Pecan Pie

I made two pies recently. I made pumpkin pie using the same recipe that I had already posted and I also made pecan pie, which was a first for me. I found a recipe on foodnetwork.com that looked good. I have no experience with this type of pie, but this looked like a typical recipe. Anyway, it came out well, except the crust stuck a lot to the pie plate for some reason. I may spray the plate with non-stick spray next time to see if that works. I also think I baked it a little too long. The recipe says to bake until the edges are set, but the middle is still fluffy and I think I just left it in the oven too long, but it still tasted good.

The recipe says to toast the pecans and that's highly recommended because it added a nice toasty flavor to the pie. Only toast the pecans once you chop them coarsely because the more surface area to toast, the better they taste. To toast pecans, set the oven to 400 degrees and place the pecans on a baking sheet. I'd say keep them in the oven for about 5 minutes, turning them once. You want to see that they have browned, but are not too brown.

And I skipped the bourbon.

Oh, for the crust, I used the same recipe I posted with the pumpkin pie, so you can find that there. But you'll want to pre-bake it. So once you make the crust, stick something heavy on the bottom so it doesn't crack /or bubble, cover the crust in foil, bake at 400 degrees for 20 mins., remove the foil, reduce heat to 350 and bake 10 mins. or until golden.

Here's the recipe:
(recipe courtesy of foodnetwork.com)

Happy Baking! Sorry no picture; it was eaten before I thought of taking one:(

Oven: 350 degrees

• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 3/4 cup light corn syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 2 cups chopped toasted pecans
• 1 to 2 tablespoons bourbon
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten

In medium saucepan, combine the butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat, and stirring constantly, continue to boil for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and stir in the nuts, bourbon, and the vanilla. Set the mixture aside to cool slightly, about 5 minutes. (If the crust has cooled, return it to the oven for 5 minutes to warm through.) Whisk the beaten eggs into the filling until smooth. Put the pie shell on a sheet pan and pour the filling into the hot crust.

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 slightly warm or room temperature.

Pumpkin Pie with a Graham Cracker Crust

Pumpkin pie is such a traditional fall treat. It makes the apartment smell so wonderful. For my pumpkin pies, I like to use a graham cracker crust. Also, instead of the traditional evaporated milk, I like to use sweetened condensed milk and then omit any other sugar from the recipe. I think the sweetened condensed milk makes the pie fluffier. Even though I'm not adding any sugar to the pie itself, I like to add some brown sugar to the top of the pie, kind of like a streusal topping. A nice addition to the streusal topping could be walnuts. You'll see in the picture to the left that I did not spread the topping all over the pie, but that is definitely something you could do. Also, one last thing, I never measure any of the spices I add; I think that's a bit boring. I also usually only use cinnamon and nutmeg in my pies; I just don't like the taste of ginger. And if you have fine sea salt, use that.

Graham Cracker Crust:

1.5 cups finely ground graham crackers
6 tbs butter- melted
1/3 cup sugar

Use a rolling pin to mash the graham crackers. Put them in a bowl and add the sugar. Finally add the butter to this mixture and blend with spoon until all the dry ingredients are coated with butter.
Press into a 9" pie plate.

Bake this at 375 degrees for 7 minutes. 

Pie Filling:

(Recipe courtesy of sparkpeople.com username jkaplan86, but with my substitutions)

15 oz pumpkin (not pie filling)
14 oz sweetened condensed milk
2 eggs
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t ginger
1/2 t nutmeg
1/2 t salt

Preheat oven to 425.
Mix all ingredients together. Place in the already baked crust.
Cover the crust with a thin strip of foil so it does not burn.
Bake at this temperature for 15 minutes.
Reduce heat to 350 and bake for another 35-40 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.
After about 30 minutes in the oven, remove the foil and add the streusal topping. Before doing this, however, stick a knife in the middle, it should look fairly clean. You don't want to take the foil off and put the topping on too early.

Enjoy with whipped cream /or vanilla ice cream!