Kentucky Derby pie  
     
  I've never seen a Derby, but I've often enjoyed the pie...  

1   cup   sugar  
2   whole   eggs  
1/2   cup   butter ,   melted
2   Tablespoons   bourbon ,   Maker's Mark is best, but any will do
1/2   teaspoon   vanilla extract ,   don't let me hear of you trying to use artificial vanilla
1/2   cup   plain flour ,   unsifted
1/4   teaspoon   salt  
  dash   finely ground black pepper ,   optional!
1 1/2   cups   pecans ,   chopped
1   cup   semi-sweet chocolate chips  
1   9-inch   frozen deep-dish pie crust ,   Pet-Ritz is best

If you have a food processor

1. Fit the chopping blade into the processor. Dump the sugar, eggs, melted butter, bourbon, and vanilla into the bowl and process to blend thoroughly.

2. Add the flour, salt, and pepper (optional). Continue blending until the dry ingredients are incorporated. Don't process it for a long time; you don't want to develop the gluten in the flour.

3. Add the pecans and pulse the blade until nuts are coarsely chopped. Don't pulverize the nuts because you still want some texture.

4. Remove the blade from the bowl. Stir in the chocolate chips. Pour into the unbaked pie crust.

5. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. The center may not be completely set, but it will continue to firm up a bit as the pie cools.

6. Serve with lightly sweetened whipped cream.

If you don't have a food processor

Add the ingredients in the same order and blend by hand or electic mixer. Chop the nuts coarsely with a knife before adding. Pour into shell and bake as described above.

About the black pepper

This ingredient is completely inauthentic, and the pie is fine without it. I add it sometimes because I think a bit of pepper really wakes up anything containing chocolate. They've been close associates for a very long time, after all: When the European invaders were first introduced to chocolate by the Aztecs, it was prepared with chili peppers (but no sugar).

From the kitchen of Scott and Glenn | Recipe database | Edit recipe