Yonah Schimmel® Low-Fat New York City Knish

Here's a recipe that comes from a challenge issued by the New York Daily News. They wanted to find out if a West Coast boy could duplicate the taste of an authentic New York City knish. But, mind you, not just any knish.
This knish comes from one of the oldest knisheries in the Big Apple; a place which also takes pride in the low fat content of its knishes, versus the popular deep-fried variety. When I tasted the famous Yonah Schimmel knish (the first knish I had ever sampled), I realized that not only could a simple clone recipe be created, but that the fat gram count could come in even lower.
The Daily News even went so far as to have a lab analyze the fat content of not only the original knish
and the clone, but also the fat grams in a street vendor knish and a supermarket knish, just for comparison. The results are listed below. If you'd like to check out the original article that ran in the Daily News, click here

Wolfgang Puck's Pumpkin Pie

Wolfgang Puck is a German-born chef who has made his mark here in California. He has such goldmines as Spago's in LA and Stars in the City plus a few more salted away around the globe. This is Wolfgang Puck's very own pumpkin' pie.  How does it stack up against Grandma's?

Yoo-Hoo® Mix-Ups

A while back when I was rummaging through my pantry I came upon several bottles of flavored Yoo-hoo that I had scored from Wal-Mart and tucked away for over a year.
Each of the bottles was covered with a little dust and needed a pretty fierce shaking, but the contents were very well preserved and quite tasty. After some Web browsing of a few unofficial Yoo-hoo Web sites, I discovered these worshipped "Mix-ups" variety of the famous chocolate drink had since been put to rest. Now, after a little work in the top secret "lab," I've come up with a way to clone the flavor of these bottled products which can no longer be obtained outside of the ethereal food-world afterlife.

Seven Seas® Free Viva Italian Fat-Free Dressing

Seven Seas dressings were first introduced by Anderson Clayton Foods back in 1964, when the trend toward fat-free foods was in its infancy. Kraft Foods later picked up the brand, and Seven Seas today ranks number four in sales of salad dressings in the United States.
Here's our special technique to creating a delicious clone of Seven Seas spice-filled fat-free Italian dressing straight out of the latest TSR low-fat cookbook, using a secret combination of water, cornstarch and gelatin where the fat used to be.

Sunshine® Lemon Coolers®

Brothers Jacob and Joseph Loose had a dream of creating products in a bakery filled with sunshine.  In 1912 they got their wish by opening the famous "Thousand Window Bakery" in Long Island City, New York.  It was the largest bakery in the work until 1955.  Today Sunshine Biscuits has moved to another location in Sayerville, New Jersey, where ovens the size of football fields bake like crazy.  Sunshine is now
owned by Keebler and continues to produce many baked treats you're likely familiar with, such as Hydrox Cookies, Saltine Crackers, Vienna Fingers, Cheez-it Crackers, and these sweet Lemon Coolers.  All we have to do is make a few simple adjustments to the Nilla Wafer clone recipe, and we can create a cool copy of these awesome little tangy wafer cookies.
You know the ones - those little round cookies dusted with lemon-flavored powdered sugar.  To make that coating, we'll just use a little unsweeteneed Kool-Aid lemonade drink mix combined with powdered sugar.  Shake the cookies in a bag with this mixture (I call is bake 'n shake) and you've got yourself another tasty knock-off.

Strawberry Julius and Pineapple Julius

Serving Size  : 1    Preparation Time :0:00
Categories    : Beverages                        Vegetables

  Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
--------  ------------  --------------------------------
   1          cup              frozen sliced strawberries -- thawed
                        or
   1          can              crushed pineapple in juice (8-oz)
   1          cup              water
   2                              egg whites
   3/4       teaspoon      vanilla extract
   1/4       cup              granulated sugar
   1          cup              crushed ice -- heaping

1.  Combine all the ingredients in a blender set on high speed for exactly 1 minute.

Makes 2 drinks.

NOTE
For the Strawberry Julius, sweetened sliced strawberries work best.  They can often be found in 16-ounce boxes in the frozen-food section of the supermarket.
Make sure to thaw them first.

Swiss Miss® Fat-Free Tapioca Pudding

When the first instant hot cocoa mix was developed in the fifties, it was available only to the airlines in individual portions for passengers and was called Brown Swiss. This mix was so popular that the company packaged it for sale in the grocery stores and changed the name to Swiss Miss. In the seventies, the first Swiss
Miss Puddings were introduced and quickly became the leader of dairy case puddings. When the fat-free versions of the puddings were introduced some 23 years later, they, too, would become a popular favorite.
No sugar needs to be added to this recipe that recreates one of the best-tasting brands of fat-free pudding on the market. The condensed milk is enough to sweeten the pudding; plus it provides a creamy consistency, which, along with the cornstarch, helps replace fat found in the full-fat version of this tasty tapioca treat.
It's a simple recipe to make and you won't even "miss" the fat.

T.G.I. Friday's® Broccoli Cheese Soup

So good, and yet so easy. Now you can recreate this one at home just by tossing a few items into a saucepan. Try to find one of the large cartons of chicken stock at your store -- there's a perfect four cups of broth in there. Use Swanson brand if your store carries it. One bunch of broccoli should provide enough florets for this baby. Just cut the broccoli into bite-size pieces using a sharp knife. Use only the
florets and ditch the stem.

T.G.I. Friday's® Jack Daniels Grill Glaze

The Jack Daniel's Grill Glaze is one of the most scrumptious sauces you will ever taste on fish or just about any other meat.
 Introduced in April of 1997, this glaze has become one of Friday's best-selling items. This versatile sweet-and-slightly-spicy sauce can be ordered on salmon, baby back ribs, steak, chicken, pork chops...even on chicken wings (but only if you know to order it that way, since that one isn't on the menu).
I was encouraged to figure out how to clone the stuff when the Oprah Winfrey Show requested an appearance. I think you'll find it tastes virtually identical to the original glaze! you can use it to top your favorite meat, but if you're grilling, be sure to use the sauce just before taking the meat off the flame, since it is very sweet and will quickly burn. Serve extra on the side.

1 head of garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
2/3 cup water
1 cup pineapple juice
1/4 cup teriyaki sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 1/3 cups dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons minced white onion
1 tablespoon Jack Daniels Whiskey
1 tablespoon crushed pineapple
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1. Cut about 1/2-inch off of top of garlic. Cut the roots so that the garlic will sit flat. Remove the papery skin from the garlic, but leave enough so that the cloves stay together.
Put garlic into a small casserole dish or baking pan, drizzle olive oil over it, and cover with a lid or foil. Bake in a preheated 325° oven for 1 hour. Remove garlic and let it cool until you can handle it.

2. Combine water, pineapple juice, teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, and brown sugar in a medium saucepan over medium/high heat. Stir occasionally until mixture boils then reduce heat until mixture is just simmering.

3. Squeeze the sides of the head of garlic until the pasty roasted garlic is squeezed out. Measure 2 teaspoons into the saucepan and whisk to combine. Add remaining ingredients to the pan and stir.

4. Let mixture simmer for 40-50 minutes or until sauce has reduced by about 1/2 and is thick and syrupy. Make sure it doesn't boil over.
Makes 1 cup of glaze.

Seasoned Long Grain & Wild Rice Mix (Uncle Ben's Style)

Serving Size  : 3    Preparation Time :0:00

Categories    : Desserts, Cookies, Vegetables

  Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
--------  ------------  --------------------------------
                        -----DRY MIX-----
   1      tablespoon     Chicken bouillon powder
   1      teaspoon        Dry chopped onion
   1/2  teaspoon         Dry minced parsley
   1/4  teaspoon         Garlic powder
   1/4  teaspoon         Onion powder
   1      teaspoon        Ground turmeric
   1/2  teaspoon         Ground cumin
   1/4  teaspoon         Ground ginger
   1/2  teaspoon         Black pepper
   1 1/2  teaspoons     Season salt -- to 2 ts
   
                   -----RICE MIXTURE-----
   2     cups                Water
   2     tablespoons     Butter or margarine
   1     cup                  Premium Minute Rice
   1/3  cup                  Dry wild rice

1. Combine all of the ingredients as listed in Dry Mix in medium saucepan.

2. Add to this water, butter, rice and dry wild rice. Bring to boil. Stir once or twice just to combine.

3. Cover pan with lid tightly. Simmer gently 8 to 10 minutes or until almost all liquid has been absorbed.

Makes 3 cups cooked rice

Pancakes from International House of Pancakes®

Even though the early press runs of Top Secret Recipes excluded buttermilk in this recipe -- a very important ingredient if you really want pourable batter -- many figured out the missing ingredient on their own and the error was quickly corrected in later copies.
Now we just like to call those copies of the book the "Collector's Editions." For any of you who were lucky enough to get one of the "Collector's Editions" we'd liked to say "Congratulations!" Now here's the recipe, in its entirety, to make pancakes just like those served every day at IHOP.

Outback Steakhouse® Honey Wheat Bushman Bread®

Along with an entree at this popular steakhouse chain, comes a freshly baked loaf of this dark, sweet bread, served on it's own cutting board with soft whipped butter. One distinctive feature of the bread is its color. How does the bread get so dark?

While you may notice the recipe includes instant coffee and cocoa, these ingredients will not give it it's deep dark chocolate brown color - not even close.
Usually breads that are this dark -- such as pumpernickel or dark bran muffins -- contain caramel color, an ingredient often used in the industry to darken foods.
Since your local supermarket will not likely have this mostly commercial product, we will make the caramel color from a mixture of three food colorings -- red, yellow and blue. Just be sure to get the food coloring in the little droppers so that you can count the drops as you measure. That's very important to getting the color just right. You may also opt to keep the color out. The bread will certainly taste the same, but will look nothing like the real deal. I suggest using a bread machine for the mixing and kneading, if you have one.

Nabisco® SnackWell’s Banana Snack Bars

In 1996, Nabisco built up its growing line of SnackWell’s baked products with the introduction of low-fat snack bars in several varieties, including fudge brownie, golden cake, apple raisin, and the chewy banana variety cloned here.
The secret ingredients that help us keep the fat grams under 2 grams per serving is banana puree to help keep the cake moist while adding real banana flavor, egg whites rather than whole eggs, some molasses and just a little bit of shortening.
Whip it all up, pour it into a pan and bake. Soon you'll have 21 tasty little low-fat snack bars to get you through the week.

Kraft® Deluxe Original Macaroni & Cheese Dinner

It's time to clone America's best-selling brand of instant macaroni & cheese.  This recipe is for the "Deluxe" variety of this popular product - that is, the one that comes with an envelope of thick cheese sauce, rather than the dry, powdered cheese.
I think the "Deluxe" version, with it's two-cheese blend, is the better tasting of the two, although it's gonna hit you a bit harder in the wallet at the supermarket.  But now, with this Top Secret Recipe, you can make creamy macaroni & cheese that taste like Kraft's original at a fraction of the price of the real deal. You gotta love that!

KC Masterpiece' s Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream Pie

Ingredients

15 chocolate sandwich cookies
1/2 cup dry roasted peanuts
vegetable cooking spray
4 tablespoons butter or margarine
3 quarts chocolate ice cream
(7) 1.8 ounce packages milk chocolate covered peanut butter cups
(1) 8 ounce jar milk chocolate fudge topping
1/4 cup strong brewed coffee
2 tablespoons coffee flavored liqueur


Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a food processor or blender, blend chocolate sandwich cookies and peanuts until finely chopped.

2. Spray 9-inch pie plate with vegetable cooking spray. Reserve 1 tablespoon cookie mixture for garnish. In pie plate, mix butter or margarine and remaining cookie mixture by hand.

3. Press mixture onto bottom and up side of pie plate. Bake 8 minutes. Cool crust completely on wire rack. Place chocolate ice cream in refrigerator about 40 minutes to soften slightly.

4. Coarsely chop milk chocolate covered peanut butter cups. In a large bowl mix softened ice cream with chopped peanut butter cups. Spoon ice cream mixture into cooled cookie crust. Sprinkle reserved crumb mixture on top. Freeze until firm, at least 6 hours or overnight.To serve, let pie stand at room temperature 15 minutes for easier slicing.

5. Meanwhile, in a 1-quart saucepan over low heat, heat milk chocolate fudge topping until hot; stir in coffee and liqueur until blended. Cut pie into wedges and serve with warm fudge sauce.
Serves 12

International House of Pancakes® Pumpkin Pancakes

During the holiday season this particular pancake flavor sells like...well, you know. It's one of 16 varieties of pancakes served at this national casual diner chain. You can make your own version of these delicious flapjacks with a little canned pumpkin, some spices and traditional buttermilk pancake ingredients.
 Get out the mixer, fire up the stove, track down the syrup.

Hot Dog on a Stick® Muscle Beach Lemonade®

Entrepreneur Dave Barham opened the first Hot Dog on a Stick location in Santa Monica, California near famed Muscle Beach.
 That was in 1946, and today the chain has blossomed into a total of more than 100 outlets in shopping malls across America.
 You've probably seen the bright red, white, blue and yellow go-go outfits and those trippy fez-style bucket hats on the girls behind the counter.
In giant clear plastic vats at the front of each store floats ice, fresh lemon rinds and what is probably the world's most thirst-quenching substance -- Muscle Beach Lemonade.
It's a simple concoction really. Only three ingredients.
And with this TSR formula, you'll have your own version of the lemonade in the comfort of your own home at a fraction of the price.
Check back next week and we'll have the secret formula for a taste-alike version of the cornbread coated hot dog -- stick and all.

Harley Davidson Cafe® Harley Hog Sandwich®

In late September 1997, the Harley Davidson Cafe celebrated its grand opening in Las Vegas. This is the second Harley Davidson Cafe, with the first one located in New York City, just a short walk from the first Planet Hollywood.
Both locations serve up some delicious "road food" amongst the awesome collection of vintage Harley's and Harley Davidson paraphernalia. I think this sandwich is one of their best, and this recipe comes right from the source. The Pork Producers Council got the recipe from the cafe's chef, and featured it in a promotional pull-out that ran in a restaurant trade magazine in 1995. Now the secret can be shared with you.

Hard Rock Cafe® Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

It's the chunkiest dang chicken soup you'll ever slurp down and it comes from the first worldwide theme eatery and hip hangout.
Crank up the rock 'n roll and throw all this good stuff into a pot and enjoy this final secret recipe in our series of mouth-watering soup clones. Bah-bye winter!

Great American Cookies® White Chunk Macadamia

When Arthur Karp shared his grandmother's favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe with Michael Coles, the business partners knew they had a hit on their hands. They opened their first Great American Cookies store in 1977 in The Perimeter Mall in Atlanta, Georgia. Now with more than 350 stores in the chain, these cookies have quickly become a favorite, just begging to be cloned. The chain bakes the cookies in convection ovens at the low temperature of 280 degrees for around 16 to 17 minutes.

But since most of us don't have convection ovens and may have a hard time getting the oven temperature to this odd setting, we have made some adjustments. Just be sure, when you remove the cookies from the oven, that they appear undercooked and only slightly browned around the edges. This will give the cookies the perfect chewy texture when they cool.

Fiddle Faddle® & Screaming Yellow Zonkers®

I know the most popular candy corn out there is Cracker Jack, but my favorite has always been Screaming Yellow Zonkers and Fiddle Fiddle from Lincoln Snacks Company. Fiddle Faddle is butter toffee-coated popcorn with almonds thrown in. Screaming Yellow Zonkers (you gotta love the name) is similar, but without  the almonds. The secret to the yellow coloring of the Zonkers: buttered popcorn.

Cinnabon® Strawberry Lemonade & Mochalatta Chill®

Cinnabon gives lemonade a twist by adding strawberry syrup. It's a simple clone when you snag some Hershey's strawberry syrup (near the chocolate syrup in your supermarket), and a few juicy lemons. But if it's a bit of a caffeine buzz you're looking for -- enhanced by a killer chocolate rush -- it's the Mochalatta Chill you'll want to whip up.
Brew some double-strength coffee (see Tidbits) and let it cool off, then get out the half & half and chocolate syrup.
Man, these sippers are just too dang easy!

Chevys® Mesquite-Grilled BBQ Chicken Quesadilla®

With this secret recipe from the latest TSR low-lat book, it isn't necessary to cook the chicken over a mesquite grill as they do in the restaurant chain. Sure, you could get some mesquite wood chips and throw 'em on your barbecue or you can use that charcoal that has mesquite in it.

But an easier way to get the flavor of mesquite--especially if all you've got is a gas grill--is to soak the chicken in a marinade made with mesquite-flavored liquid smoke.
In the restaurant these puppies are made with red chili tortillas. Since these type of tortillas can be a drag to track down, especially in fat-free versions, we'll use plain fat-free tortillas for our tasty reduced-fat clone.

Carl's Jr.® Bacon Swiss Crispy Chicken Sandwich

If you love crispy chicken sandwiches - and especially if you don't live in the West - you'll want to try out this clone of the tasty Carl's Jr. creation. The recipe makes four of the addicting chicken sandwiches from the California-based chain, but will also come in handy for making a delicious homemade ranch dressing.

Try using some lean turkey bacon, fat-free Swiss cheese, and fat-free mayonnaise if you feel like cutting back on the fat. Then you can eat two.