Lemon Chess Pie

I had every and all intention of making a peach pie this week in honor of my best friend's birthday last week. Peach pie is the dessert I will forever and always equate with her. I can still picture her in her mother's kitchen peeling and slicing peaches. So, I went on a mission to the farmer's market in search of peaches. Low and behold, no peaches. Not only were there no peaches, there was no fruit of any variety. Don't get me wrong, we didn't leave empty handed. We got some delicious bok choi and snap peas to go in my husband's awesome stir fry that night and I was certainly happy about that, but fruit is what makes me dance. Those who don't believe in global warming are absolutely crazy for coco puffs. I mean summer not starting until the actual summer solstice, I've never heard of such a thing before. Don't even get me started on my quest for cherries in June.

I know what you're thinking, go to the store and buy some freaking peaches if you want them so bad. Its just not the same and I much prefer local, even if I have to wait until August (the hottest month of the year here) to make my peach pie.

Anywho, I decided to go ahead and try a pie I had seen on the King Arthur Flour blog a few days earlier...Lemon Chess Pie (recipe to follow). If you're like me, you have no idea what a lemon chess pie is but you love lemons and you like pie, so how bad could it be really. It actually turned out quite delicious. I took some over to my mom, who had to go in for emergency surgery, and it completely cured her. Ok, I made that last part up, but she really did enjoy it.

Lemon Chess Pie
filling from King Arthur Flour
crust from Martha Stewart
*I used this crust because I had a disc of it frozen from a pie I made a while back, feel free to use your favorite, this filling works great with most crusts.

Crust:
Makes enough for two 9-inch pies

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 2 1/4 sticks (18 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1/2 cup plus 1 to 2 tablespoons ice water

Directions

1. Pulse flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor to combine. Add butter, and process until mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 seconds. With machine running, add ice water in a slow, steady stream until dough just holds together (no longer than 30 seconds).
2. Divide dough in half. Shape each half into a disk, and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour (or up to 2 days). Dough can be frozen for up to 1 month; thaw overnight in the refrigerator.

Filling:

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons butter
• 3/4 cup fresh lemon juice; the juice from about 3 lemons
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 2/3 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornmeal
• 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 5 large eggs

Directions

Melt the butter, and stir in the lemon juice, salt, sugar, cornmeal, cornstarch, and eggs. Whisk until well combined. Pour the filling into the chilled pie shell. Bake the pie on the bottom shelf of a preheated 375°F oven for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the center is set. The top should be golden brown. Remove the pie from the oven and allow it to cool before cutting and serving. **Tasted really good the first day and even better after being refrigerated the next day**