Paula Deen Is Trying To Kill Us



from PaulaDeen.com

Isn't she so sweet and cute, all smiles and southern charm?

NO- don't be fooled! I don't care how much she looks like my friend Cheryl, Paula Deen is trying to kill us.

But what a way to go.

I came across her recipe for classic pumpkin pie on the Food Network website while looking for pumpkin roll filling recipes. This pie is full of fat and sugar and, of course, butter.

Even though every ancestor in my family tree for the past three generations to whom I am biologically related had, if not died from, heart disease,

and even though every single one of them rolled over in their graves and shouted,

"No! Don't do it!",

I made it anyway. Come on, I'll show you.

You need a whole slew of ingredients:

1 8oz pkg of cream cheese, softened
2 cups canned pumpkin, mashed
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg plus 2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1 cup half-and-half
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp  ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger, optional (but I used it)
1 piece pre-made pie dough
Whipped cream, for topping (I had spray in the 'frig so that's what I used)



Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees F.

I used the pie crust already in the aluminum pan so this part skips the directions for getting the dough into your pie pan. I did cover the raw crust with aluminum foil, fill with a 1 lb bag of beans, and baked it for 20 minutes. (This part is different from our serial killer Paula's directions but you can work it out for yourself. It's just pie crust). There's a thick black bean stew experiment chugging away in the crock pot even as we speak and if it turns out I'll share it with you. Anyway...

For the filling, I beat the cream cheese in my stand mixer (not with a hand mixer as per Paula), then added in the pumpkin, beating until combined. Add the sugar and salt and beat some more. Add the eggs and yolks, half-and-half, and the melted butter.

Call your Cardiologist and make an appointment.

Beat just a bit more to combine. Finally, add the vanilla, cinnamon, and ginger and beat until combined.

Pour the filling into the pie crust and bake for 50 minutes or until the center is set. I will interject that I made little aluminum foil collars to go around the pie crust so that it wouldn't burn, taking them off for the last 15 minutes.

Cool to room temperature.

Top each pie with whipped topping.

Or ice cream.

Always consider if ice cream is an option.

(I was out, alas, and the lime sherbet didn't seem right.)

It looks harmless enough, doesn't it? Is it good? Oh yes, it's good.

Paula's Killer Pumpkin Pie has a creamier taste and texture to it than the Libby's Pie recipe with which most of us are familiar.

I personally prefer a more dense pie with a stronger pumpkin taste but this is a pretty good pie and most likely none of your pumpkin pie-loving guests will object. We managed to choke it down.

Enjoy!

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