This Is It!!!

This WAS it, but it's gone now. Chocolate pie is another recipe from grandma's cookbook. In it she was always so nice to credit the chef from which she got the recipe, and sometimes had a helpful parenthetical, too. "This is it!!!" is written below the title of Chocolate Pie on page 47, just underneath her recipe for "fresh fruit cheese pie"--Mmmmm, weird. I haven't tried her Coke salad recipe either. The chocolate pie, however, is truly it. One of a kind.

1 pie crust
1-1/2 c. sugar
3 eggs yolks
4 Tbsp. dry cocoa
3 Tbsp. butter
4 Tbsp. flour
2 c. milk
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla

Meringue:
3 egg whites
6 Tbsp. sugar
1/8 tsp. cream of tartar


Bake a single pie crust in a pie plate according to directions on box. This pie, however, is also great in one of those store-bought graham cracker crusts, which doesn't need to be cooked.

Mix sugar, cocoa, flour, yolks (put whites in fridge until using them for meringue), milk, and butter in top of double boiler turned to medium heat--if you don't have a double boiler just cook in thick saucepan at med-low heat. Cook until thick, stirring constantly. Pour custard into pie crust and let cool.


Beat egg whites with mixer on med-high speed, slowly adding in sugar, then cream of tartar. Beat until whites are stiff and peak (a few minutes at least). Spoon or spatula meringue over pie and bake at 350 degrees until the peaks begin to brown. Cool pie again and serve or refrigerate. This is it!

Carne Guisada

A Texas tail-gating favorite, here it comes!

2 lbs. chuck roast, cubed, or beef stew meat
1 onion, chopped
2 Poblano peppers, sliced
3 cloves garlic
1/2 c. flour
1 can diced tomatoes
1-2 c. beef broth
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. coriander



Brown meat in heavy stock pot until almost all liquid has boiled out--about 20 minutes. Add onions, garlic, and peppers and cook until softened. Stir in flour until evenly coated and quickly add can tomatoes, broth, and seasonings. Should be kind of soupy. Turn heat to low and simmer for another half hour or as long as you can wait so meat will be tender. Serve with flour tortillas.

Pecan Pie

This recipe is coming at you a little late since I made it last Thanksgiving during our usual feast-for-the-misplaced-youths-of-Los Angeles annual potluck. While it may not seem too difficult--and it's not made with pure cane sugar--it should be noted that "the family" complained bitterly when my grandmother switched from Karo to generic-brand corn syrup. You might wanna cough up the extra 49 cents.

1 pie crust, unbaked**
3 eggs
1 c. Karo (dark or white)
1 c. sugar
1 dash salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. pecans (whole or halves)

Beat eggs slightly before mixing with other ingredients. Bake at 325 degrees for about an hour or until filling begins to brown. Cool and serve. Grrreat with vanilla ice cream.

**If you can't find or are to cheap to buy a box of Pillsbury pie crusts from the refrigerated section, follow the following recipe, which makes about three crusts:

3 c. flour
1 c. butter or shortening (Crisco)
1 tsp. salt
Enough ice-cold water to make a stiff dough

Sift salt with flour and put into mixing bowl. Cut shortening into flour and mix until chunks are about the size of a bean. Add a little water at a time, and use as little as possible. Refrigerate before roll out if possible.

Salsa Not Seltzer

My long days working the assembly line at the salsa factory have paid off, and I'm now able to bring to you the tools needed to make your very own! We made mild, habanero, roasted garlic, and a mango/peach/pineapple salsa that's great with fish all based off the following ingredients:

1/2 onion, cubed
2 cloves garlic (roasted or raw)**
1 hand full cilantro, rinsed
1/2 to whole jalapeno, de-seeded
1 TB. lime juice
1 Tsp. vinegar
1 can Rotel diced tomatoes and green chilies
1 can diced tomatoes
salt/pepper to taste

Pile in blender and pulse motor so as not to puree. Best when refrigerated for a few hours. Keeps for about three weeks.

**If you've got the time and inclination to make a tray of roasted garlic, your tongue and your heart will be happy. Here's how to do it:

Preheat oven to 400. Peel garlic if needed. Mix whole garlic cloves with a little bit of oil, salt, black pepper, oregano and slide onto cookie sheet. Roast until garlic starts to brown but not all the way, maybe twenty minutes.