An Inspired Cook

A couple years ago Joe and I drove through Pie Town, NM; you might remember me mentioning it from our travels to the Gila Cliff Dwellings and the Catwalk Recreational Trail. It’s an enchanting little town who’s claim to fame is three pie restaurants with a long history of selling pies since the 1920’s. They are Pi-O-Neer, Pie Town Cafe, and The Gathering Place. On our visit we stopped at the Pie Town Cafe and had a slice of Apple Cranberry Pie and a slice of Pecan Pinon Pie. Talk about WOW, that slice of Pecan Pinon Pie was something I had never tasted before, the filling was similar to the texture of a pecan pie but the taste indicated there was honey or possibly maple syrup along with or in place of corn syrup. That pie has never left my memory and today I finally made the Pinon pie of my dreams. I set out to test the different versions that might taste similar to Pie Town’s pie. I mixed a teaspoon of corn syrup with honey and another teaspoon with maple syrup. I set it in front of Joe and had him taste to find out his thoughts on what tasted best to him and I did the same. We both agreed that the honey combined with corn syrup was the one. From there I decided to give it a little kick by adding some red chile flakes to the filling. After all I’ve already made an Apple Green Chile Pie with Pine Nut Streusel and that turned out amazing. I am happy to say my Honey Pinon Pie tasted way better than I ever imagined. You never know what will inspire you when you travel off the beaten path. Pie Town is one of those places!