Old Fashioned Buttermilk Chess Pie

I had a reader request recently for my plain chess pie recipe, so thought I'd go ahead and make one to post. Chess pie is southern to the core. And sweet. A very sweet custard pie made with eggs, butter, a little flour, a bit of cornmeal, vanilla and sugar. Lots of sugar.

I have to admit - while I do love sweet things, plain chess pie and brown sugar pies have never been my favorite pies. A brown sugar pie is so sweet, that it literally locks my jaw up, I swear. As far as chess pie, while I do like it better, I also find that it absolutely needs something to counteract the sweetness. So for me, chess pie needs either the bitterness of cocoa or unsweetened chocolate or else the tartness of lemon just to balance out the sweetness.  To do that, I put just a squeeze of lemon juice along with the zest of a lemon in my regular chess pie.  It is not enough lemon to turn it into a Lemon Chess Pie, but just enough to counter the sugar.  In my opinion don't leave the lemon out, unless you have one heck of a high tolerance for sugar.

Serve a small slice of this along with some very strong coffee, perhaps a Cafe au Lait made with a good Louisiana chicory coffee, to help balance the sweetness. I like mine with just a dollop of homemade whipped cream and a light grating of nutmeg over the top.

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Old Fashioned Buttermilk Chess Pie
Posted at http://www.deepsouthdish.com

1-1/2 cups sugar
1 rounded tablespoon of cornmeal
2 rounded tablespoons of flour
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup of butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup of buttermilk
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
4 eggs
Zest from one lemon, chopped fine
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1 unbaked pie shell, homemade or Pillsbury recommended
Homemade whipped cream
Freshly grated nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together the sugar, cornmeal, flour and salt. To that add the butter, buttermilk, and vanilla; mix. Beat the eggs, add and mix. Stir in lemon zest and juice. Pour into pie shell.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown and set. Use a pie shield (or aluminum foil on the edges) after about 20 minutes to prevent crust from overbrowning. Can also tent entire pie with aluminum foil if the top of the pie itself is overbrowning.

Let cool completely on a rack. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream and a grating of fresh nutmeg on top.

*If you don't use or don't have buttermilk, just use the soured milk method. (for this recipe, 1/2 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar and enough whole milk to make the 1/2 cup)