We are a house divided. And it doesn’t have anything to do with football. It does have everything to do with a nut.
That’s right. A nut.
You see my Georgia-born boo says “PEE-can” and I of Alabama birth say “puh-KAHN.” Now admittedly this is not a subject that comes up for disagreement every day. But around this time of year when I start making pies, it does.
I’ve tried to school him in the proper ways of pronunciation, and he does humor me from time to time. But just when I think I’ve converted him, he backslides into his native ways. Maybe because his head is just about as hard as the shell on a “puh-KAHN.”
Here are two other words on which we part company. He says, in reference to those paper slips that entitle you to a discount, “KOO-pun.” I say “QUE-pahn.” He also puts “SEER-up” on his pancakes but I put “SIR-up” in my “puh-KAHN” pie.
I naturally assume that I am right in all 3 cases, and he thinks he’s the one who’s right. And we bicker about it, but it’s all in good fun. That’s because we agree on one thing — we’re nuts about each other.
Here’s my favorite “puh-KAHN” pie recipe based on one from my Southern Sideboards cookbook.
Pecan Pie
Ingredients
- 1 refrigerated pie crust (I’m afraid of trying to make a pie crust, so I never make my own. If you are brave, more power to you!)
- ½ cup butter
- 1¼ cup sugar
- ½ cup light corn “SIR-up”
- 3 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon vanilla (I always slag in a little more.)
- 1 Tbsp bourbon
- 1½ cups pecans
Directions
- Partially blind bake your pie crust. About 3 or 4 minutes works. If you don’t know what that means or how to do it, check out this Epicurious video.
- Preheat oven to 375°.
- Cook butter, sugar, and corn syrup over low heat until the butter is melted. Do not let the mixture boil.
- Let cool a bit, then stir in the beaten eggs. Make sure it is all mixed up really well.
- Add the vanilla, bourbon, and pecans. Make sure that you use pretty pecan halves, not a bunch of broken up pieces. That way you get a prettier result when the pie is baked.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes. When it’s done, it will still be a little soft in the center.