Though it shouldn’t by now, I’m always a bit surprised when a grizzled, often getting-long-in-the-tooth fishing compadre has an outburst of maudlin sentimentality over something we did together in days past.
Usually these outpourings are over some long ago trip where we drove to River X in my truck, pulling my driftboat and I rowed said fisher to a great day or few days on the water, catching fish, eating cold sandwiches and drinking cheap, cold beer.
Occasionally these outpourings are related to some meal we shared together, whether during a holiday requiring the actual wearing of socks or at the riverside, where dress is a far sight more casual.
She Who Must Be Obeyed and I enjoy entertaining friends for meals and probably fed the largest groups back during our days in Salt Lake City. From our first Thanksgiving as newlyweds, where SWMBO tried to cook her first turkey without thawing it (it doesn’t work very well by the way), we made a fair amount of headway over the years in terms of slinging tasty hash. (Not complicated food, mind you, the simple stuff…)
This past week one of the kids of a family we fed over the years (now in his late twenties with two of his own) pestered me for a recipe for an incredibly simple dessert or snack we used to set out during those holiday feeds – German Chocolate Caramel Squares.
I reminded him there are probably several thousand similar versions of this floating around in cyberspace; he was adamant that SWMBO’s were the best he’s had. In CH’s honor we’re posting the recipe, even if it’s the first one in seven plus years of Friday Feasting with a prefab ingredient – a (cough, wheeze, gasp) cake mix.
Kick yours up notch with this nifty little trick – order some caramels from Bequet Caramels in Bozeman – the best on the planet – and use them to stir up a batch. Now you’re talking.
1 German chocolate cake mix
3/4 cup melted butter
2/3 cup evaporated milk (5 ounce can)
1 cup chopped pecans
30 Bequet Caramels or 60 from the grocery
6 ounces (1 package) semisweet chocolate pieces (look for the dark / 60% or better stuff)
Preheat the oven to 350.
Build a base. Combine the cake mix with the butter and 1/3 cup of the evaporated milk; mix well (use your hands). Mix in the chopped pecans. Press half the dough into a greased and floured 9 x 13 inch pan; bake for 8 minutes.
Caramel time. While the bottom layer is baking, melt the caramels with the rest of the evaporated milk (1/3 cup) in the top half of a double boiler.
Finish it up. When you pull the first layer from the oven, sprinkle the chocolate pieces over the hot dough layer, then pour the melted caramels over everything. Now spoon or crumble with your hands the remaining dough over the gooey stuff. Bake another 20-25 minutes until the top layer is done.
You’ll probably want to cool for 30-45 minutes, with some of that time in the fridge, to set the caramel layer before cutting.
Enjoy.
