Southern Lemon Chess Pie

Almost all recipes are variations on others, things borrowed from those who came before us. So I'm proud to post, as my first recipe, a pie that recipe that I borrowed from my brother. He received it from one of his friends mothers, who inherited it from her mother.

You can use a store bought pie shell, but I highly recommend making your own. Homemade dough is easy and far exceeds anything that you are going to get from your grocery store.

Pie Dough

1 1/4 (140g) cups of all purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons shortening
4 tablespoons unsalted butter (cut into tablespoon chunks)
Ice water

Place all of the dry ingredients in a food processor and pulse a couple times to blend them. Next add the shortening and pulse about ten times to combine. Repeat with the butter.

Once all of the shortening and butter have left the contents of the food processor, sprinkle on 4-5 tablespoons of the ice water - pulsing several times after each one. The dough should just start to come together. Extract the dough and form it into a 4-5 inch disk, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for one hour.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it warm slightly at room temperature for about 10 minutes. Then roll it out to about 12" and transfer it to a standard 9 inch pie plate. Trim the edges and freeze for 30 minutes.

This pie dough recipe can be used for almost any pie.

Southern Lemon Chess Pie

This easy to make pie has its roots deep within Southern cuisine. It is almost a custard pie, but substitute’s cornmeal in place of flour. The pie can be served with fresh cream, but is best by itself or with a big glass of sweet tea.

1/2 fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 cup sugar
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon cornmeal (fine-ground)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat your oven to 375F, insert a baking sheet and move your racks to the lowest setting. Whisk all of the ingredients together until they are just combined and pour into the unbaked and chilled pie crust. Cook for 40-50 minutes, or until the top is golden brown. Make sure that you let the pie rest for a least an hour before serving.