From hundreda of recipes submltted by Nortfa
Carolinians, five were selected to participóte in the N. C.
Chicken Cooking Contest Cook-Off faeid in Greanboro
recentiy at tfae Four B—■ Malí. Now it ia on to Ocean
City, Maryland tfae latter part ot July for Mrs Anne
Burnette of Rocky Mount to repreaent Nortfa Carolina at
the National Cooking Conteat.
Anne, with responaibilitiea aa a social worker and
feeding a husband and young son, won first place in tfae
contest with her Jade Tree Chicken recipe. Her prise was
a convection oven and an expense-paid trip to the
NaQonal Contest where she will compete for tfae top prixe
oí $10,000. As might be ezpected oí a proíesaional person
and a homemaker, the recipe was relatively easy to
prepare in a short length oí time while being colorful and
modest in cost.
Mrs. Ruth Bond, Burlington, placed second with Great
Bangkok Chicken. The runners-up were Mrs. Pat Dazis,
Charlotte, with her "Taco Cheese Chicken;" Mrs. Betty
Smith, Asheboro, with "Lemon Chicken Delight;" and
Mrs. Lee Yahnker, Goldsboro, with "Pizza Chicken."
The highly qualified panel oí judges deliberated seríously
and discussed each dish thoroughly before making a final
decisión. Judges are expected to take their duties
seríously, but the entríes were all so outstanding that it
was difficult to agree on only one winner.
The recipes were indicative of the vast variety oí ways
to serve chicken attractively with appealing flavors.
Recipes cali for broiler-fryers but methods of
prepara tion include far more than broiling or frying.
North Carolinian farmers produced 402 million head of
broilers in 1900 to rank fourth natlonally in production.
Angie Crone, N. C. Department of Agriculture Food
Publicist, N. C. Chicken Cooking Contest Chairman, tells
us that the contest is a salute to the great poultry
industry, but also it is a reminder that broilers are a good
buy, easily available, and versatile. The winning chicken
recipes will be important additions to other favoríte ones.
JADE TREE CHICKEN
3 half breasts of broiler-fryer chicken, boned, skinned,
cut in bite-size pieces
v« cup soy sauce, divided
V« cup cooking oil, divided
2 teaspoons cornstarch, divided
^ teaspoon garlic powder
V4 teaspoon sugar
v4 teaspoon salt
V« teaspoon ground red pepper
2 cups fresh broccoli flowerets
1 cup sliced celery
1 onion, cut in 8 wedges
2 tablespoons dry sherry
V4 cup cold water
In large bowl, make marinade by mixing together 2
tablespoons of the soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of the oil, 1
teaspoon of the cornstarch, garlic powder, sugar, salt,
and red pepper; stir. Add chicken, turning to coat Cover
and marínate in refrigerator 20 minutes. In frypan, place
remaining 3 tablespoons oil and heat to médium
temperature. Add broccoli, celery and onion; stir fry
about 6 minutes or until tender-crisp. Remove vegetables
and set asi de. In same frypan, place chicken and stir fry
about 5 minutes or unta opaque and fork can be inserted
in chicken with ease. Return vegetables to frypan. In
small bowl, mix together remaining 2 tablespoons soy
sauce, remaining 1 teaspoon cornstarch, sherry and
water. Pour over chicken and vegetables. Reduce heat
and simmer, uncovered, 3 minutes. Serve over hot
cooked rice. Makes 4 servings.
GREAT BANGKOK CHICKEN
2 whole broiler-fryer chicken breasts, halved, boned,
skinned, cut in *4-inch pieces
1 cup chicken broth
V« cup sherry
V« cup soy sauce
2 V2 tablespoons cornstarch
'á teaspoon salt
V« teaspoon sugar
4 tablespoons cooking oil, divided
1 V2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 can (8oz.) sliced water chestnuts, drained
y* cup chopped green pepper
8 ounces snow peas
M cud salted cashews
In shallow bowl, mix together chicken broth, sherry,
soy sauce, cornstarch, salt and sugar; sür. Add chicken,
stirring to coat; set aside. In wok or large frypan, place 1
tablespoon of the oil and heat to medium-higb
temperature or 350*F. Add mushrooms, water chestnuts
and green pepper; stir fry about 3 minutes or until
vegetables are tender-crisp; remove from wok. In same
wok, place remaining 3 tablespoons oil. Stir in chicken
mixture and stir fry about 5 minutes or until chicken is
opaque and fork can be inserted in chicken with ease.
Return vegetables to wok. Add snow peas and cashews.
Stir fry about 2 minutes or until heated through. Serve
over rice. Makes 4 servings.
PIZZA CHICKEN
2 whole broiler-fryer chicken breasts, halved
2 tablespoon cooking oil
1 can (4 oz.) mushrooms, drained, liquid reserved
% cup raw rice
1 tablespoon instant minced onion
1 tablespoon margarine
2 teaspoons chieken-flavor instant bouillon
V4 teaspoon garlic salt, divided
V4 teaspoon pepper
1 can (15 os.) tomato sauce
1 teaspoon orégano leaves
8 ounces grated Mozzarella cheese
In frypan, place oil and heat to médium temperature.
Add chicken and cook, turning, about 10 minutes or until
brown on all sides. Hace reaerved muahroom liquid in a
2-cup measuring cup; add water to make 2 cups UqnkL In
large shallow baking pan, mix together measured
mushroom liquid, mnsfarooma, rice, onion, margarine.
bouillon, % teaspoon oí tfae garlic san and pepper. Place
chicken, skin-side up, in single layer, over rice mixture.
Sprinkle irlth rrmnlnlng Vi twMpnnn ffarllr salt In nmall
bowl, mix tomato sauce and orégano; pour over chtrken.
Cover and bake in 30O*F. oven 4ft minutas or until fork can
be insertad in chicken with eaae. Uncover and sprinkle
cheese over chicken and rice. Return to oven and bake 15
minutes longeT or until cheeae is melted and bnbbty.
Makes 4 servings.
All's Faír In Love
i
For Sneaky Fireflies
Wbo knows what evil
huts ln tbe hearta of firefltoa?
Afler 11 yeark o# study,
Profaaaor James E. Lloyd
of the Univeratty o# Florida
has a pretty good idea. The
entoraologist has ofaaerved
more than 100 species of
fireflies - which aren't
really files at aU but
beetles of the family
Lampyridae. He has
leamed a lot about what's
being said when they blink
tbe chemical lights in their
abdomens.
When it comes to
winning a mate or a mea!,
fireflies can sneak and
cheat and sometimes even
kill. In short, Lloyd has
found, those insects with
the comma-sized brains
are capable of quite
complica ted behavior.
The Tender Trap
Fireflies often speak in a
visual Morse code, a
pattern of flashes that
differs by species and by
sex. A male flies around
flashing his message
—say, a half-second flash
every six seconds—and
looks toward the ground
until he spots a correctly
coded female response.
What follows may be a
"flash dialogue" before
the lights go out for
mating.
Or it may be a trap.
Females in at least a dozen
species of the genus
Photuris can mimic the
mating responses of other
firefly species and lure a
male to their perches.
When he draws near in
hopes of romance, the
female grabs and devours
him.
Some of these "femmes
fatales" have repertoires
and can lure at least five
other species, Lloyd says.
Some males out to woo
these predatory females
have deceptive repertoires
of their own, he adds. By
Imita ting the males of prey
species, they try to attract
false «ignala from their
own Photuris females.
These male mimics are
out to reproduce, not to
kill, Lloyd believes. But he
admits it's a mystery how
they avoid being eaten.
Other fireflies have their
own varieties of deceit. A
male may interject extra
flashes into a nearby
male's pattern to break up
a courtship dialogue, or
flash in synchronism with
him to trick a female into>
switching partners. A male
may even mimic a female
to throw a rival off the
track.
SoLittle Time
A Florida grasslands
firefly, Photinus collustrans,
may show why the
competí ti on is so intense.
This lightning bug appears
about a quarter-hour after
"
maÍketWiaskit
fe.
COOLMEALS
preparing cool meáis can be
• challenge to any cook who
waits until wrnrm weather arrives.
It't a big help having
tome fresh idea» ready to try
before 90-degree days become a
reality.
Think of all the chilled soup»
iw make luch nice beginning»
to meato. Vichyssotoe comes to
mimi, but there are many others
with great poesibüities: grated
cama, leek. spinach, avocado,
cucumber, tornato, watercreu
and muihroam. They have a
creamy baae and offer quick
preparation.
For a delightful mushroom
soup, saute sttccd vegetables in
butter. Mushrooms need tossing
with lemon juice to prevent
darkening. You have to make
certaia the leeks have been
tboroughly washed since they
tend to be gritty (with earth)
unless grown on small hilk or
with "paper coilars," as French
gardenert do. Both half-andhalf
and dairy sour eran add
creaminess Why not cook in the
morning ««i let it chili until
dinner?
LMtTMk
Carden tooto left oo the lawn
are often hard to ftnd beemuse
their cotoring to so cío* to that
of the landscape. To save the
time aad energy the search
takea. dip tbe handles of your
orden tooto into yeilow or orana»
enamei outdoor paint The
coatii* wiU la*t for years aad
yow tooto wiD ahray» be aasy to
tocata tí kMt ob the lawa or ia
RMMM
aunaet and la active only
aboul 15 minutes a night.
ni- f°5owíl« OreM
•od recording their
ev«? move, Loyd worted
out an average "The
typical Photinua collustrana
maie needs 7 2
níghtetofind afemaleand
mate he said. But most
femaies need no more than
f" minutes to emerge
from their underground
hurrows, attract a maie,
mate, and get back
underground.
"All these males are out
there hunting and the
femaies are only out for a
momeat," he Mid. ..Jn
fact, the chances of being
answered by a predator
are greater than being
S22F by their oUoyd
uses all sorts of
equipment to unlock
secrets of insect communication.
"I have what I cali
8 Jfl gun ~ except
when I travel on airlines "
he said The instrumem
can read flashes of üght
and transíate them into
vanous high-pitched
whistles for storage on a
tape recorder. Back at the
umversity laboratory in
!lLneSVÍlle' other
Instruments can use the
tape to chart precise
images of the flashes.
Thermometers also are
important because a
firefly s flash tempo goes
up and down with the air
tempera ture.
Even a pocket flashlight
has its place in his work
"You can attract fireS
to your penlight," he
explained. "If a male's
nying overhead and you
flash the right code, he'll
come down and land in
yourhand."
To imítate a female
hÍü!« Lloyd advises
holding the penlight point
Beaded trails of light represent the flight paths of different firefly species, as
they might appear in a time exposure. The drawings are based on the work of
firefly researcher James E. Lloyd of the University of Florida. Below is the
glowing silhouette of a firefly photographed in Southeast Asia.
down against the ground,
"qp the light the firefly's
going to see is what is
leaking out around the
edges."
Glowing for Science
Lloyd studied fireflies in
Thailand last year on a
project supported by the
National Geographíc
Society. The main target
was Pteroptyx malaccae, a
species that gathers in
large, synchronously
flashing groups on trees
and bushes in lowland
swamps.
During the study, Lloyd
saw evidence of "habitat
loss and water-quality
deterioration" that could
hurt firefly populations —
a problem that is
international, he notes.
Long after some fireflies
have died, their glows keep
working for medical
research. Extracta from
the lanterns — which
contain the light-emitting
molecule luciferin, among
other things — can be
made to glow again when
combined with the energyrich
molecule ATP
(adenosinetriphosphate), a
substance found in every
organism. By measuring
the light produced,
researchers can tell how
much ATP is there.
First, somebody has to
get the fireflies. The Sigma
Firefly Scientists Club, a
división of Sigma Chemical
Co. in St. Louis, collected
3,191,400 fireflies in 1980,
according to worker Jerry
Nester.
The firm pays $1 a
hundred, with bonuses for
big catches, and helps
collectors in another way,
Nester said: "It's pretty
hard running a round in a
field with a glass jar, so we
give them nets."
Keeping Cool
At Lower Cost
many peopie
to
tura the air coodttkner atf
A rommwi mkwnitptíon
central air
coodltlanlQg uaera ia that M
takea more eoergy to cool
tfae bouae down mto,
once it ha* beeo aüowed to
beat up Thia is untrue, tfae,
specialists say, but it ta
true that aavlnga (rom
turaing ofí tfae
may not be aignifleant
unlesa t*1* air cooclltioEscr
remains off for eigfat houra
or more.
An alternativa to turaing
the air cooditioser off
when leaving tfae bouae ia
to raiae the tfaermoatat
setting. Thia can be Juat aa
effective aa iihutting it atf,
the specialiata say.
Raising the thermoatat
setting from 75 degrees to
80 degrees can cut coata by
10 percent or mote.
Changing ditera regularly
can increaae tfae air
conditiooer's etftdency
and cut electric coate by up
to 10 percent, the experta
say.
It is alao a good idea to
deán the coila oo the
outaide beat exchanger
with a brush before tfaé
beginning of the wimmer
season. Thia, too, wlll
improve the unit'a effldeney
and save on cooling
coate.
(¡
rfu. be REOCLCD i
IK4 ABCUT 7^2
MILUON YtAKS.
RccycHag Ocmun
Scientists calcúlate that all of
the world's oceans circuíate
through the earth's cruft approximately
once every 8 mlllion
years, in a continuou* recycling
process.