Salmon pepperonata

flavorful, colorful

Q. My husband and I recently dined at Flavors of Italy in Coral Springs. We had salmon pepperonata and it was delicious. Could you find the recipe for this excellent way to prepare salmon? -- Jean Schmel, Lake Worth



A. It took just one phone call to co-owners Robert Richard and Guido Barisone of the Flavors of Italy restaurant, 3111 N. University Drive, Coral Springs, 954-345-7770, to get their recipe for Fresh Salmon Fillets Pepperonata. One look at the recipe and you know it will be both flavorful and colorful.

This is also a recipe that requires a bit of prep work. (Where is that sous chef when you need him?) However, you can prepare the vegetables early in the day or the day before. Refrigerate them in plastic bags, being sure to bag the cut red peppers separately to keep them from bleeding all over the other vegetables. Then the cooking will go smoothly. You cook the vegetables for 20 minutes after you've cooked the salmon. But the fish is quickly reheated in the sauce just before serving.

Salmon is an excellent choice here, since its full flavor and texture are bold enough to complement the other savory ingredients. I intend to try this with other firm and flavorful fish, such as tuna or swordfish. Anyone who enjoys sweet peppers will find a number of ways to use this excellent sauce.

Vanilla wafer cookies

used in cake (or torte)

Q. My mother used to make a delicious vanilla wafer cake, but she misplaced the recipe. What she recalls is that the vanilla wafer cookies take the place of the flour and the cake has coconut and nuts in it.

And another recipe we've been looking for is hot slaw, which we remember is made with green cabbage, fried bacon, vinegar and sugar. -- Lisa Zoch, Parkland



A. That Vanilla Wafer Crumb Cake recipe dates back to the '50s and '60s. It is surely a relative of the "torte," which Webster describes as "a rich cake variously made of ... eggs, finely chopped nuts and crumbs; sometimes a little flour."

Whether you call it a cake or a torte, this is an easy and delicious dessert.

Hot Cabbage Slaw is also an oldie, and here I give a recipe that has been in my files for many years. The sweet-and-sour dressing is added to the shredded cabbage just before serving. You want the cabbage to retain its crunch.

Bacon is optional.

Get in party spirit

with pina colada pie

Q. I am looking for a recipe -- pina colada pie. This was served at a covered dish gathering, but I couldn't find the person who brought it. -- Carol Poff, Fort Lauderdale



A. I have a tasty recipe for a Frozen Pina Colada Pie that is easy to make and even easier to eat. The recipe came from a neighbor in Connecticut who served it years ago at a luau.

Hawaiian marinated

fish is called poke

Q. While in Hawaii, I enjoyed eating what they called "poke," marinated seafood. I have never been able to find a recipe anywhere for this, which I used to purchase in Japanese grocery stores in Hawaii. Your assistance would be appreciated. -- Marvin Pesses, Boca Raton



A. Thanks to Pia Dahlquist, director of sales and marketing for the Mai-Kai restaurant in Fort Lauderdale, I was able to learn about poke (pronounced POE-kay). Pia sent me information from a book called Island Cuisine: The Choy of Cooking (Mutual Publishing, 1996), by Sam Choy.

"Poke" actually means "to slice or cut crosswise into pieces." It is an old-time Hawaiian dish, usually consisting of sliced raw fish, limu (seaweed), fresh red chili pepper, Hawaiian sea salt and roasted and ground and salted kukui nuts (cashew nuts can be substituted). Traditional poke evolved when immigrants to the islands added new flavors, such as Japanese soy sauce, Korean kim chee, Maryland blue crab and Nova Scotia small clams. It can be served as a side dish or with rice or poi.

In the book you will find recipes for Poke Patties, Hawaiian-Style 'Inamona (the roasted, ground and salted kukui nut) Poke, Korean-Style Tako Poke, Aku Poke and 'Ahi Poke Salad, among others.

Perhaps one of my readers would know where it can be purchased.

Carpaccio's roots

are in Venetian art

Q. Can you tell me what "carpaccio" is? I thought it was thin-sliced beef, but recently I saw a restaurant ad featuring "Carpaccio of Salmon." -- Liz Garcia, Boca Raton



A. You are right that "carpaccio" originally meant thin-pounded raw beef. It was named for the great Venetian painter Vittorio Carpaccio, who favored red and white on his canvasses, the color of the raw beef. A stripe of mayonnaise was usually served with the beef, for the white color. The dish was supposedly inspired by a Contessa Mocenigo, whose doctor had forbidden her to eat cooked meat. Today, however, just about anything thinly sliced gets called carpaccio.

Have a cooking question? Need some nutrition advice? Trying to track down a long-lost recipe? Send your questions (be sure to include phone number) to You Asked For It, Sun-Sentinel, 200 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301-2293. Personal replies are not possible.