COOK'S CORNER\Bake-Off recipe a winner for you?

Byline: Natalie Haughton

I'm taking an informal poll of readers' thoughts and comments about this year's $1 million winning Pillsbury Bake-Off Macadamia Fudge Torte recipe. Have you baked it or eaten it at a friend's house? Do you like the taste? Why or why not? What about the preparation - did you find it easy-to-make or worth the preparation time involved?

Please jot me a note at the address below or leave a phone message at [phone]. Please include your comments, name and telephone number. We'll report in an upcoming column.

For the reader looking for Italian beef sandwiches made with red gravy (a tomato-based sauce) that she remembered from her childhood days in Chicago, two readers sent along recipes. Kathie Davis, who recently relocated to Los Angeles after living 16 years in Chicago, said the sandwiches can be found at fast-food stands and at Connie's restaurant in the windy city. "I, too, am going through withdrawal for real Italian beef," she wrote. A friend in Chicago mailed her the two recipes that she shares below. Although they don't contain tomato, they might satisfy the reader's craving.

Elaine McGovern of Moorpark shares a recipe with tomato sauce for the style of beef sandwiches she grew up on in the North Side of Chicago.

Enjoy!

CHRIS STONE'S ITALIAN BEEF (Shared by Kathie Davis, Burbank)

MEAT:

5 pounds eye of round beef roast

1 teaspoon oregano 

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

1 bay leaf

2 teaspoons caraway seeds

2 onions, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

Black pepper to taste

SAUCE:

2 cups water

1/2 cup red wine

1/2 cup pickling juice form a jar of pepperoncini peppers

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

3 beef bouillon cubes

Season roast with all remaining meat ingredients.

Roast in preheated 350-degree oven 2 1/2 to 3 hours, until internal temperature reaches 140 degrees F for rare, turning every half hour. Cool completely. Then thinly slice.

For sauce, add all sauce ingredients to pan drippings. Simmer over medium heat on top of stove 30 minutes. Add beef. Cook over low heat until warm. Makes 20 servings.

CLASSIC ITALIAN BEEF (Shared by Kathie Davis, Burbank)

1 (4- to 6-pound) boneless beef rump OR sirloin tip roast

2 cups water

3 beef bouillon cubes

2 to 3 large cloves garlic, crushed OR minced

1/2 teaspoon EACH ground marjoram, oregano, thyme and basil

2 bay leaves

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 green bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 teaspoon celery flakes OR 1/2 teaspoon celery seeds

1 tablespoon dried parsley

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1/2 cup dry red wine

1 envelope (1.5 ounces) au jus gravy mix

1 can (12 ounces) beer

In preheated 325-degree oven, roast beef on a rack in an open roasting pan. Allow 25 to 30 minutes per pound or roast until a meat thermometer registers 140 degrees F. Roast must be rare.

Remove beef from pan, cool completely and slice very thinly.

While beef is cooling, combine all remaining ingredients in a saucepan. Simmer 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. (Add water if needed to make sure you have enough liquid to eventually cover beef.) Cool.

Cover beef with cooled sauce. Place, covered, in refrigerator to marinate at least 3 to 4 hours.

When ready to serve, bring to a simmer to heat through, but do not boil. Serve on French or Italian rolls with pepperoncini or roasted bell peppers. Each pound of beef will make about 4 generous sandwiches.

ITALIAN BEEF SANDWICHES CHICAGO STYLE (Shared by Elaine McGovern, Moorpark)

1 (3-pound) boneless beef rump roast

1 cup water

1 can (15 ouncess) tomato sauce

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons instant beef bouillon granules 

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

3 medium green OR red bell peppers, cut in strips

8 crusty hoagie rolls, split

Place roast, fat side up, on a rack in a roasting pan. Insert a meat thermometer.

In preheated 325-degree oven, roast uncovered about 1 1/2 hours or until thermometer registers 145 degrees F for medium rare. Transfer roast to a platter. Cool 30 minutes. Cover and chill.

When ready to serve, in a 3-quart saucepan combine water, tomato sauce, garlic, bouillon granules, oregano, crushed red pepper and black pepper. Bring sauce mixture to a boil; reduce heat to low.

Meanwhile, using a very sharp knife, thinly slice chilled roast across grain. Add sliced meat and green pepper strips to sauce mixture. Simmer 5 to 10 minutes or until peppers are tender. Remove from heat. Let stand 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

To serve, spoon beef, peppers and some sauce onto each roll. Makes 8 sandwiches.

Beef Cook-off recipe

Michelle Gifford of Simi Valley made and enjoyed last year's winning National Beef Cook-off recipe, but has misplaced it. Here's a replacement copy of the easily prepared, tasty dish. If you missed it, clip and save it. Gifford has tried the recipe with pork, and I've used it with other cuts of beefsteaks, including T-bone and sirloin. You can even grill the herbed steaks, then sprinkle with a little olive oil, lemon juice, feta cheese and olives (I like to use more olives than called for in the recipe).

GRECIAN SKILLET RIB EYES ($25,000 grand-prize winner - Fran Yuhas, Scotrun, Pa.)

SEASONING:

1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves, crushed

1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves, crushed

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

STEAK:

2 well-trimmed beef rib eye steaks, cut 1-inch thick (about 1 pound)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese

1 tablespoon chopped, pitted kalamata OR ripe olives

Combine all seasoning i ngredients; press into both sides of beefsteaks.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium heat until hot. Place steaks in skillet; cook about 10 to 14 minutes for medium rare to medium doneness, turning once. Sprinkle with lemon juice.

To serve, sprinkle cheese and olives over steaks; garnish as desired. Makes 2 to 4 servings.

Homemade pectin 

Ann Okerlund of Littlerock requested a pectin recipe using Knox gelatin that she thought ran in July 1994. We were unable to locate that recipe, but here's a Homemade Pectin recipe that appeared a year earlier. It's from "Preserving the Taste" by Edon Waycott.

If any reader has a recipe using the Knox product, please send it along to share in a future column.

HOMEMADE PECTIN

Tart, slightly underripe green apples are the best choice for making your own pectin. They have a very high concentration of pectin, are easily available and inexpensive and don't carry a strong flavor of their own. With homemade pectin, you need to add no more sugar than necessary to bring the fruit to the point of sweetness, unlike commercial pectin products, which rely on a formula of more sugar than fruit to jell. Adding homemade pectin stock to fruits that are lacking in natural pectin will not interfere with the flavor of the original fruit; it will help bring the fruit mixture to a soft-set without excessive cooking.

A liquid commercial pectin is not interchangeable with homemade pectin.

Underripe Granny Smiths, pippins OR green apples, rinsed and cut into eighths (do not core or peel)

2 cups water for each pound of apples

Place apples and water in a large stockpot or soup kettle, cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes or until apples are tender. Remove from heat and cool slightly.

Pour pulp and juice through a jelly bag or line a large bowl with dampened cheesecloth, pour pulp and juice through, gather corners of cheesecloth and tie in a knot. Suspend from a cabinet knob or handle and allow to dri p into a bowl overnight.

The next day, measure apple juice and pour into a large pot.

Bring to a boil over high heat and cook until reduced by half. Refrigerate and use within 4 days or pour into containers and freeze up to 6 months.

An easy way to determine reduction is to measure the depth of the liquid in the pan with a plastic ruler before boiling. Re-measure as liquid reduces. No need to pour into measuring cup.

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.

Does anyone have a recipe for Beef Barley Soup similar to the one served at the Black Angus restaurant? My mother loves it.

- K. Clark

Van Nuys

I recently acquired an appleskiver pan, but it came with no instructions or recipes. Does anyone have a recipe?

- V. Bode

Tujunga