Recipes

A twist on grandmother's chess pie

"It was my third date with Josie. There had been sparks between us, but the circumstances hadn't allowed us to act on them the first two times. (At least, that was my read on the whole thing.) This time, I was cooking her dinner at my apartment, so I knew if anything was going to happen between us, this was it. She came over a little early, so I gave her a glass of wine and told her to make herself at home. She asked if she could play a CD. I told her sure, whatever she wanted to hear. She picked the Cowboy Junkies. In my mind, I was going 'Yes!' Then she came in the kitchen and sat on the counter. I'd just pulled the pie out the oven. She commented on how good it smelled, so I offered her a bite. I cut a little wedge and put it on a fork and started to hand it to her, warning her that it was hot. She then grabbed my hand with the fork in it and proceeded to blow on the food, her eyes never leaving me the whole time. I thought I was going to die. I cut off another piece. This time, she grabbed the fork out of my hand, blew on the food, took it in her fingers, and placed it in my mouth. Her fingers were on my lips, and I started to lick them off. This was followed by a kiss laced in honey. Needless to say, things heated up and dinner had to be reheated. And I'm glad to report we've been 'cooking' ever since."

Billy's words on pine nut pie and that crucial third date with Josie, together 4 months, Kansas City, MO

yields 6 to 8 servings

2 cups sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
3 large eggs
3 tablespoons unsalted flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
½ teaspoon lemon extract
1 (9-inch) circle refrigerated pie dough, preferably Pillsbury’s Just Unroll!
1 cup pine nuts, toasted

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, combining between each addition. Combine the flour and salt on a paper towel, and add to the mixture. Stir in the buttermilk and lemon extract. Unroll the pie dough and line an 8-inch pie pan with the crust. Spread the pine nuts over the bottom of the crust. Pour the buttermilk mixture over the pine nuts. Bake in the oven for 2 hours, or until the top is golden brown and the center is just barely set. Cover lightly with foil if the edges start to darken too quickly.

Homemade pie crusts: Homemade crusts taste notably superior to store-bought ones. If you want to make your own, cut 2 sticks of cold butter into small pieces and place in a small bowl. Cut ¼ cup of shortening into small pieces. Add to the butter and place in the refrigerator. (Good crusts require cold ingredients.)

Place 1¼ cups cake flour, 1¼ cups all-purpose flour, and 1 teaspoon salt in a food processor. Pulse to combine. Add the chilled butter and shortening. Pulse just until the fats are cut into the flour and resemble little peas. Add a little bit of ice water and pulse again. Take off the lid and touch the dough. Do the flour and butter come together between your fingers? If not, add a little more water and pulse again. Be careful not overprocess, or you'll have a tough crust. Pour the dough out onto a clean work surface and knead 2 to 3 times, just to bring all the flour into the dough. Divide in half and form into two flat disks. Wrap with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until ready to roll out.

Excerpted from InterCourses: An Aphrodisiac Cookbook.
Copyright © 2007 by Martha Hopkins and Randall Lockridge. All rights reserved.