Pumpkin Pecan Pie

Thanksgiving dinner came a little early this year. I really can't complain. Now I get to go ahead and start listening to Christmas music. And decorate…although I still need to get a tree…Anyways, I made our pie. I did some Pinterest-ing and Google-ing, and somewhere I came along this Pumpkin Pecan Pie with, what I'm calling, an Egg Nog sauce. It's completely perfect. My most favorite holiday flavors all in one bite. Bonus: I physically cannot digest it, so the absurd amount of calories don't count. Perks of not having a gallbladder? 

Pumpkin Pecan Pie

Pumpkin Filling:

1 cup pureed pumpkin

1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

2 TBSP granulated sugar

1 large egg, beaten

1 TBSP unsalted butter, softened

1 TBSP vanilla 

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp all spice

Pecan Filling:

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup corn syrup

2 large eggs, beaten

1 1/2 TBSP unsalted butter, melted

2 tsp vanilla

1 pinch salt

1 pinch cinnamon

3/4 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 325*F.
• Prepare your favorite pie crust or use a pre-made pie crust dough. Grease an 8-inch springform pan. Place the dough inside, pressing it up the sides. Place in the fridge to chill while you make the filling.
• In a medium mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients for the pumpkin filling. Mix and set aside.
• In another medium bowl, combine all the ingredients for the pecan filling. Mix and set aside.
• Pull your crust out of the fridge. Pour the pumpkin mixture in, spreading evenly across the bottom. Pour the pecan mixture over that. 
• Place in the oven and bake for about 2 hours or until set.

Egg Nog Sauce

4 TBSP unsalted butter

1 large egg

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 TBSP very hot water

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup bourbon or whiskey

Nutmeg & cinnamon to taste

Directions:

• Melt the butter in the top of a double broiler set over gently simmering water.
• Beat the sugar, egg and vanilla in a small bowl until blended. Add to the melted butter.
• Add the hot water and stir until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon (about 7-8 minutes).
• Remove from double broiler and cool to room temperature.
• Mix in the cream, bourbon, nutmeg, and cinnamon.

If you want to avoid the alcohol, but like egg nog, I'd recommend serving this pie up with some egg nog ice cream. Yum! 

Apple & Sausage Pie

Here is another recipe inspired by the need to use up some apples! It took me a while to find something I liked. I finally settled on a recipe from Peaches Please because I figured it'd be easy enough to work with. If you follow the link and compare it to my recipe, you will notice several differences. One of the more obvious being that I made one pie in a normal sized springform pan vs. four mini ones. I did this (1) because the mini pans come in sets of three…at least at Target… and (2) I really don't like rolling out pie dough that much. However, if you've got the supplies and time, the four mini pies are so much cuter. 

This pie smells divine. And it tastes amazing. Definitely a winner. It's perfect for fall or winter. Mine is obviously not that pretty. I was kind of pressed for time so I didn't even actually weave the lattice top or make the edges pretty. Luckily, its looks have nothing to do with the taste. Have I mentioned? The taste is fantastic.  

Apple & Sausage Pie

For the crust:

1 1/2 cups AP flour

1 1/2 cups WW flour

1 tsp Salt

3/4 cup Butter, very cold & cut into small pieces

1/4 cup Plain Greek yogurt

10-ish TBSP Ice water

• Whisk together the flour & salt. Cut in the butter using a pastry blender or fork until you get an almost sandy texture. Stir in the yogurt and 3 TBSP water. Slowly add the rest of the water until the dough comes together. You may use more or less than 10 TBSP. Make sure it doesn't get too wet. Cover and put the dough in the fridge to rest for at least 30 minutes. 

For the filling:

1 1/4 lb Italian sausage (I like spicy chicken) 

3 Apples, peeled, cored & roughly chopped

1/2 cup Yellow onion, chopped

1/2 cup Celery, sliced

1 heaping tsp Sage

1 oz Apple cider vinegar 

1/4 cup Hard apple cider

Salt & pepper to taste

•  Remove the sausage from their casings and cook in a nonstick skillet on the stovetop until cooked through & browning. Remove the sausage from the pan and place in a large bowl. Make sure to leave some of the grease for sautéing the onions & celery.
• Saute the onions & celery in the sausage fat until they soften. Add the chopped apples, sage, ACV, and your salt & pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the apples have softened. You may want to cover your pan for a couple minutes.
• Add the apple mixture in with the sausage & stir. Be sure to leave the juices in the pan. Deglaze the pan with your hard apple cider (I used "The Saint" variety from Crispin). Reduce the pan juices & cider until thickened & pour them in the bowl with the apples & sausage. 
• Preheat the oven to 350*F. Prepare your springform pan(s).
• Separate the dough appropriately & roll it out to fit your pan(s). Trim the excess off the edges…you will need it!
• Fill your pan(s) with the sausage & apple mixture.
• Roll out the remaining dough & cut into strips to cover the pie. You can do a real lattice top & weave or do a faux one like me. You can just squish the edges together or make them look pretty, whatever you like/have time for.
• Bake for about 40 minutes, ideally until the pastry has slightly browned. If it doesn't seem to be getting brown enough, you can crank up the oven to 400*F for a few minutes. If it's getting too brown too quick, cover the edges with foil.
• Remove from the oven & let cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. Then, you can release the springform. Continue to cool until your mouth & hands won't get burned. 

Enjoy!

Bourbon Pumpkin Pie

Happy (late) Thanksgiving! We celebrated on Friday this year because I worked Monday-Wednesday night…and slept all day Thursday. Fortunately, all I had to make was a pie. I decided on a Bourbon Pumpkin Pie from Serious Eats. I will admit that despite my love for all things pumpkin, I do not generally go for the pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving or Christmas. I'm very picky about the texture, and I feel like it's often lacking in excitement. This pumpkin pie, well, it's not boring.    

This is by far the most flavor-packed pumpkin pie I've ever had…and it's got a smooth, creamy texture. You can use bourbon or bourbon extract. The bourbon adds a nice depth of fall flavor with some vanilla, oak, and caramel notes. The ginger in the filling gives this pie another punch. If you're not big on ginger, I'd definitely cut the amount down…maybe add in some cinnamon. You've got another layer of flavor with the toasted chopped pecans. And then, the whipped bourbon maple mascarpone really tops it off. Delicious. 

You can snag the recipe by clicking here. I used Paula Deen's flaky pie crust recipe from her Southern Cooking Bible. If you do not have this, you are missing out. Mostly because she has written comments at the bottom of every recipe, which are very entertaining. It's like you can hear her saying what you're reading. The brother does a great impression. 

Fair warning: this pumpkin pie is quite rich. It's as rare for me to say that as it is for me to not be able to finish a piece of dessert. It's practically unheard of. Really all you need is like half a normal piece!