Great Southern Style Food Cooking

Cooking in the kitchen is something that many have a love for. If you do it with your own spirit and spin and it takes off it can become its own culinary style Soul food is an African American cuisine that primarily originated in the Southern United States. The style has become known as the cuisine of the Southern United States. Some ingredients that are found in original soul food are ones that came from Africa when they were brought over by slaves, other ingredients came from Native American cuisine.

Many times when one  thinks of soul food they think of mustard greens , beans , hoe cakes and more Today I share with you a sweet dish that is very much southern at heart as well. Pecan pie is a favorite in the south but it is truly the pecan that is loved in many different ways. The pecan pie is considered the king of all pecan dishes. 

It seems like everyone has their own pecan pie recipe. Different ingredients, sometimes special ingredients like chocolate, liquor, coconut and more. Many pecan pie recipes are built upon the Karo syrup recipe that came about more than 100 years ago.  

3 large eggs

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 cup of cane syrup or light corn syrup

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1 heaping tablespoon all purpose flour

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup of pecans, coarsely chopped

1 unbaked homemade or commercial pie crust

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare the pie crust by placing it into an ungreased, regular 9-inch glass pie plate and fluting the edges.

Whisk the eggs together, then whisk in the sugar. Stir in the syrup and the softened butter; mix well. Add the flour and the vanilla; combine well and fold in the pecans.

Pour into unbaked pie shell and bake at 350 degrees for about 55 to 60 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Shield outside edges of the pie with a pie shield or aluminum foil about halfway through cooking to prevent over browning.

Cooked Filling Version: Whisk the sugar and corn syrup together in a saucepan and bring to a boil; boil for 1 minute only. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly. Beat eggs in a separate bowl and very slowly drizzle some of the syrup into the eggs, while beating constantly, to temper. Once syrup is incorporated well into eggs, whisk eggs into the remaining syrup mixture. Omit flour and increase butter to 1/2 stick. Stir in the butter, vanilla and pecans and bake as above. 

Chocolate Pecan Pie: Reduce pecans to 3/4 cup and add in 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips with the pecans.

Bourbon Pecan Pie: Omit the vanilla extract and add 1 tablespoon of a good quality bourbon. 

Tips to make your pecan pie:

• toasting the pecan will offer extra flavor
• Making pie the old fashioned way with a wooden spoon, whisk or hand mixer may help you not to over beat which often is the reason the pie turns out runny
• using aluminum foil to shield the edge of the pie when the pie reaches 1/2 way point to help prevent the pie from over browning
• Prior to slicing the pie allow the pie to cool. When the pie pan is cool to touch then it is ready for slicing
• Testing the pie to see if it done uses the same idea as testing a cake by use of a butter knife. The pie filling may leave a small smudge but for the most part it should come out pretty clean

recipe source here