My mother cooked by recipes; she never changed them or improvised. She always told me to find good recipes, measure the ingredients, and follow the directions to the letter. She even meaured salt and vanilla.
I remember that she had a recipe called "chicken curry". It was very complicated and took a couple of days to make. One of its ingredients is coconut water, and you can imagine how difficult it was to find a fresh coconut in 1950s rural Mississippi. At any rate she made this for a Dutchman who lived here and his visiting son who had been in Indonesia after WWII before Indonesia got its independence from the Netherlands. The son was very complimentary and said that she had served him rijstaffel curry. We didn't have many boijs with it, maybe five or six, but to me it was delicious. I've made it, and it's a pain.
Another time, (she only did it once because it was so tedious), she made German chocolate cookies from a recipe given by her aunt who was married to a man from Stuttgart, Germany who had gotten the recipe from his family. I don't remember the cookies at all, but my great aunt had sent her a German chocolate grater, which seems to have been necessary, and two small, carved wooden molds that were about 3/4 inches deep, 3/4" wide, and 1 inch tall. The dough was put in molds that had been sugared, then removed, and baked. What made the process so tedious was that each time a mold had been used, it had to be washed and re-sugared before being used again. I still have the molds, but not the grater, and I might still have the recipe.
One of my favorite recipes of hers was an icebox dessert that she almost always made for family gatherings. Her whole family lived here, and we would often have 20 or so folks for Christmas and Easter, and this made more than enough for everybody. I've never known where she got the recipe, but many years later it showed up (halved) in the New York Times Regional cookbook, named, if I recall correctly, Mrs. Minitree McCoy's Miracle Cake. Unless you want to make your own ladyfingers and almond macaroons, it can't be made here because local bakeries have all gone out of business, and the grocery stores have nothing comparable. It's delicious, not as heavy as you'd think, and a true diet bomb.
But here it is:
1 lb unsalted butter, whipped
1 dozen eggs, separated
1 lb confectioners sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 squares unsweetened chocolate, melted
2 cups pecan pieces
4 dozen almond macaroons
1 cup good bourbon (she used "bottled in bond", which is 100 proof. We used to go to the local bootlegger for it. I seem to remember Old Forester and Old Granddad.
Beat the egg yolks until they are thick and lemon colored. Cream the butter and sugar, and then add the beaten yolks to the butter-sugar mixture. Add the vanilla, then fold in the melted chocolate and the pecans. Beat egg whites stiff and fold them in.
Place the macaroons on large baking sheets and drizzle the bourbon over them. Line a large springmold pan around the sides with ladyfingers. Cover the bottom of the springmold with the bourbon drizzled macaroons, then layer the filling and macaroons, ending with a filling layer. Put in refrigerator overnight to set up, then serve with whipped cream (often bourbon whipped cream).
