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From: Ward
Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2014 9:39 PM
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com
Subject: Toasted Coconut Cream Pie
In the early 1950's, The Tavern Restaurant in Newark NJ and Townley's Restaurant in Union NJ both offered the same
very rich toasted coconut cream pie. It must have come from a local bakery or supplier. It was surely their most
popular dessert. I have never had anything close to it since and would love the recipe.
- Ward
Hello Ward,
The Tavern’s recipe was published in the Recipe Exchange column of the Star-Ledger on May 12, 2004. See below and on these sites:
Old Newark
RecipeGoldMine
Taste of Home
Phaed
Tavern Restaurant Coconut Toasted Cream Pie
8 servings
1 envelope gelatin
1/3 cup cold milk
3 eggs, separated
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup milk
Pinch salt
1/2 pint whipping cream
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 (10 inch) pie shell, baked and cooled
1 can coconut, toasted
1. Dissolve gelatin in 1/3 cup cold milk. Let stand
2. Separate eggs; to yolks, add 1/2 cup sugar and beat together.
3. Scald 2/3 cup milk; add egg and sugar mixture to milk. Cook until slightly thickened.
Remove from stove and add gelatin. Put in refrigerator until set (about 1/2 hour).
4. Beat egg whites with pinch of salt. Fold whites into mixture. Whip cream; add vanilla. Fold into mixture.
5. Fill the pie shell. Toast the coconut until golden; sprinkle on pie. Refrigerate for a few hours
From: Jennifer
Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2014 9:06 AM
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com
Subject: please help
Hi,
I am very excited to have found your site and I am hoping and praying that you can find this recipe for me.
In the 70's there was a riverboat on the Mississippi in St. Louis Missouri called the Robert E Lee. It had a
fabulous seafood restaurant on board that served a Vegetable Chowder that was fantastic! It was smooth, not
chunky and had a wonderful flavor. Even for someone like me who hates vegetables. I would love to find this
recipe and make it for my family. I have searched around the internet and cannot find anything that isn't chunky.
I remember it being greenish yellowish in color. Oh so good! I think it did have just a few little bits of potato
that might have been the only thing that wasn't totally pureed. Please let me know if you can help me.
Thanks,
Jennifer
Hi Jennifer,
I see that you have been looking for this since at least 2003:
Yahoo Groups
St. Louis Today
This dish was served at the original Lt. Robert E. Lee Restaurant, but not at the steakhouse that occupied the boat later.
The “Lt. Robert E. Lee” riverboat burned in 2010. There is a story and video here: KSDK News
Jennifer, I had no success finding this recipe. If you haven’t had any success in ten years, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
food columnist has had no success, then I fear that no one out there is likely to have it.
One slim hope that I can offer you is that you might try to contact Bob Menendez, owner of the Sunset 44 Bistro in Kirkwood, Missouri.
He was the manager of the Lt. Robert E. Lee Restaurant in the 1970s, and he might be able to tell you something about the vegetable chowder.
Note that he was the manager, not a chef, but he might be able to tell you the name of the chef in those days. See: St. Louis Originals
If that doesn’t work out, you might be able to duplicate the chowder by starting with this pureed vegetable chowder recipe and adjusting to taste:
Pureed Vegetable Chowder
Phaed
Thank you so much Phaed! I am going to make this chowder today. It's a start.
You are the best for helping me!
Jennifer
From: Dawn
Sent: Wednesday, March 26, 2014 5:52 PM
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com
Subject: Steamed pudding w/runny white sauce,
Once again, writing you because I suddenly remembered that I liked this dessert a lot. It would be just before World War II.
My dad bought a set of heavy aluminum pans that stacked on top of each other. Meat in the lower pan, steaming vegetables on
next level, then finally on the top and under the lid, mom would make this sort of cake like pudding that called for her to
make a special white sauce to go over it.
If I remember right the shape reminded me of a bundt pan, but that might be my imagination.
I have a feeling you know exactly what those pans looked like....only took one burner to slowly cook a whole meal (except for the sauce)
I think one of those pans exist to this day at my brother's home in Nova Scotia.
Thanks, Dawn
Hi Dawn,
I had no problem finding 3 tiered steam pots for sale. See here and on E-Bay: 3 Tier Steamer
However, I found no instructions for using them and no recipes particularly for them.
The white sauce she put on the pudding could be many things – a plain vanilla sauce or a “hard sauce” like this: Hard Sauce
As for the pudding itself, it could have been any one of many. I’d need more specifics about it in order to narrow it down.
There are recipes for English Steamed Puddings on my site here: English Steamed Puddings
There is a discussion board of steamed puddings here: EGullet
I’m afraid this is the best that I can do for you without more specific information. I’ll post this on the site.
Phaed
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