Sweet Potato Pie with Spiced Pecans

This classic southern pie is SO delicious.  I personally prefer it to pumpkin and have made it instead of the last two Thanksgivings.  I topped it with some homemade spiced pecans and used an all-butter pie crust.  Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 (1 lb) sweet potato
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 (9 inch) unbaked Butter Pie Crust

Instructions:

1.  Roll out crust and crimp edges.  Refrigerate crust while preparing filling.

2.  Boil sweet potato whole in skin for 40 to 50 minutes, or until done.  Run cold water over the sweet potato and remove the skin.

3.  Mash sweet potato in bowl of a stand mixer.

4.  Add butter, and mix well with mixer.

5.  Add sugar, milk, eggs, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla.  beat on medium speed until mixture is smooth.

6.  Pour into unbaked pie crust.

7.  Bake at 350 degrees F. for 55 to 70 minutes, until almost completely set.  Pie will puff up like  a souffle and then sink down as it cools.  Top with spiced nuts if you wish.

Enjoy!

Bourbon Pecan Pie

Nothing says Thanksgiving like pecan pie and this is one of the best recipes I have used.   I doubled the recipe and made one pie with chocolate and one without.  To add the chocolate, just layer 1/2 cup or so of semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips in the bottom of the pie before pouring in the filling.  I personally prefer no chocolate -- it overpowered the pie and was too rich for me -- but some people love it. 

Ingredients:

1 (9 inch) pie crust (I used an all-butter crust for this recipe).  Find the recipe here: Butter Pie Crust

5 Tbs. unsalted butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
 3/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 tsp fine salt
2 cups chopped toasted pecans, coarsely chopped
1 to 2 Tbs. bourbon
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 eggs, lightly beaten

Instructions:

1.  Roll out the crust, crimp/flute the edges, and freeze pie shell for 30 minutes.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees and put one rack in the center and one on the lower third of the oven.  Line shell with foil or parchment paper and fill with dried beans or pie weights.  Bake on center rack until the dough is set, about 20 minutes.  Remove from the oven and lift out the foil/parchment to remove the beans.  Continue baking until pie shell is lightly golden brown, about 10 minutes more.  Check frequently and push dough down with a fork if it bubbles. 

2.  While the crust is baking, make the filling: In a medium saucepan (I used a large one because I doubled the recipe), combine the butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt.  Bring toa  baoil over medium heat, and stirring constantly, continue to boil for 1 minute. 

3.  Remove from heat, pour in bourbon and vanilla, and nuts.

 

4.  Set the mixture aside to cool for about 5 minutes.  Whisk the beaten eggs into the filling until smooth. 

5.  Pour the chocolate into the pie crust, if using.  Then put the pie shell on a baking sheet and pour the filling into the hot crust.

6.  Bake on the lower oven rack until the edges are set but the center is still slightly loose, about 40 to 45 minutes (if the edges get very dark, cover them with aluminum foil half way during baking).  Cool on a rack.  Serve warm or at room temperature with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Enjoy!

Butter Pie Crust

So I have been convinced: you can use just butter, forget the shortening, and still get a flaky pie crust.  The key? COLD COLD COLD butter.  Use frozen butter, dice it, refreeze it if it warms up, do not over process it, and keep it cold when rolling it out, refreezing if necessary in the middle of rolling.  Refrigerate it while you prepare the filling.

Ingredients (makes enough for a bottom and top crust for a 9 inch pie, or for two bottom crusts or two 9 inch tarts)

2 1/2 cups flour
1 three-finger-pinch salt
(1 Tbs. sugar - optional)
2 sticks COLD COLD COLD butter, diced
1/4 cup give or take of ice water

For a tart, add 1 Tbs. sugar per cup of flour. 

In food processor, combine flour and salt.  Add diced butter and pulse until clumps form.  DO NOT OVER PROCESS! There should be pea size pieces of butter and some smaller pieces.  Add ice water slowly, pulsing just until moist crumbs form.  Turn out onto a surface and form into 2 disks, 5 to 6 inches in diameter.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour.  Can be frozen for up to a month.

When you are ready to roll the dough out, use a lot of flour to cover the work surface, the top of the dough, and the rolling pin.  Roll out from middle of disk, pushing away from you. Rotate a quarter turn and do push from middle, rolling away from you.  Continue in this manner until you have an 11 inch round.  Gently fold dough into quarters and unfold in pie plate (or gently roll onto rolling pin and unroll again into pie plate).  Trim so you have 1 inch overhang.  Fold dough under to make the edge flush with the edge of the pie plate.  Crimp, using thumb and forefinger of one hand and forefinger of the opposite hand to form ridges.  Refrigerate or freeze dough before baking.

Blueberry Pie!

Here is that recipe I promised for my famous blueberry pie which I made for Brandon's birthday last week (Brandon's blueberry birthday...?)  We still have some in the fridge... um... want to come over and take it off our hands?!  I have been cutting off slivers daily... I had some with my cottage cheese today at lunch (I know that sounds weird but YUM!)

Ingredients:


Flaky Pie Crust
6 cups blueberries, rinsed and picked over
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 cup granulated sugar (next time I will probably cut down to 3/4 cup)
1/2 cup flower
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 Tbs. tapioca*
2 Tbs. butter, diced
1 egg, lightly beaten
Sugar for sprinkling

Vanilla ice cream for serving.

* Note: I did not put tapioca in the pie this time and it was too runny when we cut into it, even after having cooled for several hours.  It still tasted delicious (and the blueberry "sauce" that results is kind of awesome dribbled over vanilla ice cream...) and sliced OK but it didn't hold its form as much as I would like.  Next time I will add 2 Tbs. and see how that works.  Use your discretion.

Instructions:


1. Start by preparing your Flaky Pie Crust.  Roll out the bottom crust and fit in a 10 inch pie pan.  Put in the fridge to chill while you prepare the filling.

2. Sprinkle the lemon juice over the blueberries.

3.  Add sugar.  I used a scant cup. Next time I will cut down to 3/4 because the blueberries were so good, it didn't need so much sugar.  If the blueberries you are using are tart, stick to 1 cup.

4.  Add flour and cinnamon.

5.  Mix the filling.

6.  Remove the chilled pie plate from the fridge, pour filling into bottom crust, and top with diced butter.

7.  Roll out the top crust, drape it over the rolling pin and drag it on top of the filling.

8.  Trim and crimp edges and cut slots in the top to allow steam to escape.

9.  Paint with lightly beaten egg.

10.  Sprinkle top of crust with sugar and then collar the edges to keep them from burning.

11.  Bake at 400 degrees for about 35 minutes (remove foil after 20 minutes or so), or until crust is golden brown.  Let cool and serve with vanilla ice cream.

Enjoy!

Birthday Feasting

Yes it was a FEAST!  I cooked and baked and rolled and stirred and whisked and floured and let rise and painted and spread and sprinkled and diced and chopped and squeezed and stirred and served! It was a day filled with verbs...

First we sat and ate guacamole at our new picnic table, and then had Anya's homemade pizza (I mean really really homemade... pizza sauce, dough.... OK, OK I did not make the cheese or the pepperoni but even I have my limits OK?)... and then of course,  blueberry pie for dessert.  Let's just look at the food OK?!

Guacamole secret ingredient?  SOUR CREAM! Shhhhh!  Also in there: minced garlic, jalepeno, cilantro, lime, salt, cayenne...

The picnic table (... Brandon is just sitting down... I think...?)

And then the pizza...

The dough was really really good!  I tried a new recipe I found at allrecipes.com and makes a crust that is crunchy on the outside but still soft and chewy in the middle... it made enough dough for 2 good size pizzas.  The recipe is available here.

Now for a variety of toppings... (yes that is homemade pizza sauce!)

Building pizza numero uno...

A little oil...

Spreading some homemade super spicy pizza sauce...

Cheese please...

Pepperoni...

Some black olives...

Funghi... my fav...

Jalepenos... (this was some spicy pizza!)

Slid it onto the preheated pizza stone...

15 minutes later...

A piece for me please?

YUM.  That was the b'day boy's pizza.

But we had enough dough for another one... (although not quite enough sauce... :(... )

We had some leftover grilled chicken from Saratoga... it was smoky and delicious... I threw it on there...

Cheeeeeeseee

Peppers and shrooms...

Jalepenos and some leftover proscuitto...

Cooked it up..

Yes... let's eat this too...

A happy chef...

OK so we couldn't really do that much damage... but we tried... and we have more than a whole pizza to eat another night... not too shabby!

Wait! Let's look at the pie real quick...

Mmmm blueberries... sugar... flour...

Yes... that is butter...

Pretty!

YUM.

OK so we vegged out.... a bit... I took pains not to think about (or mention) the calories... I hit the gym hard today... and I am resisting pie as we speak... that will last about 5 more minutes... literally... Rachel Maddow is telling us about the health care decision... I think this is all the more reason for PIE!

Find my pizza sauce recipe and the blueberry pie recipe under my recipes page... they will be there soon!

I will leave you with this family pic... a bed for each of our kids...

They. are. ridiculous.

-- Anya