Recipes from the movie The Help have made Lee Ann Flemming a star in her own right. Her theatrical debut comes as a movie food stylist for The Help. Chocolate pies, tea cakes, and deviled eggs are not an ordinary claim to fame in the movie biz, but seeing your work on the big screen is nice work if you can get it.
The highly anticipated movie of the summer, The Help, stars her chocolate chess pie with a dollop of Cool Whip recipe. Lee Ann Flemming made every pie in the movie, eaten or not. It must be tough to see your hard work go to the cutting room garbage can, not to mention that baking being done in the exhaustive heat of unforgiving Mississippi temps. You kiss a lot of frogs to get to the prince, and bake a lot of pies to get the perfect shot. I think Lee Ann’s role as chocolate pie baker extraordinaire will be measured in the sweet success of her recipe and her Hollywood culinary debut.
MINNY’S CHOCOLATE PIE
Ingredients
1 ½ cups sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
¼ cup butter, melted
2 eggs, slightly beaten
¼ teaspoon salt
1 (5 ½-ounce) can evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ package of rolled pie crust (found in the dairy case)
Directions
Let pie crust come to room temperature, about 20 minutes. Flour surface and unroll crust; place to fit in a 9-inch pie plate. Crimp edges by using your index finger to make a “V”. Prick bottom and sides with a fork and set aside.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix sugar, cocoa and butter in a mixing bowl; mix well. Add eggs and beat with a mixer (or by hand) for 3 minutes. Add salt, milk and vanilla. Pour filling into prepared pie shell. Bake for 35 – 45 minutes or until pastry edges are brown and filling is slightly set in the middle. Cool completely before serving. May be refrigerated or served at room temperature. Top each slice with a dollop of whipped cream before serving.
MAE MOBLEY’S TEA CAKES
Ingredients
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup oil
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 ½ cups plain flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup powdered sugar
Directions
In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar, butter, oil and eggs. Cream well; add vanilla.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, soda, baking powder, and cream of tartar. Add to the creamed mixture; mixing well.
Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 325 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until edges of the cookies are brown. While teacakes are still warm, sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Deviled Eggs
Ingredients
6 eggs
½ cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
2 teaspoons sweet pickle relish
Paprika
Pimiento stuffed green olives, cut in half
Directions
Place eggs in a single layer in a medium saucepan. Add enough cold water to cover the eggs. Bring to a rapid boil over high heat; remove from heat, cover and let stand for 15 minutes. Drain hot water and replace with cold water; peeling when cool to the touch. Halve eggs lengthwise and remove yolks. Set whites aside. Place yolks in a bowl and mash with a fork. Add mayonnaise,mustard and sweet pickle relish; mix well. Stuff egg white halves with filling and garnish with paprika and olive halves. Refrigerate immediately.
