MUSEUM WINNER'S PIE

Settle in friends, it's time for a bit of cooking.  You may remember that my sweet sister and her husband lean toward Kentucky gifts at Christmas, and 2012 was no exception.  This beauty of a cookbook arrived shortly before Christmas and I've been eager to get into it ever since.  I volunteered to bring a pie next Wednesday to our Heavenly Hash group and, in Derby parlance, I'm "off and running" into the Dessert Section or, as they call it, "The Twelfth Race."   There are 65 entries in the 12th Race and I'm just a little taken aback by the number of steps involved, the emphasis on "from scratch" ingredients (who knew you made a coconut pie after draining the milk, removing the brown skin and grating the meat!), and the amount of bourbon necessary for the successful completion of many of these recipes...and that's before you pour any for yourself.

 

Yes, dear friends, in this cookbook bourbon is a near necessity.  If you purchase "The Kentucky Derby Museum Cookbook",  you might as well just stop at the liquor store on your way home and pick up a bottle.  And let me save you from no little amount of embarrassment.  It's part of my job here.  Tennessee Whiskey is not the same as, nor can it be substituted for Kentucky Bourbon.  Don't even ask or try to sneak it through.  Don't.

 

After hours of searching and dithering, I decided to make "Museum Winner's Pie".  It called for two Tablespoons of bourbon or, in very small print, suggested that I would be allowed to substitute one teaspoon of vanilla.  What's with that?  Do measurements not count anymore?  Do they not know how many efforts I have ruined by mistaking a big "T" for a little "t"?  Generally, if you use a big "T" (Tablespoon) instead of the required little "t" (teaspoon), it shows up right away.  On the other hand, if you have used a little "t" instead of the recipe's big "T", it just seems rather bland and, perhaps, a touch dry.  I'm not taking any chances.  I'm going with the two Tablespoons of Kentucky bourbon.

 

I know I mentioned the book's propensity for "from scratch" ingredients, but if this cute little doughboy can whip out really good piecrusts, why should I get in his way?  You go, little guy.

 

 

Well, there it is.  It looks a great deal like chocolate chip cookie dough--a little more pale and gooshier perhaps--but definitely just as good.  I know that because I threw caution to the winds, ignored the raw egg situation and had a taste.  I believe, however, that the 2T of Jim Beam probably took care of any bacterial threat while adding a really nice kick to the whole thing.

 

And, now, for the final product.  I"m kind of surprised because I had expected that the one cup of chocolate chips would turn the whole thing chocolate, but instead, it looks rather like a huge chocolate chip cookie.  I can't wait to try it.  BC--would you like a piece of pie? 

My intent, of course, was to try this new recipe before presenting it to our Heavenly Hash friends and, perhaps, all of us dropping over dead from some grotesque printing error.  I don't believe there were any mistakes here.  It is, per BC, pretty darned rich and, I do have to admit, he's right.  I've had three pieces while trying to decide if it's TOO rich and if I need to add whipped cream or vanilla ice cream to temper that a bit.  Or, of course, there's always the French solution to such a quandry...simply serve a smaller portion.  I'm going to try that now.