Sunday
Jan092011
Apple Green-Chili Pie With Cheddar Crust and Walnut Streusel | Walnut Giveaway from California Walnuts | Pie Month
Sunday, January 9, 2011 at 1:52PM 
Pie #1 - Lemon Cream Icebox Pie
Pie #2 - Malted Crisp Tart
Pie #4 - Peanut Butter Cream Pie with Chocolate Cream Pie, Caramel & Deep Dark Fudge
There’s a giveaway at the end of this post. Walnuts, people.
Pie isn’t always easy. But it’s always worth the challenge. And sometimes, one time, you make your first successful crust.
When we started thinking about the Month of Pie, back in November, I put a call out on Twitter for people to share their favorite pies. So many great suggestions came rolling in, but one stood out as a challenge. Did we dare make this pie?
Sean Timberlake, who runs Hedonia and Punk Domestics, responded that there was one pie he liked a lot. It’s from Chile Pies and Ice Cream in San Francisco. Apples, roasted green chilies, walnut streusel topping, and a cheddar cheese crust. It sounded like a mashup of the Southwest and our favorite cinnamon crumb apple pie.
So this weekend, I decided I was up for the challenge of something different. With a quick search, I found the recipe for the pie Sean liked, from the November 16, 2010 edition of the New York Times as the lead in a profile of innovative pies and their makers. Which means at almost the same time Sean mentioned it to me, the Times was printing it. Clearly, this makes Sean a trendsetter of record. And Sean clued me into the secret topping, not in the NY Times recipe, which is the chili honey. The chili honey is a stunner. Like liquid red hot candy.
The streusel topping? Brilliant. Steal this topping. The perfect texture for the softness of the chilies and apples. The walnuts come through strong, with the sweet crunch from the brown sugar and the butter.
So, what about the chilies? Honestly, they’re a challenge. This is going to be right in some reader’s crave spot, and for others it will miss completely. I love this pie. Karen respected it. That’s OK. Part of this Month of Pie is to move beyond our tried and true, and chilies in our apple pie stretched us toward new flavors and forced us to think about pie differently.
Apparently, 2011 is the year of the Pie, according to a story on NPR that came out right as we started our Month of Pie. With such focus, the traditional pies, the classics, will remain. But a month of pie, let alone a year, demands new approaches, new considerations. And this is always good, not matter the results.
Recipes
- Apple Green-Chili Pie With Cheddar Crust and Walnut Streusel (via the NYTimes.com)
- New Mexico chili honey (via Food.com)
Walnut giveaway
We were lucky enough to receive a five pound box of walnuts from California Walnuts. We love these folks. They supported us during our weird, funny, and sad online-only conference, BlogHer Food Pity Party. #BHF10PP for those in the know. (Side note...we’re running #BHF11PP. Stay tuned for the wallowing).
California Walnuts sent us gift of walnuts from their latest crop, and we told them we were going to share the love with our readers. So here’s your chance to win a ton (OK, five pounds) of beautiful walnut halves, all thanks to California Walnuts.
Sorry, the winner was already chosen. But feel free to tell us your favorite pie in the comments below. We love the inspiration.
Leave a comment below telling us your favorite pie for your first entry.This contest is open to people (and animals, I guess, if they have internet access) in the US AND Canada. Love you, Canada.All comments (and extra entries listed below) must be entered by 12:00 pm Eastern on Friday, January 14.We will announce the winner, chosen by random.org, at 3:00 p.m. on Friday, so come back and see if you won.
Go “Like” California Walnuts on Facebook if you’re on FB. Come back and let us know that you “Liked” them. (or tell us that you’re already their fan on FB).If you use Twitter, tweet something nice about @CaWalnuts & @thepeche (put us both in the same tweet, please).Go “Like” The Peche on Facebook. If you’re already a fan, you’ve already received an extra entry.
Disclosure
We're not receiving any compensation for this giveaway. We just like California Walnuts.
Reader Comments (40)
Chili honey huh?
That in itself is worth a try! If I can use a line from the Pity Party, this pie is so sad, it's gotta be good!
I got so excited to quite the pity party, I forgot to tell you my favorite kind of pie. Call me old fashioned, but pecan pie all the way.
I love French Silk pie. Raw eggs be damned...the end result is a silky smooth chocolate mousse filling combined with a graham/pecan crust. Literally To. Die. For.
My current favorite is my cranberry walnut pie (actually more of a tart) so I do so need those walnuts to make more! Already a friend on Facebook of both California Walnuts & thepeche from the fabulous PityParty fun.
I can't say I've made too many pies... actually, I made my first one last year and it came out great. I did a brown butter apple pie that just blew my mind.
My dog, Remy, loves pie almost as much as I do. He says he is thoroughly smitten by this ingenious creation. Woof!
I "like" CA Walnuts on Facebook
This is one heck of an interesting pie and the secon picture kills me, I want to dip my finger in that juice! YUM!
That pie looks delicious! My favourite though would have to be blueberry
"Liquid red hot candy." I like this pie already.
Though my favorite is still probably peanut butter pie.
After years and years of consideration, I still think pumpkin is my favorite pie. That might be a loser cop-out pie because you can make it by dumping a can of mush into a frozen pie crust, but I'm fond of losers.
I'm not entering the giveaway, just want to say how wonderful this pie looks. I think I'd be like Karen. Not a big fan of the chili being part of the recipe but kudos to you for baking up such a lovely dessert. Superb photo yet again!
I would definitely try this pie!
Though Apple Pie tops the list, Banana Cream Pie captured my heart when I first move to the States.
My favorite pie is a toss-up between Kentucky Bourbon Pie and coconut cream pie. Mmmmm.
Peche, you just keep getting nicer and nicer!
Uh, duh, Chris. Old Fashioned Cream Pie from Das Essenhaus!
A whole month of pie! My butt got bigger just thinking about it. 5 pounds of walnuts sure would make me feel better about it. :)
My favorite pie is Chess Pie. Mmmmm...
I tweeted about your nuts too. :)
My favorite pie is apple pie.
I like California Walnuts on Facebook (I'm France Perron)
Since it's winter, the favorite is pumpkin pie. But once the weather turns, I flip to key lime. Second is almost always a classic cherry like my grandma used to make from the cherries grown in our backyard ...
Now I'm hungry again.
I twitted : http://twitter.com/#!/thescorpiowoman/status/24286906137186304
I'm already a fan of ThePeche on facebook :)
I think I'd be with Mrs. DeWinter on this one - respect for the pie, but I don't think I could love those chilis messing with my pie. When I first saw the title of this post I was actually expecting a savory pie - like some sort of a cheesy crust filled with chili - like with beans and all that! Maybe you should invent that next.
Whenever I think of pie images of my mama's Banana Coconut Cream Pie come to mind with toasted almonds on top and her flaky pie crust. Incredible! Missing home terribly now and have a craving for this pie.