Dough better
“I don’t think we travel by buses, trains, cars and planes, often during inclement weather and even more brutal traffic, because we’re secretly hoping our family ditched the known-and-loved standards for an edgy, new recipe,” food blogger Deb Perelman, author of “Smitten Kitchen Every Day: Triumphant & Unfussy New Favorites” (Knopf ), tells The Post.
The Thanksgiving holiday calls for classics done just right, and when it comes to pecan pie, Perelman has strict rules: Toast your pecans; use dark, not light, brown sugar; add a touch of vinegar to balance out the sweetness; make it plenty big; and, if you really want to go all out, add some chocolate. Her recipe does all of that.
Forget the pumpkin dessert — this is the triumphant end to a feast. Perelman says: “There’s a whole extra dynamic of deeply toasted, luxurious flavor that you just don’t get with a pumpkin pie.”
CHOCOLATE PECAN SLAB PIE
To make crust:
In food processor, combine 3 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, 1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt and 1 ½ tablespoons sugar. Add 1 ½ cups cold unsalted
butter, cut into pieces, and pulse machine until mixture resembles coarse meal and the largest bits of butter are the size of tiny peas. Turn the mixture out into a mixing bowl. Add ³/₄ cup cold water. Stir until large clumps form. Use hands to knead dough. Divide dough in two and wrap each half in a sheet of plastic wrap or waxed paper. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour or up to 72 hours. Heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line bottom of a 10-by-15-by-1-inch baking sheet with parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll one dough half into an 18-by-13-inch rectangle. Transfer dough to prepared baking sheet; gently drape some of the overhang in so that dough fills out inner edges and corners. Some pastry will still hang over sides of pan: Trim this to ¹/₂ inch. Freeze crust in pan until it is solid, about a half hour. To make filling: Heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Spread
on rimmed baking sheet and toast in oven for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring once or twice so that they toast evenly. Set aside. 3 ⅓ cups pecan halves Melt 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate chunks or chips with ½ cup heavy cream, and stir until smooth. Spread over bottom of frozen crust. Freeze crust again until chocolate is solid, about 10 minutes.
In large saucepan, combine 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, 1 2/ 3 cups packed dark-brown sugar, 1 cup maple syrup and ¼ teaspoon coarse sea salt. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook for 2 minutes, stirring regularly. Remove pan from heat and stir in pecans, 1 ½ teaspoons apple cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon vanilla, and 1 ½ tablespoons
bourbon (optional). Pour into bowl and set aside to cool a little, 5 to 10 minutes. Whisk in
5 eggs, one at a time, until combined. Pour mixture into prepared pie shell. Finish assembling pie: Roll second dough half into a 16-by-11-inch rectangle. Drape it over pie in one piece (cutting slits to vent the top), or cut into wide strips to form a lattice. Pinch or crimp upper and lower crusts together, and fold the bottom crust’s overhang, if you wish, over top crust to seal it. Lightly beat 1 egg with 1 teaspoon water, and brush it over top crust and edges. Bake pie at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until crust is golden and filling is bubbling, about 30 minutes. Makes 12 to 18 servings. Adapted from “Smitten Kitchen Every Day: Triumphant & Unfussy New Favorites.” Copyright © 2017 by Deb Perelman. All rights reserved.