| 1 | Several hours ahead: start heating oven to 350?f. |
| 2 | To eggs, add sugar, salt, vanilla, and milk; beat well. |
| 3 | Add coconut. |
| 4 | Pour into greased 9" pie plate that has been set in shallow baking pan; sprinkle with nutmeg. |
| 5 | Set in oven; into baking pan, pour enough hot water to come three fourths way up side of pie plate. |
| 6 | Bake 35 min., or till silver knife inserted in center comes out clean. |
| 7 | Cool at room temperature. |
| 8 | When shell and custard are cool, melt chocolate with shortening over hot, not boiling, water. |
| 9 | Meanwhile, slip custard into shell this way: tilt custard-filled pie plate a bit. |
| 10 | With small spatula, gently pull custard away from all sides of plate. |
| 11 | To complete loosening, hold plate level with both hands; shake gently. |
| 12 | Now hold custard, tilted, over shell, with far edge of custard just above and close to far edge of shell; shake gently. |
| 13 | As custard slips out, pull plate back toward you till custard is in shell. |
| 14 | To make chocolate top, dip metal or wooden skewer into melted-chocolate mixture and draw it across top of pie in crisscross manner, dipping skewer into chocolate as needed. |
| 15 | Let settle a few minutes; then serve at once |
