Sweet Tea Buttermilk Pie

This pie captures all the flavor of sweet tea in a crust. 1 cup buttermilk

1 tablespoon loose black tea leaves, such as Lipton or Luzianne

1 (9-inch) pie crust, unbaked (store bought or homemade) 1⁄2 teaspoon grated lemon zest 3⁄4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons flour

2 large eggs 1⁄4 teaspoon vanilla

4 tablespoons melted unsalted butter, cooled

Mint leaves, for garnish (optional) Instructions: Warm the buttermilk in a saucepan over medium-low heat just until it begins to steam. Do not allow it to boil or it may curdle. Remove pan from heat and stir in tea leaves. Let it sit for 1 hour, then strain out tea leaves and reserve the infused buttermilk. Line a 9-inch pie pan with crust. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Use a fork or whisk to combine lemon bowl. eggs, vanilla, In zest, another sugar infused bowl, and buttermilk flour whisk in together a large and melted to well. flour butter. mixture Add and buttermilk whisk to combine mixture 10 Pour minutes, filling then into reduce the crust. heat Bake to 350 for degrees and bake until the edges puff and the center is no longer liquid, about 30 more minutes. If the crust begins to overbrown before the center is set, reduce heat to 300 degrees. Cool to room temperature on a wire rack. Garnish pie with mint leaves before serving, if desired. Makes 8 servings Per serving: 250 calories (49.7 percent calories from fat), 15 g fat, 75 mg cholesterol, 190 mg sodium, 29 g carbohydrates, 0 g dietary fiber, 4 g protein From “Buttermilk: A Savor the South Cookbook” by Debbie Moose (University of North Carolina Press)