Family Recipe: Lemon Chess Pie

Here's a Lemon Chess Pie recipe that I have of my grandmother's. She died when I was two, but when I got married, my Great Aunt Joyce (her older sister) gave me her original recipe card, with my grandmother's handwriting and smudges still on it.

I just made it a couple days ago, to "practice" for our big Thanksgiving meal. We are headed to Myrtle Beach for our Crawford Family Reunion - back to the original place it was held in 1979. I'm making a few family desserts for the reunion and hoping everyone will enjoy my own rendition of our pies.

Lemon Chess Pie:

1 2/3 cup sugar
1 T flour
1 T cornmeal
Grated rind of two lemons (don't get too close to the white rind)
Blend together with a fork in a bowl.

4 unbeaten eggs
1/4 cup melted butter (half stick)
1/4 cup lemon juice (juice from both of those lemons)
1/4 cup sweet milk (sweetened condensed milk)
Beat together with the sugar mixture until smooth and creamy.
I used a fork - don't over beat it.

Bake in an unbaked deep dish or 9 inch pie at 375 for 25-40 minutes or until set (doesn't wiggle a lot in the middle). It should be a nice golden color on top.

Another option, which I did the other day, is to roll out your dough into a muffin tin and spoon about two tablespoons of the lemon mixture into each cup. Bake for a little less time - about 20 minutes - and keep your eye on it.

Don't have a great crust recipe? Here's my favorite from a cookbook called "Apple Pie Perfect," the very best pie cookbook I've ever found:

Butter Crust
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 T sugar
1/2 t salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1 large egg yolk
About 3 T cold water

Combine the flour, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl and mix well. Scatter the butter pieces over the dry ingredients and cut them in, using a pastry blender or two knives, until the butter is broken into very fine pieces.
Place the egg yolk in a 1-cup measuring cup and add just enough of the water to equal 1/4 cup liquid. Using a fork, blend the water and the yolk.
Sprinkle about half the liquid over the flour, mixing it in with a fork. Lift the mixture up from the button of the bowl and press down on the downstroke. Add the remaining liquid a little at a time until the dough coheres. You may need 1 to 2 teaspoons more.
Makes enough pastry for one 9-inch deep dish pie shell.