Chess Pie

Make the crust: Make the crust by placing the flour, salt and sugar in a food processor. Pulse a couple of times to blend. Add the cubed butter. Pulse 5 or 6 times, until the butter has been broken down into pea-sized pieces. Drizzle 3 tablespoons of water over the ingredients, then pulse again until the mixture starts to look like small pebbles, roughly the size of peas, and forms a dough when you press it together with your fingers. If the mixture is too dry, add the additional 1 tablespoon of water. The dough should stick together when pressed, and not fall apart.

Form the dough into a disk: Dump the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap, then shape into a round disk, about 1 inch thick. Wrap tightly with the plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour or overnight.

Roll out the dough: When the dough has chilled, roll it out to a 12-inch disk, and fit into a pie pan. Trim the edges of the pie crust and then decoratively crimp the edges, pressing down onto the pan to make sure the crust is anchored to the pan. Place it back in the fridge for 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven: While the crust is chilling, preheat the oven to 425°F.

Parbake the crust: Once the crust has chilled, prick the bottom of the crust with a fork. Place a piece of parchment paper over the cold pie crust. Make sure you have enough hanging over the sides to easily remove it later. Pour ceramic pie weights, dry beans, uncooked rice or pennies over the parchment-lined crust. Bake the pie crust for 5 minutes. Remove the parchment paper lifting the weights in it and transfer to a heatproof bowl or towel to cool. Return the crust to the hot oven and bake uncovered for an additional 3 to 4 minutes or until the top of the crust starts to look dry. Don’t worry if the crust doesn’t look completely baked through. Remove from the oven. Set aside to cool slightly.

Reduce oven heat: Reduce the oven to 350°F.

Make the filling: Into a large bowl add the eggs and salt. Using a fork, beat the eggs with the salt until uniform in color but don’t overbeat. You don’t want it to become too foamy, just enough to blend the egg whites and yolks. Add the sugar, butter, milk, cornmeal, flour, vinegar, vanilla extract and nutmeg (if using). Mix with a balloon whisk until all the ingredients are blended. Pour the filling into the crust and then carefully place the pie into the oven.

Bake the pie: Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until the center of the pie no longer wobbles. Check the pie after 30 minutes of baking. If the crust is starting to brown too much, cover the crust with aluminum foil to prevent burning.

Rest and serve: Remove the pie from the oven and let the pie cool completely to room temperature before serving.