Pecan Pie and Vanilla Ice Cream
For short, the pie was wonderful. I focused on finding a recipe for traditional but light pie that would still satisfy J's folks who know the REAL Southern tastes. Any fancy twists were not necessary, e.g. adding chocolate, maple syrup, bourbon, or so on.
My finding was an ideal recipe of pecan pie filling from Simply Recipes, one of foodie blogs that I admire. To deal with pie crust, I stuck to a recipe from November 2007 issue of Cook's Illustrated. It has been my "Foolproof Pie Dough" indeed as the magazine named.
The recipe for vanilla ice cream came from July 2011 issue of Cook's Illustrated too. Temperature control at each processing stage was a key for incredible creamy, smooth, dense texture.
Talking about vanilla, I used my hidden treasure: Tahitian vanilla. Those beans were very moist and plump with fruity perfume, which were different from ones from Madagascar that I usually use. I was very happy with the result - elegant vanilla ice cream I never had before.
Salute to the great classic Southern dessert!
