Bourbon Ginger Pecan Pie

I came home for Christmas on Tuesday evening and it's pretty much been a cooking, baking and eating marathon ever since. We've had quiche and pizza, gumbo and fresh baked baguettes, creamy au gratin potatoes and Brussels sprouts in bacon fat, porchetta pork roast and beef roast, Bûche de Nöel and Sweet Potato Sunshine Buns, Cranberry Chocolate Chess Pie and a Lemon Hazelnut Tart, and chocolate-- oh the chocolate! I'm feeling the need to go on a detox-- at least a mini one, before I hole up in a cabin with a group of friends who are all fantastic cooks and bakers...

One of my go-to detox ingredients is fresh ginger root. Aside from offering of my favorite flavors ginger root also has a number of medicinal properties. It's used to curb nausea and indigestion, treat colds, and has been known to help lower cholesterol. It's also an antioxidant with anti-inflammatory properties. I like to drink it as a tea-- grating about 2 teaspoons of fresh ginger into a tea ball or bag and steeping for 10 minutes in boiling water, then adding lemon and/or honey as desired. It also is a great addition to a smoothie or soup.



But if you're not ready for the holiday indulgences to be over just yet, I offer this Bourbon Ginger Pecan Pie as something of a gateway. I know, I know. With its hearty dose of whiskey and sweet stuff, it's a pretty far cry from anything resembling a detox, but it does contain three forms of a main detox ingredient-- ginger. Does that count?

From Allison Kave's superb cookbook First Prize Pies, this recipe is a zesty, boozy take on a classic pecan pie. Like my go-to Pecan Pie with Brown Sugar recipe, this version also contains no corn syrup, using brown sugar and maple syrup (you could also use sorghum) instead. I dialed back the sugar just a tad from the original recipe, but other than that it's pretty close to Allison's original version, which won her the "Best Overall" prize at the Brooklyn Pie Bake-off in 2010. You'll understand why upon the first bite.

Bourbon Ginger Pecan Pie
Adapted from First Prize Pies by Allison Kave

Ingredients
Nothing in the House pie crust, halved
3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup Grade B maple syrup
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 Tablespoons good bourbon (I used Four Roses)
2 teaspoons (about a 2-inch piece) finely grated fresh ginger
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 cups pecan pieces
1/4 cup crystallized ginger, finely chopped
Egg wash (1 beaten egg + 1 Tablespoon whole milk or heavy cream)

Directions
1. Prepare half of the Nothing-in-the-House pie crust as per the directions. Chill dough at least 1 hour before rolling out and fitting into a greased and floured 9-inch pie pan. Place pie plate in fridge for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.


2. Once you've let the pie crust chill, prick crust with a fork all over the bottom. Line crust with parchment paper and pie weights or dried beans and bake for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, remove weights, and bake 3 more minutes. Let crust cool completely and set aside while you prepare the filling.

3. Lower the oven to 350 degrees F. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, syrup, eggs, bourbon, fresh ginger, ground ginger, and salt. Add the pecans and crystallized ginger to the pie shell and pour the liquid filling into the pie shell.

4. Brush crust with egg wash and bake for 25-30 minutes until the filling has just set and is slightly wobbly in the center. Remove pie to a wire rack and cool completely, at least 1 hour. Serve at room temperature or just warm.

*Chocolate variation: Melt 2 ounces of bittersweet chocolate and stir into filling before pouring into the pie shell.

Related recipes:
Bittersweet Chocolate Pecan Pie
"Indiana" Amish Oatmeal Pie
Pecan Pie with Brown Sugar

Five Holiday Pies on PBS Food

I was very excited when the writers of PBS Food asked if I would contribute a piece. All those years developing my part-Julia Child part-Mrs. Doubtfire cooking show host alter-ego Emily Pothole (pronounced poth-ole) finally paid off! Their request though, however unfortunately, was not for a prime-time TV spot between Martha Stewart and Mark Bittman, but instead for a written piece on their blog, to accompany their other "Five Ideas" holiday features. Though ENJOYING LIFE with Emily Pothole and Ms. Amanda Deitermeyer will have to be put on the back burner (so to speak), I was happy to oblige.

Five Ideas for Holiday Pies, though nothing especially new for Nothing-in-the-House readers, is a round-up of some of my favorite mostly seasonal and rather simple pie recipes for your winter celebration.  Check it out for blurbs on Shaker Orange Tarts, Bittersweet Chocolate Pecan Pie, a Cranberry Lime Galette, Nutella Pie, and Apple Pie with Salted Caramel Glaze. And stay right here for all the recipes.

Pie Almanac Release Party!

Our Pie Almanac Release Party last night at Ginger Root was SO. MUCH. FUN!  Except for one film shot of Diego (pictured in the Speculoos PEZ previously) eating the last crumbs of the Nutella Pie with a big smirk on his face, I only took pictures of pie, but the above Instagrams by Grant Dickie, Morgan of Panda Head and Carla of TPWP can help set the scene. It was really wonderful to see so many friends, and meet lots of new ones, all of whom were so encouraging and supportive and pumped on pie and pie art. Elizabeth and I want to extend a very big thank you to the Ginger Root gals for hosting us in their lovely space, DJ Dianamatic for playing awesome jams, and everyone who came, bought a book, sampled pie, or said hello. I even had two pals, Annie & Diego who drove all the way from Charlottesville! That little surprise made me feel really good.

I know some people were asking for recipes for the pies that were offered last night. Our selections were:
Bittersweet Chocolate Pecan
Nutella Pie
Shaker Lemon Pie (Shaker Orange Tart version here)
Speculoos Pie
Spiced Pumpkin Sorghum Pie (adapted from this recipe)
Sweet Potato Speculoos Pie (coming soon!)

If you missed the party, you can still order the almanac on Etsy here, where you can also find more of Elizabeth Graeber's work, like the framed pie prints pictured here! The almanac is now also for sale at local shops including Ginger Root and Meeps-- We'll keep you posted as they appear other places. Thanks again to everyone for their support and happy pie making!

Bittersweet Chocolate Pecan Pie at an Elsewhere Baby Shower

My good friends Lora and Joe are about to have a baby girl! Lil' sugar biscuit, we're calling her. And earlier this month, we had a little biscuit brunch celebration for this new family to-be at the Greensboro, North Carolina artist collaborative and living museum in a former thrift store, Elsewhere.

This was my second time at Elsewhere. I had visited previously when I first moved to North Carolina; my friend Ross, who helped start the place was visiting and invited me to come. I wasn't sure what to expect from what I imagined was a wildly quirky and fascinating place, but I remember making the trip armed with my fiddle, camera, and a few rolls of film, figuring they were appropriate tools for the adventure. I ended up using both, as I wandered the installations of baby tornados, denim log cabin, and creepy tea party, and eventually befriended two Irish artists who were working on a performance/spatial practice piece "Elsewhere Cleaning Inc." where they would go into willing "customers'" homes, "re-curate" a room, then interview them about the experience and spatial arrangement. They were running a spot on a local radio station for the project, so they enlisted me and together we composed a little jingle for the cleaning company.



For this trip to Elsewhere, I still brought my camera, film, and fiddle, but I also equipped myself with two pies-- a Bittersweet Chocolate Pecan Pie and a Pumpkin-Ginger Cheesecake Pie (recipe coming soon), both from Gourmet. Earlier that week, Gourmet Live had posted a "food fight" photo between the two pies and when I reposted their photos, Lora, the mama to-be, suggested I bring both, so we could judge for ourselves. We brought the chocolate pecan to the baby shower, and stowed away the pumpkin for our sleep-over treat later that evening.

This is actually the second time I've posted this Bittersweet Chocolate-Pecan Pie recipe. I made it about two years ago for Thanksgiving at my friend Jamie's family's home in Potomac, Maryland (see the post here). It was as big a hit then as it was this time, the bittersweet chocolate cutting a bit of the over-sweetness that pecan pie can often have. And you really can't go wrong with the chocolate-pecan combo (see some other variations here, including a vegan option). This is also a pie that we're offering for Thanksgiving orders this year, but regardless of whether you order from Nothing-in-the-House or make it yourself (it's quite easy!), this is a great choice for your feast's dessert table.

Bittersweet Chocolate Pecan Pie
Adapted from Gourmet 

Ingredients

Nothing-in-the-house pie crust, halved

1 4-oz., 70%-cacao bittersweet chocolate bar, chopped

2 cups pecan halves, toasted and cooled

3 large eggs

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup agave-maple syrup blend or light corn syrup

Directions

1. Prepare half of the Nothing-in-the-House pie crust as per the directions. Chill dough at least 1 hour before rolling out and fitting into a greased and floured 9-inch pie pan. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Put the rolled and fitted crust back in the fridge while you prepare the filling.

2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Melt chocolate in a metal bowl over simmering water. Stir and remove from heat when melted.

3. Roll out chilled dough and place in a greased and floured 9-inch pie pan, fluting the crust decoratively.

4. Spread chocolate in the bottom of pie shell and let set a bit, then cover with pecans. Whisk eggs, brown sugar, vanilla, salt, and agave-maple blend (or corn syrup) in a bowl. Pour over pecans.

5. Bake pie until filling is puffed and crust is golden brown, 40-50 minutes. Serve with bourbon whipped cream and enjoy!

Along with the pie on the Elsewhere baby shower spread, there were delicious pumpkin-cornmeal and buttermilk biscuits by Julie and Lora; assorted jams, preserves, and spreads, including a bacon marmalade, French Schezuan fig-peppercorn confiture, and homemade apple butter; pear-almond cake, and mimosa fixin's. We enjoyed the spread, made Lora open presents (sorry again, lady!), decorated onesies & other sugar biscuit attire with fabric stamps, and took a creep-tea tour of Elsewhere's upstairs haunts--the ghost room, apothecary, and fabric fort, all in this lovely (and slightly creepy??--there were dismembered baby dolls as our centerpiece) celebration and reunion of friends from all over.

In talking with some Elsewhere employees and artist residents, I learned that they were planning an election pie party, where they made a pie for every state. I was REALLY disappointed that I couldn't stick around for that, but you can find photos of the event and every pie on the Elsewhere Facebook page.