Happy Pi Day

 

It's been awhile since I made a pie so I got motivated today to whip something together.  My choices with what I had on hand were some questionable apples in the fridge, pudding mix in the cupboard, or a can of cherry pie filling on the pantry shelf. Cherry will always win out at our house.

 

Rather than reinvent the wheel, I stuck to my favorite pie crust recipe which is the recipe my grandma and mom used when they baked tarts.  You can find it here.  Because I am inherently lazy and also because I love streusel topping, I opted for that as opposed to a top pastry crust.  Below is the basic ingredients to put that together.  I rolled out the crust and placed it in a regular 9 inch pie plate, threw in the cherry pie filling, topped with the streusel topping, and baked at 400 degrees for 35 minutes.Voila!

 

 Streusel Pie Topping

1 stick room temperature butter

1 cup flour

3/4 cup brown sugar

dash of salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

With a pastry cutter or your fingers, mix everything together until it makes a cohesive crumble. Distribute evenly over the pie of your choice.

Grandma's Pie Crust

As promised on my Thanksgiving blog, I said I would post my grandma's delicious pie crust recipe.  When I made my pumpkin pie, it was in a deep dish pie pan so I doubled the recipe and there wasn't much left as far as scraps go.  The recipe card says this makes an 8" pie crust.  It also makes approximately 16 muffin pan size crusts for tarts.

Grandma's Pie Crust

3 Tbsp cold butter, cut into small cubes
2 Tbsp cold Crisco shortening, cut into small cubes
1 cup all purpose flour
1 pinch of salt
2-3 Tbsp ice water

Cut the butter and Crisco into the flour and salt.  Add the water, one tablespoon at a time and combine until a ball forms, but not sticky.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of 30 min before rolling out.

I do this in my food processor and with just a few pulses, it's done. Very simple.  Happy Pie Baking!

Crumb Topped Peach Pie

Within the past year my town finally got a Trader's Joe.  This is a great thing!  No more drives 40 miles up the freeway to pick up their fantastic Mediterranean hummus and pita chips, delicious crumpets, decent inexpensive wines, and beautiful produce.  On my most recent visit, this cute little box of 12 peaches were too tempting to resist. 

These peaches were picture perfect and as tasty and juicy as can be.  A few were used to slice and put over non-fat Greek yogurt for breakfast.  A few more were sliced to be served over vanilla ice cream.  And the ones left were put to good use in this very easy to make crumb topped peach pie.  I had some pie crust dough in the freezer, leftover from making tarts.  The beauty of this pie is not having to fuss with a top crust.  This crumb topping is a perfect compliment to the peaches.  I served mine without anything on the side, such as ice cream or whipped cream.  This is my kind of pie; easy to make and delicious to eat!

Crumb Topped Peach Pie

1 unbaked pie crust

Peach Filling:
6 to 8 c. cut up peaches
1/2 c. sugar
4 tbsp. flour
1 tsp. cinnamon

Crumble Topping:
1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 tbsp. butter
1/2 c. chopped nuts (optional)

Toss in bowl peach filling ingredients. Put in prepared pie crust, dot with butter. For crumble topping, combine 1/2 c. flour, brown sugar and cut into mix with butter. Stir in 1/2 cup nuts. Put on top of peaches.

Bake in a preheated 450°F oven for 10 minutes. Reduce to 375°F for 20 minutes.

At this point check to see if more time may be needed.

Excellent served while still warm, topped with vanilla ice cream, or cold with whipped cream.

Martha's Mile High Apple Pie

I felt energetic today and decided to use up the 8 green apples that had been in the fridge for weeks.  I was tired of having them roll all over the place whenever I moved something on the shelf.  Why weren't they in the vegetable/fruit bin you ask? Because The Husband says he forgets about them when they are in the bin and is less likely to eat them.  Enough said.....so I decided to make apple pie.  He'll eat them now!

I have seen Martha Stewart make this Mile High Apple Pie a number of times over the years and decided to give the recipe a try.  What I failed to do though was note that her Pate Brisee pie crust recipe was actually increased from her normal Pate Brisee recipe that I have used many times.  Let's just say that I had to do a lot of stretching and cajoling of the top crust to get it to fit over the mile high apples I had piled into the bottom crust.

All in all it turned out to be an absolutely delicious pie with the most tender, flaky, and flavorful crust as usual.  I opted to serve my piece with a thin piece of cheddar cheese, just how my English grandpa use to have my grandma's apple pie.  Of course, ala mode is a fine second choice.

I am not going to print out the recipe for Martha's pie, instead I will send you to her link for Mile High Apple Pie.  Enjoy!

Black Bottom Pie

A few weeks ago I made the most delicious fried chicken from Bon Appetit magazine which had an article celebrating The South and some of its iconic dishes.  Included with the recipe for the chicken was this equally fine recipe for another Southern classic, Black Bottom Pie.  It is basically a pudding pie, but oh so much more with both a chocolate and a decadent vanilla layer and the addition of mascarpone cheese. 

The original recipe called for a gingersnap crumb crust, but after discussing my dessert idea with The Husband, he felt that nothing would work but a chocolate crumb crust.  Since we'd already done our shopping and were on the way home, I pulled over to yet another store and off he trotted in to pick up some chocolate cookies.  A few minutes later he returned with something new and wonderful, chocolate graham crackers.  Who knew they made such a thing?  Like their paler cousins, original graham crackers, these chocolate ones made a perfect crust.  It's a delicious pie and something that will definitely be in my dessert rotation when I need to whip up something out of the ordinary.

P.S.  Recently my fried chicken was published on the Bon Appetit Magazine Blog as one of the best five readers Cook The Cover entries.  Here is the link if you're interested.   Bon Appetit Blog.  My entry is picture four of the five.

Black Bottom Pie
Chocolate Crumb Crust

6 ounces chocolate graham crackers (about 1 package) or 24 chocolate wafer cookies
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon heavy cream

Custard

1 envelope unflavored gelatin powder
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
4 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons dark rum
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup mascarpone
5 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/4 cup hot espresso or strong coffee

Assembly

1 cup chilled heavy cream
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 tablespoon dark rum
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Natural unsweetened cocoa powder
Grated semisweet or bittersweet chocolate

A 9"-diameter glass or ceramic pie dish
Prepare Crust
Preheat oven to 350°. Pulse cookies in a food processor until finely ground. Drizzle in butter and cream; pulse until well blended. Pour into prepared dish. Use the bottom and sides of a measuring cup to pack crumbs onto bottom and up sides of dish. Bake until crust is set, 12–15 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack; set aside.

Prepare Custard

Pour 2 Tbsp. water into a small bowl; sprinkle gelatin over. Let stand until gelatin softens, about 10 minutes. Heat milk and cream in a large saucepan over medium heat until mixture just comes to a simmer.

Whisk egg yolks and next 5 ingredients in a medium bowl. Gradually whisk egg mixture into milk mixture; whisk in gelatin. Whisk constantly over medium-low heat until thick, about 5 minutes.

Remove vanilla custard from heat and stir in mascarpone. Place 1 cup custard in a medium bowl; add chocolate and stir until melted and smooth. Stir in espresso. Pour chocolate custard into crust; smooth top. Chill pie until set, about 30 minutes. Let vanilla custard stand at room temperature.

Gently pour remaining vanilla custard over chilled chocolate layer (pour slowly so as not to disturb chocolate layer). Smooth top; chill until set, about 1 hour, or keep covered up to 1 day.

Assembly

Using an electric mixer at medium-low speed, beat cream and sugar in a medium bowl until cream begins to thicken. Add rum and vanilla; increase speed to high and beat until stiff peaks form. Spread whipped cream over custard. Dust with cocoa powder and garnish with grated chocolate and almonds. DO AHEAD: Can be made 4 hours ahead. Chill uncovered.

Beauty Is Only Skin Deep

Sometimes when I cook something that I think would be great to blog about, it turns out to be rather homely and not very photogenic.  Such is the case with this delicious apple pie.  It looked so inviting in an old issue of Bon Appetit, but when I took it out of the oven it was a little on the dark side and not that appealing in appearance.

That is not to say while baking it didn't fill up the house with the most intoxicating smells of apples and cinnamon. Yum.  And it was love at first bite upon tasting.  What makes this apple pie rise above the rest in my opinion, is the addition of a couple teaspoons of vanilla extract and the use of brown sugar instead of white sugar with the apples.  The recipe also calls for raisins which I opted not to include this time.

The other wonderful thing about this pie is that it was so easy to put together as there is no top crust but instead a delicious crumb topping.  If you are a fan of apple pie this should be on your list of recipes to try. I think you'll agree it's a keeper.

Cinnamon Apple Pie with Raisins and Crumb Topping
Crust:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/4 cup (or more) ice water
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Filling:
1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 3/4 pounds Granny Smith apples (about 6 medium), peeled, halved, cored, cut into 1/8-inch-thick slices (about 8 cups)
1 cup raisins
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Crumb Topping:
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Lightly sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream

For crust:
Blend flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in processor. Add butter; pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Mix 1/4 cup ice water and vinegar in small bowl; add to processor and pulse until moist clumps form, adding more ice water by teaspoonfuls if mixture is dry. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic and chill at least 1 hour. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled. Soften slightly at room temperature before rolling out.

Roll out dough on floured work surface to 13-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch-diameter deep-dish glass pie dish. Fold edges under and crimp, forming crust sides 1/4 inch above rim of pie dish. Freeze crust 20 minutes.

For filling:
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375°F. Mix brown sugar, flour, lemon peel, and cinnamon in large bowl. Add apple slices, raisins, and vanilla; toss until well coated. Transfer filling to unbaked crust, mounding filling slightly in center. Bake pie until apples begin to soften, about 40 minutes.

For the crumb topping:
Whisk flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt in small bowl. Add butter and rub in with fingertips until mixture begins to clump together.

Sprinkle topping evenly over hot pie. Continue to bake pie until apples are tender and topping is browned and crisp, tenting pie with sheet of foil if browning too quickly, about 50 minutes. Cool pie on rack at least 2 hours. Can be made 8 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.

Peanut Butter Pie with Honeycomb and Chocolate

Here is a totally over the top pie I made for the Husband's birthday.  Don't tell him it was for his birthday. He hates celebrating his birthday.  I served this the day after his birthday at a little non-birthday dinner for him with our friends.

This pie is sinful. It has all the components of a Butterfinger bar, deconstructed into a pie. Peanut butter, chocolate, crunchy graham cracker crust, and to top it all off, the most amazing honeycomb candy pieces.  What an absolute hoot it was to make that.  It's the most simple sugar syrup flavored with honey boiling away on the stove. Then a tablespoon of baking soda is added and a huge volcanic eruption of molten, foaming sugar is expanding in the pan, the likes of which I have never seen before.  When cooled, you just crack it and it is an airy, light, carmel tasting candy. Very fun!!

This pie comes from Bon Appetit and here is the link if you would like to see their recipe.

Peanut Butter Pie with Honeycomb and Chocolate

Crust
9 graham crackers, coarsley crushed
1/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter, melted

Filling
8 large egg yolks
12 tablespoons sugar, divided
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise  (I used 1 tsp of vanilla extract)
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Topping
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate (do not exceed 61% cacao), chopped
2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Honeycomb1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tablespoons corn syrup
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon baking soda, sifted

Preparation

Crust

Preheat oven to 325°. Finely grind graham crackers, sugar, salt, and nutmeg in a food processor.Transfer crumb mixture to a medium bowl. Add butter and stir to blend. Use bottom and sides of a measuring cup to pack crumbs onto bottom and up sides of 9" glass or metal pie pan.Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Let cool.

Filling

Mix yolks and 6 Tbsp. sugar in the bowl of a stand mixers fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat at high speed until ribbons form, stopping once to scrape down sides of bowl, about 2 minutes.

Combine milk and remaining 6 Tbsp. sugar in a large saucepan; scrape in seeds from vanilla bean and add bean. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Remove bean. With mixer running, gradually add hot milk mixture to yolk mixture. Scrape mixture back into pan. Clean bowl. Whisking constantly, bring to a boil over medium heat. Remove pan from heat; whisk vigorously for 1 minute. Return custard to mixing bowl, beat on high speed until cool, about 4 minutes. Mix in butter on Tbsp. at a time. Add peanut butter, powdered sugar, and salt; beat to blend. Scrape filling into cooled crust; smooth top. Chill until set, 2-3 hours.

Topping

Stir chocolate and butter in a medium bowl set over a saucepand of simmering water until melted and smooth.

Drizzle some of the chocolate glaze over the peanut butter filling, making a circle in the middle of the pie and leaving a 1"-2" plain border. Pile pieces of honeycomb and salted peanuts on top, then drizzle remaining chocolate glaze over.

Honeycomb

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil. Combine sugar, corn syrum, honey, and 1/4 cup water in a heavy deep saucepan. Stir over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to high; bring to a boil. Cook without stirring, occasionally swirling pan and brushing down sides with a wet pastry brush, until sugar turns pale amber. Working quickly, add baking soda (mixture will foam up dramatically); whisk quickly just to combine. Immediately pour candy over prepared sheet (do not spread out). Let stand undisturbed until cool, about 20 minutes. Hit candy in several places with the handle of a knife to crack into pieces.

Butterscotch Pie O My

Here is a pie made from two different sources.  The pie crust is from Cooks Illustrated, the group that takes a recipe and using science, comes up with foolproof ways to make them the best they can be.  I saw their show one Saturday where they used this vodka pie crust recipe and thought I would give it a "shot"(pardon the pun).  It certainly worked fine, but I think I will stick to the Dorie Greenspan foolproof recipe I last tried for pie crusts as my go-to method.

The butterscotch pudding recipe is from a Better Homes and Gardens Holiday magazine I recently purchased.  It is actually from a Butterscotch Meringue Pie but the sound of the meringue part didn't thrill me so I just made the filling and it was by far, the best butterscotch pudding I have ever tasted.

One note:  This pie does not travel well as noted by the Tupperware of mush we ended up delivering to my mother-in-law and brother-in-law.  Though it wasn't very pretty, I hope it tasted fine.

Vodka Pie Crust
(this makes a single crust)

1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch slices
1/4 cup cold vegetable shortening, cut into 2 pieces
2 Tbsp cold vodka
2 Tbsp cup cold water

Process 3/4 cups flour, salt, and sugar in food processor until combined, about 2 one-second pulses. Add butter and shortening and process until homogeneous dough just starts to collect in uneven clumps, about 15 seconds (dough will resemble cottage cheese curds and there should be no uncoated flour). Scrape bowl with rubber spatula and redistribute dough evenly around processor blade. Add remaining flour and pulse until mixture is evenly distributed around bowl and mass of dough has been broken up, 4 to 6 quick pulses. Empty mixture into medium bowl.

Sprinkle vodka and water over mixture. With rubber spatula, use folding motion to mix, pressing down on dough until dough is slightly tacky and sticks together.  Flatten dough into 4-inch disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes or up to 2 days.

Once chilled, roll out the pie crust using quite a bit of flour on your board, as it is a sticky dough. Place in 9 inch pie pan gently and turn under 1 inch overlay of dough and crimp edges. Or you can do as I did and make a decorative pattern and applique them on to the edges of the pie using egg white as your glue.

Place crust in the fridge while preheating the oven to 425 degrees. Place a vegetable oil sprayed piece of foil pressed into the crust and fill with pie weights or beans and bake for 15 minutes.  Take from oven, carefully remove foil and weights and bake for another 10 minutes until crust is golden brown.  Cool on a rack.  Once cooled, it is ready for a pre-cooked filling.

Butterscotch Filling

3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
1 12 oz. can evaporated milk
3 egg yolks
1 cup milk (I used non fat and it worked fine)
3 Tbsp butter, cut into pieces
1 tsp vanilla

In a medium saucepan, combine brown sugar, cornstarch and salt. Whisk in about 1/2 cup of the evaporated milk.  Whisk in the egg yolks until combined.  Whisk in the remaining milks. Cook over medium heat until thickened and bubbly, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat. Stir in butter and vanilla. Put a piece of plastic wrap on the surface so a skin doesn't form while mixture cools.

Put in cooked pie crust and refrigerate 4-5 hours.  I decorated mine with whipped cream and shards of hardened caramelized sugar.  To do this I just cooked 1/2 cup of granulated sugar over high heat in a shallow pan, swirling pan constantly until sugar was melted completed and a medium amber color. Be very careful as once the sugar starts to turn amber it can get too dark and bitter quickly.  I then poured this onto a greased piece of foil, let it cool completely, then broke it into small pieces.  It was a nice addition to the butterscotch flavored pie.

Buttermilk Pie

Sounds strange, doesn't it?  A buttermilk pie....what in the world would that taste like?  I had recently made fried chicken which called for a buttermilk soak overnight and had a 1/2 quart of the stuff leftover.  I have heard about this Southern specialty before so thought I would give it a try.

This is basically a custard pie but instead of the normal cream or milk based custard filling, it utilizes the slightly tangy and may I mention, lower fat buttermilk.  This was a very easy pie to make as I cheated and used a pre-made frozen crust.  Here's the verdict from our house:  I liked it alright though not enough to make again and The Husband gave me his version of a thumbs down by stating he wouldn't care if he ever had a piece of that pie again.   So, if the unusual ingredient of buttermilk turns you on, knock yourself out making this easy to bake pie.

Buttermilk Pie

3 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
2 Tbsp flour, plus a little for dusting
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
nutmeg (optional)
1 unbaked 9 inch pie shell

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Beat eggs slightly and add sugar and flour.  Then add melted butter and mix well.  Add buttermilk and vanilla and mix.

Dust the unbaked pie shell with a little bit of flour.  Pour batter into shell and place on a baking sheet.  Dust the top if desired with a sprinkle of nutmeg.  Bake until custard is set, approximately 1 hour.  Cool before cutting into slices.

Fruit Pie for Two

What do you do when you want pie but it's just two of you and a whole pie is just TOO much?  How about some hand pies?  They are just a perfect solution when nothing will do but some  flaky, buttery pie crust with a fresh apple pie filling encased in the middle. 

Here is a recipe that I made up as I went along and the results turned out just fine.  This made a dozen cute little pies (think minature Hostess fruit pies) which will be a nice treat to take to work this week as well as dessert with our Sunday dinner.  Any filling would work but the key to a successful hand pie is not to overload them when putting them together as it makes it very difficult to close them up.  Let your imagination go wild!

Apple Hand Pies

Crust
(This makes enough crust for a double crusted pie-I put one half in the freezer for later use)

2 1/2 sticks of cold butter, cut into bite size pieces
1/3 cup cold shortening, cut into bite size pieces
1 tsp salt
3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup ice water
1 egg, beaten with a splash of water for coating the outside of the pies
Sanding sugar for sprinkling on crust (Optional)

Pulse flour, sugar and salt together in food processor fitted with the steel blade.  Add the butter and shortening and pulse until the mixture has the consistency of small peas.  Slowly add the ice water until the mixture comes together in a clump.

Put out onto floured board and knead slightly and form two even sized balls. Press into flat discs and put in fridge for at least 30 minutes or freeze for future use.

Apple Filling
(Enough for 1 dozen apple hand pies)

2 Granny Smith apples, cut into a small dice
2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp flour
1 tsp cinnamon

Mix together and set aside.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll out the crust and cut with a 4 or 5 inch cookie cutter.  Set each disc on cookie sheet and put approximately 1 Tbsp. of filling in the center of each circle.  Pull one side of circle over to the other edge and crimp with your fingers or the tines of a fork.   Brush lightly with egg wash then sprinkle on sugar. Bake for 15-18 minutes until pies are a light golden brown.  Cool completely.

Chicken Pot Pie-O-My

A perfect comfort food kind of meal for me is a chicken pot pie. It has everything good - chunks of well cooked chicken, lots of vegetables and hopefully, a well made, tasty crust. After making a roast chicken, I cut the leftover meat off the carcass and stashed it in the freezer for another time.

That other time came today after reading a recipe for chicken pot pie in a Caprial Pence cookbook called Cooking with Caprial-American Bistro Fare. Chicken pot pie is a dish that can be broken down into three components: the filling, the sauce and the crust. For my pot pie, I used the recipe for the crust from Caprial's cookbook and the rest was improvisation. The crust is magnificent. It is so easy to roll out and very flavorful, what with the cheese in it and all. I microwaved my veggies until they were just tender, thus decreasing the time the pie had to cook in the oven. Also, I used leftover chicken that was already cooked and cubed. Another time saver would to use deli whole roasted chickens from the store. This would be so good using leftover turkey too.

Chicken Pot Pie
Crust

1 1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup finely grated sharp Cheddar cheese
2 Tbsp finely grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup shortening (I used 1/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup lard)
1 tsp salt
6 Tbsp cold water

Place the flour, cheeses, shortening and salt into a medium bowl and with your fingertips rub in the shortening until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Add water and mix with a fork just until the mixture comes together. Form into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and allow to rest in refrigerator for 30 minutes before rolling out.Filling
1 carrot, peeled and diced
2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
1 celery stick, diced
1 small garlic clove, finely minced
1/2 cup finely diced onion
1/2 cup frozen peas

Microwave all of the vegetables together for about 5-6 minutes until they are just tender. Set aside.
Sauce

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1 can low sodium chicken broth
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp dried tarragon

Melt butter in medium sauce pan. Stir in flour, salt, pepper and tarragon and cook for 2 minutes over medium heat. Whisk in chicken broth and let cook, stirring frequently until mixture thickens and comes to a full boil. Add vegetables and cooked chicken.Assembly
Roll out crust to fit the top of a 9 inch deep dish pie pan. Add filling mixture to pan. Top with pie crust and flute edges. Brush the entire crust with an egg wash of 1 beaten egg and a little water or cream. Place pie pan on a cookie sheet. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45-50 minutes until crust is a deep golden brown.

A Nutty Pie

This year for Thanksgiving, The Husband and I had the good fortune to go to my brother and sister-in-law's beautiful home to spend the day.  I was happy not to have to cook but of course offered to bring something.  My assignment which I was tickled to accept was a pecan pie.  It is one of my all time favorites and I particularly like making them, as there is no top crust to deal with.

The recipe I use is very straightforward.  Nothing too gourmet about it, though it does say in lieu of vanilla, 2 Tbsp. of bourban can be substituted.  I opted to go the vanilla route because I don't think a classic should be messed with.  I also used my new, all-time favorite pie crust recipe which has yet to fail me.  It is so malleable when rolling out and it makes a really nice, flaky crust when baked.

Pecan Pie

Crust
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 cup cold butter, cut into small cubes
1/4 cup cold lard, cut into small cubes
1 tsp salt
6 Tbsp. ice cold water

Mix the flour, sugar, and salt together until well combined.  Cut in the butter and lard with your fingers or a pastry cutter until it resembles coarse crumbs.  Add the ice water and form into a ball.  Put in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before rolling out.  Roll out and put in a 9 inch deep dish pie plate.  Put back in fridge while making filling.

Pecan Pie Filling
1 cup light corn syrup
3/4 cup light brown sugar
4 Tbsp. (1/2 stick) melted butter
3 large eggs
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract (or 2 Tbsp. bourbon)
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups pecan halves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and set an oven rack in the lowest position in oven. 

In large bowl, whisk eggs together.  Add corn syrup, sugar, butter, vanilla and salt and mix well.  Stir in pecans.  Pour this mixutre into the prepared curst and bake until the center is set and the crust is a golden brown, approximately 50-60 minutes.  Let cool to room temperature before serving.  This pie can be prepared and stored at room temperature, loosely covered with foil for up to 1 day.

Almost Pie-O-My

What to do with a half a bag of frozen peaches and frozen blueberries in the freezer, I quandaried? A pie would be nice but my irrational fear of fighting to get a bottom and top crust together into a harmonious dessert got the best of me. What I opted for was a free form fruit galette. Almost a pie but so much easier!

I'm very happy with how this impromptu cooking session turned out, as I truly was clueless when I walked into the kitchen to make a dessert. I utilized my go-to pie crust recipe of Martha Stewart's which is pate brissee. I have blogged this recipe in the past. I did cut the recipe in half as I only needed a single crust. The fruit filling consisted of, as I mentioned above, about four cups of frozen sliced peaches with about a cup of frozen blueberries. Into the fruit I added in 2 Tbsp of cinnamon sugar and 2 Tbsp of corn starch to thicken the juices.I made the pastry in the food processor, rolled it out, slapped it onto a parchment lined cookie sheet, mound the fruit in the center and folded the crust up around the fruit. I brushed a little cream around the crust edges and sprinkled on some sugar and baked the galette for 45 minutes in a 400 degree oven. A sliver of this rustic, almost-pie and a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream was a perfectly delicious dessert.