Chocolate Coconut Pecan pie

This pie is unreasonably delicious, and extremely easy to make. Leave the pie crust frozen until you are ready to use it.

My mother got it from some cookbook and I inherited a xerox of a xerox. Whoever the original author is, my apologies for failing to provide an attribution. (Also, the original author will note that I've changed a couple of things, which of course means they must be improvements.)

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup light corn syrup
• 2 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 medium eggs
• 3/4 cup raw shredded coconut
• 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup whole pecans
• 9" frozen deep-dish pie crust

DIRECTIONS:

1. Put a baking sheet in the oven and preheat to 350 F. The baking sheet is important! Without it, the inside of your pie won't cook properly.
   
2. Mix sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, butter and vanilla in a mixing bowl. You will get a big, sugary blob, which is cool.
   
3. Beat eggs and mix them into the aforementioned blob of sugar.
4. Add coconut, pecans and chocolate.
5. Pour all of this into the frozen pie crust.
   
6. Shove the whole thing in the oven and leave it there for 50 minutes or until the top is brown and the inside is more or less set. (The recipe originally said 40 minutes, but I've found that it takes significantly longer than that.)
7. Remove from oven, cover in foil, let cool slightly. The inside will firm up a bit as the chocolate solidifies.
   
8. Serve warm.
   

Greek lemon-chicken soup (κοτόσουπα αυγολέμονο)

This incredibly delicious, beautiful soup requires a bit of practice to make right. The trick is to put in the eggs when the broth is at a high enough temperature to custardize them, but not so high that they would congeal into little bits of egg in the soup. This recipe is not authentic; "real" avgolemono uses boiled chicken instead of sautéed, much less onion, no mushrooms, and is generally much lighter. I like the additional body that the vegetables provide, making this into a dinner éntree proper.

Serve with a salad of bitter greens and vinaigrette.

INGREDIENTS:

• 10 cups chicken broth (preferably fresh)
  
• 3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken
• Olive oil for sautéing
  
• 2 eggs
• 2 yellow onions
• 12 oz. sliced mushrooms
• lemon juice (how much? a lot, in my opinion)
• garlic (ditto)
• freshly ground black pepper
• salt to taste
  
• cooked rice

DIRECTIONS:

1. Brown, but do not cook, the chicken in a bit of olive oil. (i.e., sauté it until the outside turns brown, and then stop.) Set the chicken aside.
2. In your soup pot, begin sautéing the mushrooms over high heat until they soften.
3. Add in the onions and sauté until the onions begin to soften.
4. Add in the garlic and continue to sauté until onion and garlic is golden.
   
5. Add in the chicken and broth; bring to a boil.
6. Once boiling, reduce heat to a simmer and let cook for about 30 minutes or until chicken is very tender.
7. While you're waiting, beat the eggs thoroughly with the lemon juice.
8. Once the chicken is cooked, turn down the heat to extremely low. You want the soup to be hot enough to custardize an egg, but not hot enough to fully congeal it.
9. Take a small amount of the broth and slowly add it into the egg mixture, beating vigorously with a whisk. (This helps to equalize the temperatures.)
10. Here's the scary part: beating as fast as you can, slowly add the egg mixture to the soup. (It may be easier to remove the chicken first.) The egg will begin to custardize instantly due to the heat of the soup.
    
11. Stir in black pepper and salt to taste. Serve with the rice immediately.
    

PAIRINGS: Enjoy with an deeply chilled shot of ouzo or sambuca and a cup of hot mint tea.

Split yellow pea soup with okra

I love pea soup. And pea soup loves you, too. Because peas, like lentils, have a ridiculous amount of fiber and protein, and they have a fairly distinctive taste. This is especially nice on cold days. Serve with a dollop of thick yogurt and some spongy bread (like sourdough) and you will be a happy camper. Also delicious over a small grain like quinoa or couscous.

3/22/2008: This recipe also comes out great if you add several carrots, cut into 1" pieces. I also added a tablespoon of molasses. Prepared with broth, the result is an even heartier stew that stands up on its own very impressively for a primarily vegetable-based food.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 lb. dry split yellow peas, rinsed
  
• 6 oz. dry-smoked bacon, chopped
  
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 lb frozen cut okra
  
• 6 cups chicken broth or water
• a dash of lemon juice or cider vinegar
  
• chopped garlic to taste
  
• a dash of applesauce, apple cider or chopped apple (optional)
  

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a medium-sized soup pot, cook the bacon over high heat until the fat begins to melt, stirring with a spatula to prevent burning.
   
2. Add the chopped onion and sautee with the bacon until it begins to soften.
3. Add the okra and the garlic and them to soften as well, stirring often.
   
4. Add in your peas and mix in with the vegetable-bacon mixture, allowing them to cook together dry for a minute or two while stirring vigorously with a spatula to prevent burning.
5. Add the broth and all remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.
6. Once boiling, reduce heat to a simmer and let cook covered for 30-40 minutes or until peas are soft.
7. (Optional) use an immersion blender to pulverize a little bit of the soup. (Don't overdo this: most of the contents should still be intact.)

This soup is great as a leftover; just heat it up and you're good to go.

PAIRINGS:

Serve with full-bodied red wine, brown ale or cider (hard or soft).