John Wayne rides again. Last week's request for a green chile and cheese casserole, which Edith Witherspoon recalled as "Duke's Favorite," turns out to be a reputed culinary indulgence of the macho movie idol.
Dozens of readers dug into their files and sent us the recipe, which, as Doreen Malin of Ross writes, "is really delicious, but you have to think twice about whether you want to eat all that cheese!" She reports that in the '70s, she got a photocopy of the recipe, which was apparently widely circulated and appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
Carole Levenson of Oakland also attributes the recipe to John Wayne trivia, adding "the recipe was supposed to be from a chef on a location catering truck."
Margaret Elliott of Alamo lived in Southern California at the time and says the dish "was described as a favorite of the Duke, John Wayne, who lived in Corona del Mar at the time. Was it his favorite? Who knows? It is a favorite in our family."
So off we ride into the cholesterol sunset.
A brown sugar cookie with a chocolate center was the treat from the past Mary Jane Swenson wanted to recreate for her children. A Peninsula reader left a phone message saying that Gerry Stagi, the son of the people who baked this at the Pink Pastry Shoppe in Menlo Park, now operates Gerry's Cakes on Chestnut Street in Menlo Park. Maybe he could lead our reader to the not-forgotten lost cookie.
New Requests: Gail Reilly of Berkeley says that for more than 30 years, she has been buying a blueberry dessert on the main drag in Carmel. The bakery was still there when she visited recently; the blueberry goodie -- she describes it as similar to lemon bars, except made with blueberries -- was not. She asks if anyone might have a similar recipe.
Cheryl Zelaya wonders if anybody has a recipe similar to Yank Sing restaurant's dressing for its Chinese chicken salad, which she describes as tangy and lemony.
We usually abbreviate reader requests, but this one, from Dave Enas in Richmond, is so eloquently evocative of treats past, we felt moved to print most of it. He writes: "Many years ago there was an eating place in Berkeley on Shattuck and Kittredge called Edy's. Diners would sit in dark wooden booths and eat salads and sandwiches and enjoy a fine milkshake, float, soft drink or coffee. But the ultimate, the main attraction, the headliner, was their hot fudge sundae.
