My family enjoys the game Ticket to Ride - and we love to travel and try new things, so I was excited to get to review Ticket to Ride™: The Official Cookbook . The book is organized into regional recipes that follow destination tickets, and has local specialties from all over the United States. Each route has an appetizer, a side dish, a main course, a dessert, and a cocktail (with or without alcohol), so it's easy to have a themed travel meal. Or, pick and choose to be able to try some unique dishes.
I thought the book had a good mix of dishes I had tried before, some I had heard of but never tried, and completely new dishes. Some of the recipes include:
New England Clam Chowder (Boston, Massachusetts)
Hot Chicken (Nashville, Tennessee)
Poutine (Montreal, Canada)
Possum Pie (Little Rock, Arkansas)
Half-Smoke Sausage Bites (Washington, DC)
Cheesecake (New York, New York)
Mai Tai (San Francisco, California)
I have a chance to share one of the recipes I hadn't heard of before.
Excerpted from Ticket to Ride™: The Official Cookbook. Copyright © 2024 Ulysses Press. Reprinted with permission from Ulysses Press. New York, NY. All rights reserved.
Possum Pie
This Arkansas pie loads up a buttery shortbread crust with layers of sweet cream cheese and chocolate pudding, all crowned with whipped cream, shaved chocolate, and toasted pecans. This pie gets its name from the expression “to play possum,” hinting at how the whipped cream hides the mysterious layers underneath.
Makes: 1 (9-inch) pie
Active time: 20 minutes
Total time: 4 hours 40 minutes
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Photo Credits: Courtesy of Allyson Reedy and Greg McBoat/Ulysses Press |
CRUST
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter 30 shortbread cookies
3/4 cup toasted pecans
1 teaspoon kosher salt
CREAM CHEESE LAYER
6 ounces cream cheese, softened 1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons heavy cream
zest of 1 lemon
PUDDING LAYER
1 (3.4-ounce) package chocolate pudding mix
2 cups cold whole milk
2 shots (2 ounces) cold espresso or rehydrated espresso powder
2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 teaspoon kosher salt
TOPPING
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 to 2 tablespoons chopped, toasted pecans
2 tablespoons shaved dark chocolate
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Brown the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, whisking frequently, until it foams and brown bits form on the bottom of the pan. Once the butter has turned brown and smells fragrant, immediately transfer it to a cold bowl. Allow it to cool but not to solidify.
2. Add the cookies, pecans, and salt to a food processor or blender. Pulse until everything is finely ground (about 15 pulses for a food processor). As you run the processor or blender, stream in the browned butter.
3. Press the mixture into the bottom of a 9-inch pie plate. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, just until the crust begins to brown around the edges. Remove from the oven and let cool completely on a cooling rack.
4. For the cream cheese layer, in a medium bowl use a hand mixer (or use the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment) to blend the cream cheese, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons heavy cream, and lemon zest until smooth. Spread over the bottom of the cooled pie crust.
5. Prepare the pudding layer by mixing the pudding mix, milk, espresso, 2 teaspoons vanilla, and 1 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl. Whisk until combined according to package directions.
6. Once the cream cheese layer is set, top it with the chocolate pudding. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours, until the pudding is set.
7. In a large bowl, use a hand mixer to whip together the 1/2 cup heavy cream, 2 tablespoons powdered sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla, and 1 teaspoon salt until stiff peaks form. Spread the whipped cream over the top of the chocolate pudding layer. Sprinkle on the chopped pecans and chocolate shavings before slicing and serving the pie.
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