Salad Dressing, Reece Pie

DEAR SOS: I would love the recipe for the wonderful salad dressing from Minami Japanese restaurant in the Omni Los Angeles Hotel.

--BARBARA

DEAR BARBARA: We get numerous requests for the zesty dressing on a typical simple green salad that usually accompanies teppan (grill) meals. It’s a deceptively simple dressing with powerful flavor.

MINAMI SALAD DRESSING

3/4 cup oil

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 egg yolk

1 tablespoon salt or to taste

1 tablespoon black pepper

1 tablespoon ground mustard

2 tablespoons paprika

In bowl combine oil, vinegar, soy sauce, egg yolk, salt, pepper, mustard and paprika. Beat well until smooth and syrupy.

Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

Each 1-tablespoon serving contains about:

66 calories; 337 mg sodium; 11 mg cholesterol; 7 grams fat; 0 carbohydrates; 0 protein; 0.11 gram fiber.

*

DEAR SOS: I lost my precious recipe for truck stop Reece pie during a move from California and hope you can help me.

--JANE

DEAR JANE: Certainly. “Reece” refers to the pie’s flavor resemblance to Reese’s, the peanut butter-chocolate candy. P&H; Truck Stop, a true truck stop for truckers and travelers in Wells River, Vt., is famous for this pie. Numerous copycat versions still circulate.

TRUCK STOP REECE PIE

3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons powdered sugar

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 (9-inch) baked or graham cracker pie shell

1 (5 1/8-ounce) package chocolate pudding mix

3 cups milk

2 tablespoons cocoa

1/2 cup whipping cream, whipped

Chocolate sprinkles, optional

In bowl combine 3/4 cup powdered sugar and peanut butter, mixing well. Spread over bottom of pie shell, reserving 2 tablespoons for topping. If mixture is too stiff to spread, add small amount of warm water.

Prepare chocolate pudding according to package directions, using milk. Pour into pie crust over peanut butter layer. Chill in refrigerator.

Sift cocoa into whipped cream and swirl. Spread over cooled pie. Add remaining 3 tablespoons powdered sugar to reserved peanut butter topping and sprinkle over pie. Garnish with chocolate sprinkles.

Makes 6 servings.

Each serving contains about:

644 calories; 245 mg sodium; 37 mg cholesterol; 38 grams fat; 67 grams carbohydrates; 13 grams protein; 0.7 gram fiber.

* Tricolor silver leaf wooden bowl and Merry Morrison fused bowl from Studio Athena, L.A. Mart.