Gerry Garvin’s Sweet Potato Pie
As a kid, when it came to Thanksgiving, it was all about having the house filled with family and eating a lot of great food. Not just your usual Thanksgiving amount of food but a massive amount of food! Everyone brought something. Between my mom, my aunties, and my uncles we could cover a 10-foot table with ham, pork chops, fried chicken, homemade macaroni and cheese, yams, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, pies and cakes--the works!
The turkey? Incredible. We stirred together a little hot sauce, garlic, butter, and a combination of herbs, then tucked that mixture under the skin. Clearly ahead of our time on the best way to cook a turkey, we fried it in a big pot filled with oil set over charcoal and wood chips. It always turned out golden brown with crispy skin, yet juicy and tender inside--white and dark meat alike.
Today, though, if you ask me what recipe can take me back to those wonderful Thanksgivings past, it would have to be the Sweet Potato Pie. The moment I smell that sweet aroma, it brings to mind visions of people I love, treasured moments, and soul-satisfying food. Here’s my favorite Sweet Potato Pie recipe. It makes 2 pies so you can share it too. What’s your favorite food memory from holidays gone by?
Sweet Potato Pie
Pastry:
2-1/2 cups flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter (2 sticks), cubed
1 egg
1/4 cup cold water
1. In a mixing bowl stir together flour, sugar, and salt. Using a fork, cut in butter until pieces are pea size. Mix egg and water together; sprinkle some of the mixture over flour mixture. Gently toss with a fork. Repeat moistening flour mixture until all of the flour is moistened. Form pastry into a ball; divide dough in half.
2. On a lightly floured surface use your hands to slightly flatten one portion of pastry. Roll into a circle 12 inches in diameter. Ease into pie plate; prick bottom and sides with a fork. Repeat with remaining pastry.
Filling:
6 yams or sweet potatoes
1/2 cup sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake whole potatoes for 1 hour or until soft. When potatoes are cool enough to handle, peel and mash them in a large bowl. Add sugar, eggs, cinnamon, sweetened condensed milk, cream, butter, vanilla and cinnamon; mix well.
2. Prebake pastry shells in the 350°F oven for 2 to 3 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and pour sweet potato mixture evenly into shells. Bake for 35 minutes more or until firm.
