I went to the Kentucky Derby once and in a stroke of good luck I actually made a small bet on the winning horse.
Of course I wore a hat.
Of course I drank a Mint Julep. To be honest, I think a Mint Julep is a colossal waste of bourbon.
We always watch the Derby at home. It’s a terrifically exciting 2-minutes of sports and my husband Ed always relates the story of how when he was a little boy he watched the event with his grandfather and urged him to make a “family” bet on a “sure thing,” and his grandfather said there was no such thing as a sure thing. And of course Ed’s horse, the sure thing, came in 4th or 5th.
If you’re a Derby-watcher and need a little something Kentucky Derbyish to eat, try this pie. I call it Derby-ish Pie. It’s a riff on Derby Pie, a pecan pie lavished with melted chocolate plus chocolate chips, but the name Derby Pie is apparently trademarked.
Anyway, this really really gooey confection will charge your engines and make your sweet tooth happy. It’s best when served warm with a little vanilla ice cream or a blob of whipped cream.
Derby-ish Pie
1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust
6 tablespoons butter
8 ounces chopped semisweet chocolate (1-1/3 cups chocolate chips)
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 cups chopped pecans
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Prick the bottom of the crust with the tines of a fork, cover with aluminum foil, including the edges, and weight the foil with baking pellets or dried beans. Bake the crust for 10 minutes. Remove the foil and weights, return the crust to the oven and bake for another 5 minutes. Remove the crust from the oven and set it aside. Lower the heat to 350 degrees. Melt the butter with 2 ounces (1/3 cup of chips) of the chocolate, stir to blend them thoroughly and set aside. In a bowl, beat the eggs, vanilla extract, salt, brown sugar and flour together until thoroughly blended. Stir in the melted butter-chocolate mixture. Fold in the remaining chopped chocolate (or chips) and nuts. Spoon the mixture into the partially baked crust. Bake for another 30 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool on a cake rack. Makes one pie serving 8 people