Thankful for Mom’s Pecan Pie

by Julie Gale

(November 13, 2003) For the last 15 years, our family has been celebrating Thanksgiving in our little 1860’s one-room schoolhouse in the Berkshire Mountains. While I truly love the Berkshires in winter, spring, summer and most of fall, late November is perhaps the dreariest time of all to vacation there. The leaves are now all down, the sky is perpetually gray, and it is a very damp and frigid time to be in the mountains. However, the countryside is unnaturally very quiet and pristine (except for the occasional boom of a deer hunter’s rifle) and we feel as though we have been transported back to a much simpler time.

My kitchen in the country is about the size of a thimble and so it is necessary to prepare almost everything ahead and pack it all up to reheat and share the next day. Therefore, I always look for recipes that will hold up successfully for a wonderful Thanksgiving feast. The following recipe is an adaptation of the pie that my mother prepares at her home and brings to share. I have added the chocolate and bourbon to enliven her more traditional version. The pie can be served warm or at room temperature and is wonderful by itself or with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream plopped on top.

MOM’S CHOCOLATE PECAN PIE

3 large eggs, beaten
½ cup dark brown sugar, packed down
¾ cup white sugar
¾ cup dark corn syrup
¼ cup maple syrup
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 Tbs. unsalted butter
2 Tbs. bourbon whiskey
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
¾-1 cup pecan halves
1 package refrigerated Pillsbury pie crust
1 deep-dish pie pan (9 inch)
Vanilla ice cream, optional
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Allow the pie crust to come to room temperature.

Melt the butter, bourbon, and ½ cup of the chocolate chips together in a glass bowl in the microwave. (Cook at half power stirring every 30 seconds until just melted.) Allow to cool.

In a large bowl, mix the eggs, sugars, syrups and vanilla. Add the cooled chocolate mixture.

Press the pie crust into the pan leaving extra dough around the edges. Using the tines of a fork make marks all around the edge.

Sprinkle the remaining chocolate chips and ¾ cup of the pecans on the bottom of the crust. Pour in the mixture. When the pecans float to the top turn them so that they are all rounded side up and add the rest of them as needed so that the entire surface is covered with pecans.

Place the pie pan on top of a cookie sheet (to catch any drips) and bake for about 50 minutes or until a toothpick emerges clean when poked into the filling about halfway toward the center. Serve with vanilla ice cream, if desired. Serves 6-8

This recipe along with spiced, brined turkey and creamed onions with tarragon will be taught by Julie Gale on Tuesday, November 18th from 9:30-11:30 AM at her cooking school in Larchmont. For further information please call 834-5353 or email at PJAZTEGale@optonline.net.

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