Derby Pie (w/Chocolate Chips - Pecans)

 If you like chocolate, you may 

like this a lot.  If you like pecans, 

you may like it even more!  

(Otherwise, ...not so much.)

This time, ... I made TWO of these!!!!

Today was Kentucky Derby Day.  I think that more than anything else about this day each year, I like seeing all the fancy, and sometimes "far out", HATS worn by those who attend it in person.  WOW!!!-- there are some real "WINNER HATS" in the crowd-- and it looked like it was a WINDY day there.  Windy enough that a lot of people had to literally HOLD ONTO THEIR HATS!!!!

If you want to see some of today's hats for yourself, click on this link.  It will take you to an analysis of the "best and worst" picks for today:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2048169-kentucky-derby-hats-best-and-worst-of-2014

Going along with the theme of today, I decided to make something  that is quite famous in Kentucky around this time of the year... it's a pie with "today's event" in its name.  Word has it that the original name of the well-known pie is "OWNED" and can't be used by others who try to imitate the pie in any way.  

So,..... in my opinion, I'd name this as a Chocolate Chip - Pecan Pie.   I guess it could be named "Racing Day Pie" or "Horse Race Pie" or whatever you choose to name it-- just so you don't name it in a way that the "name owner" doesn't like.

INGREDIENTS:  

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar  (I am so sure this amount could be cut back to suit your liking, maybe to 3/4 cup?)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup chopped pecans (may use chopped walnuts)
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used half milk chocolate chips)
• 1/4" teaspoon salt
• 1 ready-made UNbaked pie crust

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 325-degrees F.

Combine flour and sugar in a mixing bowl.  

Add the beaten eggs and melted butter; mix to combine.

Stir in the vanilla, chopped pecans OR walnuts, chocolate chips, and salt; mix well.

Pour mixture into the unbaked pie crust.

Bake for just under an hour.  (Check for appearance after the first 30 minutes.  This is when I usually cover the top edge of the pie crust with a strip of foil to prevent it from becoming too000000 brown.  Then, I continue baking until it is done.  I checked for doneness with a wooden toothpick.)

  Mine looked like this at 45-50 minutes:

Cool.  Then, ...serve plain... with a glass of cold milk, or ice cream, or a dollop of whipping cream.

When recipe is followed AS listed above, it is QUITE sweet!
Because of that, I keep the "serving size" quite small.

* The recipe I STARTED to follow is listed here:  http://americanfood.about.com/od/desserts/r/chocwalnutpie.htm  

Then, because a lot of the "Derby" pies call for Bourbon, 
I decided to follow the following recipe and make this one my 
KEEPER!!!...  http://cupcakesandkalechips.com/kentucky-derby-pie/

Pecan Pie*

We . LIKED . this . PECAN . PIE

Before yesterday, I had made only ONE pecan pie in my entire life and thought it was just too much of "something(?) I didn't care for"-- so, ... I gave up the idea of making any more.   Things are a changin'-- I will be making pecan pies in the future!  Why?

It is all because my free Fall 2013 issue of Living The Country Life came in Saturday's mail with this recipe in it.  After reading the description preceding the simple recipe, I knew I had to give this "fast 'n easy" recipe a go for our family gathering yesterday afternoon.  In fact, I made TWO of these!   I'm so happy I did.  Three trusted "food judges" asked for the recipe before going home--  so, here it is for anyone else who wants it:

Above:  With my sister having cut each pie into eight pieces, this is what was left of the second pie.   Usually, I'd take a picture of the WHOLE pie (yes,...the UNcut pie) when it's hot from the oven.  Not this time, though, because...  when my two pies came out of the oven, it was time to hurry off to church.  Then, when we got home, I didn't take a picture of 'em because there were finishing touches to be put on our dinner meal.  (Along with how I was raised right here on this same farm, we still eat "dinner" at noon...and "supper" in the evening.  Not that it's any kind of a bad thing, but,...to me, "lunch" seems so very city-like.)

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 single unbaked pastry shell (pie crust) for 9" pie plate.  Can be homemade, or store bought

.................................

• 4 tablespoons butter, softened to room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup dark corn syrup -- I used Karo brand, with 0% (ZERO %!) high fructose corn syrup in it.
• 3 large eggs
• 1 and 1/4 cups broken pecans (Fleet Farm usually has the "best price" for these, unless another store is running a sale on them.)
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla.

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 425-degrees.  

1. Cream the butter. 
2. Add the sugar and corn syrup and stir all to combine.
3. Beat in the eggs, one at a time.   Mix everything well.
4. Add the pecans and vanilla.  Stir to blend in.
5. Pour the mixture into a 9-inch unbaked pastry shell.
6. Bake for 15 minutes at 425-degrees, then reduce the heat to 325-degrees and bake for another 30 minutes.  Enjoy!  (Since only you know your own oven and any "quirks" it might have, bake accordingly.)

(????) I did NOT try this "different way" of baking this kind of pie, but,... one pecan pie baker said he bakes his pecan pies at 350-degrees for 15 minutes, and then at 300-degrees for another 50-55 minutes, taking them out of the oven when their internal temperature reaches 200-degrees.  (????)

Personally, I think THIS recipe is BETTER than the one used to make the regular  "Karo Syrup - Classic Pecan Pie" because it has 2 extra tablespoons butter in it, and calls for 1/2 cup LESS white sugar.  (I do not need nor want a piece of pie so sweet that it practically CURLS my teeth!)

*Betsy Freese, the editor of Living the Country Life, Fall 2013, wrote this about the above pie recipe:   "Mom placed two of her pecan pies on the kitchen table to cool when I was visiting last fall.  I was not allowed to touch them, as they were for a church fund-raiser.  They sold for $30 each!  Money well spent.  Here is her recipe."  She then added, next to a picture of the two pies, "My mother, Ruth Ann Johnson of Elkton, Maryland, makes the best pecan pies in all the land."   As of yesterday, I'll second that!!!!

As is so usual, I often do a google search to find out more about people who are an inspiration in one way or another.  In doing so, I found that Betsy's mother Ruth Ann just celebrated her 53rd wedding anniversary with her hubby Phil.  http://www.livingthecountrylife.com/blogs/betsys-backyard/2013/09/10/farmer-and-his-wife/

Or, if you want to read even more about Betsy and what she and her family spend time with/on, go here:
http://www.livingthecountrylife.com/blogs/betsys-backyard/  In particular, one of her husband's sayings grabbed my attention:  "The family that HAYS together, STAYS together!"  (Our own family has sure put that to the test!!!  And, ...a cleaned-off  hayfield along with a barnful of hay bales is a most beautiful sight to behold.)  Also, on her web blog, I saw her "different" kind of recipe for making pickled beets.  I may have to give THAT recipe a try next time "beet season" comes around.