Father's Day: 7 recipes to make for Dad

Consider these recipes when making your dad a Father's Day meal.

5. Dad’s favorite chocolate pie

Three Many Cooks
Fresh chocolate pie topped with a light meringue.

By Pam Anderson, Three Many Cooks

1 9-inch pre-baked pie shell

10 tablespoons plus 1/2 cup granulated sugar, divided

1/4 cup, plus 1 tablespoon cornstarch, divided 

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

A pinch of salt

5 large eggs, separated

1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk

1 cup whole or 2 percent milk

4 ounces bitter- or semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped or broken

2 tablespoons butter

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1. Prepare and bake pie shell; set aside.

2. Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees.

3. Whisk 10 tablespoons of the sugar, 1/4 cup of the cornstarch, cocoa powder, and salt in a medium saucepan. Whisk in yolks, and then immediately, but gradually whisk in milks.

4. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently at first, and then constantly as mixture starts to thicken and begins to sputter, 8 to 10 minutes. Whisk chocolate and butter into thickened pudding until melted, about 1 minute longer; off heat stir in 1 teaspoon of the vanilla.

5. Meanwhile, bring remaining 1 tablespoons of cornstarch and 1/3 cup water to a thick, sputtery, translucent state in a small saucepan, whisking occasionally at first and constantly as mixture thickens. Remove from heat and let cool slightly while beating whites.

6. Beat egg whites, cream of tarter, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla until frothy. Gradually beat in remaining 1/2 cup of sugar until incorporated and mixture forms soft peaks. Dollop in warm cornstarch mixture, 1 tablespoon at a time; continue to beat meringue to stiff peaks.

7. Pour warm chocolate filling into pie shell. Using a rubber spatula immediately distribute and then spread meringue evenly over pie, making sure it attaches to piecrust to prevent shrinking. Use a spoon to create peaks all over meringue.

8. Bake pie until meringue is golden brown, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool to room temperature. Serve or refrigerate until ready to serve.

5 of 7

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.