"Sunset Potluck Cookbook" - Dark Chocolate Chewy Brownies

Date I made this recipe: August 1, 2009

Sunset Potluck Cookbook – Pride & Joy Recipes You Can Take To The Party by the editors of Sunset Magazine
Published by: Lane Publishing Co.
ISBN: 0-376-02545-X © 1988
Recipe: Dark Chocolate Chewy Brownies - p. 90

I am told these brownies were really good. The reason I say “I was told” is because allergy season has kicked it (it is August, you know) and I really can’t taste much of anything. Phooey. I hate this time of year.

It’s been bad enough that the weather has been sub-par as far as summer goes (cold, cold, clouds, rain, cold, clouds, rain) but to have the pollen come out and slap you upside the head until the first hard frost comes is really too much to bear. All I can say is that the pharmaceutical companies are having at happy dance at my expense.

Anyway…today was the day that Arlene hosted the Ladies’ Lunch and I really wanted to make up for what I considered to be my lousy entry when Vicki hosted the group. We don’t always meet at each other’s home but Arlene and her husband had just moved to a new apartment and last year Vicki wanted to show off her old home (she has since moved) and so there it is. Of course, I’ll be hosting the next one in October and after that I say it’s time to make reservations instead of recipes.

Even though I pulled this cookbook off the shelf some time ago, I was still undecided on what to make right up until liftoff. In the running was an Amaretto Cheesecake but it just took too long to make so brownies it was!

This is one ridiculously simple recipe but very chewy and moist and chocolaty…or so I’m told.

Dark Chocolate Chewy Brownies – makes 12-18 servings

1 cup (1/2 lb – or two sticks) butter or margarine, cut into chunks
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
2 2/3 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup slivered almonds or chopped walnuts

Combine butter and chocolate into a 3-4 to 4-quart pan and place over low heat. When ingredients begin to soften, stir until blended; remove from heat. Add sugar, eggs, and vanilla; beat with an electric mixer until smooth. Blend in flour. Spread in a greased 9- by 13-inch baking pan; sprinkle with nuts.

Bake in a 350 oven just until edges feel firm and center springs back when gently pressed (25 to 30 minutes). Let cool in pan on a wire rack. Cut into bars. (Note: when I say I waited until nearly liftoff, I meant it: These bars were pretty darned warm when I cut into them to take them to Arlene’s. The pan wasn’t necessarily pretty but the taste was great…or so I’m told).

"Sunset Favorite Recipes for Salads" - Oriental Cabbage Slaw

Date I made this recipe: June 22, 2008
Sunset Favorite Recipes for Salads by the Editors of Sunset Books and Sunset Magazine
Published by: Lane Publishing Company
© 1979
Recipe: Oriental Cabbage Slaw – p. 13

Today is my community band’s annual picnic and rather than do the usual (i.e. go out and buy something to bring), I made a dish, an oriental cabbage slaw. It helps to have a blog as incentive to cook from yet another cookbook.

Although I’m primarily a clarinet player in my band, I also sing with a smaller jazz group made up of 8 other band members and as a singer, I tend to watch what I eat before a performance. Dairy products and chocolate coat the throat and makes it hard to get notes out and coffee and alcohol do the opposite and dry it out.

Up until this year, I always moaned that I couldn’t eat half of what others brought to the picnic so this year I fought back and made something I could eat. Turns out it was tasty as well. The “payback” for my careful eating was that I blew the roof off the dump when I sang “On the Sunny Side of the Street.” So singers, take note! Pass up that chocolate brownie –you’ll thank me later.

My only issue with this recipe is that contrary to instructions you should not coarsely shred your Chinese cabbage as you will have a mess on your hands. None of the grating components of my grater did the job so I resorted to chopping the cabbage with my chef’s knife and that did the trick.

Oriental Cabbage Slaw – makes 6 to 8 servings
For the slaw:
½ pound fresh edible-pod peas, strings removed, or 1 package (10 oz) frozen edible-pod peas, thawed
1 small head (about 1 ¼ lbs) Chinese cabbage (napa), coarsely shredded
1 medium-size bunch radishes, thinly sliced
½ cup thinly sliced green onion
1 can (8 ½ oz) sliced bamboo shoots, drained
2/3 cup slivered almonds

For the dressing:
½ cup salad oil
1/3 cup white wine vinegar
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
¾ teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
¼ teaspoon sesame oil (optional)

Cut pea pods into 1-inch pieces. Place in a salad bowl with cabbage, radishes, onion and bamboo shoots (I cut these in half as well); cover and refrigerate, if made ahead.

Spread almonds in a shallow pan and toast in a 350 oven until lightly browned (about 8 minutes); set aside.

Combine the ingredients for the sweet soy dressing (salad oil, white wine vinegar, etc); blend well. Add the dressing to the cabbage mixture and toss well. Garnish with toasted almonds.

"Sunset Crockery Cookbook" - Country Captain Chicken Breasts (Crock Pot Recipe)

Date I made this recipe: January 6, 2008

Sunset Crockery Cookbook by the Editors of Sunset Books and Sunset Magazine
Published by: Sunset Publishing Corporation
ISBN: 0-376-02224-8
© 1992
Recipe: Country Captain Chicken Breasts – p. 63

Back in the early 80’s my parents gave me a crock pot since it was the kitchen item that every busy working gal had to have. Not content to just leave it sit in my kitchen, I hauled that thing all over hell’s half acre, particularly up to northern Minnesota on cross-country ski weekends. And then, of course, crock pots fell out of favor and I relegated mine to the basement to collect dust for a considerable period of time.

This year, I hauled it out again, first to try out a recipe from one of my other crock pot cookbooks and then to make a pot roast for my family at Christmastime. My mom had fallen and needed a partial hip replacement and so to make it easy on everyone when she got out of the care facility, we decided on a crock pot meal—quick, easy and delicious.

And so as long as I had the thing out, I decided to cook yet another recipe, this time from this Sunset Cookbook and after a couple weeks of beef and pork roasts, I decided on chicken.

Until I started collecting southern cookbooks, I had never heard of Country Captain but I’d have to say at least one of out three southern cook books has a recipe for it. I also have to say that every time I see this recipe, I can't help but think of the (Walt Whitman) poem, "Oh Captain! My Captain! ...something, something, something, etc. etc. etc." Hey, it's been a long time since this English major hauled out a poetry book, I remember titles quite well, it's the text that is problematic!

Country Captain is an interesting mix of Indian cuisine (curry, raisins) and southern food (peppers, tomatoes and chicken—not that these are exclusive to the south but you get my point). From what I’ve read, British sea captains (hence, the name) brought back the concept, if not a recipe for this dish, home to the south in the late 1800’s.

This recipe was a little different from most of the other recipes I’ve found in that it uses currants instead of raisins (and might I say that cooked currents look like peppercorns and I kept thinking I had to remove them from my dish!) and included shrimp, turning this dish into something that resembled jambalaya.

Regardless of what you add, the curry and apples coupled with the green pepper and tomatoes made for one flavorful dish. But before posting the recipe, let’s talk about the rice.

Rice used to be the cash crop of the south, surpassing cotton as the big money maker in that part of the country. Rice is still used in a lot of southern dishes, including this one, and this gal can’t get enough of it. But for some reason, everything added to this crock pot cooked as it should have except for the rice. The rice on the bottom of the pot cooked just fine but the rice on the top of the pack did not. In fact, it reminded me a lot of Minute Rice, that oh-so-popular staple of many a kitchen (including my mother’s) in the 60’s and 70’s. So my suggestion as to how to avoid that problem is to make the rice separately, cooking it in either water or chicken broth (or a combination of both) and then add it before serving.

Country Captain Chicken Breasts – serve 6
2 medium-size Granny Smith apples
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 small green bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
2 tablespoons dried currants
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne)
1 can (about 14.5 oz) diced tomatoes
6 small, skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 1 ¾ pounds total)
½ cup chicken broth
1 cup long-grain rice
1 pound large, raw shrimp, shelled and deveined
1/3 cup slivered almonds
Salt
Chopped parsley

Quarter, core and dice unpeeled apples. In a 4-quart or larger electric slow cooker, combine apples, onion, bell pepper, garlic, currants, curry powder, ginger, and red pepper; stir in tomatoes. Rinse chicken and pat dry; then arrange, overlapping pieces slightly, on top of tomato mixture. Pour in broth. Cover and cook at low setting until chicken is very tender when pierced (6 to 7 hours).

Carefully lift chicken to warm plate, cover lightly, and keep warm in a 200 degree oven. Stir rice into cooking liquid (see above about rice). Increase cooker heat setting to high; cover and cook, stirring once or twice, until rice is almost tender to the bite (30 to 35 minutes). Stir in shrimp, cover, and cook until shrimp are opaque in center; cut to test (about 10 more minutes).

Meanwhile, toast almonds in a small nonstick frying pan over medium heat until golden brown (5 to 8 minutes), stirring occasionally. Set aside.

To serve, season rice mixture to taste with salt. Mound in a warm serving dish; arrange chicken on top. Sprinkle with parsley and almonds.

"Savoring the Seasons of the Northern Heartland" & "Sunset Fresh Ways With Salads" & "Perfect Chocolate Desserts" (Willan) - pot pie, salad, dessert

Date my husband made these recipes: November 23, 2007

Savoring the Seasons of the Northern Heartland by Beth Dooley and Lucia Watson
Published by: Alfred A. Knopf
ISBN: 0-679-41175-5
Recipe: Chicken (or Turkey) Pot Pie with Biscuit Crust – p. 170-171

Sunset Fresh Ways with Salads as Side Dishes or Main Courses by the Editors of Sunset Books and Sunset Magazine
Published by: Lane Publishing Co.
ISBN: 0-376-02608-1
Gorgonzola, Apple & Walnut Salad – p. 9

Perfect Chocolate Desserts by Anne Willan
Published by: DK Publishing Inc.
ISBN: 0-7894-1671-9
Chocolate Crème Brulee – p. 58-59

No, I have not turned over my kitchen to my spouse. It’s just that our schedule changed with the unexpected stay-over of my brother and sister-in-law (see the Canadian Bacon Egg Casserole blog posting) and with everything going on, my husband volunteered to make dinner that night. Because he’s the pie guy, he also makes the fabulous biscuit crust that goes on top of the chicken pot pie and so what the heck, he might as well do the entire thing.

I mentioned in the pie blog posting that there are only two cookbooks that we keep in our kitchen. One is the Sunset Pie & Pastries Cookbook and the other is my absolute favorite out of all 800 (and counting!) cookbooks: Savoring the Seasons of the Northern Heartland by Beth Dooley and Lucia Watson. (I just refer to it as Savoring the Seasons but that only gives you part of the gist of what this book is about).

Lucia Watson is to food in the heartland the way Alice Waters is to food in California. Both use fresh ingredients, both change their menus constantly and both figured out this “buy locally” concept well before it became popular nation-wide.

When Lucia opened her own restaurant in the Uptown neighborhood of Minneapolis, she turned the restaurant industry on its ear. The place was and still is packed. The food is just so unbelievably good that if one had the money one could just eat well by dining there all the time.

And then, God bless her, she and Beth Dooley published a cookbook. Mine happens to be a first edition and I love it so much that it has the aforementioned place of honor in my kitchen. It is spattered, it is stained, it is crumpled and it was autographed by Lucia when she did a book signing in conjunction with the promotion of the 1999-2000 Minneapolis -St. Paul Restaurants Zagat Survey. I tell you what, I gushed!

But my connection with Lucia didn’t end there. Lucia ordered her prosciutto from the Italian deli I was managing at the time and so every couple of days or so, she called in her order and often came to pick it up in person. She was always very pleasant and I enjoyed talking to her but nothing cemented our relationship like the Rhubarb-Sour Cream Cake Incident of 2000.

After a friend gave me and my husband a boatload of rhubarb, I decided to make the Rhubarb-Sour Cream Cake, found on p. 333 of the cookbook. Everything went well with the making of it but when I bit into it, the cake was soggy. Very soggy. Hmmm….well, that was disappointing.

So I did what any of us would do, right? I called and asked Lucia what went wrong. Now I didn’t really think I’d get Lucia herself because she was busy cooking food that was out of this world, but danged if she didn’t answer the phone. So I told her the problem and she said she’d have her pastry chef get back to me. “Yeah, right,” I thought.

Well, sure enough, the pastry chef called me back. And we went over the recipe step by step but the only thing we could think of was that perhaps my dry ingredients were past their prime but otherwise, it was a head-scratcher. But did I care? Heck no. I just turned my attention to other recipes in the book! (I’m no quitter).

So to date, here’s what I’ve made:

Chicken in Gin with Juniper – p. 70
Porketta (Garlic-Fennel Pork Roast) – p. 108-109 (one of our favorites)
Pork Loin with Apples and Cider Sauce – p. 110-111
Beef, Wild Rice and Winter Vegetable Soup – p. 146
Mrs. Macine’s Brownies – p. 314
Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars – p. 317
Rhubarb-Sour Cream Cake – p. 333

And our number one favorite and this year’s featured item during our post-Thanksgiving Dinner: Chicken (or Turkey) Pot Pie with Biscuit Crust.

People, I’m here to tell you that there is nothing more comforting than Lucia’s Chicken Pot Pie. We’ve made this recipe over and over and over again and it never disappoints. Neither does Lucia’s restaurant. If you haven’t been to Minneapolis before now, then get thee on a plane, train or automobile and make your dinner reservation now!! And if you live here and haven’t been yet, what are you waiting for??? Here, let me help you: http://www.lucias.com/

And although we could survive on Lucia’s Pot Pie alone, we needed to at least provide our guests with a couple other items and so we made a Gorgonzola, Apple & Walnut Salad from yet another Sunset Book - Fresh Ways with Salads - and then finished off our meal with a kick-butt Chocolate Crème Brulee from Anne Willan’s Perfect Chocolate Desserts Cookbook. The later book was given to us by my brother and sister-in-law as a gift one year so we thought it was appropriate that we make something from it while they were here.

Chicken (or Turkey) Pot Pie with Biscuit Crust – serves 6 to 8 (unless you’re us in which case, two, maybe three servings. Of course, this all depends on how you define “servings!”)

Filling
3 cups homemade Chicken Stock or low-salt canned broth
1 pound chicken or turkey breast or 2 ½ cups diced cooked chicken or turkey meat
3 carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
½ stick (4 tablespoons) butter
1 cup peeled, chopped onions
4 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
½ cup whole milk
½ teaspoon dried thyme
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ cup peas
¼ cup corn kernels (fresh or frozen)
Salt and pepper to taste

Crust
1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
½ stick (4 tablespoons) butter, cut into bits
1/3 cup grated sharp Cheddar cheese
1 egg
½ cup buttermilk
Egg wash (1 egg yolk combined with 1 tablespoon milk to brush over top of crust)

To make the filling, bring the stock to a low simmer in a large stockpot. Add the chicken or turkey breast and poach the meat on low (never allowing the water to boil) for about 20 to 30 minutes, or until the meat is no longer pink when cut. Remove the meat from the pot and set aside. Add the carrots, potatoes, and celery, and simmer until the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Dice the meat. Drain and reserve the stock and set the vegetables aside.

Melt the butter in a deep skillet and cook the chopped onions, stirring over medium heat until they are soft, then sprinkle in the flour and cook some more, stirring, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the milk and 2 cups of the chicken stock in a stream, stirring, and bring to a boil. Add the thyme and nutmeg, and cook about 5 minutes—the mixture should be thick. Add the peas and carrots, potatoes, and celery to the pot and stir to combine. Turn the mixture into a casserole dish or deep pie tin and make the crust. (This dish may also be made in individual pies. Use single serving ramekins and shorten the cooking time to 15 minutes).

To make the crust, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Cut in the butter until the dough resembles coarse meal, then toss in the grated cheese. Whisk the egg with the buttermilk. Add to the flour mixture and gently stir to make a soft dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly-floured board and pat it into a large round. Cut the dough into 2 ½-inch circles.

Place the biscuits on top of the chicken filling and brush with the egg wash. Bake in a preheated 425 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.

Gorgonzola, Apple & Walnut Salad – serves 6 to 8
Gingered Walnuts (recipe follows)
¼ each walnut oil and salad oil
2 tablespoons each white wine vinegar and lemon juice
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/8 teaspoon salt
Dash of white pepper
2 large tart green apples
1 head romaine or green leaf lettuce, washed and crisped
3 ounces (about 2/3 cup) crumbed Gorgonzola or other blue-veined cheese

Gingered Walnuts
1 tablespoon salad oil
1 teaspoon soy sauce
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup walnut halves

To make the gingered walnuts:
Pour 1 tablespoon salad oil into an 8-inch square baking pan. Place pan in oven; preheat to 250. When oven is hot, remove pan and stir in soy sauce, ginger, salt and garlic powder. Add the walnuts, stirring to coat with oil mixture. Spread nuts in a single layer. Bake, stirring occasionally, until nuts are crisp and browned (about 30 minutes). Let cool on paper towels. If made ahead, store nuts in an airtight container at room temperature for u to 1 week. Makes about 1 cup.

To make the salad:
In a medium-size bowl, combine oils, vinegar, lemon juice, mustard, salt and pepper; mix until well blended then set aside.

Just before serving, core and thinly slice apples. Tear lettuce into bite-sized pieces (you should have about 3 quarts). In a salad bowl, combine lettuce and apples. Mix dressing again then pour over salad and mix lightly until well coated. Sprinkle salad with walnuts and cheese. Serve immediately.


Chocolate Crème Brulee – serves 4
So…nothing says Thanksgiving like chocolate, no?! Since we made a pot pie for our non-traditional Thanksgiving dinner, we didn’t want to follow up with a dessert involving pie dough or biscuit dough so we turned our attention to chocolate.

This recipe was so good and so rich that I actually couldn’t finish it. The best thing about this recipe is its simplicity: chocolate, cream, eggs and sugar are all that are needed to impress your friends (and expand your waistline!).

6 oz semisweet chocolate
2 cups heavy cream
4 egg yolks
¼ cup sugar for sprinkling

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

On a cutting board, with a chef’s knife, cut chocolate into small chunks. If you do this on a warm day, chill the chocolate first. Also note that the cutting board must be dry as moisture can affect melting. You can also chop the chocolate in a food processor but be sure you don’t overuse that pulse button or you’ll have a mess on your hands.

Get out your heavy-based saucepan and heat the chocolate and cream, stirring with a wooden spoon, until melted and smooth. Bring just to a boil. Let cool slightly.

Put the egg yolks in a large bowl and whisk together until just mixed. Pour the chocolate cream slowly into the egg yolks, whisking constantly until evenly mixed.

Strain the chocolate cream through the large strainer to remove any bits of cooked egg yolk. Anne recommends resting the strainer on the rim of another bowl.

Carefully ladle the chocolate cream into the ramekins, dividing it equally among them.

Fold a dish towel and put it on the bottom of a roasting pan. Set the ramekins on the towel then pour in cold water to come just over halfway up the sides of the dishes.

Bake the chocolate creams in the oven until a think skin forms on top, 10-15 minutes. Remove the ramekins from the roasting pan. Chill the chocolate creams in the refrigerator at least 1 hour or up to 8 hours.

To caramelize the chocolate creams:

Heat the broiler. Sprinkle each chocolate cream evenly with sugar, using a small strainer, to form a think even layer. Be sure to wipe off any sugar from the edges of the dishes because it will burn under the broiler.

Half fill the roasting pan with cold water and ice, and set the ramekins in it. Broil the chocolate creams as close as possible to the heat until the sugar melts and caramelizes, 2-3 minutes. Let cool a few minutes so the caramel forms a crisp layer.

NOTE: This is the first time I’ve heard of putting ramekins in an ice bath. My husband usually does the caramelizing and uses either a blow torch or a kitchen torch to do the job. In order to get a very thin, crisp crusty top, he recommends lightly sprinkling the ramekins with sugar and then dumping out the excess so you don’t over-torch the things!

"Cooking at a Glance - Pies and Pastries" & Sunset Pies & Pastries" - Apple Butter Pumpkin Pie and Deep-dish Cherry Pie

Date my husband made these recipes: November 22, 2007 (Thanksgiving Day)

Cooking at a Glance – Pies & Pastries by the authors of the Cooking at a Glance series
Published by: Fog City Press
ISBN: 1-892374-49-8
Recipe: Apple-Butter Pumpkin Pie – p. 28

Sunset Pies & Pastries by the Editors of Sunset Books and Sunset Magazine
Published by: Lane Publishing Co.
Recipe: Deep-dish Cherry Pie – p. 23 (Note: the recipe on that page is for Deep-dish Blueberry Pie; he substituted cherry, the instructions for which are found on the same page in the lower-right corner)

Note: He used the same pie crust, Flaky Pastry (p. 7 of the Sunset Book) for both recipes

Around here, my husband is known as The Pie Guy. He has a way with crusts that I just never took the time to develop. So when we got together with his family later in the day on Thanksgiving, he provided the pies. My poor brother and sister-in-law (see earlier blog) were exhausted and so passed on coming out to his mom’s with us.

Although I have over 800 cookbooks, only two reside full-time in my kitchen. This book is one of them. My husband has made so many pies for this book that we should be running a test kitchen operation for their next pie cookbook update!

Flaky Pastry (yields one 9” single crust)
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour
¼ teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons solid vegetable shortening or lard –or- ¼ cup solid vegetable shortening plus 2 tablespoons butter
3-4 tablespoons cold water

Flaky Pastry (yields a 9” double crust or 10” single crust—the cherry pie used a 9” double crust)
2 ¼ cups flour
½ teaspoons salt
¾ cup solid vegetable shortening or lard – or – ½ cup solid vegetable shortening plus ¼ cup butter
6-8 tablespoons

Apple Butter-Pumpkin Pie – serves 8
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup apple butter (note: my husband substituted 1 cup of pear-amaretto jelly that we had in the cupboard and it was very tasty!)
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon nutmeg
3 eggs
1 5-ounce can evaporated milk (2/3 cup)
½ cup milk
Pasty for a single-crust or double-crust pie

In a large mixing bowl combine pumpkin, apple butter, sugar, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. Add eggs; beat lightly with a rotary beater or wire whisk until combined. Gradually stir in evaporated milk and milk; mix well.

Prepare and roll out pastry as directed. Line a 9-inch pie plate with pastry. Trim and crimp a high pastry edge or attach leaf-shaped cutouts. Pour pumpkin mixture into pastry shell. To prevent overbrowning, cover edge of pie with foil. Bake in a preheated 375 oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake about 25 minutes more, or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 1 hour. Chill 3 to 6 hours before serving. Store in the refrigerator. If desired, serve with whipped cream (“If desired?” Come on people, it was Thanksgiving. Of course we served it with whipped cream!)

Deep-dish Cherry Pie (serves 4 to 6)
4 cups cherries (do not use cherries in heavy syrup)
¾ cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
¼ teaspoon almond extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Flaky Pastry for a single 9” pie)
1 egg lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon water
1 to 2 tablespoons butter or margarine

Preheat over to 450. Rinse and drain cherries and place in a large bowl. Add sugar, cornstarch, lemon peel, almond extract, salt, and lemon juice; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. Cover mixture and set aside.

On a lightly floured board, roll out pastry to about 2 inches wider and longer than a 1-quarter rimmed baking dish. Measure width of dish rim; then gently invert dish onto dough. Rest blade of a sharp knife against the dish then cut around the edge of the dish. Measuring out from the outline just made, cut a ring of dough the width of the dish rim. Remove excess dough and lift off dish.

Spoon cherry mixture into the dish. Cut vents in top crust; cut through outer ring of dough at both ends. Carefully fit each half of dough ring onto rim, overlapping ends slightly; cut off excess. Brush egg mixture over dough ring.

Dot filling with butter. Lift top crust onto dish, lining up edges of crust and dough rim; press gently together.

Dip a 4-tined fork into egg mixture then firmly press dough rim and top crust together with fork tines, positioning fork so each new set of lines partially overlaps the preceding set. Brush top with egg mixture. If you use a cookie cutter to make vents, brush backs of pastry cutouts with egg mixture; place cutouts on crust and brush again with egg mixture.

Place a baking sheet on the lowest oven rack to catch drips. Bake pie for 10 minutes then reduce oven heat to 350 and bake until pastry is browned (about 30 more minutes). Place pie on a rack and let cool fo4 15 minutes; spoon into individual bowls.

"Picnic & Tailgate Parties" & "The Hungry Man's Outdoor Grill Cookbook" - Mu Shu Burgers and Fiesta Potato Salad

Date I made these recipes: Sunday, May 12, 2007 (Mother’s Day)

Picnics & Tailgate Parties – A Sunset Book by the Editors of Sunset Books and Sunset Magazine
Published by: Lane Publishing Co.
ISBN: 070661802536
© 1982
Recipe: Mu Shu Burgers – p. 66

The Hungry Man’s Outdoor Grill Cookbook by the Staff Home Economists Culinary Arts Institute
Published by: Spencer Press, Inc.
© 1953
Recipe: Fiesta Potato Salad

Well, here in the heartland, we finally got around to getting a new propane tank for our grill and we’re back in business. And that’s a good thing—the temperature started spiking again (today we’re at 90) and yesterday, Mother’s Day, was a perfect day to grill out.

As you might imagine, given that I have over 800 cookbooks, I’d have a few books on grilling and picnics. Finding a recipe, however, wasn’t so easy.

Take The Hungry Man’s Outdoor Grill Cookbook. Clearly, this book is intended for more sophisticated grilling than our little gas grill can undertake. There were recipes for Beef Roast on a Spit, Turkey on a Spit, and my favorite, Duck on a Spit (we are spit-less in this family), as well as Barbecued Bologna Roll, Grilled Lobster and even Griddlecakes. And so I was just a bit challenged.

In the end, I decided to hedge my bets and go with an accompaniment to the Mu Shu Burgers – Fiesta Potato Salad. Sure, it’s a cop out, but it’s not like burgers don’t need potato salad for heaven’s sake!

And so speaking of burgers, these were fantastic. I was rather surprised to see a recipe for Mu Shu Burgers in a cookbook from 1982 but you know, those Sunset people are on top of everything.

Although the recipes don’t really compliment each other, neither did they clash. Both were quite tasty as a Mother’s Day treat even if Mom couldn’t make it. She and my dad had just gotten back from three weeks in Italy (Rough, huh? Actually, the trip was to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary so I suppose...), plus she lives in Michigan so that would have made it hard for us to entertain her. Instead, we “toasted” her with some mighty tasty vittles.

Let the grilling begin!

Mu Shu Bugers – Serves 8
1 pound lean ground pork
1 small onion, chopped
¼ cup fine dry bread crumbs
1 egg
½ cup finely chopped water chestnuts, jicama, or celery (we used celery)
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
2 tablespoons soy sauce
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ to ¾ cup hoisin sauce (topping)
¾ to 1 cup green onion, cut into matchstick-size pieces (topping)
About 1 cup bean sprouts (topping)
Fresh coriander (cilantro or Chinese parsley) sprigs (optional) (topping)
8 flour tortillas, 6 to 8 inches in diameter

In a bowl, combine pork, onion, crumbs, egg, water chestnuts (or jicama or celery), garlic, soy sauce and ginger. Shape into 8 logs, each about 3 inches long.

To cook, place the pork logs on a grill 4 to 6 inches above a solid bed of glowing coals. Grill, turning to brown evenly, for 12 to 14 minutes total or until meat in center is no longer pink when slashed. Place foil-wrapped tortillas at edge of grill; turn over often to heat evenly. (Note: the recipe says to lightly moisten both sides of tortillas with water; stack tortillas and wrap in heavy foil but I think we skipped this step since we only grilled a couple of tortillas).

To serve, spread some hoisin sauce on a tortilla. Place a pork log near lower edge and top with some onion, bean sprouts and coriander. Fold edge of tortilla over filling; fold in sides and roll up to enclose meat and vegetables.

Fiesta Potato Salad – serves 4 to 6
3 cups cold, diced, cooked potatoes
1/3 cup finely sliced scallions (include some green tops)
6 slices crisp bacon, crumbled
2 tablespoons well-drained slivered pimiento
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon monosodium glutamate (Note: I didn’t add this, mostly because I don’t stock any!)
¼ teaspoon pepper
¼ cup French dressing with tomato ketchup base – or you can use 1 tablespoon vinegar combined with 3 tablespoons bacon drippings

Toss all ingredients lightly together with a fork. Cover and chill in a mixing bowl for an hour or so. Toss lightly with 3 hard-cooked eggs, sliced and ¾ cup mayonnaise or cooked salad dressing. Turn into serving bowl.