Bourbon-Ginger Pecan Pie

I wasn’t planning on beginning this post for a pie recipe with anything other than a story about how much I liked it, encouraging you to make it. (Which I’ll get to later.) But after I had started writing it, several neighborhoods in Paris came under attack, including mine, and I put everything on hold. Cafés and restaurants that I knew, and areas that I frequent, were…

Pecan Pie with Bourbon and Ginger

I wasn’t planning on beginning this post for a pie recipe with anything other than a story about how much I liked it, encouraging you to make it. (Which I’ll get to later.) But after I had started writing it, several neighborhoods in Paris came under attack, including mine, and I put everything on hold.

Pecan Pie with Bourbon and Ginger

Cafés and restaurants that I knew, and areas that I frequent, were targets, as was the area around the theatre where my outdoor market is, which suffered the worst of it. Everyone I know is okay, but others were not so fortunate. It’s a crazy world we are living in and often we just see it on television and switch the channels to something more entertaining, so we don’t have to think about it. But when it happens right outside your door, or in a city that you love so much (whether you live there or are just an occasional visitor), you can’t avoid the shock and the grief. In addition to some introspection, my hope is that this will bring a conversation and dialogue that will somehow address why – and how – this happened, and where to go from here.

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Chocolate Pecan Slab Pie

Pecans are the great American nut and at no time of the year are they more in demand than around the holidays. There are a lot of different nuts grown in the United States; walnuts, almonds, pistachios, and hazelnuts, but a pie made with toasted pecans is a holiday tradition and every year I have the urge to make one. Recently an American membership-only store…

Pecans are the great American nut and at no time of the year are they more in demand than around the holidays. There are a lot of different nuts grown in the United States; walnuts, almonds, pistachios, and hazelnuts, but a pie made with toasted pecans is a holiday tradition and every year I have the urge to make one.

Recently an American membership-only store opened in France, and while there are many French hypermarchés (mega-stores), this one caused a splash, particularly amongst Americans, because they have things like big rolls of their famous plastic wrap with that superlative cutter, IPA beers, and from what I hear, big bags of pecans.

There’s always been Metro, a similar mega-store that carries more restaurant-supply items. But there’s a huge refrigerator filled with every kind of French cheese (and butter) that you can imagine, sold whole (like an entire wheel of Brie) or butter in large blocks, and they give you down jackets to wear because you want to spend so much time in there. It really is that cold. But you need to be a professional to go there.

I don’t have room for an entire wheel of Brie – and I’m not talking about in my stomach (which I’d be up for trying…), but in my refrigerator – but I do have room for pecans, which I stockpile as the holidays get closer and closer. Over the years, I’ve made Ginger Pecan Pie and Chocolate Pecan Pie with my precious pecans that I haul back from the States because I’m not schlepping out to the boonies on the outskirts of Paris to get a bag of pecans when I can carry them 5500 miles over the Atlantic. (And sometimes pay extra in luggage fees.) That makes sense. Right?

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Orange Pecan Chess Pie

Orange Pecan Chess Pie
Chess pie is an easy to make custard pie that is a Southern classic and a favorite in my home. Not only is the pie delicious, but it happens to be exceptionally easy to make. For me, that means I can whip one up on relatively short notice and easily play around with …

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Orange Pecan Chess Pie
Chess pie is an easy to make custard pie that is a Southern classic and a favorite in my home. Not only is the pie delicious, but it happens to be exceptionally easy to make. For me, that means I can whip one up on relatively short notice and easily play around with different flavors in my pies. This particular pie is an Orange Pecan Chess Pie, a variation on both a chess pie and a pecan pie that I think is a wonderful holiday dessert.

The filling of this pie is made with sugar, eggs, cornmeal and milk, with both vanilla extract and fresh orange zest added in for flavor. The cornmeal may seem like an unexpected ingredient in a pie filling, but it helps to thicken up the custard and gives the filling a little bit of extra body. The orange zest is the star of the custard because the fresh zest – and you’ll only need the zest from 1 whole orange – brings a bright, citrus flavor to the pie and really pairs exceptionally well with the pecans. Orange extract is not a good substitute here, so be sure to use a fresh orange!

The pecans are stirred into the filling after the other ingredients have been mixed together. I use roasted and salted pecans, which contrast well with the sweet filling and bring a fantastic crunch to the topping of the pie as it caramelizes in the oven. Whole pecans will give your pie the best finished look, however you can use coarsely chopped pecans instead if that is what you have on hand.

The amount of nuts in this pie is very generous and, while they mostly float to the surface while the pie is in the oven, you’ll find the odd nut gets trapped in the filling for a surprise crunch when you are serving. Not a bad surprise if you like a nutty dessert!

The pie is creamy, crunchy, sweet and nutty. You can taste the orange, vanilla and pecans in every bite and it is so good that you may never want to go back to a traditional pecan pie! This pie is best served slightly chilled and it can be made a day ahead of when you plan to serve it. Use a serrated knife to cut through the pie before serving to get neat slices.

Orange Pecan Chess Pie
1 3/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
2 tbsp cornmeal
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp orange zest
3 tbsp butter, melted and cooled
2/3 cup milk (any kind)
1 1/2 cups whole or coarsely chopped toasted pecans (pref. toasted and salted)
prebaked 9-inch pie crust

Preheat oven to 350F.
In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, eggs, egg yolk, cornmeal, salt, vanilla extract and orange zest. Whisk in the melted butter, followed by the milk, until ingredients are well-combined. Stir in pecans. Pour filling into prebaked 9-inch pie crust.
Bake for 45-50 minutes, until the pie is set and jiggles only very slightly when the pan is tapped. Allow pie to cool to room temperature. Pie can be served at room temperature or refrigerated before serving.

Serves 8-10.

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Thanksgiving Recipes

It’s that time of the year again. When bakers, cooks, and even bartenders, are baking, roasting, and shaking things up for the holidays. Here’s a round-up of recipes from my blog, my personal favorites, that are great for Thanksgiving and winter holiday fêtes. There are cakes, cocktails, spreads, dips, candied nuts, cheesecake, ice cream…and more! Pecan Pie with Bourbon and Ginger What’s more traditional than pecan…

It’s that time of the year again. When bakers, cooks, and even bartenders, are baking, roasting, and shaking things up for the holidays. Here’s a round-up of recipes from my blog, my personal favorites, that are great for Thanksgiving and winter holiday fêtes. There are cakes, cocktails, spreads, dips, candied nuts, cheesecake, ice cream…and more!

Pecan Pie with Bourbon and Ginger

What’s more traditional than pecan pie for the holidays? (That wasn’t really a question, because most of us already know the answer.) I love this zippy variation, with a triple dose of ginger and a belt of bourbon to boot. It’s especially good with a scoop of white chocolate-fresh ginger ice cream.

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