Redneck Recipe # 3 - "Esther's Lost Chord" and Gusberry Pie Recipe

From Gus’s Redneck’s Kitchen (Specializing in Bait, Tackle and Haute Cuisine)

For folks who like funny country stories and great country food all on the same plate

Esther’s Lost Chord

Around here we talk a lot about our Gus's Redneck’s Kitchen kinds of country cooking. This time, let’s talk about the evening when Esther scored a big hit with her own special kind of home kitchen cooking.

As has been told on some earlier occasions, Esther is Gus’s wife and is also the better part of his behavior. She’s a big city gal and kind’a looks askance at most of Gus’s Redneck’s Kitchen versions of culinary adventuring.

You want to talk about culinary art? Esther is a real Picasso at it; that is, you sometimes have to puzzle over what it was that you just ate. But if it comes in a box and Esther adds the hamburger, it is always edible.

Anyway, one evening Esther put a big bowl of something onto the supper table. Gus ate some.

"Wow! That was good. May I have some more?"

The second helping was as good as the first one.

"How about a little more if there is any?"

Esther began to cry.

"You are just doing that to make me feel good, aren’t you?"

"No, that stuff is great! What’s in it?"

"I ... don’t... know... (sob)... I just emptied all of the stuff that’s been in the refrigerator for 2 weeks, and I don’t remember what they were."

With all of these strange goings-on at the supper table, Gus and Esther’s little 2-year-old was sitting there in her high chair, white-knuckling her feeding spoon. She got into the act, too.

"Let’s eat the ice cream and get it over with," the kid suggested.

Esther’s recipe was much like the famous "Lost Chord." Never again has it been seen, heard, (or tasted). In between Esther’s abundant Hamburger Helpers Gus keeps looking to see if leftovers might possibly be again building up in the refrigerator

The featured recipe this time is a good one – Gusberry Pie. It is good because it is good to eat and, also, because it is "easy as pie" to make.

The recipe that follows will make 2 nice Gusberry Pies in 9-inch pie pans.

In a big bowl put 4 eggs, whites and yolks. Omit the shells. Whip up on the eggs some. Then add a half cup of brown sugar, a teaspoon of vanilla extract, a half cup of regular flour, 2 cups of milk, and 1/4 cup of melted butter or margarine. Mix those together until you have no lumps, or at least not many lumps.

Spread a spoonful or so of soft butter or margarine around the bottoms and sides of the pie pans. Shake 1/4 cup of dry oatmeal flakes into each pan. Spread the oatmeal flakes around the bottom and sides of the pans so that they stick to the soft butter or margarine.

Then, using some care, slowly ladle half of the milk-egg-flour mixture into each pie pan.

In with the Gusberries. These are to be found at the grocery store or places like the big "Sam’s Club" and "Costco" places. Gusberries go under various trade names, but they are all dried fruits of one kind or another. We favor Craisins (which are sweetened and dried cranberries), Very Berry (dried strawberries, cherries and more), chopped dried apricots, and chunks of dried pineapple. Usually 1 handful of each kind you enjoy will be sufficient. Sprinkle the berries all around the mixture in each pie pan.

Next, toss in a handful of dried coconut flakes and a handful of chopped pecans or walnuts. That’s what we put in there -- but you can put in anything you like. By now each pie pan is getting mighty full.

Get your oven temperature up to 325-350 degrees. In go the pies. They are done in an hour or an hour and a half. You can test the doneness by sticking a knife into the middle of the pie. If it comes out clean, the pie is done. If it comes out dirty, the pie might still be done. It is not a big deal because, if the filling is not runny, it will be tasty.

You might ask, "Why use dried fruits and berries when you could use fresh stuff?" The answer is, "They are handy to use, keep forever, plus they taste great."

More of Gus’s Redneck Recipes are here on Hubpages.