Chess Pie......

I've cut way back on sweets and haven't had Chess Pie in a loooonnnnnnnggggggggg time? Who makes the best? The best I remember is a slice from a mom and pop place returning home from a restaurant in Florida.

Andrea

Hey Andrea,

Are you talkin' about lemon chess pie; or, .. chess pie?

Frank

Not lemon chess pie --- the plain ole' richer than anything chess pie!

Andrea

My mom used to make a pie called Jefferson Chess Pie. It seemed to be somewhere between a sugar cream pie and a pecan pie. It was really rich and very good.

My wife and i bith never really discovered chess pie until we moved here to Oklahoma----but we know it NOW!

sylvan park cafe in nashville,i love me some chess pie!

quote:

Originally posted by pogophiles

Chess pie is easy, just make your own...and while their chess is good, I much prefer the chocolate pie at Sylvan Park!

Pogo: Since it is so easy, please instruct us how you do it.

Thanks

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Yeah! Who is going to post a good recipe for us!?

I found this one in a great local cookbook---works just fine!!
Chess Pie

Recipe From :Southern Sideboards by the Junior League of Jackson, MS

Serving Size : 8

* 1 9 inch pie crust -- unbaked
* 1/2 cup butter or margarine -- melted
* 1 1/2 cups sugar
* 3 eggs
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* pinch salt
* 3/4 tablespoon vinegar




Prepare unbaked pie shell. Mix butter and sugar and simmer slowly, stirring, for 5 minutes. remove from heat and let cool slightly, stirring constantly. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well. Add vanilla, salt and vinegar; mix well.
Pour filling into pie shell and bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes; reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for 20-30 minutes. Shake pie gently. It is done when the center quivers slightly. Do not try to double recipe.
Pie keeps well in the refrigerator overnight. Can freeze and reheat.

Its worked really well for me---like i said before--Janie and I both discovered this marvel when we moved here to Oklahoma and LOVE IT!

I had a slice of great chess pie at a rib place in Cincinnati called June Bug's.

http://roadfood.com/Forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=6552

Pogophiles---think i will give that a try---and stick yours recipe in my "Roadfood Gatherings" cookbook!

OMG! I LOVE the Lemon Chess Pie at Beadle's Cafeteria in Pasadena. I just don't live close enough (luckily) to have it more than maybe once a year.

They put a walnut/sugar type topping on theirs that I haven't been able to duplicate.

DELICIOUS!

"breece's",in downtown centerville tn.,located on the square.originally a former pie wagon dating back to the 1930's,still family owned and operated serving incredible meat and three and some of the best chess pies i've had in a long while!

chess pie is my favorite pie of all time.when i was a kid, my family always bought them at the pink pig in frankfort ky. they are a bar-b-que place that makes homemade pies. the pies are as good as the bbq. i have made a few, and love makig and eating them, lol!! i just made a chocolate chess pie the other night, and my wife ate almost every bit of it, and she doesn't eat sweets that much!! have you guys ever tried chocolate chess pie?? brad

Hey, I always thought Scotty's Pink Pig chess pie was the all time best (used to live in Frankfort).  In your post you said your mother made chess pie.  Do you happen to have her recipe?  If so, would you share it?  I would sure be forever grateful.  Thank you, JC

I haven't had chess pie...ever.

Neither have I, and from the looks of the recipe it's going to stay that way.

Here's Paula Deen's Momma's Recipe:
Mama’s Chess Pie
 Ingredients
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter
2 cups sifted cake flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 to 6 tablespoons ice water
Filling:
1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter
2 cups sugar
7 egg yolks, beaten
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons cornmeal
 Directions
Crust:
Cut butter into dry ingredients. Slowly add ice water. Knead dough and roll out on dough board, or press into bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie plate.
Filling:
Preheat oven to 350°. Cream butter and sugar; add egg yolks, vanilla, and cream. Gently blend in cornmeal. Pour into chess pie pastry. Bake until light brown on top, about 35 to 45 minutes.
Recipe Courtesy of Paula Deen
 

Wonderful stuff.

I had my first chess pie at a little gas station in Raleigh, NC. It was made by the owners wife and they sold it by the slice. Wonderful!

Southern Chess pie is very sweet and very rich and folks tend to eat a small slice at one sitting. I can't imagine consuming a regular slice of that Paula Deen recipe.
 
For a slightly "lighter" pie:
 
Chocolate Chess Pie
1 9" unbaked pie shell
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 TB cocoa powder
1 small can evaporated milk
1/2 stick butter, softened
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
Mix all ingredients in a blender or a mixer. Put into unbaked pie shell, and bake at 350F for 30 to 40 minutes or until set.
 
Lemon Chess Pie
1 9" unbaked pie shell
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/3 cup melted butter
1/2 cup sour cream
1 TB cornmeal
juice of one lemon and the rind, grated
1/2 t. vanilla
Mix in a blender or with an electric mixer as each ingredient is added. Pour into a 9" unbaked pie shell. Bake at 350 for 45 to 50 minutes or until set and dark golden brown. Bake on shelf in middle or just below middle of oven.

Until I was introduced to the fact that it's a regional dish by the Sterns' books 20 years ago, I thought chess pie could be found throughout the United States.  (I like to say that chess pie grows on trees around here; it is rare to find a restaurant that does not serve it.)  I was surprised to learn that it was more of a southern dessert that was rarely found north of Kentucky.
 
As to who has the best, I can't say.  They all taste the same to me.  But a pie expert like Buffetbuster can discern the differences.  A few years ago, when making his year end "best" choices, he thought the chess pie at the Bon Ton Mini Mart in Henderson, KY was the maybe the best pie he ate that year.  That was a surprise to me; to my way of thinking, it was just another chess pie.
 
(And my thoughts about pecan pie are the same.  It's everywhere around here!  Maybe I'm just spoiled and don't know it.)
 

Louis


Until I was introduced to the fact that it's a regional dish by the Sterns' books 20 years ago, I thought chess pie could be found throughout the United States

It's funny how people think. Growing up on Long Island, I used to think the same way about Matzoh Ball Soup and Kasha Knishes.

Dale,  I have a vague memory of sampling matzoh ball soup.  Don't ask me exactly where, but it may have been at the University of Evansville (Indiana) in a cafeteria on campus that was not frequented by the student body.  I was introduced to all kinds of foods there.  This was close to 35 years ago but gazpacho soup and assorted French soups stick out in my mind.   I've never tried Kasha Knishes; so that's something to look forward to.
 

The first time I ate a chess pie was in an employees cafeteria in the late 70's and it was delicious.  They would alternate a cheese chess pie which was the same filling but had what was probably slices of cheddar in a thin layer on top.
 
What I had reminds me a lot of a custard pie, I can't think  Paula Dean's use of 2 cups of flour and heavy cream can be the same thing.
  

You all inspired me, so I made this chess pie today:

Now I've seen chess pie. Progress.

Pretty pie...pretty plate!

It's a work of art - beautiful!

Thanks!!  These plates were our "Sunday" china growing up, and my mom passed all of it on to me when they got a microwave and didn't want plates that couldn't go in it.  Yay!
 
This pie is tasty.  I'd made lemon chess several times but never plain chess.

Now that's real chess pie! Lovely photo all around!
 
On second glance, maybe Mama's Chess Pie was for two pies? The crust recipe would definitely make two shallow 9" pie crusts. Perhaps the note that the recipe makes 2 pies was left off?