Pecan Pie

What are the holidays without a Pecan Pie?

My favorite Thanksgiving memories are when my family in Tennessee would gather at my Aunt Meg's house. We would pack in cousins, in-laws, grandparents, uncles, and close family friends. One year we had three dogs and a cat! Now that was a lively day. In order to feed all 20-30 of us, the women folk would work for hours the days before to prepare a feast. Aunt Meg's kitchen island would be covered with a wide variety of pies, cakes, and cookies to tempt and delight. The list usually included molasses cookies, buttermilk pie, mincemeat pie, and pecan pie. Even though I didn't get to spend the day with everyone this year, my brother and I carried on the traditions here in Colorado with his family.

This year, rather than using the usual recipe on the Karo Syrup bottle, I decided to try something a little more complex. It took more time, but the results were amazing!

1 Pie crust, deep dish. (I have a simple recipe for one on the apple pie blog. If you must use store-bought, I recommend Marie Callender's.)

6 Tbl butter, cut into 1 in pieces
1 cup packed, dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3 large eggs, beaten
3/4 cup light corn syrup
1 Tbl vanilla
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans, toasted

Heat the oven to 375.
Toast pecans for 8 minutes, or until you can start to smell them.
Place pie weights in the crust, either using dry beans in aluminum foil, using it to also cover and protect the edges (this is to prevent bubbling). Bake the empty crust for 25 min. Carefully remove the foil and beans, return crust to oven for 5 min until bottom of crust is dry.
Decrease oven to 275.
Filling: place a medium glass bowl in a skillet of water. Bring water to boil, reduce to simmer. Add butter. Once melted, add brown sugar and salt, mix well. Add the eggs, corn syrup and vanilla. Beat together, then stir regularly until the filling is hot and reads 130 degrees. Remove from heat and add pecans.
Pour into prepared shell, cover with crust shield, bake for 40 minutes. Remove shield, bake another 15-20 min, or until the pie doesn't jiggle, but gives when pressed in the center.

Classic Apple Pie

My dear friend Jennifer gave me a wonderful cookbook for my birthday this year. Best Recipe from a test kitchen. They take the most popular recipes and test all the different variations. I will say this was very well balanced for texture, apple flavor, and seasoning.

Ingredients 

Pie crust (recipe at bottom)
2 tbl flour plus more for dusting the work surface
3 large Granny Smith Apples (about 1 1/2 lbs, for tartness and crisp texture)
4 large McIntosh Apples (about 2 lbs, for sweetness and soft texture)
1 tbl juice and 1 tsp grated zest from 1 lemon
3/4 cup plus 1 tbl sugar
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg white, beaten slightly with a dash of water

Directions:

Lower oven rack, heat to to 500 deg

Roll half the dough on a lightly floured work surface with a piece of parchment paper or wax paper on top. Roll into a 12 in circle, using your flattened hand to make sure of even thickness all around. 

Roll the dough around your rolling pin and then unroll it onto your pie plate, easing it into the corners and leaving excess. Place in refrigerator. Peel, core, and slice the apples into 1/4 inch slices and toss with lemon juice and zest. In a medium bowl, mix the dry ingredients together (reserve 1 tbl sugar), then toss with apples. Empty bowl into chilled pie shell, mounding in center.
Roll out the remaining half of crust and place on top by following previous steps.
Trim edges of crust to 1/2 inch all the way around, tuck the top layer over the bottom and into the pan, flute edges with fingertips. 

Cut 4 slits on top of pie with a knife. If dough is very soft, place in the freezer for 10 min. Brush the egg white on the top crust and sprinkle evenly with remaining sugar. 

 Place pie on a baking sheet and lower oven temp to 425. Bake the pie until the crust is golden, about 25 min. Rotate the pie, reduce oven temp to 375, continue baking until the juices bubble and the crust is a deep golden brown, 30-35 min longer. 

Cool to room temp, at least 4 hours to let juices set up. 

Serve with your favorite vanilla ice cream! Mine is Breyers.

Pie Crust:
2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour, plus more for dusting the work surface
1 tsp salt
2 tbl sugar
1/2 cup vegetable shortening, chilled
12 tbl (1 1/2 sticks) cold butter, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
6-8 tbl ice water

Mix flour, salt and sugar until combined. Add shortening and butter, cutting in with a pastry blender, a food processor, or two knives. Do this until it resembles coarse crumbs, the size of small peas. In a medium bowl, sprinkle 6 tbl of water mix with clean hands by scraping the edges and folding in on itself. If too crumbly, add remaining water. Do this until well mixed. Divide in half, cover, and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Chocolate Chess Pie

I have the great honor and privilege of living close to my brother and his three amazing children. Time to time, when I babysit them, I let them help me cook and try to pass on my knowledge to their young, eager faces. This was a perfect opportunity to bake a pie: their father's birthday.

Now in the south, a Chess pie is a tradition. It's one of the first recipes I learned, passed down from my grandmother along with this story. The old saying goes, that a yankee was enjoying a delicious pie baked for him by a southern cook when he asked what kind of pie it was. The cook, in a heavy accent, said, "It's jes' pie." Thus, the name, "Chess Pie." What's better than a pie full of sugar and butter? A pie full of sugar, butter and chocolate. So here's the variation on the old favorite.

Ingredients
3 cups sugar
7 tbl cocoa powder
3 tbl flour
1 cup milk
4 eggs
1 stick butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 regular pie shells or 1 deep dish.

Directions
Heat oven to 350, place pie shells on a cookie sheet. prepare a crust shield (directions in Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake).
In a small saucepan, heat butter on low just until melted, remove from heat and add cocoa until melted.
In a bowl, mix sugar with flour, then add remaining ingredients. Add butter/cocoa mixture. Pour into crusts.
Bake for 30-40 min, until a crust has formed on top of the pie. (it will be cracked and not sticky to the touch)
Remove crust shield during the last 15 min of baking.
Cool completely before slicing. We call this "Settin' up."  (trust me, resist temptation or it will be pure liquid inside!)

Funny side note: After baking this and putting the sweet darlings to bed, I couldn't resist tasting my creation. So, I confess I nibbled a bit :) It made Twitter with a picture of the creator/culprit.

Apple Cinnamon Bread

Fall is here, accompanied by the fragrance of apples and cinnamon filling my home with the sound of rustling leaves for background music through the open window. A friend of mine gave me a bushel of small, tart apples to feed my cooking fetish, so this is my first try at Apple Bread.

One fall, several years ago, I was blessed to visit the state of Maine during its height of color. The coastline was lined with antique stores, book shops, bead and breakfasts, and bakeries that made me feel like being transported back in time to simpler days. So, when I came across this recipe from Ogunquit, ME, I knew I had to try it. It is every bit as delicious as a slice of New England history should be.

Ingredients
3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup melted butter
1 tbl vanilla
2 cups apples, peeled, sliced 1/4 in thick and cut in half
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 tbl flour

Directions
Heat oven to 350, grease the bottoms of 2 glass loaf pans.
Toast walnuts in heating oven 10 min or until you can smell them. Cool, then toss with flour.
In a medium bowl, mix flour, cin, soda, salt, and baking powder.
In a separate, large bowl, beat eggs for a minute.
Add sugar, butter, oil, and vanilla, stir just until incorporated.
Add flour in quarters and stir just until mixed. Add apples and walnuts.
Pour into two pans, bake for 1 hour, rotating half-way through.
Check 10 min early and then at 5 min intervals until a toothpick comes out mostly clean.
Let cool for 5 min before dumping out of pan.
Savor the smell!

Key Lime Pie

As I was walking through the grocery store this afternoon, I spied some key lime pies on the shelf that got my mouth watering. As much as I may be tempted to buy premade treats, I am always halted by the memory of my mother's homemade creation. Its cool, creamy texture and tart taste are refreshingly perfect for a hot summer's day. Once again, thank you Mama for this family favorite! (My brother is so jealous right now)

8oz sour cream
2 8oz pkgs of cream cheese, room temp
Juice of 1 lemon
Juice of 1 lime (even if small)
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 dash salt
Graham cracker crusts: 1 deep dish (with leftovers) or 2 regular crusts or 12 mini crusts

Mix all ingredients until smooth. Pour in crust, cover, and refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. Serve cold.

Tips:

• Microwave the lime and lemons for 20 seconds and roll on the counter to loosen the juices. 
• Microwave the cream cheese for 30 seconds in a glass bowl to make it easier to mix. 

Garnishes:

• Take an extra lime and slice thinly then cut half-way through on one side. Open and twist the sides in opposite directions. 
• Add whip cream and lime zest.
• Score the lime from top to bottom before slicing to add flair to the rind.
• Eat it all right away before you have time to garnish it.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

• I woke up this morning to grey skies, the wind rustling the leaves outside of my window and the soft patter of rain serenading me. I started thinking of all the wonderful things I could make for breakfast when a Jack Johnson song started playing in my head, "Banana Pancakes." That sparked another thought, chocolate chip banana bread, one of my favorite comfort foods. 

Yesterday I had a bunch of girls over to watch a movie and do a chocolate tasting, so, conveniently, we had a selection of chocolate to choose from. I mixed dark chocolate with orange, sea salt chocolate, several milk chocolates, and a 85% dark chocolate. It keeps the banana muffins mysterious, and hard to pinpoint what you're tasting!

• 
  
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 3 large over-ripe bananas from your freezer, thawed
• 2/3 cup plain yogurt
• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 cups dark chocolate bar, chopped up

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cream bananas and sugar, add eggs, butter, vanilla, yogurt, mix well. Mix dry ingredients in separate bowl, add to banana mixture 1/3 at a time. Add chocolate, just stir to incorporate. 

Grease a muffin tin or a loaf pan. Bake muffins for about 15 min, until sides are brown. Bake Loaf for 30-40 min until a toothpick comes out clean in the center. Don't open the oven too much as it can cause the center to fall. 

Tip: When your bananas start to go bad, throw them in the freezer. The peel protects them, and when you thaw them out they are a nice soft consistency that mixes well. 

Old-fashioned Buttermilk Pie

This pie is famous in my family. At my great-grandmother "Ma's" funeral, it was even mentioned as something to be remembered. It's the first pie I ever made, and the one I make when I want to get into my daddy's heart. So simple, yet so unique. Enjoy!

Ma and Father Gunn, my great-grandparents

2 cups sugar
1 heaping tbl flour
1 cup buttermilk
3/4 stick of butter, melted
6 egg yolks, save whites for meringue
1 1/2 tsp vinegar, preferably apple cider
1 deep dish pie shell. My favorite is Marie Callender's in the freezer case with the Coolwhip

Preheat oven to 325.
In a large bowl, mix sugar and flour. Add rest of ingredients, mix well. Pour into crust and bake for 60 to 70 min, until it doesn't jiggle and it is light brown in spots. A crust shield is needed for this recipe. Remove at the 50 min mark. Let cool completely, even overnight, to let it set-up. Cut SMALL slices and serve! Also known as "death by sugar pie" hahah!

Meringue:
6 egg whites
1 tbl cream of tartar
2 tbl sugar
1 dash salt

Beat it on high until stiff peaks form. Spread on cooked pie. Cook at 450 until top is golden brown (doesn't take long, so watch it!)

Spring St, Ashland City, TN, 1970

Southern Molasses Cake

Molasses. What a sweet word. Since I can remember, we've had a jar of Sorghum Molasses on our table right next to the honey and butter. I grew up in a small town just outside of Nashville, TN and this is something we take seriously in our family! My second cousins will drive 2 hours just to get an authentic jar of this thick, black stuff. It's hard to find in grocery stores, they'll try to sell you corn syrup or Black Strap molasses. While good in its own rights, this is not what we aim for, what we cook with, and what we slather our biscuits in five nights out of the week. 

Molasses can be put to use to make grits edible, to substitute sugar in oatmeal, to give meaning to a biscuit, or to bake with. My all-time favorite molasses recipe is the famous Molasses cookie, but we'll save that for another day. 

I came across this in a cookbook for Armour's Hotel in Red Boiling Springs, TN. It's one of the first recipes I found myself when I started to bake as a teenager. I'm hooked, it's in my collection forever. 

1 stick butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup molasses

1 cup water

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp cloves

1 1/2 tsp soda

2 1/2 cups flour

2 eggs, beaten separately

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Cream butter and sugar together, add molasses and water. In a separate bowl, combine all dry ingredients thoroughly. Add flour mixture slowly while folding in. Add eggs, don't over beat. 
• Pour into well greased bundt pan. 
• Bake 30-40 min or until toothpick comes out almost clean. 
• Start sauce recipe 10 min before cake is done.
• Cool for 5 min, then turn onto serving platter. 
• Pour sauce over hot cake and serve! 

Sauce:

1 stick butter

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup half and half

1/4 tsp each: Cinnamon, ginger, allspice. 

Melt butter in saucepan over low heat. (Did you hear me? turn that burner down. ) Add sugar, stir until dissolved. Turn off heat, add spices and cream, mix well. 

Enjoy!

Cooking Tips:

• grease your measuring cup before putting the molasses in, or use Pampered Chef's Measure All Cup, great for sticky and thick things like Crisco or peanut butter. 
• If the cake is stuck and won't come out of the pan, freeze it then pop it out with a flexible spatula knife. (If this happens, reheat it before pouring sauce over it since it won't absorb it cold) 

Mocha Tart

This recipe will impress everyone! Beware, it has caffeine content!
My favorite food magazine for years was Family Circle. This is one of the gems I collected from there. Perfect for grown-up events.

1 ready-made pie crust
2/3 cup semisweet choc chips
1 cup rough chopped walnuts
3 Tbl butter
3 Tbl instant espresso powder
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup dark corn syrup
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
Whipped cream (recipe can be found on my other recipes)

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Fit pie crust into a 9 in removable-bottom tart pan.
• Sprinkle chocolate and walnuts evenly over crust. Set aside.
• Microwave butter in large glass bowl 40 or until melted. 
• Whisk in espresso powder.
• Beat in brown sugar, corn syrup, eggs, and vanilla.
• Pour into crust.
• Bake in lower third of oven for 35-40 min. Cool on rack to room temp. Remove outer rim and garnish with whipped cream before serving. 

Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake

A Holiday dessert to please two requests! My sister in law gave me this recipe from a very impressive HyVee (grocery chain) magazine that her mother brought her from Iowa. What better time to try it than Thanksgiving?













1 refrigerated or frozen pie crust
8 oz cream cheese, at room temp.
3/4 cup of sugar, divided
3 large eggs
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 Tbl rum or 1 Tbl vanilla
1 1/4 cups pumpkin from a can
1 cup evaporated milk
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt



Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place refrigerated crust in a pie plate, fluting with fingers as shown or folded and pressed with thumb for edging. Or use my favorite brand, Marie Callendars frozen crust.

Beat cream cheese, 1/4 cup of sugar, 1 egg, nutmeg and rum with a mixer until smooth. Spread evenly in prepared piecrust.

In a large bowl, stir together pumpkin, evap. milk, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup sugar, cinn, ginger, cloves and salt until thoroughly combined. Begin by pouring near the edge of the pie and slowly pour pumpkin mixture over cream cheese layer. Bake for 40 min. Remove crust shield and add steusel topping and bake for another 15-20 min, till crust is golden. Cool to room temperature. Chill and serve with Rum Whipped Cream. Serve that day or next. It's not as good after that.

Meanwhile, make streusel topping.

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 Tbl flour

2 Tbl butter

1/2 cup pecan pieces
Combine brown sugar and flour in a small bowl. Cut in butter with 2 knives or a pastry blender (if you read my blog, you'll want to buy one!) until mixture resembles wet sand. Stir in pecans.
Rum Whipped Cream:
1 cup whipping cream
2 Tbl sugar
1 tsp rum or vanilla

Beat with a mixer on high until soft peaks form.

Cooking tips:

• Serve that day or next. It's not as good after that.
• Make your own crust shield with aluminum foil. Fold the foil in half and cut a half circle out. Gently place over pie. 
• Chill your glass or metal bowl before you beat the whip cream and it will go faster. 
• Don't add until it's time to serve.

Cranberry Orange Scones

One of my favorite flavor pairings is cranberries and oranges, especially in muffins or scones. The main problem Americans have with scones is that they are too dry for our liking. Some people try to substitute muffin mix for the dough, but it just doesn't have the same texture. I have tried a couple of different recipes, and find that this one was a big hit! 

I am a part of a Jane Austen Movie club, and this month we had a tea party while watching A&E's Pride and Prejudice. Since food is such a social thing, every month we pick a recipe to make together before hand so people can share cooking tips. This was the recipe of the month. 

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. cloves
2 tbsp. sugar
Zest of an orange
1/2 cup Craisins or golden raisins, chopped
1 stick of cold butter
2/3 cup buttermilk (plus extra for brushing)
coarse sugar for sprinkling

Whipped Cream (recipe at the end)

Preheat oven to 400°F.

• Mix all the dry ingredients together. 
• Cut the cold butter into small cubes 1/4-1/2 inch. With a pastry blender or stand mixer, mix until the butter is just coated with flour, leaving chunks the size of dimes. 
• Stir in the Craisins and the zest. 
• Stir in 2/3 cup buttermilk and mix for about 30 seconds, or just until the liquid is absorbed. (The batter will begin to pull away from the sides of the bowl). 
• Using clean hands, scrape the dough down and form it into a ball. Place the ball on a baking stone, baking sheet lined with parchment paper, a silicone baking sheet or a buttered sheet of wax paper. 
• Pat the ball into a flattened circle 1 inch thick at the center, slightly thinner around the edges. Divide the circle into eight wedges and separate the wedges out leaving a 1/2-inch space between them.
• Brush the tops with remaining buttermilk or an egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
• Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until lightly browned.

Serve warm with butter, jam, whipped cream or clotted cream. The tops of the scones may be lightly dusted with confectioners sugar, if desired.

Cooking Tips:

• Use the Pampered Chef Food Chopper to quickly and cleanly chop the cranberries.
• Put your bowl in the sink when whipping the cream to make clean up easier. 
• Don't knead your dough! The chunks of butter, when melted, create air pockets that make the scones flaky. 
• When zesting an orange, don't get the white. If using a zester, do short strokes to get smaller pieces. 
• Invest in a zester and pastry brush. You can get them at Dollar Tree or the grocery and they make life easier!
• Substitute Chocolate Chips for the cranberries. Get creative! Raisins, dates, poppyseed, you name it!

Whipped Cream

1 Cup of Heavy Whipping Cream

1 Tablespoon of sugar

1 Tablespoon of juice from orange (used earlier for zest)

Beat on high for 5 minutes or so until soft peaks form. If you under beat, it will be runny. If you over beat, it will turn to butter. When it's getting close, turn off the mixer and test the peaks every minute. 

Mini Fruit Pizzas

Recipe and samples complements of Baylee Steele, roommate extraodinaire.

I came home one day in December to these delightful treats that Baylee and her sister Leslie were working on. Definitely worth posting! This is very similar to my Strawberry Tarts in an earlier post. Get creative, make your own "food art!"

Ingredients:

Pillsbury sugar cookie dough

2 pkgs Cream Cheese, softened

Sugar

1 tsp Almond extract

1 tsp Vanilla

2 tsp Lemon Juice

2-4 Tablespoons Milk

Various fruits, strawberries, kiwi, pineapple, peaches, mango, blackberries, etc

Start with Pillsbury sugar cookie dough, roll it out thin, about a 1/4 in.  By placing a piece of wax paper on the counter and another on top of the dough, you eliminate messes and the problem of dough sticking to the rolling pin. Until I got a feel for thicknesses, I used a ruler to measure in a couple of spots and then you can feel with your hand if it's even. 

Cut large circles out with a round cutter or a large-mouthed glass. 

Check the package directions for oven temperature, but cut the cooking time in half. You want them to be done, but not turn brown.

Meanwhile, to soften cream cheese, leave out for several hours. If it's not quite there by the time you're ready, you can microwave it for 30 seconds. Be careful, it will pop or if heated too long will get chunky. 

Add sugar, lemon juice, flavorings and milk. Mix well. Wash, slice, drain, dry fruit, whatever it needs!

Once cookies are cooled, spread 2 tablespoons of cream cheese mixture then top with fruit. 

Serve that day. They are hard to store and the fruits will get juicy and the cookies soggy. If traveling, spread cream cheese ahead of time, stacking fillings together, then add fruit at arrival.
Thank you to the Steele girls for this inspiration!