Cooking web notes

Marigolds and roses, Bees and flies
Oh, Isn't it a wonderful path ?
Butterflies and caterpillars, rainbows and lightning
Makes an extraordinary path together
As the Earth spins
We'll forever remember the path of Nature

   No, it's not mine. It's my 8 year old's :-) When she was wondering what to do for the talent show in her class, she was confused and couldn't decide and I was no help either. After a lot of pondering, she made up her mind and told me she wants to write a poem and recite it. She doesn't write poems that often although she writes stories and gives her own illustrations. As such, I was flabbergasted to say the least to see this poem, titled "Nature's Path". I cannot figure out for my life where she comes up with these ideas.  I knew then I had to do something to show her how proud I am of her efforts. 

  After deliberating about how to congratulate her I decided to make some goodies of her choice. There was this long awaited request from her to make Pecan Pie and being the official arbitrator on these matters made my decision.  Pecan Pie, it shall be!  I was supposed to make this for Thanksgiving but never got around to it for some reason.  Either ways, my daughter won me over and I made her her pie.  I think in all respects this was a good decision.  Enjoy!



We tasted this pie in one of the Thanksgiving parties, soon after reaching US. It tasted divine and and my husband and daughter requested me to make it at home. Then I started searching the net and collected info from friends for making Pecan pie. Once you taste this, I am sure you will never like store brought pecan pie :-)

Ingredients:

Pie Crust:

It is the same as in Apple pie. Only thing I want to point out is that the crust becomes flaky only when you use butter and shortening together.

For Filling:

Roasted Pecans- 1 cup
Light Corn syrup - Little less than 1 cup
Brown Sugar -1/2 cup
Salt - A pinch
Melted Butter - 5 1/2 Tbsp
Pure Vanilla Extract - 1tsp
Eggs - 2



Method:
1. Prepare the dough for the crust and follow the method here.
2. Roast the Pecans in a microwave oven. This may take 2-3 minutes, turn the pecans after every minute and stop when you think it is roasted well. It took me 2 minutes in my microwave .
3.Cut the pecan halves into 2 when it is cool enough to handle.Preheat the oven to 350 degree F.
4.Mix together everything except eggs listed under filling, using a spatula.
5.Whisk the eggs together in another bowl, very lightly.
6.Mix the egg also in the above mixture and see that the eggs are mixed well.
7.Roll out the dough to get a 1/8 inch thick disk.
8.Transfer this into the pie pan and cut off the extra edges.
9.Pinch the sides to get a wavy look for the sides. [Mine is not perfect, since I was in a hurry :( ]
10.Pour in the prepared mixture and sprinkle the pecan slices.
11.Bake for 60 to 65 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. It took me 60 minutes.
12.Take out from the oven and let the pie cool well before you cut it.Serve with whipped cream or ice cream of your choice.



Notes:

1.This pie recipe will give you a moderately sweet one, not too sweet like you get from the shops.
2.Roll out the dough on a rolling pin for transferring into the pan, since it is really brittle.
3.Please do not skip the roasting step, since it makes a huge difference.
4.Be careful when you add water to the dough. Use icecold water and pour only a spoon at a time. I had to add only 1 1/2 Tbsp. When I made it for the first time I added a lil more water and I had a hard time in rolling out the crust !

Award

Malar Gandhi of Kitchen tantra- tease your palate has shared a beautiful award with us. Thanks a bunch Malar, we really appreciate it


We would like to share it with all our blogger friends. Pl accept it and post it in your blog :-) Happy blogging and a happy Holiday season to all !!!!

Contributor: Namitha