Tutorial: Celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

In honor of this great man, we made his favorite food today: pecan pie. Or, as our friend Neil likes to call it, peCAN pie. Thank you Dr. King for inspiring us to always do more.

Naturally our pecan pie contains bourbon, which is optional if you don't consider yourself a sinner. Here's our adapted recipe for glory:

PeCAN Bourbon Pie

3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup dark corn syrup
3 large eggs, beaten
2 cups pecan halves
2 tablespoons good-quality bourbon (We like Buffalo Trace)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 9-inch deep-dish pie shell (I'm fortunate enough to have a man in the house who can make these for me)

1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon water

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, stir together the sugar and melted butter. Add the corn syrup, eggs, pecans, bourbon, vanilla and salt and stir until combined. Pour mixture into an unbaked pie shell. In a separate bowl combine beaten egg and water. Set aside.

Place pie on a heavy-duty cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove pie from oven and brush egg wash along the crust. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F and continue to bake for an additional 25 minutes. Pie will be golden brown and set. If not, bake a few minutes longer until done. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.

Serve with bourbon honey-whipped cream.

Bourbon Honey Whipped Cream
1 cup (cold) heavy whipping cream
1/2 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise
1/4 quality honey
1 tablespoon bourbon

Scrape seeds from vanilla bean and add to cream and bourbon. Using electric mixer, beat whipping cream until soft peaks form. Gradually add honey; beat until stiff peaks form.