Vidalia Onion Pie

This is one of the recipes I have been wanting to make from the cookbook I bought last year "America's Best Lost Recipes" by the editors of Cook's Country Magazine.

Now that Vidalia onions are in every market, I thought the time had finally come to make this pie. It's kind of like a quiche but it doesn't have any cheese in it and the sour cream replaces the milk.

Making it is like making any other pie or quiche. First you make the crust, refridgerate it for an hour, roll it out, place it into the pie plate, then refridgerate again. Then blind bake it and let it cool.

I like that the crust is blind baked. This seems to be a great way to avoid the soggy crust problem.

The filling was easy enough, too. Cook the bacon, then the onions, whisk with the other ingredients and pour into the baked pie shell.

So here's my big problem with the recipe...it wasn't nearly cooked through in the 25 to 30 minute time the recipe stated. I thought I had allowed enough time for it to bake before I had to leave the house so I took it out of the oven after 45 minutes and it was still too jiggly. (Perhaps because I didn't bake it on the lower position in the oven?) I knew it had to bake longer but I couldn't leave it in the oven...sooo. Out it came. It's actually back in the oven as I'm typing this so I have to stop and wait til it's completely cooled to find out how it tastes!
*Update: It's great! It is creamy and has wonderful flavor with the sweet onions and smokiness of the bacon. And I don't miss the cheese.

To get started, cook your bacon til crispy, then drain on paper towels.

Get 2 nice medium sized vidalia onions...


And slice them thinly and cook them in the bacon fat slowly, til browned.

Whisk your wet ingredients, then add the chives, bacon and cooled onions.

Prepare the crust and blind bake it and let it cool.

Then pour the filling into the baked crust and bake the pie...alot longer than the original recipe states! Not even sure how long to tell you since I started and stopped and started again! Just til the filling is puffed and the center barely jiggles.

It is a beautiful pie or quiche.

Vidalia Onion Pie ( from America's Best Lost Recipes by the editors of Cook's Country Magazine)

Serves 6 to 8.

1 single crust pie dough fully baked and cooled.( Recipe follows)

6 slices of bacon, chopped

2 medium Vidalia onions, sliced thin ( about 3 cups)

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup heavy cream

3/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

2 tsp. fresh chives, chopped

Adjust oven rack to lowest position and preheat oven to 350.

1. Cook bacon til crisp. Transfer to paper towels to drain.

2. Cook sliced onions in bacon fat til browned, about 12 minutes. Transfer to plate to cool.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk eggs, sour cream, heavy cream, salt, pepper and 1 tsp. chives.

4. Add bacon and onions.

5. Pour into prepared pie shell and bake til filling is puffed and cracked around the edges and the center is barely jiggly when pie is shaken, 25 to 30 minutes ( or longer).

6. Let cool 10 minutes, then sprinkle with remaining tsp. of chopped chives.

*Pie can be refridgerated for up to 3 days.*

Single Crust Pie Dough, fully baked and cooled.

(Makes enough for one 9" pie)

1 1/4 cups AP flour
1 tbsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

3 tbsp. vegetable shortening, cut into 1/2" pcs. and chilled

4 tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into 1/4" pcs. and chilled

4 - 6 tbsp. ice water

1. Process flour, sugar and salt in food processor til combined.

2. Scatter shortening over top and continue to process til mixture has texture of coarse sand.

3. Scatter butter over top and process til mixture has texture of coarse crumbs.

4. Transfer to a bowl.

5. Sprinkle 4 tbsp. of ice water over mixture and stir and press the dough together, using a stiff rubber spatula, til the dough sticks together. If dough does not come together, stir in more ice water, one tbsp. at a time until it does.

6. Form dough into a 4" disc, wrap in plastic and refridgerate one hour.

7. Roll chilled dough into a 12" circle ( I roll between plastic wrap).

8. Place dough into pie plate and crimp edges, cutting away excess dough.

9. Place dough into frezzer for 30 minutes before filling or baking.

10.Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position. Preheat oven to 375.

11. Line chilled crust with heavy aluminium foil and fill with pie weights ( I use rice).

12. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, remove foil and weights and bake another 10 to 15 minutes.

13. Allow crust to cool before filling.