Easy French Silk Pie

Okay, so it's time to start warming up that KitchenAid again - it'll be working hard on this one.

So, I haven't been baking much lately because of some other stuff that's been keeping me busy - namely work and spending time reading up for my next certification exam. Though I haven't actually baked anything in the last week, I really wanted to make another post, so I dug through my pictures, and found a step-by-step album I made for a super-tasty chocolate dessert.

So here is the run down on what is essentially a pie crust filled with chocolate frosting - commonly referred to as French Silk Pie.

3 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate, melted

Start by putting three ounces of unsweetened baking chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and melting it down. About 50 seconds should do the trick, but your microwave mileage will vary. 

Whip it good! I'm sorry... I'll show myself out. 

Next, we will cream .375 pounds (3/4 cup, 12 tablespoons, or one and a half sticks) of butter at room temperature with a cup of regular white granulated sugar in the bowl of the mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until it is thoroughly mixed - about a minute on medium high.

After this point, drizzle in the now slightly cooled chocolate and the vanilla and mix again until the chocolate is totally incorporated. Make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl a few times to ensure that the chocolate doesn't settle toward the bottom. 

After a while, it'll look something like this:

Once it's all chocolaty, it's time to add 1 and a half teaspoons of vanilla extract, and the first of three eggs. 

Here's where the mixer's workout really starts up... Set your kitchen timer for 5 minutes. Turn on the mixer with that first egg in there and beat on about medium high (7 will do) for the FULL five minutes. After that buzzer goes off, turn off the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, then add one more egg, fire up that timer and beat for another FULL five minutes. After that, repeat that process of scraping the bowl, adding an egg, and beating for 5 minutes with the third and last egg. 

That last phase is not one to be rushed. The extended mixing isn't just to get the egg thoroughly incorporated into the mixture, but rather to work a fair amount of air into the mix, which greatly affects the final product here. Having a good amount of air in the pie filling lends to the silky texture of it, adds volume, and lightens the texture a bit. I like to use the down time to tidy up around the kitchen and maybe clean a few dishes. 

Once the eggs are mixed in, you are ready to put the filling into a pie crust of your choosing. I'm not going to get in to a scratch made pie crust here (yet) and for this I really like a Graham cracker crust, but again you can use any 8-9 inch pie crust you like for this. 

Here it is in a pie crust, with the lid on, ready for the fridge. Sorry I forgot to grab pics of all stages here, but when I made this I wasn't thinking ahead to posting... I'll update with more and better pics when I make it again.

For serving, I normally leave the pie as-is until it's cut and on saucers or plates to be served. At that point I like to add a bit (of a heap) of whipped cream, and maybe some chocolate shavings if I've got 'em on hand.

After much delay, here's a pic of the final product...

Here's the full recipe!

Adapted from Jean Webster's French Silk Pie recipe

Preheat the oven to - wait, we're not using an oven!

1 nine inch pie crust, baked per instructions on package and cooled

12 Tbsp     Salted Butter, room temperature (1 1/2 sticks) 

1 cup         Granulated Sugar

3 oz           Unsweetened Chocolate, melted and slightly cooled

1 1/2 tsp    Pure Vanilla Extract

3                Large Eggs

Whipped cream, for serving

Chocolate curls, for serving

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. 
2. With machine running, gradually add melted chocolate and the vanilla. 
3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating at medium speed for five minutes after each addition. 
4. Pour filling into cooled pie crust. 
5. Cover with plastic wrap, and transfer to the refrigerator to cool for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.
6. Just before serving, top pie with whipped cream and chocolate curls, if using.

Yield: 1 pie - Serves 8-10

Three Bean Chili With Beef

Alright, alright...

I said in my post with the tasty Glazed Peanut Butter Bars that one of these days I was going to put something that wasn't a desert of some variety on here. I think my exact words were "a recipe with some variety of nutritional substance" and well, here it is.

The finished product, with cheddar dutch oven bread.

It's starting to get a bit chilly here in Milwaukee. We had our first freeze last night, so what better recipe to post than a thick, hearty, spicy chili?


That, my hungry friends, is a bowl of my three bean chili. It is about as basic as you can get with chili, but any great dish starts with the basics.

For this recipe, I start by browning three pounds of ground beef in a 6 quart dutch oven. For this round, I used 85% lean, but you could go as lean as you'd like. As soon as it hits the pan, add in one half of a very large, uniformly diced white onion. The onion I used in this batch was every bit as large as a softball - and then some. 

Once the beef is browned, throw in the other half of the onion and about a tablespoon and a half of minced garlic. and mix it all in.

Next, strain and rinse the beans. One can each of pintos, black, and dark red kidney beans. 

Add the beans to the dutch oven, along with 2 cups of beef stock, a 14 oz. can of tomato sauce, a quarter cup of cornmeal, three tablespoons of chili powder, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir to combine, cover and let simmer for a couple hours, stirring occasionally. If you must have a number, 2 hours normally does nicely. Keep the heat low to avoid scorching, and give it a stir every 20-30 minutes. 

I'd like to take this opportunity to mention to anyone who's interested, that I buy my spices exclusively at The Spice House on Old World 3rd street in Milwaukee. No, they do not pay me to say that. The chili powder in this recipe is their medium chili powder, and it's the best I've ever had... Anywhere. 

Serve in a bowl with your favorite toppings, and a good hearty bread. 

One last quick note - this chili, even with its three tablespoons of chili powder leans pretty far toward the mild side of the spectrum. If you like it a little hotter, add more chili powder - cayenne or ancho would work very well. My wife Mel discovered that a few splashes of the chipotle Tabasco sauce add a great flavor and the perfect amount of heat to this dish. 

Enjoy!

Here's the full recipe!

3 lbs. ground beef

1 large onion, diced

1 14 oz. can tomato sauce

2 cups beef stock

1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

3 tablespoons chili powder

1/4 cup cornmeal

salt and pepper to taste

sour cream (optional)

shredded cheese (optional)

chopped scallions (optional)

Instructions:

1. Brown the beef over medium heat with one half of the onion.
2. Add in the second half of the onion, and the garlic.
3. Drain and rinse the beans, and add them to the beef in the pan.
4. Add in the beef stock, tomato sauce, and spices, stir to combine.
5. Let simmer for two to three hours.
6. Serve with toppings of your choice.