I grew up where black walnuts were the thing, not pecans. I didn't have to buy them. They grew all over the farm, especially down the lane to the pasture. Here, we had several black walnut trees on our 1 2/3 acres.
I remember the first time I gathered 'em, dried 'em and placed the precious nuts in grocery bags. They were placed to cure on a high shelf in our little barn. Later, the following winter, I reached up to retrieve a bag of walnuts to take to the house and crack. Unfortunately, we hadn't yet had enough money to close in the eaves.
To my surprise, the bag was totally empty. All three bags were. Those rascally squirrels had entered through the open eaves and purloined all the nuts that were filled with savory nutmeats. They left the bad nuts.
The bags still held the shape of being full of nuts. How did they get those nuts out without crushing the bag? The sneaky little thieves! Anyway, I won first place at the Heritage Festival with this recipe. Hope you like my verson of a pecan pie.
Black Walnut Pie
1 cup black walnut pieces
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup dark corn syrup
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell
In large bowl, combine eggs, corn syrup, salt, sugar, melted butter and vanilla. Add black walnut pieces. Pour into unbaked pie shell. Bake at 400 F. for about 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 300 F. and bake 35 minutes longer or until pie is set to within 3 inches of center. Serve warm or cold.
Crust
4 cups plain flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1-3/4 cups solid shortening
1 egg
1/2 cup cold water
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
Whisk together in large bowl the flour, sugar and salt. Cut in shortening. Mix together egg, cold water and vinegar. Combine with flour/shortening mixture. Chill at least 1 hour. Roll out crusts to fit pie plates. Makes 4 shells or 2 two crust pies.