a spoonful. Stir in vanilla and fold in remaining 2 tablespoons sugar.

Using a pastry bag and tube or a spoon, pipe or shape into cookies on a cookie sheet lined with parchment (not wax) paper. Bake in preheated 250-degree oven 50 minutes. Remove from paper. If meringues stick, wipe back of paper with a damp cloth. Makes 18 small or 6 large meringues.

From ``The Fannie Farmer Cookbook,'' revised by Wilma Lord Perkins, 11th edition.

COCOA KISSES

(Shared by Ruth Nebron, Van Nuys)

3 egg whites

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar, sifted

2 teaspoons water

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder 

With an electric mixer, beat egg whites and salt until stiff but not dry. Add 1/2 cup sugar very slowly while continuing to beat.

Add water mixed with vanilla a little at a time, alternately with remaining 1/2 cup sugar, beating constantly.

Fold in cocoa. Drop from spoon onto a lightly greased cookie sheet and shape into a cone (a little mound with a peak).

Bake in preheated 250-degree oven about 50 to 60 minutes, until partly dry and cookies retain their shape. Remove from pan while hot. Cool on rack. Makes about 40 cookies.

Can you help

If you have recipes that can help these readers, please send them along to us at the address below to share in a future column.

I've lost a recipe for tuna tartare that appeared in the food section about a year ago. It was made with finely chopped uncooked raw tuna, sesame oil, cilantro and parsley and was presented in a mound. Does anyone have this recipe?

- John Cassidy 

North Hollywood

Does anyone have a recipe for cucumber dip/salad dressing like the one served at Stuart Anderson's Black Angus restaurant? It is fabulous and would make a nice summer salad.

- An anonymous reader