Mile-high pies and Texas cafeterias
Whether she was in El Paso, Fort Worth or Houston, Carol Sanford often found herself at a Texas mainstay: Luby’s Cafeteria. And presented with the dizzying array of mile-high pie slices, Sanford always reached for a humble slice of a Southern classic, chess pie. But when she later had a hankering for her Luby’s favorite, she could not find a pie to match that slice of Luby’s heaven.
“None of the chess pie recipes I tried were like that chess pie,” Sanford says. “As I recall, the chess pie recipes included cornmeal. Finally, I happened to try buttermilk pie.”
Sanford’s simple buttermilk pie recipe might not quite resolve Jane Parks McKay’s problem with unattractive chess pies, but at least she’ll enjoy a satisfying staple of Texas cafeteria lore.
Buttermilk and chess pies are by their nature basic, created out of make-do necessity from ingredients on hand. Sanford’s pie combines eggs, sugar, buttermilk, butter and a little lemon or vanilla extract for flavor.
If you are more liable to reach for the gaudy pies piled high with whipped cream, then the Luby’s chocolate icebox pie recipe is the one for you. A friend sent me this recipe long ago, because she knows I have affection for Luby’s and any old-school cafeteria that serves up pie first, along with good ol’ chicken and dumplings, sweet little corn muffins and cooked-to-death green beans in pot liquor. The recipe appeared in a 50th anniversary collection of Luby’s classics.
Luby’s Chocolate Icebox Pie
Serves 6 to 8
INGREDIENTS
2½ cups milk, divided use 1½ cups sugar
¼ cup cocoa
1 tablespoon butter 7 tablespoons cornstarch 6 tablespoons water 3 extra-large egg yolks 1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup miniature marshmallows 9-inch baked pie shell, cooled Whipped cream Chocolate curls, optional
DIRECTIONS
In a medium saucepan, combine 2 cups milk, sugar, cocoa and butter. Bring to just a boil over medium heat.
In a medium bowl, combine cornstarch and water until cornstarch is completely dissolved. Stir in remaining ½ cup milk. Whisk in egg yolks and vanilla until wellblended. Gradually add to mixture in saucepan, stirring constantly with a whisk. Cook, stirring constantly, about 2 minutes or until mixture is thickened and smooth. Add marshmallows and stir until marshmallows melt and mixture is smooth.
Pour pudding into cooled pie shell. Press plastic wrap directly onto filling and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. To serve, remove plastic wrap. Top pie with whipped cream and garnish with chocolate curls. — From Luby’s Cafeteria 50th Anniversary Recipe Collection
Buttermilk Pie Serves 6 to 8
INGREDIENTS
3 eggs, beaten
2 cups sugar
½ cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla or lemon extract ½ stick butter, melted 9-inch unbaked pie shell
DIRECTIONS
Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs and sugar and mix well. Add buttermilk, vanilla or lemon extract and butter. Mix well and pour into unbaked pie shell.
Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes.
— Contributed by Carol Sanford
Request line
• A Home Plates reader wonders if anyone has a recipe for a macadamia nut bread pudding.
• Growing up in San Jose and Santa Clara, Eileen Jennings looked forward to treats from a Santa Clara institution, the long-ago Wilson’s Jewel Bakery. “Wilson’s Bakery was the highlight of my growing up years, and it brings nothing but wonderful memories,” she says. Jennings hopes someone has the original recipes for the bakery’s ginger lace and molasses cookies. The bakery also made “a wonderful pizza dough with a sweet tomato sauce on it that I would love to have, as well,” she says. “We — me and my six siblings — called this pizza because it looked like it, but only had that sweet tomato sauce on it.” Send recipes, tips and requests to Kim Boatman at HomePlates@ bayareanewsgroup.com. Find recent Home Plates recipes online at www. mercurynews.com/tag/home-plates.