Banana Cream Pie

This year, Thanksgiving was very low-key as we were not well, and D had a lot of work to catch up on. A simple chicken in cranberry sauce, some banana cream pie, some mashed potatoes, steamed corn and cornbread stuffing was the menu.

I must admit, D made all the sides - mashed potatoes, steamed corn and cornbread stuffing. Plus, he helped make the pie too! With fever hovering around 101.8°F and shivers and chills, I really had no motivation to get up from bed, except, it was the first time Ana realized it was a holiday - and her teacher had told her that she gets to spend Thanksgiving with her family and be thankful for a wonderful meal. So, we didn't want to disappoint her.

This pie recipe is fairly standard and easy to make, and can be made ahead of time. The filling is probably enough for making two pies. Either use the pie crust pastry recipe here, or it is fine to use pre-made pie-crust from the store and simply make the filling and bake in a 350°F oven for about 10-15 minutes, or as instructed on the package for the pre-made pie crust.

Single-Crust Pie Pastry (9-inch):
1¼ cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp salt
1/3 cup shortening
3-4 Tbsp cold water

Filling:
3 cups whole milk
¼ cup corn starch
3 egg yolks
3 Tbsp butter
1 cup sugar
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 large banana, sliced

Preparation

1. Pie Crust:
   • Mix together flour and salt, cut in the shortening; gently add a Tbsp of cold water, toss with fork and push aside, and repeat till all the flour is just moistened;
   • form the dough into a ball; this pie pastry should not be over kneaded, so, on a lightly floured surface, flatten the dough with hands and roll it out gently using a rolling pin;
   • pick up the pastry carefully and place it in a pie plate without stretching it much;
   • trim pastry to edge of pie plate, prick bottom and sides with tines of fork;
   • decorate the edge with tines of fork if desired;
   • bake in a 450°F oven for about 5 minutes or till golden brown;
2. Filling: Mix the sugar, salt, corn starch in a sauce pan, and slowly stir in the milk and cook over medium heat till well-combined and bubbly; cook and stir 2 minutes more and remove from heat; slowly combine the egg yolks making sure it doesn't scramble, stir and cook over low heat to a gentle boil; stir in vanilla and butter
3. Assembly: Make a single layer of sliced bananas at the bottom of the crust, pour the filling into the pie crust, and bake 350°F oven for about 15 minutes, or till filling is set