Spoon & Shutter

Grasshopper Pie

From Susan: When I was growing up, St. Patrick’s Day was a rather vague holiday involving cupcakes with green icing and shamrocks, and little else. Most of my formative years were spent in Washington D.C., which because it had no manufacturing, never attracted the immigrants that settled in other East Coast cities. I don’t think I knew anyone of Irish descent until I got to college in Connecticut – a WASP-y school attended by a significant number of Irish Catholics from greater Boston. I never had corned beef and cabbage (I know, it’s not really Irish …) until I moved to New York City after graduation, and I thought I disliked it because it resembled the dreadful one-pot-meal my mother occasionally served, called, horribly, New England Boiled Dinner. Now, after 25+ years in northern New Jersey, I quite like corned beef and cabbage, slathered with lots of good mustard, but I’ve never cooked it myself. I’m also a fan of other Irish dishes, like shepherd’s pie (the real kind, made with ground lamb), champ – buttery mashed potatoes with green onions, and of course Irish soda bread and scones. But except for the baked goods, these are also usually cooked by other people.

Ted, who grew up in central New Jersey and is also not Irish, remembers his mother picking him up after school on St. Patrick’s Day to go get the green milkshakes at McDonald’s. For us non-Irish, it is apparently all about the color, although we will both draw the line at green bagels and green beer!

The St. Patrick’s Day tradition in our household is not even remotely Irish, but it is green. When my now-teenage son was a little lad, I thought it would be fun to make Grasshopper Pie, that 60s throw-back with the silly name and kid-friendly ingredients – chocolate cookie crumbs, marshmallows – except of course, for the booze. I’ve made it every year ever since and even though I have also dabbled in more authentic St. Pat’s Day goodies like Irish whiskey cake and tea brack, I keep coming back to the pie. It’s easy to make, refreshing and decadent at the same time, and who doesn’t love a good green dessert? Erin go bragh …!

Grasshopper Pie

1 pkg. chocolate wafter cookies

6 tbsp. butter, melted

1 cup hot milk

25 large marshmallows

1/4 cup creme de menthe

2 tbsp. white creme de cacao

1 cup whipping cream

green food coloring if desired

Preheat oven to 425. Put cookies in the bowl of a food processor and process until they are fine crumbs. Add the melted butter and process for a minute or two until combined. Press the crumb mixture evenly into a 9-inch glass or ceramic pie plate. Set aside to cool while you make the filling. In a medium heavy saucepan, heat the milk (do not allow to boil) and stir in the marshmallows until completely melted. Remove from heat and stir in creme de menthe and creme de cacao. Cool until room temperature. Whip cream until stiff and fold into marshmallow mixture. If filling is not green enough, add some food coloring. Spread filling in crust and freeze for 3-4 hours before serving.