Ann Richards’ Burnt Sugar Ice Cream Pie

Make the Caramel Sauce

Melt 0.75 cups granulated sugar over medium high heat in a saucepan, stirring occasionally to prevent the caramel from forming toffee. Once the sugar has melted to a “deep golden caramel,” (pg. 255), remove the pot from the stovetop.

Gradually pour 1.5 cups whole milk to the caramel, stirring “carefully” to prevent clumped caramel and curdled milk due to the temperature differences. Replace the saucepan over moderate heat and stir until the caramel has completely dissolved. The caramel will take on a cappuccino color and texture. Allow the caramel sauce to cool.

Make the Custard

In a medium sauce pan, whisk 3 egg yolks with a pinch of salt and 3 tbsp cornstarch (to help bind the yolks.

Gradually pour the caramel sauce into the bowl, allowing the milk, eggs and sugar to form a custard-like base for the ice cream.

Heat the saucepan over high heat, until the mixture boils. Allow the custard to boil for 2 minutes remove from heat. The eggs and cornstarch have thickened the caramel sauce.

McQueary advises straining the mixture through a fine sieve, however my custard was clump-free.

Set Up Icebath

Fill a large mixing bowl with water and ice cubes.

Transfer custard to a metal bowl, place bowl in ice bath to cool. The metal will help evenly lower the temperature of the custard. Stir the ingredients while they cool, so they remain blended.

Make the Ice Cream

Mix 1.5 tsp vanilla extract with 1.5 cups heavy cream, then add to the custard, which at this time has cooled to room temperature in the ice bath. Pour mixture into the ice cream maker and blend for 25 minutes, until the cream is cold and formed.

Caramel custard before churning in the ice cream maker

I found stirring the ingredients in a metal bowl in the ice bath helped jump start the ice cream churning. I noticed the cream formed a soft serve consistency within 11 minutes in the ice cream .maker. What a great trick! The ice cream is smooth, creamy and sweet. Set ice cream in the freezer, then prepare the crust.

Churned caramel ice cream, silky, cold with a soft serve consistency

Make the Crust

In a food processor, pulse 1.5 cups (about 9 oz) gingersnap cookies. You may use Ann Richards’ Gingersnap Cookies. Add 1 cup granulated sugar and pulse in the food processor. Pour dry ingredients into a bowl, add 1 oz (2 tbsp) softened butter (about 15 seconds nuked in the microwave). Butter will bind the cookie crumbs to mold the pie crust. Mold the crumbs around a buttered 9 inch pie tin, using squeaky clean hands (Hannah Swenson reference) to evenly pat down the crumbs.. Bake the crust at 350F for 8-10 minutes (10 minutes worked for me). Chill crust in the freezer until set (about half an hour).

Melt 1 tbsp butter and 0.75 cups semisweet chocolate chips in a saucepan. Pour melted chocolate around the pie crust’s base, distribute evenly with a pastry brush. I made the mistake of melting the cholate in a microwave, causing it to clump and difficult to spread around the pie crust. Chill the chocolate covered crust in the freezer, until set, about 10 minutes. Remove the set ice cream from freezer and warm the outside of the ice cream bowl’s base with warm water, loosening the ice cream. Use a rubber spatula to transfer the ice cream from the bowl to the crust, the evenly distribute atop the set chocolate. Return the pie to the freezer for 3 hours, so the ice cream may set in the crust.

Garnish the ice cream pie with whipped cream and candied oranges. I substituted candied oranges for candied ginger.

Linda Gale Thompson White’s Taco Sombreros

Prepare the Filling

1 cup sour cream, 1 cup crushed tortilla chips, 2 tbsp. taco sauce (picante), 2 oz diced ripe olives (I used jar olives) and 1 beaten egg.

Refigerate the filling

Prepare the Sombrero

Meat seasonings: 2 tsp chili powder, 2 tsp cumin, 1.5tsp pepper, 0.5tsp salt and 1 tsp onion powder

1 pound lean ground beef seasoned with the above seasonings plus 2 tsp granulated garlic (I omitted garlic from this recipe). Add 2 tbsp. ice water and 4 oz shredded cheddar cheese (to bind the meat).

Roll meat into tbsp. sized balls and press each meatball into a 1.5 inch muffin tin (size specified in recipe, p. 243). Mold the meat to fill the sides and bottom of each tin. I used a large muffin tin, producing 12 sombreros. McQueary’s recipe produces 30 sombreros.

Scoop filling into each meat cup, leaving a mound of filling.

Cover each mound with copious shredded cheddar cheese (about 6 oz total for 12 meat cups).

Bake the sombreros at 375F for 10-12 minutes (mine were done in 12 minutes.

The melted cheddar atop the well seasoned ground beef is simply delicious and filling. I’d greased the muffin tin cups, which caused the meat sombreros to be very greasy.

Linda Gale Thompson White’s Shrimp Bisque

Prepare Shrimp and Cucumber

Peel, devein and cook 1.5lbs shrimp. Shrimp are ready within 2 minutes boiling, they turn a nice pink. Slice the shrimp.

Skin and deseed 2 cucumbers (1.5 lbs). Finely dice the cucumbers.

Combine shrimp and cucumber. Add 1 tbsp. diced dill and 1 tbsp. diced chives. I used dried seasonings, so I doubled the quantities to bring out more flavor.

Make the Buttermilk

Add 4 tbsp. vinegar to 4 cups (1 qt) whole milk, wait 10 minutes.

Add 1 tbsp. Dijon mustard to the buttermilk and blend well.

Fold shrimp and cucumber into the buttermilk. Cover bowl and let chill in refrigerator for 4 hours.

Oraline Walton Sayers Sweet Pickles

1 cup of sugar are boiled in 7 cups water and 2 cups of vinegar to make the syrup. I will use 1tsp ground ginger, cinnamon, 2 tbsp mustard seeds, 3tsp allspice, 1 tsp coriander, 2 bay leaves and 6 cloves for the pickling spices. The recipe directs me to use fruit, so I add plum sections to the pot (enough to able to be covered by water). I add 1 tsp vanilla extract to the plums. The mixture is boiled for 15-30 minutes.

So, this is my last canning recipe. Once again, I think I goofed. I did not hear the can lids pop (seal) in the boiling water. The cinnamon smells amazing! I feel, in light of our current food-panic, homemade canned goods are a wonderful resource. I’m surprised by how few Austinites took advantage of HEB’s canning supplies. They do seem to love their pasta and canned soup. Well, hopefully this syrup will hold me through the mass hysteria. Unfortunately, my friends don’t wish toshare, they’ve completely isolated themselves. Today work placed us all on emergency leave- I won’t get to see and feed my work friends for another 10 days. Must cook less, but cooking is great way to spend time by lonesome.

Linda Gale Thompson White’s Asparagus Rollups

Cheesy, crunchy rollups with a hot kick of cayenne pepper!

The most difficult part of this recipe is securing the asparagus inside the rolls. 1986 facilitated a similarly delicate balancing act: placing the new Goddess of Liberty atop the Texas Capitol. November, 1986. Standing 15 feet 7 inches tall, the aluminum mold weighed 1,000 pounds. The helicopter carrying the statue was unable to guide her pedestal to the Capitol dome. The day was clear, yet windy, causing the Goddess to sway and miss its target, much to chagrin of the pilots and amusement of Austinite onlookers. The Mississippi National Guard was called to Texas with their specialized sky-crane helicopter. Skycrane helicopters have scaffolds to stabilize their cargo against air currents. Once the Goddess was secured, and the helicopter safely landed, Texas faced a unique predicament: the Goddess of Liberty’s saviors weren’t Texan! Governor White resolved this dilemma, by making the Mississippi National Guard pilots honorary Texans for the day.

(c) Bullock State History Museum, State Preservation Board.

Roll out crustless white bread slices on a cutting board. White bread is, easy to roll out and fold, very impressionable (please don’t set a bad example in front of the white bread slices).

Filling: 4 oz cream cheese, 1 diced green pepper, 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, seasoned with dashes of hot sauce, red pepper and horseradish.

Trickiest part of the recipe: the actual rollup. Each bread slice is haphazardly shaped. The canned asparagus spears are short and flimsy. Place 1-2 spears at the ends of each slice, dollop some filling in the center and roll the bread. Make sure the asparagus sticks out each end.

Season the outside of each roll with a cheese/bread crumb topping: 1 cup (dry) parmesean cheese and 1/2 cup bread crumbs. Season and color the topping with dashes of cayenne and chili powder.

Linda Gale Thompson White’s Mock Cheese Blintzes

Cheese blintzes are like a gooey cinnamon bun with a lovely blueberry sauce to cut the tart cinnamon taste.

Governor White’s son, Andrew, fondly remembers switching out the Mansion silverware with his friends at formal dinners. They hoped to eat with utensils bearing their favorite governors’ names.

Bake the rolls at 350F for 12-15 minutes. Once cool enough, slice the rolls, they should produce 108 blintzes. My guests enjoyed the slightly undercooked rolls, baked for 12 minutes as they were soft and gooey. These taste just like cinnamon rolls. I recommend rolling out the bread to make multiple folds for the roll, it will help retain the cream filling.

Linda Gale Thompson White’s Perennial Tea Party Sandwiches

Fill half the bread slices with a cucumber half moon and teaspoon of chopped pecans. Total nuts: 1/2 cup. Dill may be added.

Cut out bread sections with a cookie cutter (or jar lid as shown here)

Prepare the Filling

Cream together 8 oz softened cream cheese with the following spices.

Spices

1 tbsp. chili sauce (I used sweet chili sauce), 1 finely grated small carrot, 1/4 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese, 2 chopped green peppers (squeezed dry), dash white pepper, dash Worcestershire sauce, dash of hot pepper sauce and pinch of salt.

I love the slight heat in the tea sandwich filling. The white bread texture is soft, sweet and scrumptious for each sandwich, yet the cucumber and pecans allow for a nice crunchy juxtaposition on the palate.

Linda Gale Thompson White’s Chicken Flautas

Crunchy and delicious flautas with a kick of chili flavors! McQueary recommends serving these with guacamole.

Six hours prior to cooking the flautas, marinate 5-6 oz chicken breast in the refrigerator.

Marinade ingredients

1 cup Italian dressing, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp garlic (minced), 1/2 tsp onion powder and 1/2 tsp chili powder.

3 tbsp. butter, tsp grated onion and 1/4 tsp minced garlic

Sautee spices with 1/4 cup flour, making a rue.

Add 8 oz (one box) chicken stock to convert the rue to a gravy

6 oz marinated, diced chicken is stirred into the gravy. The Italian dressing marinade adds a sweet taste to the gravy.

Place filling on a lightly fried corn tortilla and roll. Fry tortilla in 4 cups oil on a cast iron skillet, sealing the flauta.

Linda Gale Thompson White’s Green Enchiladas With Spicy Sauce

Preheat oven to 425F.

Prepare the Tortillas

Fry each tortilla in 1/2 cup canola oil greased skillet for 15 seconds, flip, fry the opposite side. McQueary warns to not over fry the tortillas, lest they become stiff ( McQueary, 239).

Prepare the Filling

Chop 3/4 cup onion and 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack Cheese. Place 1 tbsp. onion and 2 tbsp. cheese in each tortilla, then roll up. Lay each tortilla seam down in baking dish, to prevent from falling apart.

In a saucepan, melt 1/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup flour.

Add 2 cups chicken broth, then stir until the sauce thickens and bubbles.

Stir 1 cup sour cream and 4 oz chopped jalapeno peppers into the sauce, but do not allow the sauce to bubble.

Pour sauce over the tortillas, then bake at 425F for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, sprinkle remaining shredded cheese atop the enchiladas and bake for an additional 5 minutes, until the cheese melts.

Spicy Sauce (Served Atop the Cooked Enchiladas)

Dice 1 medium tomato, 1/2 cup onion and 2 Jalapeno peppers (with seeds). Recipe instructs me to chop the vegetables.

Add 1/4 cup tomato juice and 1/2 tsp salt to the sauce and cook until well blended and warm over medium heat.

Linda Gale Thompson White’s Praline Bars

Black and white photograph of Myra McDaniel. Secretary of State Myra McDaniel and Governor, June 4, 1985. Current Events Photographic Documentation Program collection, Image 1985/051 — Texas State Library and Archives https://www.tsl.texas.gov/

Myra McDaniel was appointed Texas’ 93rd Secretary of State by Governor White on September 6, 1984. Secretary McDaniel was the first African American woman to be appointed to this position. The Texas Secretary of State holds four major duties: chief elections officer, liaison between Texas and Mexico, serves as a repository for commercial business, official and commercial records within the state, publishes state rules and regulations, commissions the notary and retains the state seal for official government documents.

First: line a jelly roll pan with whole graham crackers. I find this step cumbersome, as a jelly roll pan is round and the crackers are square.

Cook 1 cup margarine or butter (I used half margarine, half butter) and 1.5 cups light brown sugar in a cast iron skillet and bring to a rolling boil. Allow caramel to boil for 3 minutes, while stirring with a whisk to prevent from sticking.

Remove caramel from heat and allow to cool, waiting for the bubbling to cease.

Once caramel has cooled, add 1.5 cups chopped pecans, 1 tsp rum extract (flavoring) and 1 tsp vanilla. Stir ingredients, then pour over the graham crackers.

Bake pan at 350F for 10 minutes. Cut each graham cracker square along its serrated line, yielding 48 praline cookies.

My pralines look like gook, I cannot fathom dividing them into cookies. The pralines are delicious, I love the blend of salty graham cracker and pecan against the sweet caramel.