I love to make pie. I don't like to eat pie (with the exception of strawberry pie, but that's another blog) but a couple of years ago I decided that I wanted to be "good" at making pie. And, without tooting my own horn too much, I think that I can make a pretty decent pie. I generally favor an all butter crust (but sometimes I do the butter & shortening thing) and I think that most people will tell you that my crust is usually flaky and tender. However, there is one huge exception to my pie-prowess: pecan pie. I cannot, for the life of me, make a decent pecan pie. You'd think that by now I'd run in the other direction but, no-no-no, I always think that, maybe this time it will be better. That maybe this time I'll hit the pecan pie jackpot and it will be exactly what I'm looking for. Last year the pecan pie was an experiment from the Texas Home Cooking cookbook with a combination of molasses, corn syrup, and a little bourbon for kicks. Sadly, it did not measure up with me or anyone else who tried it. This year I went with the recipe from the Commander's Palace Cookbook which is a very simple corn syrup recipe (side note: my brother worked in the kitchen at Commander's for a little bit and I have it on good authority from him that they use Steen's Cane Syrup in the pecan pie at the restaurant).
Pecan Pie filling:
(Commander's Palace Recipe)
3/4 cup of light corn syrup
3/4 cup light brown sugar
3 tablespoons butter
6 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract (my addition)
1 1/2 cups whole shelled pecans
I looked at a lot of pecan pie recipes and, so far as I can tell, the only difference in this one is the 6 (!!) eggs rather than 3 but it is a very rich filling. I used the all-butter pie crust that I love and the pie was pretty enough (but I've made pretty pies that tasted gross before) and it tasted ok but the crust was tough like leather. It was flaky but not at all tender. Boo!! Why does the pie crust up and go to H-E double hockey sticks with pecan pie? That's what I want to know. I suppose that the next time I decide to make a pecan pie I'm going to have to investigate the shortening or lard (the horror!) route. My dad tells me that I should use the recipe on the Karo bottle and I think that I will. At this point I can't stop, I have to beat the pecan pie.
On to a pie that worked well, the deep dish apple pie.
It's sort of a tradition in my family to have apple pie the day after Thanksgiving and for the past 3 years or so my brother and I have been in charge of the apple pie (a job we campaigned for). I have no idea what the recipe is because we just sort of make it up as we go along. I can tell you that we always use granny smith apples but sometimes use a combination of granny smith and a sweeter apple, such as fuji. We peel and slice the apples, add a little lemon juice, brown sugar, cinnamon, and apple pie spice, and a couple of tablespoons of all purpose flour. Then I precook the apples, not all the way, but enough so that they release some of their juices and all of the spices, sugar, and flour combine. This is my favorite apple pie secret because it guarantees that you won't have a huge gap between your crust and your filling when the pie is completely cooked. As long as you use firm apples you won't end up with mush. Prepare your pie crusts, place the apple mixture in the bottom crust, add a couple of tablespoons of butter (cut up into smaller pieces , of course), add the top crust (make sure to add a vent or two) and brush with cream (or milk) and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 375 degrees for about an hour or until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbly. This apple pie that has passed the test of every pie lover I know.
Pecan Pie filling:
(Commander's Palace Recipe)
3/4 cup of light corn syrup
3/4 cup light brown sugar
3 tablespoons butter
6 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract (my addition)
1 1/2 cups whole shelled pecans
I looked at a lot of pecan pie recipes and, so far as I can tell, the only difference in this one is the 6 (!!) eggs rather than 3 but it is a very rich filling. I used the all-butter pie crust that I love and the pie was pretty enough (but I've made pretty pies that tasted gross before) and it tasted ok but the crust was tough like leather. It was flaky but not at all tender. Boo!! Why does the pie crust up and go to H-E double hockey sticks with pecan pie? That's what I want to know. I suppose that the next time I decide to make a pecan pie I'm going to have to investigate the shortening or lard (the horror!) route. My dad tells me that I should use the recipe on the Karo bottle and I think that I will. At this point I can't stop, I have to beat the pecan pie.
On to a pie that worked well, the deep dish apple pie.
It's sort of a tradition in my family to have apple pie the day after Thanksgiving and for the past 3 years or so my brother and I have been in charge of the apple pie (a job we campaigned for). I have no idea what the recipe is because we just sort of make it up as we go along. I can tell you that we always use granny smith apples but sometimes use a combination of granny smith and a sweeter apple, such as fuji. We peel and slice the apples, add a little lemon juice, brown sugar, cinnamon, and apple pie spice, and a couple of tablespoons of all purpose flour. Then I precook the apples, not all the way, but enough so that they release some of their juices and all of the spices, sugar, and flour combine. This is my favorite apple pie secret because it guarantees that you won't have a huge gap between your crust and your filling when the pie is completely cooked. As long as you use firm apples you won't end up with mush. Prepare your pie crusts, place the apple mixture in the bottom crust, add a couple of tablespoons of butter (cut up into smaller pieces , of course), add the top crust (make sure to add a vent or two) and brush with cream (or milk) and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 375 degrees for about an hour or until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbly. This apple pie that has passed the test of every pie lover I know.
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