Did someone say PIE?!!!

Darlings, darlings, darlings!! When La Diva heard about the Karmic Kitchen's latest Dim Sum Sunday theme she got all excited as the challenge this week was all about PIES!!! And if there is anything you should know about La Diva is I LOVE PIE!!!

Here's what Big Shamu said:

"Fall means many things but to me it means apple harvest and with apple harvest comes apple pie. This Sunday any pie will do, savory, sweet, even pizza. Grab hold of that bag of flour, chill that butter and dive into the mystique that is rolling out a flaky crust."

Is it better to use butter or lard for the dough? Glass or metal pie tins? Bakers debate!

Originally hailing from the midwest, La Diva also loves baking with apples in the fall. But, there is no apple harvest in Miami and the temperature is still in the 90's! It's kind of hard to get into the autumn baking spirit of things when it's still so hot and you have palm trees out your window.

In spite of the heat, La Diva was thinkin' to herself that it was HIGH TIME she made a pie too, but what to make? I love pecan pie. I love Key lime pie. Pumpkin pie. Lemon meringue pie. Peach pie, heck, pretty much any kind of pie but mostly I love a pie with a good, old-fashioned shortcrust pastry.

La Diva is not too fond of fake cheesecake pie or Key lime pie made with graham cracker crust. Or any pie made with boxed pudding or Cool Whip. Too chemical tasting for me. Ok, guess I'll stop naming pies now.

Dare I make my own dough? Does La Diva use butter or lard? Metal or glass pie pan? Questions, questions! Ah, but I answered my own question as I remembered I already had one pre-made Pillsbury pie crust in the fridge that had to be used and I only had one Pyrex plate. Dough issue solved!

But what kind of pie to make? Big Shamu had said something about trying out regional recipes. Key lime? La Diva LOVES it, but it was too predictable and I was hankerin' for something that I'd not had in a long time. Key lime pie (and every bastardized version of it) is on almost every restaurant's menu in the state of Florida!

I looked online and didn't really find too much inspiration for pie recipes indigenous to Southern Florida. And then I remembered the two bunches of perfectly ripe bananas I got in my weekly veggie share and seeing it's still so darn hot here, it was decided:

a cool and creamy banana cream pie was in high order!

Here's my beautifully delicious creation....banana cream pie! (No, I did NOT make it with Jell-O pudding!) You can click on it to get the recipe I used.

Isn't it gorgeous? But yet, it seemed to be missing something....I searched my fridge and cupboards for a proper garnish and came up with nada....

So, I served the pie. As it had only a few hours to chill, it came out a bit goopy, but was delicious. Not super sweet and with a mellow banana taste and cool and creamy all over a nice, crunchy, flaky crust. (Hey, that Pillsbury dough was pretty good!) So delightful was my banana pie, that my sidekick DJ Nevah L8 (4 dinnah) ambled back into the cucina to get himself another piece! Diva followed.

Pie on day two: now holding it's shape and just as delicious! Go on and click, darling, you KNOW you want to see it up close!

After eating the second piece of pie, La Diva returned to the kitchen and found sitting on the counter, staring me in my face was: the bowl of toasted coconut!!!! THAT was what the pie had been missing! And honey, eating that pie with the crunchy, nutty coconut with the creamy banana filling made me TRULY REGRET that I had two pieces without!

Isn't pie as American as hot dogs, baseball and Chevrolet? I hope I'm wrong, but La Diva thinks that pie making is becoming a lost art in this country. Remember the Andy Griffith Show? Aunt Bea was always making pies! (and some mischieveous character was always trying to steal them from her window sill!)

So, honeychile, getcho' apron and rolling pin and take yourself back to a time when people made pie cuz that's just what you did. And when your pie is ready and you plunge your fork into that flaky, buttery crust, you'll be so glad you made the effort.

To see more Dim Sum Sunday pies you can click here! Ciao for now, darlings!cooking class, cocktails, parties, cocktail party, Miami, coral gables, events, bartending class, cocktail class, Laura Lafata, Miami Beach, miami cooking classes, bachelorette parties, bachelorette party, personal chef, corporate events, catering, personal chef, party entertainment