More Lobster Soup, Please

Dear Tina: Last summer our family visited relatives in Denmark. We were served a delicious “hummersuppe,” or lobster soup, for which even the grandchildren requested seconds. I have searched in vain for a recipe to duplicate it. The color indicated a touch of tomato in the ingredients. Can you help? - Kay, Spokane

Dear Kay: I located a recipe for the soup I believe you’re requesting. There is indeed tomato paste included in the ingredients. This soup is rather thick in texture; if you like a thinner soup, use less flour. This soup also would be great over a bowl of pasta. Enjoy.

Lobster Bisque

Adapted from a recipe on the World Wide Web (members.aol.com/tfost123a/visitors/jobisque.html).

1 medium onion, chopped fine

1/2 cup butter

1/2 to 3/4 cup flour

2 cups chicken broth

3/4 cup dry sherry

3/4 pound lobster meat

3 cups half-and-half

2 tablespoons tomato paste

Salt and pepper to taste

Saute onion in butter until onions are translucent. Stir in flour until mixture is smooth. Add chicken broth and sherry and cook until thickened. Add lobster and cook for 20 minutes.

Blend in half-and-half and tomato paste and cook 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Yield: 6 servings.

Nutrition information per serving: 506 calories, 40 grams fat (71 percent fat calories), 17 grams protein, 17 grams carbohydrate, 160 milligrams cholesterol, 1 gram dietary fiber, 799 milligrams sodium.

Dear Tina: Would you have a recipe for mincemeat made with venison? A buddy of mine was cleaning out his freezer and asked if I wanted some venison, and I thought I’d try my luck at some mincemeat. I used to make it when I was a kid, usually with elk. I appreciate your efforts. - Zane, Spokane

Dear Zane: I found this recipe for venison mincemeat in “Wild About Game” by Janie Hibler, a Portland, Ore., cookbook author (Broadway Books, 1998). She suggests serving warm mincemeat over frozen vanilla yogurt for a simple yet special dessert. For mincemeat pie, Hibler uses 2-1/2 cups of mincemeat in a 9-inch, double-crust pie, brushing the top crust with 2 tablespoons heavy cream.

Homemade Mincemeat

1/4 cup unsalted butter

2 pounds venison scraps or beef round steak, finely chopped

10 Golden Delicious apples (about 5 pounds), peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped

2 pounds raisins

2 cups brown sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1-1/2 teaspoons coarse salt

1/4 cup grated orange rind (optional)

Apple cider to cover, about 2-1/2 quarts

1 cup apple brandy (optional)

Melt the butter in a 6-quart pot. Add the remaining ingredients, except the brandy, and cook slowly until the flavors meld, about 1 hour. Cool and add the brandy, if desired. Use at once or ladle the mixture into freezer containers, label, and freeze for up to 3 months.

Yield: 4 quarts, or 32 (1/2-cup) servings.

Nutrition information per serving: 235 calories, 2 grams fat (8 percent fat calories), 8 grams protein, 46 grams carbohydrate, 28 milligrams cholesterol, 3 grams dietary fiber, 149 milligrams sodium.

Dear Tina: I got a real nice bread machine for Christmas. It makes good bread, but the top of the loaf sinks down, and it doesn’t seem to be as light and flaky as it should be. Do you have any idea what I’m doing wrong? I make the bread from recipes and follow them closely. I’d appreciate any help you can give me. - Betty, Hayden, Idaho

Dear Betty: Sunken bread usually has too much moisture in it, according to “Electric Bread” (Innovative Cooking Enterprises, 1997) and “Fleischmann’s Yeast Bread Machine Favorites” (Specialty Brands, 1994). Make sure you’re using all the flour called for in a recipe, and try reducing the amount of liquid by a tablespoon or two if the problem persists.

Other causes of caved-in loaves could be using liquids hotter than 70 to 80 degrees; using less salt or more yeast than called for in a recipe, so the bread rises too much; or leaving the bread sitting in the machine after it’s done baking.

So, follow recipes carefully, try using a little less water (and make sure it’s not too hot) and take loaves out of the machine as soon as they’re done. You should get better results.