Recipe Finder

Sharon Skarbek from Bend, Ore., was looking for recipe for making chicken stroganoff. She had misplaced a recipe she had for the dish which came from a package of frozen chicken breast from Trader Joe's. She said she called the market chain but was informed that they no longer had the recipe. Since I did not receive any reader responses to her query and because I know people are always interested in new and different ways to use chicken, I thought this one was worth investigating.

Della Creighbaum from Plymouth, Ind., was looking for a recipe for buttermilk pie. She said that this was her son's favorite pie when he was a little boy and she always made it for his birthday but she lost her recipe many years ago and would like to be able to make it for him again. Lynn Master from Timonium saw Creighbaum's request and sent in a recipe for the pie that comes from her grandparents, Vara and Carl Kelly , of Lillinton, N.C. She writes that both her grandparents were wonderful cooks and bakers and that her grandfather, who was pharmacist, after he retired liked to spend time in the kitchen "measuring and creating edible 'medicines' for us to enjoy.

Tricia Grannell from Timonium was looking for a recipe for the mocha cheesecake she enjoyed some years ago at Maria's 300 restaurant in Little Italy. The restaurant is no longer open and unfortunately I did not have any luck locating the exact recipe. However, I did receive an excellent recipe from Monica Sugarman of Ellicott City. She said that she makes this cheesecake in her food processor, which gives it a smooth and silky texture, and is fast and easy. Sugarman strongly suggests that "you don't cheap on the chocolate" in this recipe.

Debbie Housden from Baltimore was looking for a recipe for an apple crisp that she said was published in the Sunpapers at least 10 years ago. She said the crisp was made with apple pie filling instead of apples and used corn flakes in the topping. Diane Crupi from Bend, Ore., sent in a photocopy of a recipe for an apple crisp that almost certainly is the one that Housden was in search of. Unfortunately, the clipping is not dated, nor does it she say where it was clipped from, but I can tell by the way it is formatted that it is an old Recipe Finder column.