Chill out with slice of January honoree

Howling and wild-eyed, January kicked down the door, a trail of sooty snow behind him. He opened the freezer, gulped Stoli straight from the bottle, and grumbled that he’s not leaving anytime soon.

Yet like most misanthropes, January hides a few soft spots. Did you know that January is National Soup Month? And, simultaneously, National Oatmeal Month? Apparently we need reminding that warmth chases the chill away. More likely, marketers realized a steaming cup of chicken noodle is a hard sell in July.

Thermogenesis aside, January is also host to a spattering of days that honor other edibles. Jan. 20 is National Buttercrunch Day. I’ve never tasted buttercrunch, but it sounds good enough to have its own day. Corn chips, which provide a sodium spike similar to a salt lick, are celebrated on the 29th. And while I’ll never lighten my locks in search of more fun, Jan. 22 is National Blond Brownie Day.

But the day that truly saves me from January’s icy abyss is the 23rd, National Pie Day. It’s the perfect time for pie. Almost a month into the new year, our resolve regarding 5 percent body fat and lower triglycerides has stealthily skipped town. Why not celebrate our emancipation with pie?

Pie has endless possibilities. Sweet or savory, filled with fruit, meats, nuts, creams or custards, it can be a main course or a decadent dessert. Pecan-fig, pineapple, shoofly, chocolate cherry, black walnut, raisin, key lime, ginger peach. Pie is a food open to liberal interpretation; it’s anything you desire, baked up in a crust.

As for me, I celebrated National Pie Day early, banishing winter’s tired blah with a slice (or two) of decadent chocolate-amaretto-mascarpone-in-a-cookie-crust. Rich and complex in flavor, sensual in texture, it was the perfect reward after a brisk nighttime walk in the woods.

Funny how now that I have pie on my side, cantankerous, bad-ass January is as good as gone.

Chocolate-Amaretto-Mascarpone Pie

Note: I almost followed the recipe exactly, but couldn’t resist adding another dimension with a hint (or, according to my taster, a heap) of orange.

Crust:

2 cups chocolate wafer cookie crumbs

3 teaspoons sugar

1/2 cup butter, melted (plus more for pie pan)

Preheat oven to 325 F. Stir together cookie crumbs, sugar and melted butter. Press the mixture evenly (and firmly!) into a lightly buttered, 9-inch pie pan. Bake for 6-8 minutes. Let cool completely.

Filling:

16 ounces (2 small containers) mascarpone cheese

6 ounces semisweet chocolate

3 teaspoons Amaretto (or Kahlua)

1 teaspoon orange extract (optional)

Melt chocolate in a double-boiler, gently stirring to a smooth consistency. Gradually blend melted chocolate into mascarpone, stirring until an even color and consistency. Add Amaretto, and orange extract.

Fill cooled crust with mascarpone mixture. Cover and refrigerate at least one hour. However, the crust is easier to cut if you let the pie come up to room temperature for about 20-30 minutes before serving.