Thursday Recipe - German Chocolate Pie From Belle

Magnolia Belle is another great author I've met on BestsellerBound. She shares a fun recipe and the story behind it.

"My first book, "Black Wolf: Lakota Man" also meant my first editor.  She lived in Connecticut and I in Texas.  The book is modern day adventure/romance about four Lakota Sioux brothers who form a rock band in Austin.  In the book, there is a scene involving the youngest brother's birthday.  His favorite cake is German chocolate.  The editor, not knowing that cake, insisted that I send the character to Germany to learn of the recipe.  I had to explain that the cake was invented by an American with the last name of German. 

Then she wanted me to use an authentic Lakota dessert for a birthday meal.  Again, I had to explain that the Lakota, and all North American tribes, didn't have sugar and typical desserts until Europeans came over.  I didn't think pemmican (lard with smashed berries) would be too appealing.  I laugh about it now.  At the time, I just had to shake my head. 

While this recipe is German chocolate pie, not cake, it's a tasty treat, good enough for anyone wherever they're from!"

my website:  www.blackwolfbooks.com
my smashwords page:  https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/MagnoliaBelle
my amazon page: http://www.amazon.com/Magnolia-Belle/e/B001U4SZR0/ref=sr_tc_img_2_0?qid=1286083020&sr=1-2-ent


German Chocolate Pie

Mix in a separate bowl and set aside:
3/4 c. sugar, 1/2 c. flour, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 c milk

Mix in a separate bowl and set aside:
2 TBS butter, 1 c. coconut, 1/2 c. chopped pecans, 1 tsp vanilla

Beat 3 egg yolks well and set aside

Scald 1-1/2 c. milk.  Add 8 oz of German chocolate.  Stir until chocolate is melted.  Add first sugar mixture and stir until thickened.

Add beaten egg yolks and stir on low heat for 2-3 minutes.

Remove from heat and add coconut mixture, stirring well.

Cool and pour into a 9" baked pie shell.  Chill and top with sweetened whipped cream.

This is very rich, so small slices do quite well.

Thanks for stopping by, Belle. This sounds absolutely decadent! Mmmm.... 

Thursday Recipe - Cranberry Sweet Potato Muffins

And a plug for a great holiday giveaway! Hundreds of books, lots of authors, lots of fun. Stop by and enter for your chance to win one of the fabulous books. http://www.quietfurybooks.com/holidayevent.html

Now, on to the recipe. I've been chatting with a friend who lives in South Africa about the importance of pumpkin pie to Americans. She wanted to experience it, but had no access to pumpkins. Guess what? Butternut squash, banana squash, sweet potatoes or yams, acorn squash, pretty much any orange colored squash, can be substituted for pumpkin. They will have slightly different flavors and textures, but overall, can be exchanged freely between recipes. My kids really prefer butternut squash or yams instead of pumpkin in the pies.

To prepare fresh yams or any of the winter squash, like those listed, just scrub them to remove any surface dirt, jab with a fork a few times, then roast at 350° until they are tender. Yams take anywhere from an hour to two, depending on size. If you want, cut the squash in half and remove the seeds, then bake. If you turn them cut side down, they don't dry out. You can also put a tablespoon or so of butter into the seed cavity and bake them cut side up. Squash takes anywhere from 45 minutes to 90 minutes depending on thickness and size of pieces.

Take them out of the oven and let cool just long enough to handle, or longer if you prefer. Scoop out the insides and toss the peels. Now you have big buckets of squishy orange deliciousness. Serve it plain or with a bit of butter, salt, and pepper. Or use it in one of the recipes calling for canned pumpkin. Use 1 c. baked squash or yams in place of 1 c. canned pumpkin.

And canned yams? Ew. We tried them one year and no one would eat them. Buy them fresh and bake them if you can. The baked innards freeze quite nicely in freezer bags or containers. They'll keep for 6-9 months. Just thaw and use.

Cranberry Sweet Potato Muffins

2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1/2 t. salt
1 t. baking soda
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/2 t. ginger
1 c. cooked sweet potato
1/4 c. oil
1/4 c. orange juice
2 1/2 c. flour
1 c. chopped cranberries, fresh or frozen or dried

Cream sugar and eggs. Add salt, soda and spices. Cream until fluffy. Stir in sweet potato and oil. Add cranberries and flour. Stir just until mixed. Scoop into muffin cups. Bake at 400° 13-15 minutes for mini muffins, 18-20 minutes for regular muffins. Makes 2 dozen regular muffins, 5 dozen mini muffins. Use paper muffin liners, trust me, it makes life so much easier.

Substitutions (because that's what I'm all about when I cook):
Dried Cranberries - dried cherries, blueberries, currants, or other dried berries, chopped if necessary, semi-sweet chocolate chips, chopped nuts
Fresh Cranberries - fresh or bottled cherries, fresh or frozen blueberries, semi-sweet chocolate chips, chopped nuts
Cooked sweet potatoes or yams - cooked squash or pumpkin

Thursday Recipe - Crockpot Meatloaf

Summer is here. Sort of. I'm still waiting for the heat to hit. We had a frost warning last night. But I know it is inevitable. The heat will come and when it does, I don't want to be using the oven. That's where the crockpot comes in. I own, at last count, five of them in various sizes. If you don't own one, go buy one. It's a great investment. I'd start with a 3 or 4 quart size. It's big enough for most families. My most used ones are the 5 and 6 quart ones, but I'm usually cooking for a huge group of people.

Crockpots are great. You load them up in the morning, plug them in, and forget about them until dinnertime when your house is filled with delicious smells. They cook long and slow. I use them for all sorts of things. (check out the pot roast and bread pudding recipes I posted here)

This is a basic recipe for meatloaf, a staple at my house. The crockpot keeps it moist and flavorful, not dry and crunchy. Just plan on letting it cook for a minimum of 4 hours on high or 7 hours on low. Not only does the crockpot make great food, it saves energy. And your kitchen won't heat up while it's cooking.

Crockpot Meatloaf

1 1/2 lbs ground beef, lean or extra lean works best
2 c. oatmeal, plain instant is better than old fashioned for this recipe
2 eggs
1/2 c. ketchup or catsup
1/2 c. barbecue sauce
1/4 c. mustard (not dry, use the prepared stuff)
1/2 c. onion, finely chopped
1 c. shredded carrot
1/2 c. dried mushrooms, broken up into small bits (totally optional, but really tasty to add. It helps stretch the meat, too)

Mix everything together. Squishing it with your hands works best. Pretend you are Godzilla squashing buildings in Tokyo. Once everything is mashed together until it's evenly distributed, scoop it together into one big ball. Plop it into the crockpot. You want it to be a ball in the middle, mostly. Don't squish it up to the sides. Cover with the lid and cook on low 6 - 7 hours or high 3 - 4 hours, or until it is not pink in the middle. You can dress it up with extra ketchup or BBQ sauce on top for the last hour of cooking.

Serve with instant mashed potatoes or rice, green beans or green salad, and ice cream for dessert. Or you can try the Hot Fudge Sundae Cake in your crockpot. It takes about 2 - 3 hours on high to cook.

Thursday Recipe - Nacho Stacks

(If you're interested in the camp - www.spacecamputah.org 
I'm also blogging about it today on SFR Brigade - The Best Day Job in the Universe )

I just finished a three-day space camp. I’m the one and only Klingon lunchlady, which means the kitchen is mine during June and July. This year marks my ninth summer slinging instellar hash. Our campers are ages 10 - 14. I have a really good idea of what they will eat and what they pass over. I’ve got portions down to a science. Best rule of thumb - if it is sweet, they’ll eat twice as much as a regular serving. If it is healthy, six servings is plenty for all the kids at a camp. Don’t get me wrong, I offer them plenty of healthy fresh fruit and veggies because I get to eat all I want while I’m working the camp and I *love* melons, strawberries, peaches, plums, grapes, etc, etc, etc. I do my best to offer a moderately healthy main dish, too. And plenty of desserts. Full campers equal happy campers.

This recipe is easy and delicious. Modify it to whatever your family will enjoy. I set everything out and let the kids add their own toppings. Amounts in parantheses are the amounts I serve for a camp, just for kicks.

Nacho Stacks, serves 6 - 8 (serves 50 - 70 kids and teens)

1 lb bag corn chips (3 - 4 giant Costco size bags of corn chips)
1 quart or so canned chili (2 gallon cans, Costco saves the day again)
2 - 3 normal size cans condensed nacho cheese sauce, mixed according to directions (1 gallon can Rico’s condensed cheese sauce which makes 6 quarts of sauce, Wal-Mart fails, they quit stocking it at our local store. I am sad. It was great stuff, plain cheese so no spicy peppers for kids to complain about. I need to call the manager about this one.)
12 oz bag shredded lettuce (4 -5 bags, more if the older teen girls on our staff are eating, less if it’s the guys)
1 c. grape tomatoes (honking Costco package of grape tomatoes. Kids eat a surprising amount of these. Or maybe it’s just my boss eating them all.)
1/2 c. sour cream (2 c. sour cream, most kids pass on it or can’t figure out what it is.)
1 c. salsa (2 - 3 c., most kids don’t want spicy)
1 c. guacamole (2 c. guacamole for the six kids who like it.)
1 c. sliced olives (1/2 gallon sliced olives. They eat these like candy.)

Heat chili in one pot, cheese sauce in another. Crockpots are great for this. Small dip crockpots, usually 1 - 2 quarts, can heat everything in about an hour. (If you’re making the monster portions in 6 quart crockpots, plan on at least 2 - 3 hours on high.) Set everything out in separate dishes and let people build their own nacho stacks. The order listed is the recommended order for adding toppings, but hey, do it your way.

Recommended side dishes: Sliced watermelon (1 decent sized seedless watermelon feeds an entire camp.); 1 dozen peanut butter bars (recipe will post another day, if I can wheedle it out of the local bakery, and plan on at least 6 dozen of them for a camp); 1 dozen donut holes (6 - 9 dozen, and you’ll still run short); 1 gallon lemonade (3 gallons lemonade, 3 gallons fruit punch)