The evening meal on the Friday before Christmas is a testament to the appeal of a relatively new particular recipe: tomato and corn pie. I headed down this path during the summer abundance of cherry tomatoes, roasting those tomatoes and benefitting from the lush leaves of basil growing in the kitchen garden. When I came across an evolved recipe progression traced to a Gourmet magazine article, it proved to work just fine even with store-bought vine-ripened tomatoes and dried basil from the spice rack. So that's what we sat down to as last weekend commenced, together with salad and a creamy garlicky Caesar dressing. I stuck pretty directly to the instructions this time, even opting to make it a double-crust pie, even though that denied me the added pleasure of a roasting effect on the tomatoes. It was all quite good.
As we worked our way through a ninth morning without downstairs heat that day at the Roediger House, I was once again glad for the potent heat generated in the spacious fireplace in the kitchen, with an early morning lighting of Fire No. 89. I kept it fed till the middle of the afternoon, even as more prevalent sunshine helped push the downtown temps outside towards the low 50s. It was key to making my beloved kitchen hospitable enough for me to engage in a few joyous rituals of cooking and creations, even while I was wrestling with the frustration that the first floor HVAC system had been out of commission so long.
Ah, but then came the good news mid-day: a call from Webb Heating and Air Conditioning, Inc., letting me know the blower motor had at last arrived and a technician was dispatched here promptly. Cristina and Maria were already here cleaning but the tech and the ladies managed to work around one another, thank goodness. In the scheme of things, it didn't take him too very long to get the heat up and running again. By late afternoon it was feeling pretty warm...by contrast!
Finally, let's note the dessert from that evening, a much-loved family favorite for almost a half century: chocolate pecan pie. Retaining just enough pleasant lingering warmth once dinner was dispensed with and dishes all washed and downtown walk undertaken, this pie is one of my favorites. It's why I'm surprised I didn't make it for the first time in the new kitchen until 2013, and in the intervening decade, it's only shown up five times prior to this year. Thus far in 2023, this is its second appearance.
Pulled together and based on the following evolving recipe history:
- "Tomato Pie," from the Swamp Rabbit Café in Greenville, SC.
- "Tomato and Corn Pie," from Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen. [Published 27 August 2009]
- "Tomato and Corn Pie," by Maggie Ruggiero in Gourmet, August 2009, p. 42-43. [Published Online 15 July 2009]
Based on "Easy Lemon Caesar Salad Dressing," by Kim Hardesty of lowcarbmaven.com.
"Chocolate Pecan Pie," a Jones Family favorite since at least 1980, if not before. Also known as "Blender Pie," the recipe came from the late Lib Keith, whose hair-cutting business at her house was where our hairs got clipped for quite a few years.
"All-Butter Pie Crust," from King Arthur Test Kitchen of King Arthur Baking. See also "Butter vs. Shortening: The Great Pie Crust Bake-Off," by PJ Hamel of King Arthur Baking. [Published 23 November 2013]
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