Let Them Eat Pie

I've been eating this pie for as long as I can remember. Mama's been making it all my life. That's one of the things mamas are good for: good pie.

Ingredients:

· 1 cup sugar (I prefer raw or turbinado)
· 2 tbsp. cocoa powder (I like organic)
· 3 tbsp. flour (white, unbleached)
· 1 tsp. vanilla extract (not imitation – don’t go there)
· 2 egg yolks (yard eggs, if you can find them)
· 1 cup milk (the real stuff - none of that milk-lite)
· ½ stick of butter (don’t even think of using margarine)
· 1 graham cracker pie crust (for this, you’re on your own)

Preparation:

Mix the dry ingredients in a medium size bowl (preferably a round-bottomed one – you’ll need to mix the wet ingredients and mix them well). Add the vanilla, egg yolks and milk. Stir until the ingredients are well integrated.

Melt the butter over medium to low heat in a cast iron skillet. (Any heavy-bottomed pan will do, but I’m convinced that, for some things, nothing beats a good cast iron skillet. They distribute heat more evenly than just about anything else. They are God’s perfect pan.)

When the butter is sizzling nicely, pour the mixture in. Stir continuously until it has the consistency of a thick pudding. (You’ll probably have to cook it longer than you thing you should. This part may take a couple of tries to get right.)

Pour the mixture into the piecrust and leave it alone. If the texture is too thin as it cools, pop it into the fridge for a while. Let it sit on the counter or in the fridge until it has a firm consistency.

It's the perfect chocolate pie, and now you know how to make it for yourself.

Live long. Be happy.

Eat more pie.