Looking for a fabulous pecan pie using 1 pound (~4 cups) pecans ... anyone have a T&T?

Made the 5.5-cup pecan pie; here's the report ...

I have an extra-large, deep-dish stoneware pie pan, so I made a recipe-and-a-half of pie crust so it would fit the extra width and depth. Pre-baked it for about 20 minutes; the heavy pan kept it from browning as quickly as a regular pie dish.

Made the recipe to a T, with the exception of using pecan pieces (not halves). Read all the reviews and was on guard not to under-bake it. Baked it for 65 minutes -- it never puffed up like the recipe said it would. Removed the crust protector ring for the last 15 minutes and it still barely turned light golden.

Bottom line? I think I overbaked it OR maybe used too many nuts. (thinking pieces are heavier by volume than halves) It was VERY rich and, as the recipe said, not too sweet. But VERY rich. My sister loved it. Next time (and I'm sure I'll make it again, just to experiment) I won't bake it for so long and will use halves.

 
Marilyn, what did this owner own? Were you a recipe developer for a dessert company?

A cook on some wierd guy's yacht? A slave? Enquiring minds want to know.

 
It was Bern of Bern's Steak House in Tampa.

Bern passed away a few years ago and his kids have taken over the place. They've updated the decor and menu.

Bern had Ruth's Chris steak concept before Ruth's Chris was ever Ruth's Chris's. He was an ad executive who loved good steaks, so he built his own restaurant and aged his own beef in its own aging room and every meat serving was hand cut. Bern like to put on a show. So he planted a garden and advertised that he used his own vegetables on the menu. Then he started collecting wines and when I worked there for 6 months in 1987, he had the largest wine collection in the United States....5 warehouses full. His wine list was 3" thick and was chained to the table because guests would walk off with them.

There was a dessert apertif that sold for $160 for 1/2 ounce. Yes...ounce. And I saw people buying it. One man bought 6 bottles of wine at $500 a pop. The waiter got a $500 tip from that meal because tips were automatically added to the bill. Of course, you need to remember this was the 80's and there was a lot of drug money in Florida.

He advertised for someone with no formal training to work as his test cook....because he didn't want any preconceived ideas to interfere with his own concepts. Basically Bern wanted to invent something like the Tollhouse chocolate chip cookie...something the world would remember him by.

After I passed a phone interview at 11:00pm AND a lie detector test, I worked evenings and would test out dessert ideas that Bern had. That lasted for 6 months. I got to meet Vice President Bush (the Older) and Whoopie Goldberg and finally quit after telling Bern it was easier to design circuit boards for satellites (my former job) than it was to create desserts for him.

What was so frustrating was I wasn't allowed to use any sugar or any chemical raising ingredients (can you say no baking powder, no baking soda, no hartzhorn?) in my test recipes because he was going for "purity of taste". But...but.... one of the pies already on the menu used Jello pudding in it!

That's not playing fair.

PS: I did get a vicarious thrill when a chef's pecan tart won a nationwide contest. I had made ALMOST the exact same tart for Bern--and, of course, it didn't pass his criteria.

But someone else won a contest for $25,000 with the same idea. Go figure.

http://bernssteakhouse.com/bs_frame.htm

 
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