Heartland : The Pie Queen Doesn’t Mince Words

About 1,200 pieces of pie are sold every day in this small farming town. That’s almost a slice per resident.

We are not talking ordinary pie. Osseo--conveniently located between Madison and Minneapolis--is the home of Helen Myhre (pronounced MY-er), who practically reinvented the pie at her Norske Nook cafe. People from all over America detour off Interstate 94 to eat Myhre’s pies: apple, banana cream, blueberry, butterscotch, cherry, raspberry, coconut cream, rhubarb, glazed peach, homemade mincemeat, custard, lemon, chocolate, pumpkin, sour cream-raisin and fresh strawberry.

The “Today” show’s Willard Scott has stopped by for pie. So has Charles Kuralt of CBS, and sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer. David Letterman heard about it and flew Myhre to New York to teach him how to bake a pie.

Eating pie, of course, is great. But like Letterman, Myhre’s customers all started to want recipes. That got Myhre thinking about how much easier it would be if she had her own cookbook.

So when “Farm Recipes and Food Secrets From the Norske Nook: the Midwest’s 1 Roadside Cafe” (Crown: $24) came out in May, it pleased just about everyone. Written with Mona Vold, a former Osseo resident, the book is rural and folksy, filled with recipes and stories about the life of a Midwestern farm woman. A featured selection in two book clubs, it is already in its second printing.

The Chicago Tribune calls the book not only a cookbook but a book of stories about recipes and “rural life of a generation past and about Midwestern folklore.” The Minneapolis Star Tribune compares it to the “Alice B. Toklas Cookbook.” Written by Gertrude Stein’s companion, that book contains not only recipes but an inside look at the Toklas-Stein household in France in the years between the two world wars.

But despite all of this attention, Myhre is not impressed.

On the phone with her New York publisher, she has just been told that the second printing will take a month. “Hah,” she says as she hangs up, shaking her head and frowning. “If I ran the Norske Nook that way, I’d have been out of business a long time ago. If I was low on pies, I’d get right with it and make some more before we ran out.”

And that is not all she has to frown about. “The book wasn’t quite the way I wanted it to be,” Myhre says. “I told my stories, but Mona had different ideas.”

In the book, Osseo is transformed into something resembling Garrison Keillor’s Lake Woebegon. There’s Myhre saying “eatin’ ” and “cookin’ ” and “womanfolk” and “fuss.”

Granted, there are plenty of Norwegian bachelor farmers in the small hamlet, and everyone in these parts drinks cups and cups of weak coffee. But Osseo is not Lake Woebegon; the Norske Nook is not the Chatterbox Cafe. And Myhre speaks perfect English.

Myhre was also annoyed that she was asked to leave one of her favorite recipes out of the book: red cherry bars. “The editors didn’t want maraschino cherries because they had red (food) coloring in them,” says Myhre. “I told them, ‘Look, it isn’t only New York that is going to buy this book.’ Still, they demanded I make a substitution. What do you substitute for red cherries. Grapes?”

Miracle Whip was also unacceptable. “When I made potato salad or coleslaw down at the Nook, I used Miracle Whip,” says Myhre, still bristling at the effrontery of a New York editor. “Now they were telling me they didn’t like my ingredients.”

To satisfy them, Myhre finally made mayonnaise from scratch, doing, she says, “everything I could to snap it up . . . even added lemon juice.”

It’s difficult to imagine anything wrong with her recipes. In a world of plastics and preservatives, real food has been the key to Myhre’s success.

After more than 20 years of farm life, after raising six children, Myhre took a job cooking at a root-beer stand. She was 40 years old. Every week she peeled 600 pounds of potatoes. Every day she made cakes and doughnuts, rolled out cookies, flipped burgers, roasted chickens and served dozens of hot-beef sandwiches. By 1973, the drive-in had been sold and the new owners owed her six weeks back pay. Looking for a steady source of income, the enterprising Myhre bought the Star Cafe, one of three restaurants in town.

“I asked the owner if there was any money to be made in restaurants,” says Myhre, “and she said ‘Oh, yeah.’ ” The bank wasn’t so sure. They agreed to loan her money only if she would put her two farms up as collateral. “I wouldn’t do it,” says Myhre. “I wasn’t prepared to take my two homes with me if I went belly-up.”

She came up with most of the money herself and renamed the place Norske Nook after a group of Norwegian men who sat in the corner of the place every morning to drink coffee and gossip. Myhre kept the menu small, bought locally and made all her dishes from scratch. Every night before she closed the restaurant, she’d put three 22-pound beef roasts and six 12-pound pork roasts into the oven to slow-cook until morning. “That way if we ran short of our special for the day,” says Myhre, “we’d always be able to give them a roast dinner.” Cooking the meats together, her grandmother taught her, is the secret to great gravy.

She believes in serving only the best. And for her, that means using heavy cream and lots of butter. “One of the girls would come back and tell me that a customer was demanding margarine,” Myhre says. “I’d say, ‘That’s too bad. A little bit of butter isn’t going to hurt him.’ ”

In fact, Myhre has complete disdain for cholesterol counters. “I went home and studied up on it,” she says, “and I couldn’t see why margarine was any better than butter. My mother lived until she was 91, and she even ate that good homemade lard on her bread. Of course, maybe it’s because we work it off.”

Cholesterol may not count--secrecy does. At least it did before the cookbook came out. Myhre is still annoyed about the time a waitress told a long-time customer what was in that moist chocolate cake he ordered every time he came in. “When he found out it was sauerkraut, not coconut, he never ordered it again,” says Myhre. “After that, I said, ‘You girls, tell them you don’t know what’s in the stuff. You can certainly fib.’ ”

Things were going along fine--and then Myhre got a mention in Jane and Michael Stern’s book, “Road Food.” They paid special tribute to her sour cream-raisin pie. At the time Myhre was baking about four pies a day. Pie sales grew quickly to 25 and then 75. By 1988, Myhre was turning out 150 pies a day. Today, summer and winter, people from all across the country stand in lines halfway down the block just to eat stuffed pork chops, hot roast pork sandwiches and great big pieces of pie. People have even been known to plan vacations around the Nook’s daily specials. Leave maybe on Thursday (stuffed pork chops); return the following Tuesday (meatloaf).

There have been a few other changes: Despite protests from her staff of 23 women, Myhre eventually hired a man as a grill cook. “We just didn’t know if he could do it or not,” says Myhre. “At first they poked fun of him. He probably didn’t have the mentality that the rest of them had, but his breakfasts were good. He was really fussy on his eggs. Even the girls finally admitted his eggs were better than the other cooks’.”

The biggest change: Myhre, 65, sold the Norske Nook last year. “I felt I just couldn’t keep on rolling and making that many pies every day,” she says. “It’s hard on the back and it’s hard on the knees.” During the time Myhre ran the busy restaurant, she worked 15 hours a day, six days a week. And she never took a vacation.

Alice, one of her cooks, retired about the same time, at age 77. “When Alice turned 70,” says Myhre, “she asked me, ‘How long are you going to work here?’ I said, ‘Oh, Alice, we’re not ready to quit yet.’ ”

And she still isn’t. Myhre is planning another book. This time, she hopes to collaborate with her daughter, an archivist at the University of Wisconsin. “We really had a lot of fun at the Nook and there are a lot more stories to tell.”

And a lot more recipes. The next book will have a recipe for red cherry bars.

In the meantime, Myhre will occasionally drop by the Nook. “It bothers me a little to go down there,” she says, “because we were fussier. This guy is more hyper. Hurry. Hurry. Hurry. He’s even opening on Sundays. I felt we needed Sunday for rest. I always thought if the food was good, they would come back on Monday.”

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This is the recipe that Myhre’s New York publisher nixed. We thought it was too good to leave out.

RED CHERRY BARS 1/2 cup butter 2 teaspoons powdered sugar 1 1/4 cups flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1 cup sugar 1 (9-ounce) bottle maraschino cherries, chopped 2 eggs, well beaten 1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream butter, powdered sugar and 1 cup flour and pat into bottom of 8x8-inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees until brown, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven.

Sift remaining 1/4 cup flour, salt and baking powder. In separate bowl, mix sugar, cherries, eggs, vanilla and add to sifted flour mixture.

Spread on top of baked bar layer in pan and return to oven until done, about 25 minutes. Insert wood pick to test for doneness. If it comes out clean, top is done. Let cool, then cut into bars. Makes about 12 bars.

Each bar contains about: 214 calories; 156 mg sodium; 56 mg cholesterol; 9 grams fat; 32 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams protein; 0.1 gram fiber.

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The sauerkraut really does provide a coconut-like texture.

CHOCOLATE-SAUERKRAUT CAKE 2/3 cup butter 1 1/2 cups sugar 3 eggs 2 1/4 cups flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup cocoa 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 cup cold water 1/2 cup sauerkraut, drained and lightly chopped 1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract Sweet Milk Frosting

Blend butter and sugar in large bowl until creamy. Add eggs. Stir in flour, baking powder, salt, cocoa, baking soda and water. Stir in sauerkraut and vanilla.

Mix well and pour into buttered 9x13-inch baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees 40 to 45 minutes. Cool. Frost with Sweet Milk Frosting. Makes 16 servings.

Each serving contains about: 296 calories; 2,236 mg sodium; 61 mg cholesterol; 15 grams fat; 38 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams protein; 0.28 gram fiber.

Sweet Milk Frosting 1 cup milk 2 tablespoons cornstarch 1/2 cup Butter Flavor Crisco shortening 1/4 cup sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Heat milk and cornstarch in small saucepan over medium heat, cooking until thick, about 10 minutes. Cool.

Cream shortening and sugar together in medium-sized bowl. Add cooled milk mixture. Mix in vanilla extract and beat well. Makes 1 (9x13-inch) cake.

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The Norske Nook sells about 30 strawberry pies a day during the summer. Make sure the glaze is good and smooth, and use firm, ripe berries. Use the imperfect berries to make the Strawberry Juice.

FRESH STRAWBERRY PIE Strawberry Juice 2 cups sugar 1/3 cup strawberry gelatin 3 heaping tablespoons cornstarch Cold water 1 baked Basic Pie Crust 1 1/2 quarts strawberries, stemmed, washed and drained, larger berries cut in half 2 cups whipped cream

Combine Strawberry Juice and sugar. Boil about 2 minutes, until sugar is completely dissolved. Add gelatin and stir until boiling.

Dissolve cornstarch in little cold water, adding quickly to gelatin mixture and cook, stirring slowly until clear bubble forms, about 5 minutes. Cool until mixture is thick as molasses.

Pour some juice into baked Basic Pie Crust to cover bottom. Arrange berries over crust. Pour on remaining juice, making sure to cover berries completely. Refrigerate. When ready to serve, top with whipped cream. Makes 8 servings.

Each serving contains about: 455 calories; 32 mg sodium; 47 mg cholesterol; 18 grams fat; 70 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams protein; 0.88 gram fiber.

Strawberry Juice 1 pint strawberries 2 cups water

Place strawberries and water in stainless-steel saucepan and cook over medium heat until berries are pale, about 5 minutes. Strain and reserve juice. Discard berries. Makes about 2 cups.

Basic Pie Crust 2 cups flour 1 cup Butter Flavor Crisco shortening or 1 cup home-rendered lard 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup cold water

Using fingers, mix flour, shortening and salt in mixing bowl until crumbly. Add cold water and mix until smooth. Do not overmix.

Cover hands with flour and knead dough on floured table or board back and forth few times, then hit dough. Divide into 4 balls, each about size of tennis ball. Set 1 ball on floured board, then flatten, keeping round. Keep rolling until crust is 1 inch bigger than pie tin.

Lay crust in pan. If making baked single crust, take fork and poke holes all around bottom and sides to keep crust from bulging or bubbling during baking. Flute edge. Press hands around side of fluting to get rid of excess pie crust. Repeat process with remaining 3 balls of dough. Bake at 350 degrees 10 to 15 minutes, until nicely browned. Let cool. Makes 4 (10-inch) thin crusts.

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This is the pie that Myhre taught David Letterman to make. If the filling seems runny at first, don’t worry; you can mend it. Simply add a little flour as the filling cooks.

SOUR CREAM-RAISIN PIE 2 cups sour cream 4 egg yolks 1 3/4 cups sugar 4 heaping teaspoons flour 1 1/2 cups raisins 1 baked Basic Pie Crust Meringue

Stir sour cream and egg yolks together in heavy medium-sized saucepan. Add sugar, flour and raisins. Mix using wooden spoon. Cook over medium heat until raisins are plump and filling is glossy, about 5 minutes after full boil. Cool slightly, then pour filling into cooled, baked Basic Pie Crust.

Using rubber spatula, spread layer of Meringue onto pie. Make good seal over filling. Spread meringue until it meets edge of crust to keep meringue from shrinking as it stands or bakes. Repeat until meringue is used up, then gently swirl top to make pie pretty.

Bake at 400 degrees, watching closely, just until peaks are golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove pie and let cool. Eat immediately or store in cool room. Do not refrigerate unless keeping pie overnight. Makes 8 servings.

Each serving contains about: 601 calories; 133 mg sodium; 165 mg cholesterol; 17 grams fat; 107 grams carbohydrates; 10 grams protein; 0.42 gram fiber.

Meringue 12 medium egg whites 1/4 heaping teaspoon cream of tartar 2 cups powdered sugar

Place egg whites (save yolks for another use) and cream of tartar in completely clean mixing bowl and beat until stiff, using electric mixer on high speed. Add powdered sugar and beat until soft peaks form. Makes enough for 1 (10-inch) pie.

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These candy-like bars disappeared from our Test Kitchen within minutes. But beware: If you bake them too long, you’ll need a hammer and pickax to break them apart.

BUTTERFINGER BARS 1/2 cup dark corn syrup 2/3 cup butter, melted 1 cup brown sugar, packed 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 4 cups oatmeal Peanut Butter Topping

Mix syrup, butter and brown sugar in large bowl, using wooden spoon. Add vanilla extract and oatmeal. Mix together, using fingers. (Mixture will be firm.)

Press mixture into buttered 9x13-inch baking pan and bake at 350 degrees 15 minutes. (Do not overbake.) Cool only slightly. Spread Peanut Butter Topping onto bars. Cut into 18 pieces. Chill until set. Makes 18 servings.

Each serving contains about: 292 calories; 93 mg sodium; 20 mg cholesterol; 14 grams fat; 38 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams protein; 0.37 gram fiber.

Peanut Butter Topping 1 (6-ounce) package chocolate chips 1/2 cup peanut butter

Place chocolate chips and peanut butter together in saucepan over very low heat. Stir until melted.

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This easily prepared Norwegian meat roll makes a delicious sandwich for a hot summer day.

RULLEPOLSE (Norwegian Meat Roll) 1 (1-pound) flank steak Salt, pepper Ground ginger 1 small onion, minced

Wash flank steak and spread onto board or table. Season to taste with salt, pepper and ginger and sprinkle with minced onion.

Roll meat lengthwise and sew outer skin to hold tight with heavy kitchen cord. Roll should look like large summer sausage. After sewing, wrap heavy kitchen cord around entire roll to prevent roll from unraveling during cooking. Place in large kettle and cover completely with water. Cook slowly over medium heat, about 2 hours. Remove meat from water and place on board or cake pan. Weight roll down with bread board or wooden block to flatten roll and press together. When cold, remove cord and slice thin. Makes 4 servings.

Each serving contains about: 139 calories; 136 mg sodium; 43 mg cholesterol; 6 grams fat; 2 grams carbohydrates; 18 grams protein; 0.12 gram fiber.