Salted Caramel-Chocolate Pecan Pie

Food hybrids are all the rage. One delicious food mates with another delicious food and they have one really, really, ridiculously good tasting baby. Think: Cronuts (a croissant and a bagel). Quesarito (a burrito rolled in a quesadilla). And, the seasonally-appropriate Turducken (chicken stuffed in a duck stuffed in a turkey).

While most people probably won't spend hours cooking a Turducken next week, this tasty Salted Caramel-Chocolate Pecan Pie from Southern Living takes little time and is sure to mix things up at your Thanksgiving table. A cross between a fudge pie and pecan pie, this is just the kind of food hybrid that demands attention at the table. Those perfectly spiraled pecans don't hurt, either.

To make this pie the easy way, start with a frozen pie crust. If you're the Type A "everything-must-be-homemade" person on Thanksgiving, start by making your own pie crust. The chocolate filling comes next, which is fairly simple: sugar, butter, flour, unsweetened cocoa, corn syrup, vanilla extract, and eggs. Toasted chopped pecans are added right before it's baked to give the pie additional texture.

To arrange the pecans on the pie, start by making large circles around the outer edge of the pie. Continue working inwards, stacking the pecans on top of one another.

Now, you'll either need to make a Salted Caramel Topping or buy some from Trader Joe's. While I am most definitely not Type A, I did decide to home make it for this pie; caramel just seemed easier to make than crust.

Drizzled over the pecans, the Salted Caramel Topping is the final touch.

A pie we can all be thankful for this season.

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Salted Caramel-Chocolate Pecan Pie

• 2 cups toasted pecan halves
• 1 (9-inch) unbaked deep-dish pie crust shell

Chocolate Filling Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup butter, melted
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup 100% cacao unsweetened cocoa 
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
• 3 large eggs 
• 1 cup toasted chopped pecans

Salted Caramel Topping Ingredients

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 teaspoon table salt
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1. Prepare Chocolate Filling: Preheat oven to 350F. Stir together first 6 ingredients in a large bowl. Add eggs, stirring until well blended. Fold in chopped pecans. Pour mixture into unbaked deep-dish pie crust shell.

2. Bake at 350F for 35 minutes. Filling will be loose but will set as it cools. Remove from oven to a wire rack.

3. Prepare Salted Caramel Topping: Bring 3/4 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and 1/4 cup water to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Do not stir. Boil, swirling occasionally after sugar begins to change color, 8 minutes or until dark amber. Do not walk away from the pan, as the sugar could burn quickly once it begins to change color. Remove from heat; add cream and 4 tablespoons butter. Stir constantly until bubbling stops and butter is incorporated (about 1 minute). Stir in table salt.

4. Arrange pecan halves on pie. Top with warm caramel. Cool 15 minutes; sprinkle pie with sea salt.

Classic Apple Pie

Even though I haven't hosted Thanksgiving before, I like to be helpful to the host by bringing a dessert to share. I read something recently in Bon Appetit all about Thanksgiving etiquette. It was so elaborate that it was almost silly...

No scented candles! Roasting turkey and stuffing should be the only aromas.

Married and established couples should be split up. Consider placing newly formed couples opposite each other rather than side by side.

On no account should you ever consult Google to settle an argument; remember: a gentleman never resorts to fact.

There was a section in the issue about "suggested" desserts to serve. And, the interesting part was this: you don't have to have pumpkin pie on your Thanksgiving dessert table.

Say what? You're either thinking: I don't? But I love pumpkin pie; it's classic and a must. Or, you're all: Pumpkin isn't my family's thing; never has been, never will be - and you don't rock the orange pie this time of year.

It's a simple thought, often overlooked in the pumpkin-crazed world in which we live, but it's the truth. There are lots of seasonal desserts out there to choose from! If your heart isn't set on pumpkin this year but you feel at a loss for what to bake, I'm sharing two pie recipes this week in anticipation for next week's big meal.

First up is an all-American classic: Apple Pie.

Classic apple pie is homemade goodness at its very best. Apples are already a delicious snack alone, so you don't need me to tell you that they're best baked, in a caramel sauce, underneath flaky, golden crust, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side.

Now my mouth is watering again...

This particular slice had just come out of the oven; I clearly couldn't wait very long to scoop it on my plate.

But before the above can happen, there's just a little bit of prep work that needs to be done. Apples must be sliced; caramel sauce must be made; and dough must be rolled.

This Apple Pie recipe calls for very thinly-sliced, peeled apples - cut to about ⅛-inch thick. It'll go by faster if someone peels, the other slices. Once finished, place the slices into a large bowl and mix with lemon juice (to prevent browning).

For the caramel sauce - which I wanted to chug directly from the pot - you'll need to gently melt butter in a saucepan at medium-low heat. Stir in flour to form a paste, then add white sugar, brown sugar, water, cinnamon, nutmeg, cornstarch, and vanilla. Bring all of that to a boil. Reduce temperature and simmer for about 5 minutes or once caramel coats the back of spoon.

The fruits of your labor!

Apple Pie

• 1 9-inch double pie crust (recipe follows)
• 6-8 Granny Smith apples—peeled, cored and sliced (about 3½-4 cups)
• Juice of ½-1 lemon
• ½ cup unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• ½ cup white sugar
• ½ cup packed brown sugar
• 3⅔ tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Egg whites (to brush crust)

1. Peel, core, and very thinly slice the apples to about ⅛-inch thick slices. Place into a large bowl and mix with lemon juice (to prevent browning).

2. Melt butter in a sauce pan at medium-low heat. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add white sugar, brown sugar, water, cinnamon, nutmeg, cornstarch, and vanilla; bring to a boil. Reduce temperature, and simmer for 5 minutes or once caramel coats the back of spoon.

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Meanwhile, place the bottom crust in a 9-inch glass pie pan and brush with egg whites to prevent it from becoming soggy. Place your pie on an aluminum-foil covered cookie sheet. 

4. Once butter mixture is caramelized, combine with apples, reserving ¼ of mixture.  Fill pie crust with apples, mounded slightly. Cover with a lattice work crust (or normal top crust if desired) and brush top with reserved butter mixture. Bake for one hour on the middle or bottom oven rack.

Note: If using a lattice crust, cut your slices before starting on the rest of the pie and save in refrigerator until ready.

Perfect Pie Crust

• 1½ cup Crisco (vegetable shortening)
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 egg
• 5 tablespoons cold water
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Salt

1. In a large bowl, with a pastry cutter, gradually work the Crisco into the flour for about 3 or 4 minutes until it resembles a coarse meal. In a small bowl, beat an egg with a fork and then pour it into the flour/shortening mixture. Add 5 tablespoons of cold water, 1 tablespoon of white vinegar and 1 teaspoon of salt. Stir together gently until all of the ingredients are incorporated.

2. Separate the dough into thirds*. Form three evenly sized balls of dough and place each into separate large Ziploc bags. Using a rolling pin, slightly flatten each ball of dough (about ½ inch thick) to make rolling easier later. Seal the bags and place them in the freezer until you need them. (If you will be using it immediately it’s still a good idea to put in the freezer for about 15 to 20 minutes to chill.)

3. When you are ready to use the dough to make a crust, remove from the freezer and allow to thaw for 15 minutes. On a floured surface roll the dough, starting at the center and working your way out. (Sprinkle some flour over top of the dough if it’s a bit too moist.) If the dough is sticking to the countertop use a metal spatula and carefully scrape it up and flip it over and continue rolling until it’s about ½ inch larger in diameter than your pie pan.

4. With a spatula, lift the dough carefully from the surface of the counter into the pie pan. Gently press the dough against the corner of the pan. Go around the pie pan pinching and tucking the dough to make a clean edge.

Note: Separating it into thirds will result in three thin crusts. If you prefer a more substantial crust, separate it in half.

Crispy Curried Chicken

What are the first things that come to mind when someone says "Indian food?" For me, it's: spicy, soupy, oily, rich, fatty, laborious, curry powder...curry powder...

While I'm not the biggest fan of Indian cuisine, I absolutely love spicing things up with curry powder. That probably makes no sense and you're thinking, "if she likes curry powder, she likes Indian food. Duh." But, everyone can be a little picky, right? While I like the spice that is curry powder, I'm not fully on board (yet) with traditional Indian dishes like chole bhature (A spiced, curried chickpea dish) or rogan josh (a lamb or goat curry).

Actually, if I'm being honest, I usually avoid it at all costs. Give me Mexican, Greek, Italian...literally any other regional type of food before Indian. But I recently tried a Crispy Curried Chicken recipe from one of my favorite blogs Crepes of Wrath. It's simple and delicious - just my style; chicken drumsticks and thighs are marinated in a spiced coconut milk mixture, then baked until perfection. I've been thinking about it naan stop since I first tried it.

First, combine the coconut milk, curry powder, turmeric, salt, ginger, cardamom, peppers, shallot, lime juice and lime zest in a bowl. All the colors!

Then, place the chicken pieces in a bag or large, shallow dish and pour the marinade over top. Refrigerate for an hour or two, or as long as overnight. I used a large glass baking pan and marinated, covered with aluminum foil, for about 2.5 hours.

Next, line a rimmed baking sheet with foil, then place a cooling rack inside the sheet. This helps the chicken stay dry and crispy. If you don't have a tray, it's fine to just put the chicken directly in the pan, but it won't be quite as crispy. And we love crispy chicken!

Put the chicken on the tray and then the tray in the oven; bake for 20 minutes. Remove the chicken and turn it on it's other side; bake for another 20 minutes. Flip the chicken a final time and bake for another 15-20 minutes, until crispy.

Yes and yesssss.

If by the third turn, your chicken isn't getting as crispy as you like, you can turn up the oven to 425F to speed things up. Lastly, top with torn cilantro leaves and sprinkle with sea salt.

Keep calm and curry on.

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Crispy Curried Chicken

• 10-12 chicken thighs and/or drumsticks, skin on
• 1 14.5 ounce can coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons curry powder
• 1 tablespoon turmeric powder
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
• 2-3 hot peppers, finely minced or sliced (I used 1 jalapeño, 1 serrano and 1 cherry pepper)
• 1 shallot, finely minced
• Juice of 1 lime
• Zest of 1 lime
• Cilantro, for garnish
• Sea salt, for garnish

1. First, marinate your chicken for at least an hour or two. Combine your coconut milk, curry powder, turmeric, salt, ginger, cardamom, peppers, shallot, lime juice and lime zest in a bowl. Place your chicken pieces in a bag or large, shallow dish and pour the marinade over top. Refrigerate for an hour or two, or as long as overnight. The longer the better!

2. Preheat the oven to 400F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil, then place a cooling tray inside the pan, if you have one - this will help the chicken stay dry and, therefore, crispy. If you don't have a tray, it's fine to just put the chicken directly in the pan, but it won't be quite as crispy.

3. Line the chicken up on the tray, and bake for 20 minutes. Flip the chicken and bake for another 20 minute. Flip the chicken a final time and bake for another 15-20 minutes, until crispy. Turn the oven up to 425F for this final step if you want to speed things up a bit.

4. Once golden and crisp, remove from the oven, place in a bowl and garnish with cilantro and sea salt. Serve with a simple salad or some naan.