I am going to get right to the point today. If I don’t- I will feel like my kids are standing over me waving their hands at me saying, come on mom, tell the story, faster. You’re talking to slow. So here is my fast story today.

A Yankee in a Southern Kitchen is still under some serious construction, so pardon the mess. I am somewhat of a neat freak so this is torturing me.

Along with an incomplete site, that won’t allow upload of photos, which is key in food, I made a Bean Pie instead of the promised Tomato Pie. Forgive me?

Here is why. The web designer’s computer isn’t the only one who had been afflicted with a virus this week. Being house bound I had to make something with ingredients on hand. This is a true Southern quality I might add, making due with what’s in the larder.

To make matters worse you are suppose to eat a Bean Pie within 30 minutes of it coming out of the oven. Doesn’t sound like a big deal, but you give it a try. It didn’t work for me.

Now I must confess, I always never read a recipe from front to start before proceeding unless it looks like a brain teaser. Not to smart I must say and I might have learned my lesson this go around with the Bean Pie. Could have saved some confusion and heart ache. But I always assume that I will figure it out as I go along, and I usually do. Till now.

So, the pie is in the oven, looks good, was made with ease and I can’t wait to discover a new Southern creation.

Wrong-I read the final instructions for one last check when I read, ” This chess-like version is at its peak within 30 minutes of coming out of the oven. It can be eaten later, but the texture changes dramatically, and to little benefit. Cool the pie for 20 minutes. Cut and serve while still warm.”

Now, I minored in math, so it took me less than a second to figure out that I now have roughly ten minutes to cut and serve this pie or else……….

Apparently timing is everything with a Bean Pie.

This presents a few problems. The first is I was home alone without anyone to serve the pie too. How can I serve a pie that is past it’s peak to the husband or anyone else?

Even if the husband were here to try a slice I am still in trouble. He is a slow eater. A real slow eater. I on the other hand grew up in a home of fast eaters. I guarantee you that I would be done with my slice of Bean Pie before the husband ever figured out where to put his fork-first.

This means, he doesn’t have a chance to finish his pie in the allotted time period. I can see him now, after 15-20 minutes with pie still on his plate.

Who switched pies? This isn’t the same pie I was just eating? What happened? My pie tastes different.

Uh, I don’t know, I’ve been sitting here with you all night at the table, and I didn’t touch your pie. You must be imaging things. Maybe your taste buds are off? I’ve been eating the pie for the last ten minutes and it tastes the same to me. I have no idea what you are talking about, dear.

Liking my food warm out of the oven and realizing that not all food has a long shelf life. Why would anyone want to make a pie in which you only had ten minutes to eat it? If it was really good I could maybe understand, but a Bean Pie?

So, my biggest tip for the day should you want to make this after all is; be prepared to use a stop watch. This way you can eat your pie in the allotted window of opportunity, notifying your family and guests when the ten minutes are up. After that forks down.

If you don’t stop eating after ten minutes, you really would think you were eating a totally different pie.

Bean Pie came with a lot of fan-fare and encouragement to make, it has a following that warranted me giving consideration to it.

This pie is a tradition in New Orleans, where a famed Omar the Bean Pie Man made history while feeding droves of locals who lined up for his Bean Pies. He always sold out. Who can resist a sell out? What I want to know is given the 30 minute window of opportunity to deliver and eat a pie, what sort of pie frenzy took place? I have seen a picture of Omar with a giant tray of these pies maybe a dozen or so slung over his shoulder. I wonder if the people who bought a pie came with a fork to eat it before the 30 minute were up?

When I try to come up with the words to describe this pie, different comes to my mind first. Great consistency, interesting taste and texture. Is this so sounding like a cop-out? The pie reminds me of a Pumpkin Pie but made with beans. Doesn’t make sense does it? Well, an acquired taste is needed for this pie. Not in love with it I might add even after the addition of whipped cream. Would I make it again? Probably not no. Even though, I don’t think I would make it again. I don’t want to stop you from giving it a try. It wasn’t bad, it’s just that I expected so much more.

There was a lot of build up and I anticipated a great Southern discovery.

When all I really discovered was how to serve a pie in ten minutes flat before graciously removing the plates from under the noses of family and guests when the timer went off.

If you have made or eaten a Bean Pie and think I am wrong about this, let me know. Frankly, I don’t want to miss out if for some reason I need to give this a second chance. Who doesn’t need a second chance? Even Bean Pies, deserve a second chance. I just need a nudge or two if I am going to try again. Oh, and maybe more than ten minutes to eat it.

I had fun taking a photo outdoors for a change instead of in the kitchen. I entered the top image in the CLICK PHOTO EVENT. It is worthwhile to take a look, as the photography is stunning. It is inspiring as well, which is why I am entering for the second month in a row. I can only hope to aspire to the talent that is featured. So have fun checking out ” Beans n’ Lentil” Month hosted by Jugalbandi.

Bean Pie

Ronni Lundy, Butter-beans to Blackberries

Dough for a single pie crust( recipe to follow, dough needs to be prepared 2 hours before making)

2 cups of unseasoned red or pinto beans, cooked until very tender, drained

3 large eggs, room temperature

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Using the fine blade of a food processor or grinder, grind the beans into a paste.
• Using an electric mixer at medium speed, beat the beans, adding the eggs one at a time.
• Cream in the brown sugar, then add the buttermilk and vanilla.
• Add the spices and salt, and beat until well mixed.
• Pour the filling into a prepared 9-inch pie crust no higher than the lower edge as it will rise while baking.
• Place the pie on a cookie sheet, and bake on the bottom rack of the oven for 50-60 minutes, until the custard is firm when jiggle and the top is browned. If it browns too quickly cover with foil.
• Cool the pie on a rack for 20 minutes then serve immediately with whipped cream.

Basic Pie Dough

Scott Peacock& Edna Lewis, The Gift of Southern Cooking

1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar

8 tablespoons (1 stick) of unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces and frozen for 10 minutes

2 tablespoons of lard, cut into 2 pieces and frozen for 10 minutes

4-6 tablespoons of ice water

Put the flour, salt and sugar on a large cutting board, and mix them with your fingers to blend.

Put the frozen butter and lard on top of the flour mixture, and use a large kitchen knife or pastry cutter to cut the fats quickly into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse meal with some butter and lard pieces still as large as 1/2 inch in diameter. Ideally half of the fat should be cut finely into the four and the other half left in larger chunks.

Working quickly, gather the flour-fat mixture into a mound and, using your fingers, draw a trench lengthwise through the center. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the ice water down the length of the trench, and with your spread, upturned fingers fluff the flour so that it absorbs the water.

Redraw the trench and continue incorporating the ice water by tablespoons in the same manner.

After you have incorporated 4 tablespoons of the water, the dough should begin to clump together in large pieces. If there are any unmassed areas, sprinkle them lightly with droplets of water, and mix as before.

Gather the dough into a mass with a pastry scraper, and , again working quickly, with the heel of your hand smear a hunk of dough roughly the seize of an egg by pushing it away from you. Continue in with pieces of dough until the entire mass has been processed this way (you’ll do about 6 smears in all).

When finished, gather all the dough together with a pastry scraper and repeat the process. Regather the dough, quickly shape it into a flat disk, and wrap it in a double thickness of plastic wrap, pressing firmly with the palm of your hand to flatten the wrapped dough further and bind it. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight before rolling and using.

Roll out the chilled dough into a circle 1 11/2 inches larger than your pie pan. Line the pan with the dough, and trim it to leave a 1/2 inch overhang of pastry around the pan. Fold this under, forming a thick edge on the rim of the pan.

Pie Crust Notes: I have never made a pie crust in this manner before hand. It was fun which I know sounds silly, how could a making a pie crust be fun? It was. I learn faster and quicker by looking at pictures, it took me a few reads to get the steps as you have to work quick so the butter doesn’t soften too much which will make it harder to handle. You will never think about making pies the same way after trying this recipe. It was so real, so authentic…..not to mention so good.