A Pie to Cut Through Summer's Heat

[elleng]

Childhood memories of summers in Atlantic Beach, N.C., inspired this no-frills lemon pie, sweetly creamy and salty all the same.

'As a child in the 1950s and ’60s, Bill Smith vacationed with his family in Atlantic Beach, on one of the southern-facing barrier islands along the coast of North Carolina. It was, and still is, a no-frills sort of beach town where no-fuss seafood restaurants served heaping baskets of fried seafood, hush puppies and coleslaw. Menus varied slightly, but no matter which restaurant Mr. Smith and his family went to, lemon pie — creamy and custardy, with a salty cracker crust and meringue topping — was always on the menu. Local folklore demanded it.

“We were always told growing up that if you ate dessert after eating seafood, you’d get sick,” Mr. Smith said. “It wasn’t true, of course, but you believed it because that’s what you were told. The one exception was citrus. You could eat citrus desserts, so all of the seafood restaurants along the coast had some variation of the lemon pie.”

Years later, in 2011, Mr. Smith — the chef at Crook’s Corner, a restaurant in Chapel Hill, N.C., known for Southern comfort-food classics like shrimp and grits, fried oysters and banana pudding — was asked to come up with a dessert to serve at a Southern Foodways Alliance dinner. “That pie,” he said, immediately came to mind.

“I called around to a bunch of the seafood restaurants,” he said. “Of course, none of them would give me the recipe.”'

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/20/dining/atlantic-beach-pie-recipe.html?

[dem in texas]

1. Going to make the Atlantic Beach pie tomorrow

I have most of the ingredients on hand; saltines that need to be used, 6 lemons that have been hanging around too long. I even have a can of condensed milk and some whipping cream and I always have plenty of butter. Don't have coarse sea salt, guess a sprinkle of table salt will have to do.

Making the pie tomorrow and let it chill overnight and serve for Sunday Dinner.

[packman]

3. I gave up on table salt - threw all my Morton's salt out

Iodine and all that stuff. You get enuff from anything you buy out such as the occasional hamburger/fries. Go with sea salt BUT put it on or in the food at the last minute so you can taste its texture. Recently bought some salt crystals to use as a finishing touch on veggies and such and, that too, makes a difference.

[dem in texas]

4. sea Salt

Yes, I use sea salt as a table salt too, it comes in a container just like Morton's salt. But I don't have any coarse sea salt as the Atlantic Beach Pie calls for. I have all the makings for the pie assembled. going to make it this afternoon.

[lapfog_1]

2. best meal I ever had... 1984

Key Largo Florida.

cold mango mint soup
conch fritters
Stone Crab

Key Lime Pie made from real Key Limes...

to die for.

[dem in texas]

5. Made the Pie this afternoon

Sitting on rack cooling down. As soon as cool will stick in Fridge. Put the whipped cream on tomorrow, Will let you know if family likes it.

[dem in texas]

6. Served the Pie for Sunday dinner -Everyone loved it.

Used Bill Smith's recipe. I crushed the crackers with the bottom of a glass as I didn't want to get the food processor out. Smith said to keep crumbs coarse. I think mine should have been a little finer, next time will use the food processor to crush the crackers. Here is the final word around here, my ole boy asked me if there was going to be any pie left for lunch tomorrow.

Didn't have any coarse sea salt to sprinkle on top. Going to get some before I make this recipe again. Definitely a keeper.

[elleng]

7. Good to hear!

[Hortensis]

10. Good report, thanks. I make few desserts but am

going to surprise my husband with this for fun. Fwiw, I once had to imagine hard that I was detecting a difference in flavor between the kosher salt I always have at hand and the unflavored sea salt I purchased. Just don't have the palate for that level of discrimination, I guess.

Thanks, Elleng, for the topic.

[dem in texas]

8. Made another Atlantic Beach pie

Had fresh saltines this time, crushed them in the food processor rather than by hand.. Used lime juice instead of lemon juice. I have some coarse sea salt to sprinkle on when I serve,

This recipe is a keeper.

[dem in texas]

9. Lemon is better than lime

Served the pie today. Liked by all.
The coarse sea salt is a must.
Here is link to the recipe that I used

[link:https://food52.com/recipes/29939-bill-smith-s-atlantic-beach-pie|

[Hortensis]

11. Would you try lemon and lime, or do you

think you've already found your pie?