Wednesday, May 19, 2010

A Quiet But Triumphant "Hah!"

Robert's Buttermilk Pies
Last August I went on a fruitless quest for the recipe for GREEN PEA SALAD. None of my cousins had it; none of the people they quizzed in South Texas had it (and, frankly, the search was less than enthusiastic) nor did East Texas share any insights.

During our recent trip, I insisted on lunching at Sweeney Switch Cafe, Mathis, TX. where I'd had it before and the chef/owner asked his wife (sous chef/co-owner) to give it to me. She just listed the ingredients, not amounts so I threw in what seemed like reasonable amounts. If you hate any of them, leave them out ("Bye, celery.")

GREEN PEA SALAD
1 bag frozen peas, blanched, drained and set aside
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped white or red onion
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 cup chopped red pepper
Mix some sweet pickle relish into mayonnaise and add a bit of sugar for the dressing.

Cousin Robert baked a pie for dessert - a very creamy buttermilk pie. Based on the buttermilk, I asked if it was a Depression specialty because buttermilk is the end result of making butter from cream and he was surprised I'd know that. Damn, it was good! And if I can get the computer to co-operate, I'll be able to show you a picture of it.




BUTTERMILK PIE
1 pie crust -- home-made or store bought. I think a Graham cracker crust would work well..
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teas. vanilla
1 1/2 T flour
l1 1/4 cup butter, melted
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup crushed Graham crackers (four crackers)
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Oven to 325

Mix sugar and eggs, add vanilla and flour
Stir in the butter and buttermilk - but don't beat it!
Fold in the Graham crackers and pecans and pour into the pie crust.
Bake 45 minutes or until the knife test comes out clean.

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