I apologize for not having a column the last few weeks. My sweet Aunt Edith, from Florida, passed away and I have been down south for her funeral, visiting with my southern family and friends, and reacquainting my taste buds with amazing southern cuisine.
Refined southern women take a lot of pride in their cooking. Most of them have their signature dishes. For my mother, it is her German Cheese Bread and her Squash Casserole. My grandmother’s signature dishes were Divinity, Fried Mush and Deviled Crab.
Aunt Edith had many signature dishes, but she was best known for her peanut butter pie. Considering that I am a peanut butter lover, it was not hard to fall in love with this pie. I have attempted making one as good as hers and even though mine turns out pretty good, having had hers, I know mine doesn’t quite measure up to hers.
I really would not put it past her to leave out a simple step just so that her pie was always superior to anyone who tried her recipe. So in honor of Aunt Edith, here is her recipe for amazing Peanut Butter Pie.
Peanut Butter Pie
3/4 cup confectioners sugar
1/3 cup peanut butter
Mix with fingertips till crumbly and set aside.
Bake a pie shell and let it cool. Place the above in pie shell, saving about 2 Tbsp for top of meringue.
Filling for pie:
2/3 cup of sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 Tbsp. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
3 egg yolks
3 cups milk
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbsp. melted butter
Mix dry ingredients in top of double boiler; give a good stir with whisk. Add milk. Cook over boiling water in double boiler until mixture begins to thicken, stirring often to keep filling smooth.
Add a little hot mixture to slightly beaten egg yolks. Return to hot mixture; continue cooking and keep stirring until thick. Add vanilla and butter.
Cool over ice and continue stirring with whisk while cooling to prevent crusting.
Now put it together. Pour cooled filling on top of the crumbs in shell. Top with meringue and sprinkle reserved crumbs on top.
Bake on lower rack of oven for 5 minutes or until golden brown.
If you would like to make this a chocolate peanut butter pie, add 1/4 to 1/3 cup of cocoa to the dry ingredients.
My mouth is watering for a piece of this deliciousness.
Cookbook Corner:
I love peanut butter and have found a really good cookbook that has a great variety of recipes using peanut butter, ranging from main dishes to desserts. The author is Pamela Barnes. She has also authored a cookbook entitled "Jams and Jellies in Less Than 30 Minutes." Her recipes are so unique and very delicious. Her cookbooks are available on amazon.com.
Malissa Meeks is a mother of seven who knows her way around the kitchen. By her estimate, she has prepared more than 42,000 meals over the years. She also knows what she likes in a good restaurant. Her column appears here every other week. Leave comments here or email them to menifee247info@gmail.com.
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