Lemon Chess Pie

This pie is essentially just sugar, eggs, butter, and lemon . . . and yet it tastes like so much more!  I had a piece of lemon chess pie at the recently opened Whiskey Jar restaurant in Charlottesville (where I also had some delicious southern food, including creamy, cheesy mac & cheese and a blackened catfish sandwich).  Needless to say, I was inspired to make my own version of this classic southern dessert.  When I'm working with sugar and a whole lotta butter, who better to turn to for a recipe but Paula Deen?  Her "Grandmother's Chess Pie" recipe is reworked here into the crackly citrus pie I paired with a Shock Top Lemon Shandy.

While baking, the sugar and polenta (yes, there's polenta in this pie!) rise and caramelize, creating the "cookie" crust on top.  The filling is much like a lemon meringue pie, sans the meringue (my least favorite part, anyway).  What can I say?  I love egg yolks.  

Although my pie isn't as sex-infused as the Led Zeppelin II classic track The Lemon Song, this pie, like all my others, is infused with a whole lotta love.

Pie Crust:

--1 1/4 c. flour

--1/2 c. butter, cold

--1/4 c. granulated sugar (I don't always add sugar to my crusts, but I wanted this one to be super sweet)

--1/4 c. ice water (I keep mine in the freezer for about 10 minutes before use)

Pour flour and sugar into a large bowl.  Then, cut in the butter.  (You can do this by hand or in a large food processor.)  Next, pour in ice water and mix together.  The dough may feel dry at first, but don't add more water!  Continue kneading until all dry flour has been absorbed.  Finally, form the dough into a ball, flour a flat surface, and roll the dough into a rough circle.  Place in a 9" pie dish and trim the edges, leaving about 1" hanging over the dish.  Roll the remaining edges under and pinch to create a crust.

Filling:

--6 eggs

--2 tbsp. water

--3 tbsp. lemon zest

--1 tbsp. lemon extract

--2 c. sugar

--1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened

--2 tbsp. flour

--2 tsp. cornstarch

--2 tsp. polenta

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine sugar, butter, flour, cornstarch, and polenta (your batter mixture).  Beat at low speed until smooth.  In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, lemon zest, and lemon extract.  Once combined, add to batter mixture and beat on medium speed for 2-3 minutes, or until combined.  Pour into unbaked pie crust.  Using foil or a pie crust shield, cover crust for 30 minutes of baking time, and then remove (you don't want your crust to burn!).  Bake pie for approx. 1 hour, or until the center is set.  Allow to cool before cutting.

The filling is so smooth, sweet, and tangy!