At the court of your family’s table, there are clear winners and losers. Your Paleo-obsessed cousin who always brings mashed cauliflower? Loser. Your aunt who won’t quit with the Jello salad? Also a loser. This year, win Thanksgiving with this bacon-fat infused walnut bourbon pie.
The recipe comes from , the executive chef of D.C.-based restaurant . “Being connected to a butcher shop, we work a lot with whole animals and animal fats,” says Witt. “We had some time before we opened to play around with a few recipes and I thought, “What if I added bacon fat to this pie crust?'”
All animal fats are slightly different, says Witt. He uses beef fat for deep-frying french fries, but it wouldn't work in a pastry dough. Lucky for us, bacon fat does. “It requires less water than a traditional dough,” he says, adding that it makes for a rich, flakey crust with just a hint of bacon.
The pie is one of the most popular items on the restaurant’s dessert menu. Witt says he has yet to see McConnell and Obama bonding over a slice, but it’s good enough to silence your in-laws bickering. And that is truly something to be thankful for.
Walnut Bourbon Pie
Ingredients
For the Filling
- 1 stick (1/4 pound) unsalted butter
- 1 cup sugar
- ¾ cup light brown sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 vanilla bean
- ¼ cup bourbon
- Pinch of salt
- ¾ cup 70 percent chocolate chopped
- 1 ¼ cup walnut halves
For the Crust
- 3 ¼ ounces bacon fat, cold (It took me an entire package of bacon to accrue enough fat, but I suffered through and ate bacon for days just for you, dear readers.)
- 10 ounces of all-purpose flour
- ½ cup ice water
- Pinch of salt
- Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.
Directions
For the Crust
- Combine the flour and salt in bowl.
- Cut in the bacon fat (a pastry blender or a fork work well for this).
- Add the water a bit at a time—once the dough starts to come together (and isn’t crumbling in your fingers), you’re good.
- Roll out the dough on wax paper.
- Flip the round into a pie pan and press the dough into the corners until the pie pan is covered.
- Trim the edges.
For the Filling
- In a pot placed over medium heat, combine the butter, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla bean (split it, scrape out the seeds and discard the pod), salt and bourbon.
- Cook until butter is melted and all ingredients are combined, then remove it from the heat and whisk in the eggs one at a time.
For Assembling the Pie
- Spread the chopped chocolate across the bottom of the crust, then spread walnuts on top of the chocolate.
- Pour the filling into crust.
- Bake at 325 degrees for 55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Allow the pie to cool before slicing.
- Serve with vanilla ice cream (and maybe another shot of bourbon).