Foodie Friday -- Thanksgiving Edition

 Welcome to the  Thanksgiving Edition of Foodie Friday.
Many of you are on the road today, traveling to a loved one's home; others are rushing around the kitchen, putting the finishing touches on a traditional meal. 

Bandwidth and I have been baking for two days. This is the first year that we've cooked ahead of time, and the refrigerator is jammed with goodies. Here are a few: an orangey cranberry sauce; old fashioned cornbread dressing; Tennessee Caviar (blackeyed pea salsa); a pineapple-cream-pecan cheese ball. I'm also attempting to make a fruit kabob tree. My brother bought a Honey Baked Ham. Mother is 85, but she made her famous green beans and yeast rolls. My eldest son, the chef, arranged for a local Red Lobster to send two lobsters, a humongous salad, and cheese biscuits. Bandy baked his very first Deep Dish Pecan Pie (I helped a little), which included a scratch crust.

 

Deep Dish Southern Pecan Pie

 

Pie Dough:

 

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup cold butter (1 stick), diced

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Flour, for rolling the dough

 

 

Mix flour, sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add cold butter. Use a pastry cutter to blend the butter into the flour mixture. Add the egg. Shape dough into a ball, cover with Saran Wrap, and chill for at least 30 minutes. When you are ready to make the crust, remove pie dough from fridge and turn out onto a floured board. Using a rolling pin, shape the dough. Place in a deep dish pie pan and flute the edges. Prick bottom of crust with a fork.  Bake in a 375 degree oven (you can use weights in the bottom) for 20 -30 minutes or until crust is lightly brown. Remove crust and cool.

 

  

 

Filling for a deep dish: 

• 2 sticks unsalted butter
• 3 cups packed light brown sugar
• 2 1/4 cups light corn syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 cups chopped toasted pecans
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten plus 2 egg yolks
• pecan halves for garnish

 

In a large saucepan, add butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Mix. Over medium heat, bring mixture to a boil. Stir constantly! Cook for exactly 1 minute. Remove from pan from the burner. Mix in pecans and vanilla. Cool mixture. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs. Add to the cooled filling and beat until smooth. Pour into pie shell. Place on a baking pan (in case mixture bubbles and spills into your oven. Arrange pecans over the surface of the pie in concentric circles. Bake 40 minutes at 350 degrees. Use a pie guard to prevent edges from burning. If the pecans are starting to brown too quickly, cover the pie with tin foil. After baking, remove pan from oven and cool. Serve with whipped cream.

Note: Our family recipe for pecan pie didn't yield enough to fill a deep dish plate. We tripled the filling, and that's why the recipe calls for larger quantities. But we tinkered a little. The original recipe called for three eggs; I've never used nine eggs in a  pecan pie, so I reduced the quantity to four. Then I began to worry. At the last minute, I added two egg yolks. I'll let you know how this odd chemistry worked out after Thanksgiving.

 

If you are participating in Foodie Friday, locate the blue Inlinkz icon in the lower, left-hand portion of this post. Click on the icon and follow the directions. After you complete the process, you will see a red "x" beside your name. This allows you to delete your link if you made an error; the red "x" is visible to you only.

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** Would you like to add your recipes to the "Consuming Passions" group board at Pinterest?

It can be found HERE.  Foodie Friday folks and pinners are always welcome to "pin" with us and chat about food. Just leave a comment on one of my recent "pins," so I'll be sure to see it, and I will send you an invitation. Or you can email me.

 We wish all of you a happy, food-filled Thanksgiving holiday!

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