Flavours of home is a series of recipes from around the world cooked by people at home in Otago. This week Mina Crooks, from the US, shows us how to make pecan pie.
Mina Crooks met her New Zealand husband when they were studying at the University of Illinois and came to live here in 1973. For many years she was a primary schoolteacher in Dunedin. However, she says she has only recently become a New Zealand citizen.
When she first arrived she thought she would not be able to make pecan pie as she could not get Karo corn syrup (an American sweetener) here - the recipe was on the back of the bottle.
Then someone told her how to make it with butter and sugar.
Along with turkey with cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie, pecan pie is a traditional Thanksgiving dish.
Thanksgiving was a harvest festival celebrated by the first English settlers in the US who survived the first year with the help of Native Americans.
Today Thanksgiving is a major US holiday, the only one that all Americans can celebrate regardless of religion, Mrs Crooks says.
It is celebrated over four days around the fourth Thursday in November and family members travel and gather to share a special meal.
The foods traditionally eaten at Thanksgiving were readily available to the first American colonists.
• Pecan pie
An unsweetened 22cm pie crust, either bought or made from the recipe below
190g butter
1 ½ cups brown sugar cup
½ white sugar
5 eggs
1 ½ cups pecans, roasted
Preheat oven to 180degC.
Make the pastry as below and use it to line a greased deep pie plate.
Make sure there are no holes for the filling to leak through.
Roast the pecans either by stirring in a dry frying pan or baking in the oven for 5-10 minutes, or in the microwave for two minutes, stirring halfway through. When fragrant they are ready.
In a pot melt the butter and sugars, stir until dissolved and bring to the boil.
In a mixing bowl, whisk eggs.
Slowly add the hot syrup to the eggs, stirring constantly. Stir in the pecans.
Pour the filling into the pie crust.
Place on a baking sheet in case it overflows and loosely cover with foil so the edges don't burn.
Bake at 180degC for 45 minutes, then remove the foil and return to the oven for another 15 minutes.
When a knife inserted in the middle of the filling comes out clean, the pie is done.
Serve with unsweetened whipped cream, unsweetened yoghurt or vanilla ice cream.
Mrs Crooks says she usually buys a ready-made pie crust, but if you wish to make your own, this is a good recipe. She also recommends checking Trick of the Trade to see how to make it, at www.odt.co.nz. Search for "short-crust pastry".
• Pie crust
200g flour
100g butter
130g-150ml cold water
pinch salt
Mix flour and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and cut into the flour until the texture is like cornmeal or small peas.
Stir in cold water until the dough forms a ball. Wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to rest.
Roll out pastry to fit a 22cm pie plate. Set aside to rest while preparing the filling.
TIPS:
- Roasting the pecans (as with other nuts) makes them taste much better. Keep nuts in the freezer to slow them going rancid.
- Take care not to leave holes in the pastry dough or the filling will seep under the crust and make it very difficult to remove the pie when it is cooked.
- You might like to keep some pecans aside to decorate the top.
• Thanks to Afife Harris and Total Food Equipment.
