Monday, September 21, 2009

You'll Never Guess What's in This Pie

I'm bringing back an earlier post to link to Love the Pie at Tidy Mom--thanks for visiting!


We have a saying in my family, dating from when my grandmother was alive. "You'll neeevvver guess...(who I saw today; what I had for lunch; who called me;) (fill in the the blank).

Well, I made a new pie this weekend--one I've never eaten or seen before, and had never even heard of it until recently. I was a bit skeptical about it, right up until I smelled it and tasted it.

And you'll neeevvvver guess what's in it.....

Navy beans!

You read that right. And it's a sweet pie; light and custard-y and smelling of the best fall and holiday spices. And guess what else I found? Navy beans aren't the only beans you can make into pies. I found recipes for pinto beans pies and Great Northern bean pies, too. Some of them are made similar to pecan pie, with beans substituting for nuts; others are made of mashed beans; but if navy bean pie is any indication of what the others will taste like, I can't wait to try them, too!

My first task in my journey to bean pie was finding navy beans with a minimum of seasonings. Believe me, for a sweet pie you don't want beans flavored with salt pork or bacon. I thought I was going to have to cook dry beans, but I finally found a canned variety that had only salt and water as an added ingredient. Even so I drained and rinsed them well before I used them.

Ingredients:
  • 1 c cooked navy beans
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 c evaporated milk
  • 1/2 stick (1/4 c) butter
  • 1 T flour
  • 1/2 t nutmeg
  • 1/2 t cinnamon
  • 1 c sugar
  • crust for a single crust pie
I started with my favorite pie crust--Pillsbury Ready Crust, found in the refrigerated section--let it sit out for about 15 minutes it will unroll better, then place in your pie dish.

Place the beans, butter (the recipe didn't say melted, so I just cut mine in small chunks), eggs, milk, and seasonings in the blender and blend.

The recipe I used then stated to pour into a mixing bowl before adding the sugar, but I didn't see the point of dirtying up another dish, so I just added it to the mixture in the blender and blended it all together for a few seconds, then hit pulse once or twice or three times for good measure.


Pour into your uncooked pie crust. At this point, it smells (and tastes!) a little like eggnog--and what's not to like about that??
Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour. I set my timer first for about 50 minutes--it was beautifully browned and pretty by then, but I could tell the middle wasn't set, so it for me it did take pretty much the whole hour to bake.


Doesn't it look pretty? And trust me, it smells so good---it shouts fall and holidays and all the good smells of baking, all rolled into one.
I did wait for it to cool well before cutting into it, but it was hard!
If I had never tried this for myself, I don't know if I would have ever believed it, but now that I've smelled and tasted of navy bean pie, I think I'll try some of the others, too!


For more recipes, please see the links at:

Tasty Tuesday
at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam

Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
at Blessed with Grace

Tuesday at the Table
at All the Small Stuff

Foodie Friday
at Desgins by Gollum

Until next time, good cooking, and good eating!

22 comments:

  1. This appears to be a form of a custard pie??? What an unusual ingredient. I'm not sure that I would have ever given it a thought to try. Thanks for the recommendation. I hope you will join me this week for Crock Pot Wednesday at diningwithdebbie.blogspot.com. Thanks again.

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  2. AWESOME!!! I'm always looking for ways to eat more beans :) I tried a black bean brownie, and loved that. I bet this pie is tasty. Thanks.

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  3. Navy beans? That's really cool!

    Thanks for sharing with TATT!

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  4. What an interesting recipe! Looks good!

    I'm having my first giveaway, come and have a look :)

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  5. Now that looks yummy! Thanks for sharing.

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  6. You are right!! I would have NEEEVVERRR guessed!! Thanks for sharing this fun and different recipe for TMTT.

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  7. Okay now I have heard everything. This was the one last thing in the world I had never heard of but no more.
    So now we can eat pie and say it is good for us. Clever lady.

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  8. It looks yummy! I've made desserts with sauerkraut and tomtoes but navy beans! . . . .

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  9. WOW!!! I would have never thought of making a pie with beans. Looks like a custard pie. THANKS!!! for the recipe. Geri

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  10. Looks tasty, but Navy Beans????
    Amazing!

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  11. Charlene
    that looks so good.
    Wish i could just have a dishin' up of all the wonderful food i see in blogland.

    blessings, and thanks for coming by.
    barbara jean

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  12. I can imaging this working since the beans are in fact full of flour and they can be used instead of flour. Like Nigella Lawson substitutesflour with grounded almonds.It is a bit the same.

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  13. What an unusual pie. I've never before seen beans used as a custard base. The pie looks beautiful and perfect for a fall day. I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

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  14. GET OUT! Navy beans?! this certainly looks interesting!! Thanks for linking up!

    ~TidyMom

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  15. I have never heard of Navy beans in a pie, very interesting.
    I'm enjoying looking at all the pie party recipes.

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  16. Yummy! A delicious pie that would be welcome at any dinner table.
    Now, I'm off to enjoy visiting other "Love the Pie" blog participants.

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  17. hmm thats very interesting I will have to try this one cant believe beans in pie, thanks for sharing

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  18. If you use a Foley food mill or strainer, you can take the hull of the bean off, and the bean pie comes out even more like custard.

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    1. That sounds like something I'd like to try, especially with home-cooked navy beans.

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  19. Bean pies are delicious I'm still working on the combinations of spices to make it mines my friend uses ripe bananas in the mixture and it tastes wonderful only Problems I have are hull on the beans mines don't mix or blend well dry beans are the best

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  20. I will be definitely trying this recipe. Every time I go home to New Jersey I make sure I get myself a bean pie. Now I can have them in great ole El Paso, TX 😒.

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    1. I love this recipe, it's so easy to make and comes out right every time; I hope you enjoy!

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