Monday, August 24, 2009

try this

Try this. Bake a pie on a lazy Sunday and then bring it to a friend's house expecting a dinner party. When you arrive and your friend tells you the dinner party is actually NEXT Sunday but would you like to stay to eat pad thai and watch season one of Weeds on DVD say yes you would and offer her a piece of pie and thank her for being so awesome. When she says "I'm a cancer, I love to entertain!", laugh and enjoy the pad thai and pie. This is what I did last night and it was fabulous. Anna Kristine wins the best spontaneous host award. Now I need to figure out what to make for the actual night of the dinner party.

The pie was even better reheated today with a bit of vanilla ice cream. This pie is a bit like a delicious chocolate chip cookie with walnuts but in pie form. It also contains whiskey which I can't say about any cookie I know. I actually used bourbon because that's what I had and both Bill and I agree that drinking whiskey tastes like throwing up in your mouth a little bit. It tates fine in the pie but you could probably substitute another liquor or even vanilla extract if you want. Here is the recipe:



Tuscaloosa Tollhouse Pie

from Baked by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito



1 ball of pie dough (your favorite recipe--I like a butter crust myself) you will need 1/2 a recipe--enough for one crust, chilled
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened and cut into cubes
1 tablespoon whiskey
3/4 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
1 1/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Dust a work surface with flour. Unwrap the ball of chilled dough and put it directly on the work surface. Roll out into a 12 inch round. Transfer the dough to a pie dish and carefully work it into the pie dish, crimping the edge as you go. Wrap and freeze the crust until firm (about 1-2 hours).

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a meduim bowl, whisk the flour and sugars together until combined. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a wisk attachment (note: I do not have an electric mixer. I wish I did but I don't. I did it all by hand and you can too if need be) beat the eggs on high speed until foamy, about 3 minutes. Remove whisk attachment and add paddle attachment. With the mixer on low, gradually add the flour mixture. Turn the mixer to high and beat for 2 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and add the butter. Beat on high speed until combined. Add the whiskey and beat for 1 minute.

Fold the walnuts and 3/4 cup of chocolate chips into the filling.

Pour the filling into the frozen pie shell and spread it out evenly. Top the filling with the remaining 1/2 cup chocolate chips.

Bake in the center of the oven for 25 minutes, then cover the edges of the crust loosely with aluminum foil and bake for another 25 minutes. Test the pie by sticking a knife in the center of the filling. If it comes out clean, it's done. If not, bake for another 5 minutes. Let cool before slicing.

Serve warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Store in the fridge.

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