A Mystery Solved, Another Posed

A quick reminder: if you're asking about a recipe you saw on-air, please don't forget to include the station and/or Web site in your e-mail. If you're asking about a Mr. Food recipe, it can most likely be found at www.mrfood.com.

Well! Here I was, happy and content that I was a true ascended Google master, and a passel of you come along and show me that, in Heinlein's parlance, I am "only an egg."

Response to my request last week for help in tracking down Bob Monaco's childhood favorite, remembered as something akin to "Charolette Rouse," was nothing less than staggering. I've received well over 300 e-mails, from terse "You idiot, you call yourself a foodie and you don't know this?" missives to pages-long explanations of not only the recipe and variations, but the history and origins of the treat. Believe me when I tell you it was no small chore to go through them all (and I DID read every word!) and select one soul out of the multitude deserving of a bottle of the finest barbecue sauce this side of heaven, Zy-Sauce.

At long last, after much deliberation, I decided that for organization, timeliness, depth of information and overall readability, the lengthy submission from Colleen King took the prize. Congratulations, Colleen!

The basic problem, it turns out, was that the dish is actually called "Charlotte Russe," (with some spelling variations here and there). Once one uses the proper spelling, Google or any good search engine will fairly explode with references.

Essentially, a Charlotte Russe is a cakelike confection using ladyfingers for a base and sides and filled with a pastry cream frequently using vanilla and sherry for flavoring. Various fruit sauces, such as raspberry, are common, and there are variations, such as Apple Charlotte, which go abroad into fruit themes.

I received at least 50 different recipes for the dish, from dead simple to Paul Bocuse-complex, and have not yet had time to thoroughly examine and test them. Once I have, I'll give you all an "official" version of the Charlotte Russe recipe.

One thing that struck me was the similarity in concept between the Charlotte and that most trendy of Italian restaurant desserts, the tiramisu. The English trifle is also in the same ballpark. Can you find some others that relate?

And now, on to this week's queries!

Q: What is the best way to cook filet mignon to ensure that it is done enough for some and rare enough for others? It seems like you have to burn the outside to get it right. --Patty

A: For greatest enjoyment, the most you should EVER cook a filet is to medium. Beyond that, you may as well be cooking round steak or cheap sirloin. However, as I'm not about to tell anyone their food preferences are unacceptable given some of the things I find appetizing, I'll tell you the secret is heat control. You want high heat for the initial cooking, to the medium/medium rare range. This will cause that marvel of protein cookery known as the Maillard reaction to take place, causing that lovely brown crust coveted by steak lovers everywhere.

My favorite method is one similar to Alton Brown's "Pan-Seared Ribeye" recipe. You can find it right here. My only variation from that is that I will often rub the steaks down with cut garlic or crushed basil and oregano.

That will get you to medium. To get the steak to well done without turning it into a hockey puck, give it 5 minutes in a 300-degree oven, or equivalent time in a stovetop skillet set on medium.

Q: Is there any way you can freeze potatoes at home, like for making home fries, etc.? --D.J.

It's easy to make frozen french fries at home! Cut baking potatoes into your favorite fry size (3/8 inch is a good average size) and put them in a sink of cold water for 10 minutes to remove some of the starch.

Run the fries through your salad spinner to dry, then par-cook them in 350° F. oil for four minutes. Drain on a rack until room temperature, then package in airtight freezer bags and store for up to 3 months.

To prepare them from the freezer, drop them unthawed into 360-375° F. oil and cook until golden brown. A 475° F oven may also be used, and you can season them as they cook by that method.

Q: I am trying to find out what kind of stir fry oil the Chinese restaurants are using. It has a distinctive aroma that I do not find in the Wesson oils in the neighborhood grocery stores, or any other brand of cooking oils on the shelves. --Walter

A: The aroma you're referring to is sesame oil, I believe. However, it is not normally used alone for stir frying. Sesame oil cannot stand up to the extreme heat of stir frying by itself. Peanut or canola oils are best to handle the main heat, with sesame used more as a seasoning, added during the cooking process. It also makes great salad dressings.

Look for dark sesame oil. The light oil has very little of the wonderful nutty aroma and taste found in the darker versions. Avoid blended versions also.

Q: Which of the salts, sea crystals, ground sea salt, kosher or table salt is the best? Should you use a particular salt on certain dishes or meats? --Carol Brown

A: Salt is one of the simplest condiments, but one of the most misunderstood. Take sea salt, for example. It's commonly sold for prices that would make a jeweler blush, but according to Robert Wolke, author of "What Einstein Told His Cook," the common "white" sea salt is 99 percent pure sodium chloride. Claims of exotic mineral compositions are exaggeration, at best. Now, there are "boutique" sea salts, which come in a rainbow of colors and do have a variety of subtle flavors. You'll pay upwards of $33 a pound for them. Enjoy.

If you do truly desire that salty "burst" you get from the large-crystal sea salt, look for fleur de sel, most often harvested in France. Handle it carefully, and use it only for sprinkling on dishes immediately before serving.

For most recipes calling for sea salt, I use kosher salt. This is ultra-pure salt that comes in a flake form which makes it ideal for sprinkling on meat. The flakes don't break down as quickly as the granules of table salt, so crust formation is aided immeasurably. The only place kosher salt is not good, really, is in cold applications, since the flakes need some heat to dissolve properly.

Table salt, often containing iodine, is the most widely used form of salt in the United States. I use it only on the table or for cold applications, though, as it usually comes with additives to prevent clumping . Iodized salt can also produce a bitter flavor in baked goods.

This Week's Quest!

OK, sleuths! This week, Kevin Sexton is searching for a product consumed in his youth called Potomac Soda. According to him, it existed in and around St. Louis in the mid-'60s. If you know anything about it, or if it is still available anywhere, let me know!

Got a question for Ask The Cook? Send it in and we'll get to work! Remember to include your station and city if you're asking about an on-air cooking segment.