Tuesday, September 18, 2007

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood....

Actually, it's the third beautiful day in a row in the neighborhood - which is even better.

That's right - the incredible heat wave has finally broken, and life is ever so much better. I turned the A/C off for the first time in forever on Sunday, and haven't had to turn it back on since. And since I had a $400 A/C bill last month, being able to turn it off is making me quite, quite happy...




Another thing that is making me happy about the cooler weather?

Starting to think about all our favorite "cool weather foods."

Applesauce; Chili; and Baking (oh my!) - pumpkin bread, cornbread, peanut butter cookies - and I know there are more that I'm just not thinking of yet....
I know that there's no reason I couldn't make these things year-round, but for some reason, they really only appear in the Fall here at the House That Crazy Built.

I thought I'd ease back into cooler-weather-cooking by making a pie.

And not just any pie. My new favorite pie, from my new favorite restaurant - the Hominy Grill.*

Over the Labor Day weekend, Bubba, Schecky and I spent the long weekend in Charleston. We were celebrating our 17th wedding anniversary. While there, we went to the Hominy Grill, and when I saw "buttermilk pie" on the menu, I knew I had to try it.

Now, I've been curious about buttermilk pie ever since Bekka of Potlikker wrote about it last year. Here's a supposed "Southern delicacy", and I'd never even heard of it???? I was intrigued.
I bookmarked Bekka's recipe - but, sadly, never did anything with it.

But back at the Hominy Grill, once I took my first bite of the stuff? I was hooked! Sweet Cracker Sandwich! Sweet Buttermilk Pie! Good, good stuff...

It's kind of hard to explain what it tastes like - it's got a custardy, slightly lemon-scented layer; topped with a more creamy layer that's somewhat akin to a cheescake flavor. It manages to be rich, and yet light, all at the same time.

I knew that I couldn't leave that taste behind - so I bought a copy of the restaurant's cookbook. (And believe me! - I'm really looking forward to exploring it in more depth in the upcoming months.)

But for now - I needed to recreate that pie!

Buttermilk Pie


I'm delighted to say that the at-home version lived up to my memories of the in-the-restaurant version. It was as every bit as good as I remembered it being, which is always gratifying.

And while I can't scan the recipe from the cookbook and post it here - as I am sure that violates all kinds of copyright laws - I've got some good news: you can read a much more eloquent description than mine, and see the recipe right here, in this nice little article written by the Brothers Lee.
Whom I also love....


Oh - and speaking of love? I found one more thing to love about this pie (As if being both delicious -AND- dead simple to make isn't enough...)

I got to use my egg separator. :)

And in doing so - I learned two very important things:
  1. Autum is absolutely right - it totally looks like he's puking. Except he drools out the egg whites, not the yolks. Really, not his best look.

  2. He's a really crappy egg separator - he left behind most of the white on the first egg, and broke the yoke on the second egg.

So I guess I'll just have to continue loving him for his pretty face...


*I keep threatening to write a full blown post about this place, because it is my new favorite - but somehow while the desire is strong, my follow-thru is weak.

10 comments:

rohanknitter said...

Yikes, a $400 AC bill. No wonder you are glad to see the heat break. After a lovely week, our heat is back. 90's. I see from CrazyAuntPurl's blog that it's cooler in LA than it is here. That is just wrong!
Anyway, Happy Anniversary! Charleston would be a great place to go celebrate! We were there for just a couple days, years ago. Would love to go back.

Me and Him said...

What no photos of the drooling egg white man?

That pie sounds good. Might have to try it.

William Conway said...

Chili is an excellent hot weather food with the right attitude.

Big Pissy said...

I used to make buttermilk pie in my other life ( good little Army officer's wife)...and the pie was quite tasty.

Now when I eat some it's at the local "meat and three"....still tasty! :)

I totally enjoyed the weather in Decatur Fri & Sat....it was SO beautiful. It's actually been lovely here in Hell for the past couple of days....go figure! ;-)

Anonymous said...

mmmmmm.... piiiiiieeee... mmmmmm... ::drool::

Anonymous said...

That egg separator still cracks me up! :)

Oil Cloth Junkie said...

ooh, that pie looks awesome! And I absolutely agree that there are some foods just for fall/ winter... red beans and rice, quiche, and tater tot casserole. yum.

okay, now I'm hungry.....

beki said...

Mmmm, thinking about that pie is making my mouth water! I'm definitely going to try to make this at some point.

Thimbleanna said...

Hey -- your fans want to see the egg separator man puking! Maybe Schecky could pour and you could snap pictures! ;-) The pie sounds delicious!

Rebecca said...

a $400 A/C bill!?!? but on to the pie. looks awesome. will have to check out that recipe and try it. did you make the crust? or was it store-bought? i usually do the latter. never mastered the skill of making pie crust from scratch. ms. pillsbury is almost as good and none of the trouble.