Bret's Banana Cream Pie

Makes enough for one large 12-inch pie, or two 9-inch pies.

This recipe is  Work In Progress.  May need adjusting as it seems too sweet.  The two cans of condensed milk might be too much.
Shortbread Crust
2 1/2 c. flour
6 oz butter, softened
1 large egg
1 tsp salt
6 tbsp sugar

Custard Filling:
2 cans condensed milk
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
4 tbsp butter

4 bananas, mashed

2 1/2 c. milk
3 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 c. flour
6 egg yolks

3-4 bananas for chopping & layering

Topping:
1 1/2 c. whipping cream
1/2 tsp. vanilla
pinch salt
2-3 tbsp powdered sugar to stiffen the peaks further

Crust Prep:
Use a pastry blender and mix the butter, sugar, egg, flour and salt together until somewhat crumbly.
Press this into the pie pan(s)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Chill in freezer for 20 minutes.

Custard Prep:
In a large pot on the stove, add the condensed milk, two cups of the plain milk (reserve half a cup), butter, salt, vanilla.  Begin heating on medium heat.  In a separate bowl, gradually blend 1/2 c. milk with the flour and cornstarch until its smooth & thick.  Add this to the pot on the stove. 

Separate the eggs.  Save the egg whites for something else (optionally make meringue instead of the whipped cream topping) Put the egg yolks into a separate, large mixing bowl and keep on hand near the pot that's heating up.  These are to be tempered with the hot mixture.

Around now the crust should be cool and firm.  Place in over at 375 degrees and bake for 20 minutes.

Mash the bananas, add them to the yolks.  This can be put through a blender if you want a smooth banana custard.

Once the condensed milk mixture is steaming hot, gradually add it to the egg-banana mixture and blend it.  Once combined, pour it all back into the large pot and cook over med-low heat until it's good and thick, stirring often.  This again can be blended if you want it very smooth.

Once the crust is done, remove it from the oven.  Change the oven temp to 325 degrees.  Add half of the filling (if making two 9-inchers, use a quarter, or put a half-inch layer down, roughly in each shell).  Then layer sliced banana on top of the custard.  Spread the remaining custard over the top.

If making a large pie, bake it for 40 minutes.  If making two 9-inchers, bake for 30.

Let the pie cool completely.  This will take about 3-4 hours.  Once cooled, put it in the fridge and chill it thoroughly.  This will likely take overnight.

Once completely chilled, make the whipped cream topping. 

Beat the whipping cream and vanilla on high until peaks begin to form.  Gradually add in the powdered sugar.  If necessary, use a bit more cornstarch to stiffen up the whipped cream.  Pile it onto the chilled pie, and top with bananas.

Southern Beans and Rice

2 lbs dry pinto or kidney beans
16 oz or more hot Italian sausage
2 c. long grain white rice

4 tbsp bacon grease or butter (bacon grease preferred)
1 large white onion, chopped fine
1 large green bell pepper, chopped fine
3 celery ribs, chopped fine
2 tbsp molasses
2 tbsp cider vinegar

1 tsp minced sage or 1/2 tsp dry
1 tbsp dry parsley
1/2 tsp thyme
1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp smoked salt
1 tsp kosher salt (or to taste)

Soak:
Begin early in the day by soaking the beans with boiling water.  Pour enough to cover them completely in a large bowl.  They'll soak up the water and expand significantly.  Soak for 4 to 6 hours, until you can pierce them with a finger nail.  They're ready to cook then.

Main Prep:
Get out a large cast iron dutch oven or similar pot.  Put the beans in there and cook on high with enough water to cover.  Add the Italian sausages to the pot too.  While that's cooking, prep the vegetables.  Set a timer for 10 minutes.  When it goes off, remove the sausages, peel them and chop them into small bits.

Melt the fat in a skillet and begin cooking the vegetables.  Add the dry seasonings to the vegetables.  Once they're cooked, add them and the chopped meat to the dutch oven with the beans.  Add the other flavorings and let it simmer for 1 hour.

Taste the broth after that time and balance the salt, sweetness, smokiness, and spiciness to taste.

The beans may need to simmer for a couple hours to fully cook.  Test a couple to see how tender they are.

Cook the rice and serve with the beans.

This is best with Chow-Chow relish

Banana Bread Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 3/4 c. flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick butter
1/2 c. creamy peanut butter
1/2 c. sour cream
1/2 c. loosely packed brown sugar
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 ripe medium bananas, mashed
3/4 c. chocolate chips or mini choc chips
3/4 c chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350° degrees F.

Melt the butter in a frying pan and brown it until it smells slightly nutty.  Do not blacken.  Remove from heat and blend with the sugars.  Let it cool 10 minutes. 

While cooling, mix the flour, salt and baking soda in a bowl and set aside. In another large bowl, whisk together peanut butter, sour cream and butter-sugar mixture until combined. Whisk in egg and vanilla extract until smooth. Add in the mashed banana and mix until combined – mixture will not be smooth. Gradually add in the dry ingredients, mixing with a large spoon until a dough forms.  This recipe may be too loose.  Add a bit of extra flow, 1/4 c. at a time to firm it up so that a spoonful of dough holds its shape on a cookie sheet.  Fold in chocolate chips and nuts.


Shape the dough into the size of a golfball (or size of your choice) and place on a nonstick baking sheet about 2 inches apart from each other. Bake for 10-13 minutes, until the edges are golden and the middles are puffy – do not overbake! Let cool completely then dig in. I suggest letting these cool completely before storing them in a sealed container or bag, and they will stay very soft because of the banana.

These need storage in the fridge as the banana will promote molding if left out and covered. 

Malinda Russell's Allspice Cake with Boiled Frosting

Pulled from: https://www.npr.org/2014/02/05/271531627/a-meal-to-honor-early-african-american-cookbook-authors

A cake was a natural choice from this pastry shop owner's cookbook. With pangs of guilt, I tweaked this recipe. Russell's recipe calls for brandy, lemon extract and rosewater. To me, those other flavorings got lost with all the spice, so I took them out and slightly increased the sour cream. I also added molasses to the recipe to balance the cake's taste. Russell did not suggest icing this cake, but her cookbook does include a few boiled icing recipes. In tribute to her original, I added the flavorings I took out of the cake to the icing.

Makes one two-layer cake, 10 to 12 servings

Cake:
2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground mace
1 1/2 teaspoons ground allspice
1 1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg or about 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 ounces (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup molasses
4 eggs, at room temperature
1 cup sour cream

Boiled Icing:

2 egg whites
1 1/2 cups sugar (superfine if possible)
1/3 cup water
1 tablespoon rosewater or brandy or 1 teaspoon lemon extract or vanilla

For two 9-by-2-inch cake pans, grease, line with parchment circles, grease again and lightly flour.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F on a convection oven or 350 degrees F on a conventional oven.

Sift together the flour, spices, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add the molasses and mix until combined well.

Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until combined and scraping the bowl with a plastic spatula after each addition.

Alternately, add the flour and sour cream, beginning and ending with the flour. Add the flour in three additions and the sour cream in two. Scrape down between each addition. Mix just until combined.

Divide the cake batter between the two pans.

Place in the oven and bake until a cake tester inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.

While the cake is baking, make the frosting. Time so it's ready when the cake comes out of the oven. The icing must be used right away before it starts to harden.

With a handheld or stand electric mixer, combine the egg whites, sugar and water in a metal bowl (or your stand mixer's bowl if using). Place over a pot of simmering water, without the bottom of the bowl touching the water.

Whisking constantly, cook for a few minutes until the mixture is white and hot, and the sugar feels dissolved if you quickly dip your finger in to test it. Remove from the heat and beat it with your handheld mixer or the whip (whisk) of your stand mixer until the mixture is cool and fluffy. This will take several minutes. Add the flavoring of your choice and mix to combine.

Fill and frost the cake with the boiled icing, flavored to taste. Or serve each cake dusted with powdered sugar.

Abby Fisher's Chow Chow

pulled from: https://www.npr.org/2014/02/05/271531627/a-meal-to-honor-early-african-american-cookbook-authors

Fisher won medals for her condiments, so her chow chow was an easy choice. Her recipe called for 4 gallons of cucumber, a gallon of cider vinegar and similarly large quantities of everything else. I cut the recipe down and somewhat reduced the proportion of vinegar. In addition to fish, this would be good with chicken or other meat, or beans.

Makes about 3 cups

Half a head (about 4 cups) green cabbage, thinly sliced
1/4 cup coarse salt
1 pint cider vinegar
2 cucumbers cut in small dice
2 cucumbers grated with a medium hole on a box grater
1 to 2 onions, finely chopped or grated
scant 1/2 cup brown sugar
        (original called for 3/4 c.  I thought it would be too much and I like my result)
3/4 teaspoon cayenne
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons turmeric
2 cups wine vinegar (or use part vinegar and part water if you prefer it less pungent)

Toss the cabbage and salt together. Let sit at room temperature for 4 hours or overnight in the refrigerator.

Bring the cider vinegar to a boil. Add the cabbage, including the accumulated juices, the cucumbers, onions, brown sugar, cayenne, pepper, turmeric and wine vinegar to the pot with the cider vinegar. Bring to a simmer over high heat. Lower the heat and simmer for about an hour, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has reduced substantially. Let cool. Serve as a condiment.

Cook Shanty Style Buttermilk Spice Donuts & Double Chocolate Donuts

This makes a large enough batch to divide in half and make two different types of donuts.  The recipe is based off of the famous donuts of Paul Bunyan's Cook Shanty in the Wisconsin Dells.  The spice donut recipe is very close to the original flavor and will do if you can't make it to the restaurant.
The chocolate one I improvised after making the spice donuts and they were so good I had to include here.  If dividing, measure & sift the dry ingredients first, then divide by weight.  The measures for spices and chocolate are for a full recipe.  if dividing, be sure to only use half the spices and chocolate amounts.

On halving this recipe: I frequently make half this recipe.  It cuts in half nicely.  But the dough keeps coming out thinner and too loose.  I think that it needs more flour.  For reference, the original amount of flour called for was 570 g. or about 3 1/2 c. of all purpose (a c. of AP flour is ~150g) .  I've tweaked things, such as adding buckwheat, but the amount of flour should work fine when cut in half.  Just bear in mind that the dough needs to be fairly firm.  It can't look goopy, it'll be a mess to work with for kneading and rolling.  If the dough looks too wet, too saggy, add more flour 1/4 c. at a time until it's firm, and holds it's shape well.

Base Donut Recipe:
620 g or 4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (optionally, use 520 g. all-purpose, and 100 g. buckwheat flour)
180 g or ¾ cup granulated sugar
 ½ teaspoon baking soda
 2 teaspoons baking powder
 1 teaspoon salt
 2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla
 ¾ cup buttermilk (or 3/4 c. milk + 1 tbsp lemon juice)
 ¼ cup sour cream (next time I am using greek yogurt!)
 ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
 Vegetable oil for frying

Spice Donuts: (for full recipe)

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 tsp. allspice
1/4 tsp cardamon
(optional: ½ tsp black pepper for an interesting twist)

Chocolate Donuts: (for full recipe)
6 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted over double boiler
1/3 c. cocoa poweder

Chocolate Glaze: (for full recipe)
1 cup icing sugar
4 tablespoons cocoa
3-4 tablespoons whipping cream
2 teaspoons corn syrup light or dark
sprinkles optional

Lemon Coconut Donuts: (for full recipe)
1 c. unsweetened coconut flakes (not shredded)
1 tsp. lemon zest
1/2 tsp. orange zest
1/2 tsp. lime zest
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. lemon extract

Lemon Glaze: (for full recipe)
4 Tbsp. sugar
4 Tbsp. confectioners' sugar
4 Tbsp. sour cream

1/2 tsp. lemon extract
--Dust with coconut flakes and shredded coconut

Sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda & powder, salt.  Mix in the wet ingredients, then the flavorings for whichever recipe you're making.  Once thoroughly mixed, the dough should be chilled for 20 minutes.

Turn out dough onto a flour surface.  set a wide frying pan or dutch oven on the stove and fill 1  inch high with corn or peanut oil for frying.  Heat the oil to 370 degrees F.  Use a kitchen thermometer and maintain the heat at that rough temperature.

Roll the dough out to 1/2 an inch thick on a floured surface and cut the donuts out with a donut cutter.  Save the holes for frying last.

Place three donuts in the oil at a time and fry them for 2 minutes, then turn them over with a wooden spatula.  Fry for another minute only then remove from oil and let dry on paper towels.  Repeat until all donuts are cooked.  The donut holes don't cook as long.  They only require 1 minute for the first side and about 30 seconds after the turn.

For Spice Donuts, use a ziplock bag and fill with 1 c. sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon.  Shake the donuts around in the mixture to coat evenly, as soon as they can be handled safely after removal from the oil.

For Chocolate Donuts, the glaze can wait until after you're all done to make and coat them.

Glaze
Start with powdered sugar and cocoa in a mixing bowl and begin blending the cream in a little at a time to avoid lumps.  Add the corn syrup and blend well.  This should be fairly thick, not particularly runny.  If it's runny, it will not dry well and will remain tacky and goopy.  Add more powdered sugar if that is the case.

Dunk the chocolate donuts (the spiced ones could be good in this too) into the glaze and leave on wax paper to dry.  Add sprinkles if you like.

For Lemon Coconut Donuts, the glaze can wait until after they're all made.
add the zests, coconut flakes, juice & extract to the dough and blend until incorporated.

Dunk the Lemon Coconut Donuts in the lemon glaze and sprinkle generously with finely flaked coconut.