St. Michael's Alley white chili recipe tops list of reader favorites
BY NICOLE MARSHALL MIDDLETON World Scene Writer
Sunday, December 09, 2012
12/09/12 at 4:24 AM
For more Find more all-time favorite recipes.
Certain foods develop a following.
Take St. Michael's Alley white chili, for example.
The white chili - made with chicken, chiles and white beans - was a favorite dish served at St. Michael's Alley, an iconic restaurant that operated for decades at the Ranch Acres Shopping Center at 31st Street and Harvard Avenue.
Diners will remember the high-backed oak booths, dark paneling and subdued lighting. In 2008, it closed and was replaced by Rick's Café Americain. Rick's closed in 2011.
Now, as The Alley restaurant prepares to open this week in the same space, executive chef Mitch Neely said the white chili will be back by popular demand. It's the only dish, in fact, that The Alley will make from St. Michael's Alley menu, even though the new restaurant's name was a nod to its predecessor.
"People were asking whether we were going to have it on the menu. It was requested a lot," Neely said. "We are making the same recipe, for the most part."
Fans of that white chili have long sought out its unique taste, if not at a restaurant then in their own homes. It happens to be one of the Tulsa World's all-time most requested recipes.
When food nostalgia sets in, not much will get in its way. Few weeks go by that Tulsa World food writers don't get a request for a favorite dish, many from restaurants long gone.
Another sought-after recipe includes the Fountains' Mushroom Whatnots - button mushrooms stuffed with cheese, onion, garlic and lemon. The restaurant closed in 2006, and the following year food writer Natalie Mikles wrote about a reader's request for the mushrooms.
The inventor of the whatnots, Dave Ingram, responded. Ingram, a one-time owner of the Fountains, shared the recipe and the story behind the name.
Customers enamored by the mushroom appetizers all asked the same thing: "What's in them?"
"My response would be 'cheese, onion, garlic, lemon and whatnot,' " Ingram said in an article from 2007.
Ingram opened the Green Onion restaurant in 1986 and brought his mushrooms with him, later changing the name to Mushroom Wattnotts, in honor of Randy Watt, the chef who inspired them.
Then, in 2006, editor Ashley Parrish, a food writer at the time, wrote about the crave-worthy Pennington's Black Bottom Pie.
An inferior recipe for the pie served at the Pennington's Drive-In circulated for years until a reader who possessed "The Original Pennington's Cookbook" called and shared the correct ingredients. It turns out, the secret is cornstarch.
A similar story solved the riddle of the Italian Inn's cheese spread. The restaurant opened downtown, moved once and finally settled at the London Square Shopping Center, where it operated for years and then closed in 1992.
Those who missed the cheese spread served there with breadsticks tried to replicate it, but it just wasn't right - until Betty Funston Collins, former owner of the Italian Inn, released a cookbook.
Here are those recipes, as well as some of Tulsa's other most-requested recipes, in case you have a craving.
The 'most wanted' list
Here are some of the top recipes requested by readers of the Tulsa World
1. St. Michael's Alley's White Chili
2. Fountains' Mushroom Whatnots
3. The Garden's Baked Fudge
4. Tulsa Public Schools' Bean Chowder
4. Italian Inn's Cheese Spread
5. Pennington's Black Bottom Pie
7. Tunnel of Fudge Cake
8. Bishop's Red Wine Salad Dressing
9. Bishop's Brown Derby and Diablo Sauce
10. Tulsa Public Schools' Cinnamon Rolls
ST. MICHAEL'S ALLEY'S WHITE CHILI
2 yellow onions, chopped
5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 pounds cooked chicken, chopped
6 (1-pound) cans great Northern beans
1 (4-ounce) can chopped green chilies
3 cups chicken broth
1/3 cup chopped jalapenos
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon Tabasco sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 (16-ounce) can chopped tomatoes, drained
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 teaspoons oregano
1. Saute onions and garlic until onions are clear.
2. Add remaining ingredients and cook on medium heat, stirring every 10 minutes or so until mixture is hot and well blended, about 45 minutes.
FOUNTAINS MUSHROOMS WHATNOTS (AS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN 1997)
20-25 medium mushrooms
Small piece of American cheese for each mushroom
Filling: 1/2 pound Philadelphia cream cheese
1/4 pound sour cream
1/4 pound mayonnaise
1 scallion, finely chopped
1/4 cup bacon bits
1 teaspoon Lawry's seasoned salt
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Juice of 1 lemon
1. In a mixer, beat cheese, sour cream and mayonnaise until smooth. Add remaining ingredients and continuing mixing until creamy. Wash mushrooms and remove steams. Fill hole in cap with cream cheese mixture. Top each mushroom with piece of cheese. Place a dab of seasoned butter on top of cheese. Place mushrooms in shallow baking pan and cook at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes.
Butter topping
1/2 pound butter at room temperature
Juice 1 lemon
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoons parsley flakes
1/2 small yellow onion, peeled and finely diced
1. Whip butter until smooth. Add remaining ingredients and mix until smooth.
PENNINGTON'S BLACK BOTTOM PIE
1 9-inch pie shell, baked
6 tablespoons cocoa
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoons butter extract or flavoring
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 1/4 cups milk
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/3 cups cornstarch
Pinch salt
4 eggs
1 capful red food coloring
1 cups whipping cream
1/4 to 1/3 cup powdered sugar, or to taste
1. Make a high-fluted edge on pie shell when preparing shell to hold the filling.
2. Melt butter in a large double boiler over high heat. Add red food color, vanilla and butter extract. Add three-quarters of the milk and heat through. Reserve a quarter of the milk.
3. Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl; add in remaining milk, blending until smooth. Separate eggs, storing whites in metal bowl in refrigerator; add yolks to mixture, whisking until smooth and well-blended.
4. When the mixture in the double boiler reaches 180 degrees, add cornstarch mixture, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens. Turn heat to low and cook for 1 hour.
5. Whip the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold the chocolate mixture into the egg white very gently, just until no white streaks appear. Refrigerate until pie is completely cooled. Top with whipped topping just before serving.
6. To make whipped topping, pour whipping cream into chilled mixing bowl. Add sugar and mix with chilled beaters. Mix on medium speed until peaks begin to form. Spread on pie with spatula. It should have peaks and waves on the surface.
RED WINE SALAD DRESSING (FROM BISHOP'S)
Add 2 1/2 cloves of garlic to 1 pint of salad oil. Let stand overnight.
1/2 cup honey
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 cup wine vinegar (red or white)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1. Put honey and salt in blender. Blend until creamy. Add vinegar and lemon juice. With blender on slow speed, add salad oil slowly (remove garlic cloves first). Blend until thick. The secret is slow blending.
THE GARDEN'S BAKED FUDGE
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup butter
1 cup pecans, broken into large pieces
4 tablespoons cocoa
4 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons vanilla
1. Beat eggs well. Add sugar and butter, and beat well again. Sift cocoa and flour together. Add broken pecan pieces. Fold into sugar, butter and egg mixture. Add vanilla.
2. Pour in a 9-by-12-inch dish or pie tin. Set pan in a pan of hot water (enough to come 1/2-to-1-inch up on sides of pan), and bake in a 325-degree oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Fudge will have the consistency of firm custard and will be crusty on top. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream on each piece.
TULSA PUBLIC SCHOOLS' BROWN BEAN CHOWDER
Serves 12
1 pound pinto beans
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 pound coarsely ground beef
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 2/3 cups tomato puree
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon salt
Breadcrumbs
1. Cook beans in 3 quarts water (or more depending on dryness of beans). When beans are nearly done, add chili powder and salt.
2. While beans are cooking, combine meat, onion and garlic, and cook in skillet until meat is brown, stirring frequently. Add tomato puree, chili powder, salt and breadcrumbs. Combine meat mixture and beans. Add more water or chili powder for desired thickness and seasoning.
BISHOP'S DIABLO SAUCE
1 quart chicken stock
1 1/2 cups ketchup
3/4 cup chili sauce
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
1 teaspoon A-1 steak sauce
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup margarine
8 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup sweet pickle relish, or to taste
Chopped parsley
1. In large saucepan mix first 7 ingredients. Bring to a boil.
2. In a small pan, melt margarine and gradually add flour, stirring until smooth. Add gradually to sauce mixture until desired thickness is reached.
Note: It's advised that home cooks taste the seasonings as they mix ingredients and adjust.
BISHOP'S BROWN DERBY
2 pounds ground beef
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons powdered English mustard
1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
1 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1. Lightly mix all ingredients and shape into 8 patties.
2. Broil on a grill to taste - rare to medium-well. The charcoal taste should be subtle. Place on plates for individual servings and cover with Diablo Sauce.
Note: You may lose some of the flavor, but the patties are still tasty if cooked inside in a skillet over medium heat.
ITALIAN INN CHEESE SPREAD
24 ounces Wisconsin cold-pack cheddar cheese
1/2 cup Miracle Whip
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1. Let cheese soften. Mix all ingredients together in mixer until smooth.
Original Print Headline: Readers' all-time fave food
Nicole Marshall Middleton 918-581-8459
nicole.marshall@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
Executive chef Mitch Neely sits with a bowl of white chili at The Alley restaurant in Tulsa. MATT BARNARD/Tulsa World
The Fountains was known for its Mushroom Whatnots. The recipe was later renamed Wattnotts when it was served at the Green Onion. TOM GILBERT/Tulsa World file
STEPHEN PINGRY/Tulsa World
The secret ingredient in Pennington's famous Black Bottom Pie recipe is cornstarch. JAMES GIBBARD/ Tulsa World
Italian Inn Cheese Spread
TOM GILBERT/Tulsa World file
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