Pecan Pie

I would like to preface any and all interactions that you and I have with pecans by mentioning that I pronounce them the phonetic way, as is traditional in the south.  So when you’re reading these recipes and your eyes skim over this understated word, think “pea-can.”  Any other pronunciation is just silly.

Speaking of pronunciations.  So Dan is from Pennsylvania, a place where there are a’plenty of towns and rivers and bridges with Native American names (or Western interpretations of Native American words) that I just cannot wrap my tongue around.  I’m not insinuating it’s a southern thing.  I was told by a friend a few years back that it’s because I was raised to read words phonetically, as opposed to blending the words, sounding out each letter.  Take for instance, the Washington State town of Puyallup.  Now when I see the word Puyallup, I break it down into what ends up coming out of my mouth as “Poo-y’all-up.”  I have been informed that this is not the way they in Puyallup prefer to have it pronounced.  No, it is actually something that sounds like “puh-wallup.”  I digress.

Pecan pie is gloriously simple to make.  For a pie with such a complex taste, it almost feels like cheating.  There is a small amount of whisking, a little measuring, some crunching, and a lot of salivating as it bakes, but really, there’s nothing to it.  I like to make pecan pie with a little brown sugar in the crust.  As well as a little cinnamon.  I think that a slightly cinnamon crust on pies like pecan and chocolate chess that don’t have cinnamon in the filling give it a little extra oomph.  Also, if you wanted to add a bit of chocolate to this, make it something like an inverse chocolate chess pie, it’d be delicious.

Pea-can Pie

1 stick of butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup corn syrup

1/4 tsp salt

3 eggs

1 1/2 cup chopped (or crushed) pecans

Pie crust (bottom only- see recipe here)

Melt butter and set aside to cool.  Beat eggs, then add sugar, syrup, and butter.  Whisk together.  Incorporate pecans.

Bake at 350* for 30 minutes.

(you feel like a con artist, don’t you?  maybe like it’s semi-homemade?  well set aside the guilt sandra lee, this is 100% you and you don’t have to let on how easy it was)