Pain loves bacon. In fact, she used to be vegan, but bacon was her downfall. So when the idea to make a pie named for Pain first appeared in the dark recesses of my noggin, bacon was an obvious choice for my first ingredient. Thinking of ingredients to pair with bacon in a pie is trickier than it might seem. B polled co-workers, and their collaborative solution was to make a kind of a quiche, something savory with veggies and eggs, but I was determined to make a pie as sweet as Pain. I was playing with the idea of maple and pecans on Friday night when I was floating in Vixen's bro's pool (which was a delightful way to spend a hot and sticky summer night)and Vixen's boy suggested figs- pure genius!
Hot on the trail of the figs Saturday morning, I hit the farmers market and Whole Foods and picked up:
figs, plums (seemed worth a shot!), pears...
and Smart Bacon (I couldn't bear to buy and cook the real deal, so I substituted.)
Then I taste tested.
For the record, I do not recommend combining bacon and plums. Even fake bacon. Yuk. Pears, bacon, and figs- not so bad.
Add some sweetener to the taste test, and, YES! We're good to go. Molasses didn't make the final cut. Sorry molasses.
So here it is, I proudly present:
PAIN PIE
1 pie crust of your choice
4 pears, sliced
4 figs, sliced
5-10 slices of bacon (or in this case Smart Bacon)
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cardamon
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
Layer the pie crust with bacon. Follow with a layer of figs.
Top with pears. Sprinkle spices, brown sugar, and vanilla and almond extracts over the pears. Drizzle with maple syrup.
Top with pie crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.
yippee!!
You can see in some of the photos that I made two little mini-pies. Those were for taste testing purposes so I could ensure the final product wasn't totally disgusting before I presented it to Pain. Luckily, it was yummy. B agreed!
Happy almost wedding November Pain!
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