Cooks send a Spamalot of Spamilicious dishes

Now We’re Cooking

Spam bashing has been around as long I can remember, but the maker, Hormel, is smart enough to be a good sport.

The company's marketers know that Spam is culinary kitsch and they're more than OK with it: They celebrate it.

Visit the Web site, www.spam.com, and you'll find a Spam Fan Club, which offers a free e-newsletter and "fun" stuff such as quotes, screen savers and more.

It invites you to enjoy "that warm fuzzy feeling that comes from truly belonging. You are with friends now."

There's a museum, a "Spamalot" game, fairies flying about ...

Hormel must be laughing all the way to the bank. Spam sales were up more than 10 percent in March, April and May, attributed in part to consumers worried about the economy.

Spam, which consists of precooked chopped pork shoulder meat and ham, has been around since 1937. World War II troops knew it well, too well perhaps, which provided fodder for many jokes as well as making it a fixture in pop culture.

In 70-some years, almost 7 billion cans have been sold around the world. That's pretty impressive.

I look down on few foods, believing there's a good moment for almost everything. So, I've eaten and liked fried Spam, although I found the salt overpowering (there's a lower sodium version now).

But if Spam is habit-forming for you, my advice is to pay close attention to its fat, sodium and cholesterol numbers.

Isabelle Rooney of Summerville saw the recent story about Spam being on the rise again, and wondered if readers had recipes to share. Of course, they did.

"We used a lot of Spam in the '50s when I was growing up," wrote Juanita Bryant of James Island. "The first recipes are from that time. The second two are from my years as the mother of teenagers (Thursday Rolls, the day before grocery shopping and the cupboard was bare), and the last one I made up from a chicken recipe I make for parties."

Spam-B-Q

1 can Spam, sliced into 8 thin slices

1 tablespoon olive oil

Barbecue sauce (bottled or homemade; a recipe follows)

Fry slices in oil until crisp and golden. In the same pan simmer barbecue sauce until hot. Add the fried Spam slices and heat through.

(Good with baked beans and slaw.)

Barbecue Sauce

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup catsup

1/4 cup vinegar

1/2 tablespoons chili powder

1/2 to 1 tablespoon onion flakes

Spam and Eggs

1 can Spam, cut into 1/4-inch cubes

1/4 cup minced onion (optional)

1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil

6 eggs

1/4 cup milk

Salt and pepper to taste

Fry Spam and onions, if using, in olive oil until golden.

Beat eggs, milk and seasonings together until well mixed. Slowly pour the egg mixture in the pan with Spam, stirring until the eggs are soft scrambled.

Thursday Rolls

1 can Spam

3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese, or other cheese

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup chopped onion

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1 recipe for Bisquick rolled biscuits

Process or grate Spam. Add cheese, mayonnaise, onion and clove powder. Make Bisquick biscuits and roll into an 8x12-inch rectangle. Spread the Spam mixture on the dough and roll up like a jellyroll.

Cut in slices (about 8-10), lay cut seam down on baking sheet. Bake in preheated 400-degree oven for 15 minutes.

Curried Meat Balls

1 can Spam, cut in cubes

3 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

1/4 to 3/4 cup raisins

2 to 3 green onions, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 teaspoon curry powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves (optional)

1 cup flaked (unsweetened) coconut

Process Spam in food processor until chunky; set aside. Without washing processor combine the cream cheese, raisins, green onion and spices until well mixed. Combine the Span and cream cheese mixtures. Form into 3/4-inch balls.

Refrigerate until balls hold their shape. Spread coconut out on plate and roll the balls until well covered. Keep in refrigerator until serving time.

Brenda Gilliland of Ravenel writes, "When I was a kid, my mom used to fix this quite often. It actually tastes pretty good. It's very simple and quick."

Spam Cutlets

1 can of Spam, sliced

Beaten egg

Cracker crumbs

Dip each Spam slice in beaten egg. Dredge the slices in cracker crumbs. Pan fry in small amount of oil, turning to brown both sides.

Spam has gone gourmet, too. Look at all the recipes on the Web site and you'll see. Here's the grand prize winner from Spam's 2007 national recipe contest:

Spamilicious Corn Chowder Pot Pies

Serves 4

1 (12-ounce) can Spam with Bacon or Spam Classic, finely diced

1 medium onion, diced

1/2 cup melted butter, divided

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup chicken broth

1 cup half-and-half

1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/4 teaspoon chicken bouillon

1 cup frozen corn, slightly thawed

1/2 (16-ounce) package frozen phyllo dough (one 8-ounce roll), thawed (refrigerate until ready to use)

In large skillet, over medium heat, saute Spam and onion in 1/4 cup butter until the onion is softened and the Spam is lightly browned. Reduce heat to low and add the flour; cook and stir for 1 minute. Stir in the chicken broth and increase the heat to medium. Continue stirring as broth thickens. Add the half-and-half, paprika, bouillon and corn. Cook and stir for an additional 1-2 minutes or until sauce thickens. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly.

Remove phyllo dough from the refrigerator. Working quickly, separate two sheets of dough and crisscross the sheets over 4 individual (4-inch) glass custard cups or springform pans. Gently press dough into pans (allowing the excess dough to hang over the edge). Brush the bottom of the dough with melted butter. Repeat this process two more times with phyllo dough and butter.

Pour prepared filling into the pans. Press excess dough over filling, brushing pastry with butter after each fold. Brush the top of each pastry with butter. Place custard cups or springform pans onto a baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes or until the tops of each pie are golden brown.

Remove pot pies from oven and let stand for 5 minutes before serving. Carefully remove pies from pans and enjoy.

Also on the site was the winning Spam recipe at the 2006 South Carolina State Fair, attributed to Joy Trojahn.

Southwestern Spam Soup

8-10 servings

1 can of Hickory Smoke Spam, cubed

5 cups water

1 (24-ounce) jar of mild or medium salsa

1 (28-ounce) can diced tomato

2 cups frozen corn

1 (15.5-ounce) can black beans, drained

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon chili powder

Salt and pepper to taste

For topping:

Finely grated Mexican cheese blend

Tortilla chips

Brown cubed Spam in oil in the bottom of large soup pot. Add water and stir well. Add next 6 ingredients. Bring to boil and simmer for 30 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Top hot soup with grated cheese and tortilla chips.

Three times good

Merick Murdaugh of Walterboro inquired about a three-milk cake. I heard from Judy Reinhard, former proprietor of the kitchen store fred on King Street.

"I have a ripping-out-of-recipes obsession. Magazines and newspapers, both. As I was doing a sorting out of the recipes, I realized I had four recipes for Tres Leches Cake. I decided there must be a trend there.

"One was much too complicated, one was too simple (9x13 pan, if you get my drift), and one seemed just right. I tried the enclosed to rave reviews. It is really quite lovely."

Tres Leches Cake

Serves 10

6 egg whites

3/4 cup sugar, divided

6 egg yolks

1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted

1 can (14-ounce) sweetened condensed milk

1 can (12-ounce) evaporated milk

2 1/2 cups heavy cream, divided

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla, divided

2 tablespoon confectioners' sugar

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 9-inch springform pan.

In medium bowl, beat egg whites with half the sugar until stiff peaks form.

In a large bowl, beat together remaining sugar and egg yolks until thick and pale yellow in color.

Alternately fold egg whites and flour into egg yolks. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake in heated oven for 28-32 minutes, or until a pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cake sit in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes.

In medium bowl, combine condensed milk, evaporated milk, 1 cup heavy cream and 1 teaspoon vanilla.

With wooden skewer, poke holes in top of cake 1 inch apart. Pour milk mixture over top of cake.

Let sit for 30 minutes for cake to absorb the milk. Remove cake from pan. Cool completely before frosting.

In medium bowl, beat together remaining heavy cream, remaining 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and confectioner's sugar until stiff peaks form.

Spread over top and sides of cake. Refrigerate 1 hour before serving.

— Adapted from In Style Magazine.

Fish catch

Tarsha Alexander of Charleston was a regular customer of the former Eastside Bakery & Cafe in Mount Pleasant and asked if we could track down the recipe for its grilled dill tuna sandwich.

Well, a surprise e-mail soon arrived. I say surprise because it's usually hard to get recipes from closed restaurants.

"I am the former owner of Eastside Bakery & Cafe, and I remember Tarsha ... I would be happy to share the recipe for the dill tuna salad.

"Unfortunately, the tuna salad is not what made the sandwich special. It was the signature dill Parmesan bread on which we served it that made the sandwich stand out.

"The tuna salad was your basic canned tuna, very well-drained, Duke's mayo (only Duke's), chopped red onion, celery, pickle relish and dry dill weed — not too much or it will become bitter. I don't really rely on specific recipes, so this is all by eye or by taste. A good estimate for the dill weed would be 1 to 2 teaspoons for 2 cans of tuna.

"The dill Parmesan bread was my own personal creation, and I have never seen anything like it anywhere else.

"Tarsha could try to use a cheese bread, and add more dill to her tuna, or maybe a Parmesan dill mayo on some plain bread. Don't forget the fresh ripe tomatoes and Swiss cheese to finish the sandwich.

"For the tuna melt, grill with minimal oil, or pan spray, open face and bake several minutes to get it hot all the way through. We were always particular about that at Eastside.

"These days I have two little girls and a husband to cook for, but if I ever open another place, I will be sure to look for Miss Tarsha."

— Susan Huchet Burkhardt

Who's got the recipe

--Carole Brier of Summerville writes, "Our backyard fig tree is going to be loaded with ripe figs soon. I'm looking for quick, easy recipes to make use of the crop."

--A colleague would like recipes for hush puppies.

--A Summerville woman wonders if anyone has had luck cooking boiled peanuts in a slow cooker.

If you have a recipe request or one to share, reach Food Editor Teresa Taylor at 937-4886, food@postandcourier.com or write The Post and Courier, 134 Columbus St., Charleston, SC 29403.