Ask A South Florida Expert: Your Top Thanksgiving Pie Recipe

From the sun-painted streets of Key Biscayne, Chef Laszlo Bollok, Executive Pastry Chef at the Ritz-Carlton, provides two recipes for succulent, delicious Thanksgiving pie. Chef Laszlo, born in Hungary, learned pastry making the old fashioned way, with the knowledge handed down from his grandmother who was a teacher and a chef at a local culinary school in Budapest.

"Pastry is an art form, complete with a rainbow of colors, a multitude of textures and endless possibilities," said Bollok.

After beginning his career as a pastry chef in Hungary, he moved to New York and was the Executive Pastry Chef at international opera singer Placido Domingo's restaurant, and later worked at such places as Louis XVI restaurant in Long Island, working with Jean-Georges Vongerichten at the Mark Restaurant, and at the world-renowned restaurant Le Cirque in New York. Having a tasty dessert pie after a turkey dinner with stuffing, mashed potatoes, corn and greens mixes together salty and sweet tastes with great aromas that only come around during the Thanksgiving holiday.

Although a slice of the pie can't be finished on a full stomach, additional slices taste even better in the following days after midnight with a glass of milk and after eating leftover turkey sandwiches.

Chef Laszlo Bollok, Executive Pastry Chef
Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne Hotel
455 Grand Bay Drive
Key Biscayne, FL 33149
(305) 365-4500
www.ritzcarlton.com/keybiscayne

Pecan Pie

For the dough:

• 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 8 tablespoons of butter
• 4 tablespoons of water

Combine all of the ingredients together to make the dough and roll into a 9-inch tart mold (ruffled edges as opposed to pie pans with sloped, smooth edges). Bake at 350 degrees F in an oven for 9-10 minutes until the crust is golden brown.

For the filling:

• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup of butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 tablespoon, vanilla extract
• 1 cup, chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and in a large bowl, beat the eggs until they are foamy. Then, stir in the melted butter, the brown sugar and then the white sugar and the flour. Mix well and lastly add the milk, vanilla and nuts. Pour it all into the tart shell and bake for 30-40 minutes.

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