2-on-Tuesday: Lemon Chess Pie

After reading PIE by Sarah Weeks, I was determined to try one, if not all, of the recipes included between chapters! If you've never sampled a Chess Pie, it uses an ingredient not usually found in a typical pie recipe. Trust me, this is a delightfully old fashioned pastry!


4             Eggs
1 1/2 C  Sugar
3 T         Cornmeal, yellow
1/4 C     Butter, melted
1/2 C     Whole Milk (or my edit: Buttermilk)
2             Lemons, juiced

• Combine all of the above ingredients in a large bowl
• Mix until sugar is dissolved, but do not beat
• Pour filling into unbaked, fork-pricked pie shell
• Bake 425 degrees for 10 minutes, then, 
• Reduce temp to 350 degrees and continue to bake until set, which means the center is not liquid or causing a wave under the "skin" when slightly jostled. Cornmeal will form a crust on top of custard
• Cool before serving

When you mix lemons and milk, you get a buttermilk-like consistency due to the acid and the dairy doing a little chemical dance. So, I chose to use buttermilk with lemon juice for a little extra two-step.

After you decided to be brave and try a pie with cornmeal, come back, here, and tell me whatcha think?

~"Sam" 
Look for the #2 blog post 2-on-Tuesday recipe at 2pm, today! Next Tuesday is a little look into our first summer vacation in 11 years!

BOOK REVIEW: PIE by Sarah Weeks

Searching for anything to do with "pie" which could possibly complement my pie-themed blog, I discovered PIE by Sarah Weeks. This is a pleasantly lighthearted read from the perspective of a little girl despite the fact she lost her favorite aunt. Aunt Polly baked pies for the entire town winning awards for pies she never entered into contests. Now that she's taken the secret piecrust recipe to her grave, it seems everyone in town wants to be the next prize winner for pie stardom!

There are pie recipes between each chapter with little notes from "Aunt Polly." If I had a young daughter, granddaughter or niece (who lived nearby), we'd read the chapter and make that pie each week during summer! This is such a sweet book to be shared with someone younger!

~"Sam"

P.S. Today is 2-on-Tuesday! At 2pm, watch for #2 blog featuring a pie recipe from PIE!