ITALIAN WEDDING SOUP MEATBALLS: 1 SMALL ONION GRATED 1/3 CUP CHOPPED FRESH ITALIAN PARSLEY 1 LARGE EGG 1 TSP MINCED GARLIC 1 TSP SALT 1 SLICE FRESH WHITE BREAD, CRUST TRIMMED, BREAD TORN INTO SMALL PIECES 1/2 CUP GRATED PARMESAN 8 OZ GROUND BEEF 8 OZ GROUND PORK FRESHLY GROUND PEPPER SOUP: 12 CUPS LOW SODIUM CHICKEN BROTH 1 LB CURLY ENDIVE COARSELY CHOPPED (1 LB OF ESCAROLE WOULD BE A GOOD SUBSTITUE) MAKE SURE YOU WASH THOROUGHLY 2 LARGE EGGS 2 TBSP. FRESHLY GRATED PARMESAN, PLUS EXTRA FOR GARNISH SALT & FRESHLY GROUND BLACK PEPPER TO MAKE THE MEATBALLS: STIR THE FIRST 6 INGREDIENTS IN A LARGE BOWL TO BLEND. STIR IN THE CHEESE, BEEF AND PORK. USING 1-1/2 TSPS. FOR EACH, SHAPE THE MEAT MIX INTO 1 INCH DIAMETER MEATBALLS. PLACE ON BAKING SHEET. TO MAKE THE SOUP: BRING THE BROTH TO A BOIL IN A LARGE POT OVER MEDIUM-HIGH HEAT. ADD THE MEATBALLS AND CURLEY ENDIVE AND SIMMER UNTIL THE MEATBALLS ARE COOKED THROUGH AND THE CURLY ENDIVE IS TENDER, ABOUT 8 MINUTES. WHISK THE EGGS AND CHEESE IN A MEDIUM BOWL TO BLEND. STIR THE SOUP IN A CIRCULAR MOTION. GRADUALLY DRIZZLE THE EGG MIXTURE INTO THE MOVING BROTH, STIRRING GENTLY WITHA FORK TO FORM THIN STRANDS OF EGG, ABOUT 1 MINUTE. SEASON THE SOUP TO TASTE WITH SALT & PEPPER ENJOY!!!!

This sounds similar to a Chicken Spaghetti a friend used to make whenever she invited me to dinner because I loved it but think hers had Cream of Mushroom soup in it. Know it had Velveeta and peas. Will have to tinker with it. Thanks. RL`

A Bit of Nostalgia.......does anyone remember the Chalfont in Cape May, N.J. or the Chalfont-Haddon Hall in Atlantic City ?? Chalfonte's Southern Fried Chicken 1 frying chicken -- (3-pound) quartered Salt 1 cup flour 2 tablespoons paprika Black pepper to taste 2 cups shortening or corn oil (or a 2-inch depth for frying) 1 medium onion -- sliced 1. Soak the chicken in salted water for 1 hour. (Add 1 tablespoon salt to each quart of water.) Drain chicken and pat dry. 2. Meanwhile, in a bag or bowl, mix flour, paprika, salt to taste and pepper. Add the chicken and shake to coat thoroughly. 3. In a large skillet or deep fryer, heat the shortening or oil to 365 to 375 degrees. Place the onion in the hot oil. (Adjust the heat as needed to keep the oil sizzling moderately, but don't let it burn.) 4. Add the chicken to hot oil, again adjusting the heat. Fry for 10 minutes. Turn chicken and fry until tender, crisp and browned, about 10 more minutes. (Test for doneness with a fork, or watch for the breast meat to split along the muscle.) Note: As long as the oil is sizzling, moisture is being forced out of the chicken as steam, preventing the meat from absorbing excess oil. The Chalfonte chicken still sizzles in the pan Today's request takes us back to 1990, when a visit to the Chalfonte in Cape May, N.J., found the chef at that grand Victorian resort hotel holding court in her bright, airy kitchen on a sunny August day. Quick as any teen, Helen Dickerson simul- taneously supervised the dinner preparation, answered a reporter's questions, and kept an ear tuned to her favorite afternoon soaps. At 81, Miss Helen (as she liked to be called) still ruled her kitchen domain, though the heavier cooking chores had been delegated to her two assistants, her daughters Dorothy Burton, then 63, and Lucille Thompson, 61. Miss Helen shared memories of her more than 70 years at the Chalfonte, 45 of them in charge of the kitchen, along with recipes for dishes such as the fried chicken that continues as the star item on the hotel's Sunday dinner menu. It is that recipe, clipped from The Inquirer's Food section but later mislaid, that reader Joe Ochman mentioned first in his recent e-mail to us. Miss Helen's talent for Southern-style cooking brought her national attention. Her recipes were collected into a cookbooklet by the hotel. And the outspoken Miss Helen often stole the show during television appearances with talk-show hosts such as Phil Donahue. Miss Helen died just a few months after our article about her was published. Her daughters, now 75 and 72, inherited their mother's kitchen at the Chalfonte. And hundreds of chickens continue to be fried there on summer Sundays in the aged, oversize cast-iron skillets, each holding a dozen or more chicken quarters at a time. Keys to the recipe's success are the soaking, which keeps the chicken moist, plus the onion flavor and the sizzling temperature of the oil. The onions go into the hot fat first and stay there until the chicken is done, Burton said. Source: "Marilyn Marter Column, Phila Inquirer, April 4, 2001 Yield: "4 servings"

Holly and Lynn, I hope you like the spice paste. Be warned that the cooking odor is really strong. I don't have great ventilation so weather permitting I make it outside on the burner in my barbecue grill. It seems from the Amazon comments that butter chicken is a regional dish, like barbecue, and there are arguments about which ingredients are authentic. I usually add onions and peas but the paste really lends itself to be a base for whatever you like. When my vegetarian daughter is home I substitute chunks of firm tofu for the chicken and it turns out really well. Dee