Wednesday, March 17, 2010

In Celebration of Pi Day Last Sunday

You all know I'm pie crust phobic. I am still working on my anxieties. That, however, is no excuse for not celebrating Pi Day on 3.14!
So, on Sunday, I made another Lemon Chess Pie and a new one, Almond Custard Pie. The Lemon Chess Pie was still fabulous, and the custard pie was quite goo
d, too, for those of us who are fans of custard. I really wanted a Coconut Custard Pie, but it turned out that my daughters used the package of coconut I had in the freezer, and I never knew it. There are only 3 of us who are fans of coconut, so I don't get much opportunity to use it; thus, I was stunned by having none! Maybe I need to institute stricter inventory control methods? Nah. That would take the excitement out of "Guess what food's in the house?"

ALMOND CUSTARD PIE

4 eggs
1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
dash of salt
2-1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup slivered almonds

1 deep dish pie crust

Use a deep dish store bought pie crust, roll out one of those new fancy ones in your own pie plate, or try the one my dearly beloved says is the best he's ever had. Preheat the oven to 450F, and bake the pie crust for 5 minutes. Lightly beat the eggs with the sugar, the a
dd the extracts, salt and milk, and beat for a minute, until very smooth. Pour into the partially baked pie crust, and sprinkle the top with slivered almonds. Reduce the oven temperature to 350F, and return the pie to the oven for 40 to 45 minutes. Let the pie cool before serving.
To make this gluten free, you could use either a ground nut crust or the marvelous coconut-chocolate crust I made for the banana cream pie last fall. The custard is silky smooth, similar to flan.
The cookbook which had the recipe from which I jumped off for this pie urged me to leave the crust on the oven shelf and pour the filling into it. Should you have a cookbook make such recommendations to you, I must STRONGLY urge you to IGNORE it! I pulled out the shelf, poured the filling in, and the stuff splashed into the inside of my oven. With expletives deleted, I had nothing to say about this insulting turn of events.

And since my dearly beloved whines that he hates corned beef (I believe he's whining at the memory of his mother's boiled dinner, where the corned beef, potatoes, carrots and cabbage all landed in the same pot), I'm going to make my Dirty Corned Beef Brisket for dinner tonight. Happy St. Patty's Day, everyone! May the sun shine on you today!

11 comments:

Pam said...

Both pies sound tasty - perfect for Pi day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Lapdog Creations said...

mmmmm.......

The Blonde Duck said...

I love custard pies. Yum. I'll eat coconut custard pie with you...

pam said...

Happy St. Patrick's Day, Marjie!

tavolini said...

That pie looks divine! Happy St. Patrick's Day to you and your family :)

Jessica - The Novice Chef said...

This looks fabulous! I am so glad I discovered your blog!!

SissySees said...

Hmmm... Yum! I need to quit working so I have time to try all the recipes I'm marking on my bloggy buddies' sites!

Anonymous said...

I love custard pies too. Coconut cream is a favorite with my spouse but coconut just doesn't do a thing for me.....almonds on the other hand......

buffalodick said...

I love pie way better than cakes...however, my family is the other way around!

grace said...

what if every sunday were pie day? i think that'd be grand. :)
excellent batch of pies, marjie. coconut custard would've been delicious, but you can make that next sunday. :)

~~louise~~ said...

I have had such a craving for Coconut Custard Pie and now, I have the perfect excuse as to why not having any coconut in the house is no longer an excuse. That Almond Custard Pie looks oh so good.

I don't usually make corned beef on St. Patty's Day because those boiled dinners are what I remember too. I bet that Dirty Corned beef of yours would work in the crock. That's how I made mine this year. I cooked in overnight on low and then tucked in the oven for 20 minutes with a molasses glaze. Your recipe, however, is so much easier and looks GREAT. Ima keepin it!!! Thanks for sharing all these delectables, Marjie. I'm starved!!!