Courier-Post from Camden, New Jersey • Page 44

r. i i 1 i ASTE iiNnAY.MAY20.1990 100 (0: 1 Celebrity Chef Stagecoach has a continental touch I Career status? Check out her dining By JOHN A BLINN Special to the Courier-Post 'Actress Alexis Smith is a oora- nulsive recipe collector. "I cannot ft walk through a bookstore without buying a cookbook. I'm dying to try I out some new cookbooKs I Dougbt jl recently," the two-time Tony win- I ner said. When she works on location, she I often carries a rubber-banded parrel nf her favorite reoine.8.

"Some times, thoueh. the rubber break and the recipes come tum-J bling out," she laughed. Her laugh, as her husband, actor Craig Ste- vens once remarked, "bears a haunting resemblance to Woody I KjflSnw PAIH By CAROL LEACH For the Courier-Post Stiles Avenue in Maple Shade is as typical a residential street as any you'll find in South Jersey, but 150 years ago it was part of the main stagecoach line connecting Camden to the Jersey shore. Thus, when Dwayne and Mary Karrer converted a deli at the corner of Stiles and Broadway into a restaurant, they decided to call it the Stagecoach Restaurant And, while ail-American fare such as homemade soup, roast beef, stuffed chicken breast, baked flounder and rice pudding are an integral part of the menu, there are plenty of continental dishes to keep a cosmospolitan customer happy. Among the most popular of chef Dwayne Karrer's own creations are Chicken Edward a fried breaded chicken breast topped with broccoli and cheddar cheese, Sauteed Shrimp and Garden Vegetables in a light' tarragon butter sauce Manicotti Napoleon one with tomato sauce and one with Alfredo sauce, Grilled Sirloin Steak Margaret ($13.95) topped with crabmeat and bordelaise sauce and Baked Stuffed Flounder Elizabeth ($10.95) filled with rice and broccoli with cheddar cheese melted on top.

"I didn't want my menu to be a carbon copy of all the menus at the restaurants I've worked for, so I created as many new dishes as possible, or at least put my own stamp on some of the more familiar ones," explains Karrer. Other best sellers on the Stagecoach Restaurant's dinner menu include Unguini and Broccoli Grilled Sword- fish Steak Chicken Cacciatore and Veal Cardinal ($14.95) topped with shrimp and provolone. Chicken pot pie, a $6.95 Wednesday night special, is also quite popular. All dinners include soup and salad. It is the soup that rates extra attention at the Stage-, coach Restaurant.

Karrer prepares two or three different soups daily. By the middle of the morning the phone is ringing constantly with customers calling to find out what soup is on the menu that day," says Karrer. "I guess the one that almost everyone seems to like is the cream of chicken, but I make all kinds tomato cheddar, green pepper beef, chicken ditalini and every Friday it's seafood soup of some kind such as clam Creole or sea food bisque." A $3.25 weekdav-lunch soecial includes a soup, at least half a sandwich and sometimes a dessert. Other choices on the lunch menu include homemade chicken salad on a croissant chef salad open face tuna melt ($3.95) and Karrer's own creation, an open face hot roast beef sandwich with horseradish sauce and cheddar cheese Desserts at the Stagecoach Restaurant, all homemade by Dwayne and all priced at $2.25, include his version of chocolate mousse pie, a light confection with a crust of crushed Oreo cookies. On the weekend, the Stage coach Restaurant serves breakfast, with omelettes the specialty.

A roasted-peppers-and-cheese omelette is $3.50 Courier-Post photo by Ron Karafin All-American and more: Dwayne and Mary Karrer converted a Maple Shade deli into the Stagecoach Restaurant. A restaurant specialty, Chicken Edward, is in, the foreground. The ageless actress ha been remising her role of Lady Jessica i Montfort. Smith has been having a ball portraying the evil, diabolical sister of Clayton Fariow (series star Howard Keel), who returns to i Southfork from a sanitariuam fori the criminally insane in the long- running CBS television show, i She recalled cooking on location, 3 particularly down in Redoso, Mex- ico, when she appeared in the, movie, "Casey's Shadow." "We! each had our own kitchen," she said. One of her favorite meals was prepared by the film's producer Ray Stark.

He threw a party for the cast and crew, preparing ham, turkey and baked squash. "I still have Ray's recipe for the squash casserole. It's one of my favorite vegetarian recipes." Alexis' foodstyles reflect the state of her career. "If my career is sailing, it's limousine time, room service at the hotel or dining out Then, if things are not going so swimmingly, and I'm back in stock, as Craig says, 'We're back on the bus and boom, I'm back in my own kitchen. It's wonderful to have life both ways!" Since Smith was a smash in "Follies" on Broadway, her career has been rejuvenated.

Smith keeps fit by practicing yoga, taking dance classes and eating was; ahead of her time; she always pre-' Eared nutritious, carefully alanced meals. Every week, my father drove to Los Angeles, to a bakery called The Grist, and 1 bought their whole-grain bread. It was the forerunner of health food." Her father, the late Alexander, Please see FOODSTYLES. Page 16 ALEXIS SMITH career seafood III 11? The Stagecoach Restaurant is located at 325 Broadway in Maple Shade, midway between Route 73 and Main Street on Stiles Avenue. Lunch is served from 11 a.m.

to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. Dinner is served from 4:30 to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. Breakfast is served from 8 a.m.

to noon on Saturday and Sunday. The restaurant is available for private parties on Sunday evenings and the Karrers also do outside catering. Due to limited seating, reservations are recommended on Friday and Saturday evenings. There is no liquor license, but customers may bring their own spirits. For information, call 779-9342.

Here are some recipes from the Stagecoach Restaurant: Chicken Edward 4 whole boneless breast of chicken, each cut in half to make 8 pieces 1 head fresh broccoli i Please see CONTINENTAL, Page 16 Jane and Michael Stern Taste of America the coffee will stop you at The Cottage fey JANE and MICHAEL STERN Syndicated columnists $ome people like to stop and ijjnell the roses. We prefer to stop istd smell the coffee. Especially eit is strong espresso and it is sing brewed at The Cottage of Jolla, and is accompanied by a hot-from-the Kren muffin and a fresh fruit Early in the morning, you Slid walk in the door of The ttage blindfolded and guess tfie entire muffin menu just by inhaling. You might smell apple Aad oatmeal, peach and poppy wed, blueberry or bran. The fty' repertoire is in a glass case vyour right as you enter.

Sfthind the case are all the edjUipment for brewing espresso steaming milk to make aqppucino and Cottage cafe mocha a blend of espresso, steamed milk, chocolate and onnamon. Many customers never smell te good smells and do not gaze upon the gorgeous muffin lineup because they stay outside. They sit on a broad front patio at a table with an umbrella, basking in La Jolla's perpetually glorious weather, reading the paper, sipping coffee, eating good food and generally relishing the good life. Outside is a nice place to eat, but we always like to at least peek in the door for a quick sniff and a look at the day's bakery bounty. The indoor dining area is a cute, casual room with about eight small tables and four Open for lunch i The Cottage is open for lunch, when it serves sandwiches, quiche, soup and salads.

Its array of salads includes Hawaiian chicken salad (with hopey poppy seed dressing), a traditional Cobb salad, taco salad (with beef, beans and corn tortilla, topped with sour cream), and a rainbow-hued fruit salad (its ingredients sliced to order) with yogurt or cottage cheese. They make a nice mild chili here, listed on the menu as "My Mother's Chili," served with Breakfast Is best Breakfast is the best meal to eat at The Cottage. It is served until 11 in the morning Monday through Saturday, and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. There are omelettes of all kinds, from machaca (shredded beef) to one called "The Pope's Favorite" (kielbasa and cheddar cheese), and the luxurious California combo of avocado, bacon, Monterey jack cheese and sour cream.

I There are Belgian waffles, served plain or with bananas and-or strawberries. You can get huevos rancheros, granola with steamed milk or yogurt, or eggs-and-cheese enchiladas. As for the exalted breadstuffs, there are yeasty cinnamon rolls and coffee cake, and about a half-dozen muffins every day. "King Kong bran" and blueberry are regular staples; and you will usually find a tray of big, gnarled "health muffins" that are surprisingly unsweet and genuinely healthy-tasting, The muffin we like best is a pale gold one made with peaches and poppy seeds. The following it our home-tested recipe for those big-domed, cake-sweet beauties: i Peach and Poppy Seed Muffins i cup pureed peaches (use junior" baby food peaches if you cannot get good, fresh peaches) teaspoon baking soda :10 tablespoons butter, softened 11 cup sugar f-Seggs IVi cups flour Vi teaspoon salt 1 Ml 3 tablespoons poppy seeds I Preheat nvfn tn 3Rfl Humwi I Grease muffin tins for a dozen muffins.

I Stir hfllcin? anda inta niii-Mwf rieaches. Thev will foam un. I Crmam butter with minir. en mixture is smooth, add eggs one at a time. Alternately add flour and peach puree, then sfit, vanilla extract and poppy seeds.

Fill each muffin cup nearly to the top. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in one of the rfruffins comes out clean. Makes 12 large muffins. The Cottage, 7702 Fay, La Jolla, Calif. 92038; (619) 454-8409.

explains. 'When I came out, I' took various jobs at local restaurants and worked my way up to executive chef at the Mount Laurel Hilton." Four years ago, he and Mary set about opening up the Stage-, coach. The extensive renovations they did earned them' a neatness award from the "I Love Maple Shade Committee" in 1986. Each year the committee singles out one business in town for the honor. Outside, the compact one-story building is distinguished by a large green awning and a wagon wheel set high atop a pole.

Inside, the 45-seat dining room is done in a warm beige and brown color scheme. Checkered vinyl cloths used at lunchtime give way to linens and candlelight for dinner. On the walls are framed prints of historic homes in the area. Here and there, also, are figurines and even an inlaid wood plaque featuring stagecoaches. "They've all been gven to us by customers," explains Karrer.

"Our customers are just Pollock minced, then shaped into Surimi Specialty of the House while the broccoli-and-tomato-mushroom omelette is $3.25. Karrer also created Eggs Kil-Patrick ($3.95) with green pepper, onion, ham and cheddar cheese on an English muffin. And Gashouse Eggs a childhood favorite of Mary's which her late father Tom Penn used to make, is a popular item. The dish features eggs over medium in the center of grilled white bread. For Dwayne and Mary Karrer, a couple in their 20s, owning a restaurant is a dream made possible by co-partner Doris Penn, Mary's mother.

Not only does she do the bookkeeping for the business, she's a capable babysitter for Krystal, 4, and Mark, 1, the Karrers two children. Karrer, who grew up in Penn-sauken, discovered his culinary talents during the two years he spent in the army stationed at Fort Knox. "I requested assignment as a cook and I enjoyed it," he surimi block is ground, then mixed with food additives such as salt, starch or egg white. Shellfish meat, a shellfish extract or artificial shellfish flavoring is added. It is then processed to take the shape, texture and color of shellfish.

Imitation crab is the most com-mon surimi seafood. There is a choice of crab claws, legs or sticks, chunks and flakes, plus a combination of chunk and flake called "salad style." Scallop, shrimp and lobster look-alikes are also available; each is shaped and colored like the real thing. Shrimp and scallops come tmHronfpH fH bTd. All surimi seafood products are required by law to be labeled "imitation" so as to not be confused with the products they imitate. Refrigerated surimi seafood is code-dated for convenience.

Frozen surimi seafood will keep in the freezer for several months. Store thawed or opened products in the coldest part of the refrigerator. Once the package is opened, use within 2 or 3 days, just as you would any other perishable product Surimi Seafood Cakes 3 tablespoons reduced calorie mayonnaise 2 large eggs, beaten 1 tablespoon lemon juice teaspoon dry mustard rr in. iiiiiii)innji. i i ii- i i Convenience is the name of the game these days and surimi seafood is one of the convenience foods of the nineties.

Surimi seafood is completely cooked. It can be used in cold salads, dips and sandwiches. It can also be used in hot dishes. Overheating will toughen it, just as it does other types of seafood, so add surimi seafood during the last few minutes of cooking. Americans consumed 135 million pounds of surimi seafood last year, according to the National Fisheries Institute, up from 18 million pounds in 1982.

Snritni o'nfnod from lean, mild-tasting white fish, usually Alaska pollock. It is low in fat and cholesterol and is an excellent source of protein. There are only about 90 calories in a 3V4-ounce serving. Sugar and sodium levels vary according to brand. Surimi (pronounced sir-REE-mee) is a Japanese term applied to a category of minced fish.

Freshly caught Alaska pollock is the foundation for most surimi presently used in the United States. It is boned and skinned, minced, washed and strained to yield a concentrated fish paste. Small quantities of salt, sugar and-or sorbitol are added to preserve the texture of the protein. The paste is quickly frozen, then shipped to processing plants. The Vs teaspoon bottled hot pepper sauce 3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley 2 tablespoons finely chopped celery 1 tablespoon finely chopped onion 1 pound- Surimi Seafood, crab flavored, flakes, chunks, or salad style, well flaked, lightly chopped 2 cups fresh whole-wheat bread crumbs (4 slices, whirled in food processor) Vegetable cooking spray Lemon wedges Combine mayonnaise, eggs, iMXA SM.mxaJ en sauce in large bowL Stir in parsley, celery and onion.

Gently stir in Surimi Seafood and bread crumbs. Shape into 8- to 12- half-inch thick patties. Coat large nonstick skillet with cooking spray. Place over medium-low heat until hot Add patties and cook 5 minutes per side or until browned. Serve with lemon wedges.

Makes 8 to 12 cakes, 4 to 6 serv ings. Seafood Jambalaya 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 1 cup chopped green bell pepper 1 cup chopped onion Vi cup thinly sliced celery 1 clove garlic, minced 1V4 cup uncooked long-grain rice Please see SURIMI. Page. 16 Sort-of from the sea: Surimi Seafood Cakes make use of trie convenient seafood. ----ltV.