“It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.” Charles Dickens wrote in A Tale of Two Cities. And that pretty much sums up this pie. My Apple Chess pie was the best of pies and the worst of pies. Don’t get me wrong. It is an absolutely delicious pie. Lovely slices of apple are nestled in a not-too-sweet, custardy filling. All baked in a buttery crust. But I made my Apple Chess Pie in two cities. I started the pie in my home in Charlotte, in a kitchen filled with everything I need to make a beautiful pie. I assembled and baked the pie in Asheville, in a kitchen ...
Pies
FOR THE LOVE OF PIE: TOMATO AND CORN PIE
“You’ve never had a tomato and corn pie?” I said, barely able to keep the amazement out of my voice. “No” said my tomato-loving Southern Husband. How was this possible? I never had a tomato pie before I moved South. However, by now, I have had many and made many more. How did this happen? It needed to be fixed. So, I threw the whole pie at him: fresh tomatoes and corn in a pimento cheese filling. And bacon, just because. The thing I love about tomato and corn pie, you can be as purist as you want or take the easy shortcuts. It’s always good. Start with the pie crust. You can ...
PEACHY KEEN: PEACH TART WITH GINGER AND ALMOND
Peaches are in short supply this year. This recipe delivers big peach flavor but uses just four to five peaches. The no-roll pastry is an easy start to my Peach Tart paired with Ginger and Almond. Peach season came late this year. We were at the beach over the Fourth of July and the farm stands, usually overflowing with yellowy-pink globes of sticky sweetness, were replete with berries and tomatoes but no peaches. So going home, when we passed a peach stand off the highway, we stopped and bought a small basket full. It was expensive! Not having an over-abundance of peaches but still ...
Sweet Zucchini Pie
A big zucchini calls for a big idea. How about a pie? Flavored with cinnamon and ginger, it is like an Apple Pie. But not. It's a Sweet Zucchini Pie! If you grow zucchini then, almost without fail, at some point you will end up with an oversized fruit (more on the fruitiness of zucchini later). Then, if you are like me, you will make zucchini bread in endless iterations , stuff the zucchini, make zoodles and fritters all summer long until you don’t want to even think about zucchini. But have you ever made a zucchini pie? I have. And it was so good I am purposely letting a ...
STRAWBERRY RHUBARB PIE
Strawberry and Rhubarb come together in a delicious pie. Each bite is different. In one you taste the tang of rhubarb. In the next, the sweetness of strawberry. And in another the two unite in a sweet-tart blend of fruit. I was in college when I tasted rhubarb for the first time. It was a revelation. What is Rhubarb? Rhubarb is a vegetable. And it is very tart. I have heard the flavor compared to that of a sour green apple, unripe grapes, or a not-yet-ready-to-eat kiwi. Sugar will tame the tang, but it will keep its acidic flavor. Which makes it perfect to pair with ...
Almost a Lemon Meringue Pie: Lime Tart with Swiss Meringue
This started with a lemon meringue pie and eventually segued into something altogether different: a zesty lime tart with a sugar cookie crust, topped with a shiny, marshmallowy Swiss meringue. The back story: my mother made a lemon meringue pie that everyone loved. Her lemon filling was topped with just the right amount of meringue. The balance of flavors was perfect! Every forkful yielded up soft marshmallowlike meringue, tart lemon and a crunch of pie crust. I never learned how to make my mother’s meringue pie and I never found a lemon meringue pie that I liked after that. The “Mile ...
COOKING ON THE FLY: TOMATO AND ZUCCHINI GALETTE
Tomato and Zucchin Galette in its simplest version: commercial pie crust and a few ingredients from your pantry come together to create a rustic pie rich in the flavors of summer. I’ve been busy. I am not kidding about that. In the space of one month Rick and I are selling a house, buying a house, finishing building a house and renting a house. It wasn’t meant to happen this way. These things were not supposed to all come together at the same time. Because they have, life has been a mad dash to get everything ready. We have been masters at planning: our days are scripted, our ...
BRING ON THE HOLIDAYS! CRANBERRY CHOCOLATE TART
I'm taking a break but I couldn't leave you without a fabulous dessert for the Holidays. I posted this blog last year and will be making it again this year. Tart from cranberries, rich with chocolate and lovely to look at, it's a sure winner! It’s November 29th, the Sunday after Thanksgiving. My tree is up and decorated. The outdoor lights are on. My house smells like cinnamon and pine. For the first time in my life I bought my Christmas tree before Thanksgiving and decorated it on Thanksgiving Day. I went for a walk this evening. The glow of lights on many of the houses and ...
PRALINE PUMKPIN PIE
Every Thanksgiving I find myself faced with people who actively want a pumpkin pie. And every Thanksgiving I search for a way to make it better because I’m not a big fan of pumpkin pie. Last year I experimented with a homemade squash puree. It was good but not, to my mind, memorable. This year I decided to use some of the skills I learned in my Master Class with Christina Tosi; specifically, how to test a number of options and flavors without having to make four or five different pies. I combed through cookbooks and magazine for suggestion then refined the ideas into ...
GIANT FRUIT POP-TART!
When is a pie not a pie? When it is a Pop-Tart! Thick layers of pastry with a jammy fruit filling, topped with a vanilla glaze and sprinkles, it is deliciously sweet and satisfying. I can’t take credit for the idea. That comes courtesy of my daughter who saw it on Instagram and asked me to make one. At first I thought, “Uggh, another pie?” I’ve been making pies all summer and I was looking forward to moving on to something else. (As must you be.) But then I made it and I realized it may go together like a pie but it doesn’t really taste like one. It tastes like a jelly donut! ...
