Bluebarb Cherry Pie

I have definitely gotten better at making pies. Earlier posts talk about cursing, crying and throwing things in various failed attempts to get a flaky, great tasting pie crust, but I believe those days are now firmly behind me. Sure there may be relapses now and again, but the last several attempts have turned out decently.

The technique that finally helped me succeed (as much as I have so far) is to freeze the flour and butter for at least 4 hours before using the food processor to cut the butter into the flour. The recipe doesn't seem to matter as much, but I have used the Dorie Greenspan version, the Bubby's Pies version and numerous others and the only way any of them work out for me is to freeze the flour. My pie crusts are still not perfect. I still struggle with how much water to add and how much kneading I can get away with to get it to come together -- but they are edible and now I'm not completely embarrassed to share my pies with friends and family.

For this particular pie I had some fruit (cherries, blueberries and rhubard) in my fridge that needed to be used quickly before it went bad. Instead of following a recipe, I borrowed from several recipes. I used the Bubby's crust, but the filling technique and crumb topping from Nick Malgieri's book Modern Baking. The joy of the filling is that it was soft and juicy, but much firmer than other fruit pies I have attempted and I did not end up with a liquid puddle in the bottom of the pie pan. I also used a technique that Dorie Greenspan uses where she puts a 1/4 cup of bread crumbs on the bottom of the crust to help soak up excess liquid and prevent a soggy bottom (because nobody likes a soggy bottom...) I didn't have bread crumbs, but I threw a 1/4 cup of graham cracker crumbs on the bottom and it seemed to work... it certainly didn't hurt anything.

Most 9-inch pies call for 6 cups of fruit. I used a technique from Nick Malgieri's Modern Baking on the filling. I took a cup of the mixed fruit, combined with 3/4 cup sugar and some cinnamon and brought it to a boil. While it was coming up to a boil I put 4 tbsps of corn starch and 2 tbsps of water into a bowl. Once the fruit was boiling I took some of that liquid and mixed it into the corn starch mixture until it was smooth and then added it back into the pot and brought the whole thing back to the boil again.

After it comes to a boil again remove it from the heat and add it back to the uncooked fruit and toss until everything is combined well. Next scatter the crumbs (bread or graham cracker) across the bottom of the crust and then fill the crust with the fruit. You're also supposed to scatter 3-4 tablespoons of chilled butter over the surface of the pie before adding the crumb topping, but I seem to always forget and this time was no exception -- the good news is that it tasted fine without the extra butter.

I went with a crumb topping on my pie because I suck at top crusts and crumb toppings taste so good. I can't remember the proportions for the crumb topping, but I would figure that most crumb toppings for 9 inch rounds or squares would work for this pie. I used a little cinnamon and a little nutmeg for this crumb topping just to add a little more depth to the flavor.

All in all this pie was a success. I still have room for improvement for the crusts, but each attempt seems to be a little better than the last one and I love the technique of boiling some of the fruit and mixing in the corn starch -- purists may think corn starch is cheating, but it works and right now that's far more important to me than purity.




Bubby's All Butter Pastry Pie Dough
8-10 inch double crust or 12-inch single crust

5 to 6 tbsps ice cold water
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
11 1/2 tbsps cold unsalted butter

Measure the water for the crust (with a bit of extra water in the measure in case you need a touch more) and then add ice cubes. Chill it in the freezer.

Measure out the flour (unsifted) by leveling off dry measuring cups, and add the flour to large bowl. Add the salt to the flour and give it a quick stir to combine evenly.

Use cold butter, measure out the amount you need, and then coat the cold, solid stick with the flour in the bowl. Using a dough scraper or a long butcher knife, cut the butter lengthwise in half, and then lengthwise in quarters, coating each newly cut side with flour as you go. Dice the butter into 1/4 inch cubes. Break up any pieces that stick together and toss them all to coat them with flour. If it is warm, chill briefly before continuing.

Using a pastry cutter, press the blades through the mixture bearing down repeatedly like you would to mash potatoes. Repeat this gesture until the largest pieces of fat are the size of shelling peas and the smallest are the size of lentils. Rechill if necessary.

Add water one of two tablespoons at a time, quickly tossing the mixture with your hands after each addition to distribute the water evenly. Work the dough as little as possible.

Continue adding water a little at a time until there are no floury bits left -- just little comet-like cobbles that don't quite cohere. To test the dough for consistency, lightly pat together some dough the size of a tennis ball. If the ball crumbles apart or has lots of dry looking cracks in it, the dough is still too dry; let it bread apart. Add a drop or two more water to the outside of the ball and work it just a little. If it holds and feels firm and supple, mop up any remaining crumbs with the ball. IF they pick up easily the dough is probably wet enough.

For a double crust divide the dough into slightly uneven halves and shape each half into a ball. Cover each ball tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least half an hour to relax and slow the gluten development.

Banana Cream Pie

For Pi day my first choice was banana cream pie. It helped of course that Chris had already chosen pecan pie since pecan and banana cream are pretty much my favorites. I'm not a huge pie person to begin with, but of all the pies in the world the top of my list would definitely have to be pecan and banana cream.

Fruit pie just doesn't really do much for me at all. Of all the fruit pies in the world, the only one that can get me excited is strawberry rhubarb... I've made (badly) apple pies and blueberry pies (which was a disaster), and I've tasted other people's well-made apple pies and blueberry pies, and they just aren't something I would generally spend calories on.

No, I like the rich pies. The maple cream pie I got from Smitten Kitchen is amazingly good. The maple walnut pie I've blogged about is also quite wonderful. My friend JB made a butterscotch pie and told me about it and that sounds like something right up my ally.

For this particular pie I used Dorie's standard pastry cream and upped the ante a bit by adding rum to it because to me rum and bananas just go together. Basic pie crust that tasted rich and buttery, topped with rum-infused pastry cream, layered with bananas, and then topped with whipping cream... yum.



Ingredients:

One fully baked pie crust

3 or 4 ripe, but still firm bananas.

Pastry Cream:
2 cups whole milk
6 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 tbsps corn starch, sifted
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 Tbsps good quality rum
3 1/2 tbsps unsalted butter, cut into bits, at room temp

For the Whipped Topping:
1 cup cold heavy cream
2 tbsps powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsps sour cream

To make the Pastry cream:
Bring the milk to a boil in a small saucepan.

Meanwhile, in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, whisk the yolks together with the sugar, cornstarch and salt until thick and well blended. Whisking without stopping, drizzle about 1/4 cup of the hot milk -- this will temper, or warm, the yolks so they won't curdle -- then, still whisking, add the remainder milk in a steady stream. Put the pan over medium heat, and, whisking vigorously, constantly and thoroughly (making sure to get into the edges of the pot), bring the mixture to a boil. Keep at a boil, still whisking, for 1 to 2 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat.

Whisk in the vanilla and rum. Let sit for 5 minutes, then whisk in the bits of butter, stirring until they are fully incorporated and the pastry cream is smooth and silky. Scrape the cream into a bowl. You can press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the cream to create an airtight seal and refrigerate the custard until cold or; if you want to cool it quickly -- put the bowl into a larger bowl filled with ice cubes and cold water, and stir the pastry cream occasionally until it is thoroughly chilled, about 20 minutes. Can be made 3 days in advance and kept in the fridge. Just stir thoroughly before using.

To assemble the pie:
Take the fully baked pie crust and put a thin layer of pastry cream on the bottom. Add a layer of sliced bananas, then another layer of pastry cream until you use both up -- finishing with pastry cream.

To make the whipped topping, whip the heavy cream in a mixer with a whisk attachment until it starts to thicken. Add the sugar and vanilla and whip until it hold firm peaks. Switch to a rubber spatula and gently fold in the sour cream. Top the pie with the whipped cream evenly. Serve or refrigerate until ready to eat.

Mocha Pecan Pie

I know I haven't blogged in a while. I've been baking as usual, I just haven't had the time or energy to post anything on the blog. However, every time I think I should just shut it down, someone asks me for a recipe, or I get a random note from a stranger who stumbled across the blog looking for a recipe, and I decide I should continue for a while.

I got very excited this year about Pi day (3/14) since this is the first year that I have felt semi-confident in my ability to make pie crust. I think I made a pie that used a graham cracker crust last year, but that seems a bit like cheating to me.... But this year -- after much trial and tribulation, I have finally figured out the trick that works for me to make a pie crust that actually tastes good: freeze the dry ingredients for several hours and then use the food processor to cut in the butter. I still haven't figured out how to make my pie crusts pretty, but they taste good, and that's the most important part for me.

For this particular Pi day I asked Chris what kind of pie he wanted and he instantly said pecan. Since I happen to love pecan pie myself that worked for me. I was actually going to make the Dorie Greenspan Pecan Pie that had chocolate, cinnamon and espresso powder, but it turned out I was out of chocolate (shocking!). I thought about just omitting all three of those ingredients and making a traditional pecan pie, but in the end I left out the cinnamon, but added the espresso powder.

It actually worked perfectly. The espresso helped cut some of the sweetness of the pecan filling, and added an intriguing bitter counterpart to the corn syrup sweet. Dorie's original version is also quite good of course (it is Dorie after all), but if you find yourself out of chocolate and/or cinnamon, just using the espresso powder is quite nice.

Ingredients:
one 9-inch single pie crust, partially baked and cooled
3/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
3 tbsp unsalted butter
3 large eggs at room temp
2 tsps instant espresso powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (I omitted this)
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup pecan halves or pieces
3 oz bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (I omitted this too)

Preheat oven to 425. Put the pie plate on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment.

In a large bowl whisk the corn syrup and brown sugar together until smooth. Whisk in the melted butter, then add the eggs one at a time beating until you have a light, foamy mixture. Add the espresso powder, vanilla, cinnamon (if using) and salt and give the batter a good mix. Rap the bowl against the counter to get rid of any bubbles, then stir in the pecans and chocolate (if using) before pouring the filing into the crust.

Bake the pie fro 15 minutes. Meanwhile make a foil shield for the crust by cutting a piece of aluminum foil and shaping it so it will cover the edge of the crust, but leave the middle of the pie showing. (Or buy a crust shield...) Remove the pie from the oven and put the shield on the crust. Then reduce the oven temp to 350 and bake for another 15-20 minutes (total baking time is 30 to 35 minutes), or until it is no longer jiggly in the middle. Transfer the pie plate to a rack and cool to room temp.

Maple Nutmeg Custard Pie

Woohoo! I did it. I finally did it. I made a good pie crust. Not just an okay pie crust, or a so-so pie crust. But an honest to goodness good pie crust. One that is flaky and buttery and that you save a little piece to eat after you finish your slice of pie because it's just that good. No plastic texture, not overdone or underdone, and probably most amazing of all, made with no crying, screaming, or throwing things. You have no idea how impressed I am with myself.

When I share this pie crust with people I will not have to be embarrassed and apologize for the crust while telling them how much I suck at making pie crust. Instead I can serve it with pride because I know that when people bite into the crust they are going to be impressed too, and they are going to want more. I don't even like pie that much and I liked this crust.

Okay, so how did I do it? I actually give a lot of the credit to Deb from Smitten Kitchen. I have read countless articles, blogs, and pages in cookbooks about achieving the perfect crust, and I have learned a lot along the way. Alton contributed, as did my book Bubby's Homemade Pies, Dorie Greenspan's Baking From my Home To Yours, Cook's Illustrated and numerous coworkers, friends, family and fellow bloggers who kept trying to explain it all to me. I understood the concepts -- keep everything cold, not too much water, don't overwork the dough, a little acid (vodka, lemon juice and apple cider are the ones I've seen most commonly) helps -- but I could never make it all come together -- until this weekend.

I came very close a few weeks back using the gallete dough from Smitten Kitchen with the Crumb Topped Apple Pie, but it wasn't quite there yet. The trick for me, that I learned from Deb and that gallete dough, was to freeze the flour and the butter. It seems kind of silly, but a big part of my problem was that in an attempt to keep the water in the dough to a minimum, I was taking too long getting it to come together and the butter was getting warm, thus messing up my dough. Freezing the flour and using frozen butter bought me some time.

The second thing was using the food processor to cut the butter into the dough, being careful not to cut the butter too small. Sure it's not the purist way, but it bought me even more time. I also learned from my various past attempts (disasters) that you really have to work the dough to get it to come together, and having everything freezing cold allows you to really knead the dough until it comes together without softening the butter or adding to much water and ruining the crust.

Lastly, while the gallete dough that Deb used was pretty good, I opted this weekend to use the Good For Almost Everything Pie Dough from Dorie, but I put the dry ingredients and the butter and shortening into the freezer for several hours before starting. This will almost certainly be both the technique and the recipe I use for most future pies, because damn it's good. :)

Oh, and the maple nutmeg cream pie part? Freaking awesome! I mean really... maple. nutmeg. cream. pie. what could possibly be wrong with that? Which happened to be another Smitten Kitchen recipe that I have had on my list since last year because it looked awesome, but I was afraid of pie crust and never bothered to attempt it.



Pie Crust for a 9-inch single crust
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 sticks frozen butter cut into tablespoon size pieces
2 1/2 tablespoons frozen vegetable shortening, cut into 2 pieces
about 1/4 cup ice water

Put the butter and shortening in the freezer until frozen solid. Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl and put it into the freezer until it's very cold, preferably for several hours or overnight.

Once those ingredients are very, very cold remove them from the freezer and put them all into the work bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times until the butter is mostly cut into the flour. Be careful not to overdo it -- you want at least a few really good size chunks of butter left. You can always use your fingers to break up the ones that are too big.

Dump the flour/butter mix into a large bowl and pour most of the water in with it. Toss the flour and the water with your fingers until it starts clumping together. Add more water a little at a time until you can get it to come together in a ball. I have to work the dough quite a lot to get it to stick together and it still looks kind of flaky and dry even when you have enough. Work it into a disc and wrap it with plastic wrap, then place it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Only experience will teach you what is enough water and what is too much.

Once the dough is cold, put it on a lightly floured surface and roll it out -- turning it a quarter turn each time you go across it so that it doesn't start sticking to the counter. If cracks form, press them together the best you can. Once it's rolled flat, put it into a pie or tart pan of your choice and bake your pie. Good luck, because you're going to need it.

For the Maple Nutmeg Pie:

3/4 cup maple syrup
2 1/4 cups heavy cream
4 egg yolks
1 whole egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 9-inch pie crust

Par-bake pie crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line pie refrigerated pie shell with foil or parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until beginning to set. Remove foil with weights and bake 15 to 18 minutes longer or until golden. If shell puffs during baking, press it down with back of spoon. Cool on wire rack. Lower temperature to 300 degrees.

Prepare filling: In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, reduce maple syrup by a quarter, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in cream and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat.

In a medium bowl, whisk together egg yolks and egg. Whisking constantly, slowly add cream mixture to eggs. Strain mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a cup or bowl with pouring spout. Stir in salt, nutmeg and vanilla.

Pour filling into crust and transfer to a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until pie is firm to touch but jiggles slightly when moved, about 1 hour. Let cool to room temperature before serving.

Pumpkin Bourbon Tart

Look at that crust. Isn't it beautiful? It looks exactly the way a tart crust should look which is pretty amazing considering I made it from scratch. I have to admit though, I did cheat a bit, and despite the fact that it is perfect to look at, it doesn't quite taste as good as I hoped it would, but the texture is almost perfect.

It all started with Sunday night's dinner. Chris and I roasted a whole chicken and had that Sunday while watching the Rams whoop some Cowyboy ass (awesome!). After the chicken cooled Chris picked the meat off the bones while I chopped vegetables, and we turned the chicken into a big pot of chicken, leek, and squash soup. And that soup turned into Tuesday night chicken pot pies.

The Pastry Queen has a great recipe for pot pie crust that is super simple -- butter, flour, cream cheese and salt and pepper made in the food processor. The butter gives it flavor, but the cream cheese gives it a little tang of flavor and a super crumbly, flaky crust -- and all without worrying about overworking the dough or adding too much water, or letting everything get too warm. This crust just doesn't care. Flour and butter into the processor to make crumbs, cream cheese, salt and pepper and pulse until it forms a dough. Roll it out and bake it up. It doesn't get any easier.

Chris and I aren't big eaters though so we knew we wouldn't want to use all that crust in pot pies so I omitted the pepper from the crust in order to use the leftovers in something sweet. I figured I would make mini tarts or even Pecan Tassies, but it turned out that I had enough crust left for an entire tart. Sweet.

Since the Pastry Queen has rarely let me down, and we still had homemade pumpkin puree to use up, her Pumpkin Bourbon Tart won the day. When I repeat this venture again I will probably change a few things. This crust is good, but a little boring so I might try to up the butter a bit and decrease the cream cheese -- just a smidge or two to improve the flavor. I will also par-bake the crust for a few minutes to get the bottom a little more done than we achieved with this tart. It tastes good, but it isn't quite done all the way through. I know that I could probably achieve a tart crust with better flavor just by making it the traditional way, but the traditional way and I don't get along and this is easy. I mean, really easy.

As for the filling, as long as you like pumpkin and bourbon (as I clearly do: here, here, and here) then you will like this just fine. We had it while it was still a touch warm from the oven and the bourbon flavor was kind of strong. I assumed it calmed down a bit once it cooled fully, but it went to work with Chris so I will have to solicit opinions from the ones who got a piece.



For the crust:
Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter
3 cups all purpose flour
10 ounces chilled cream cheese
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground white pepper (omit to use with something sweet)
1 large egg for egg wash

Preheat the oven to 350. Cut the butter into 16 pieces. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, pulse the butter and flour until crumbly. Add the cream cheese, salt, and white pepper. Continue pulsing just until the dough forms a ball.

Roll the dough out to fit the pan you are using -- in this tart I used a 10-inch tart pan. Fit the crust into the pan and trim the excess (cut it even with the top of the pan.) Stab the bottom a few times with a fork for venting, and then par-bake. Since I didn't do this part I'm not quite sure how long, but I would start with 5 minutes and check it frequently until the bottom was lightly browned, being careful not to overbrown the edges.

Filling:
1 (15 oz) can pure pumpkin puree
3 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tbsp all purpose flour
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup bourbon

To make the filling: Put the pumpkin puree in a large bowl and whisk the eggs in one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the sugars and whisk until they disappear. Add the spices and flour and whisk those in. Finally, add the whipping cream and bourbon and whisk until incorporated.

Pour the filling into the prepared crust and bake fro 40 to 45 minutes, until the filling is set in the middle and doesn't jiggle anymore. Let the tart cool in the pan for at least an hour before serving.

Apple Pie with Crumb Topping

I had three new experiences on Saturday. The first was going to a u-pick farm and picking apples with Chris. It was a beautiful day (a little on the warm side but that's okay) and we got to walk around the farm and get some produce. For the most part we stuck with apples (lots of apples on the blog over the next week or so), although we also got a couple of sugar pumpkins to roast and a couple of small butternut squashes for soup. The only downer at all was that google maps failed us miserably and sent us to a small access road in the middle of nowhere instead of to the farm. Luckily the farm is a pretty popular place so the kid working at 7-11 knew where we were supposed to be instead and it wasn't that far from where we ended up.

On the way home we stopped by the Victoria Gastro Pub for lunch and had one of the most delectable culinary treats of our lives -- duck fat french fries. They were quite awesome and will be repeated. Plus, as an added bonus, the Pub has an excellent beer selection on tap and in the bottle and while it probably won't replace our beloved Frisco Grille anytime soon, it will certainly offer a suitable alternative.

Third, and by far the most significant of the three new experiences -- I made pie crust without yelling, screaming, throwing things, and/or crying. It was amazing. And while the crust still has some texture issues -- the bottom is a bit too chewy and the top is a bit too crispy -- it's still my most successful crust to date.

I used the Cooks Illustrated recipe that Smitten Kitchen posted, but I don't actually attribute the success to the recipe itself, more to a technique that Smitten Kitchen recommends for her gallette dough -- I mixed the flour, baking powder, and salt together and put it in the freezer for several hours. I also cut the butter into pieces and put that in the freezer for several hours as well. Once everything was nice and cold I used the food processor to cut the butter into the flour (note for next time -- don't cut the butter too small!) and then started slowly adding the very cold water/vodka mixture by hand.

I think my texture problems came in because I had to really knead the dough to get it to come together properly. My first instinct was to add more water -- and I did add a little -- but then I stopped myself and just worked the dough until it started to come together. At one point it started to get too warm so I put the whole thing back in the freezer for 15 minutes and then started again. Once I had a respectable disc of dough I wrapped in plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge for 30 minutes before rolling it out for the pie.

The crust recipe made enough for a 9 inch double crust, but I figured a semi-successful single crust was more than adequate for one day so I opted to make a crumb-topped apple pie from my Bubby's Pies book (recipe not included yet because I don't want to type it in right now...) and save the other part of the crust for something else.

If nothing else, progress has been made. Hopefully there won't be a pie crust disaster relapse in my future because I really would like to be able to make pies.

Makes enough for one 9-inch double-crust pie

2 1/2 cups (12 1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon table salt
2 tablespoons sugar
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch slices
1/2 cup cold vegetable shortening, cut into small bits
1/4 cup cold vodka
1/4 cup cold water

1. Process 1 1/2 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 cup 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.

2. 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. Divide dough into two even balls and flatten each into 4-inch disk. Wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes or up to 2 days.

Coconut Banana Cream Pie with Chocolate Crust

I had leftover pastry cream after some of my cake making adventures and I couldn't stand to see it go to waste. We thought about making some sort of éclairs, but then it occurred to me that we could make a banana cream pie with it instead. Basically I just cobbled together a few recipes to get what I wanted and since the hard part -- the pastry cream -- was already finished, the rest was totally easy.

I used some Newman's own "oreo" ends (no filling) cookies to make the crust. I was concerned that I didn't have enough pastry cream so I decided to bulk it up a bit with some coconut. Once the crust was done though it was really just a matter of assembly. I put a thin layer of pastry cream on the crust, added a nice thick layer of sliced bananas and topped it with the remaining pastry cream. Once that was done I topped the whole thing with homemade whipped cream and put it in the fridge to chill.

I was actually pretty impressed with the whole thing. I used up leftover pastry cream, and I got to make a "pie" without throwing stuff around the kitchen. Plus it tasted pretty darn good and looked impressive to boot. Can't beat that.

Pastry Cream:
2 cups whole milk
6 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 tbsps corn starch, sifted
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 1/2 tbsps unsalted butter, cut into bits, at room temp

Bring the milk to a boil in a small saucepan.

Meanwhile, in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, whisk the yolks together with the sugar, cornstarch and salt until thick and well blended. Whisking without stopping, drizzle about 1/4 cup of the hot milk -- this will temper, or warm, the yolks so they won't curdle -- then, still whisking, add the remainder milk in a steady stream. Put the pan over medium heat, and, whisking vigorously, constantly and thoroughly (making sure to get into the edges of the pot), bring the mixture to a boil. Keep at a boil, still whisking, for 1 to 2 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat.

Whisk in the vanilla. Let sit for 5 minutes, then whisk in the bits of butter, stirring until they are fully incorporated and the pastry cream is smooth and silky. Scrape the cream into a bowl. You can press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the cream to create an airtight seal and refrigerate the custard until cold or; if you want to cool it quickly -- put the bowl into a larger bowl filled with ice cubes and cold water, and stir the pastry cream occasionally until it is thoroughly chilled, about 20 minutes.


Crust:
1 3/4 cup cookie crumbs
3 tbsps sugar
pinch salt
1/2 stick butter, melted

mix sugar and salt with the crumbs. pour over the butter and combine. press the crumb crust into a pie plate and freeze for 10 minutes. preheat oven and bake for 10 minutes. cool completely before using.

Whipped Cream:
1 cup cold heavy cream
2 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp sour cream

Working with a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the cream until it just starts to thicken. Beat in the sugar and vanilla and continue to beat until the cream hold firm peaks. Switch to a rubber spatula and gently fold in the sour cream.

Additional Ingredients:
1 cup coconut
thinly sliced bananas (I used 3)

Assembly:
stir the coconut into the pastry cream. put a thin layer of pastry cream on the crust, then add the bananas in a single (slightly overlapping) layer. Put the rest of the pastry cream on the bananas and finish by spooning the whipped cream evenly over the top. Serve immediately or refrigerate until needed.

Maple Walnut Pie

Okay, I know that a maple walnut pie is a Fall pie and that we are now getting into Spring, but I needed a pie recipe that was quick and easy and called for ingredients I had on hand. I suppose if I was one of those really creative bakers, or if I just had more confidence in my pie making abilities I could have put together a fruit pie with various leftover fruit I have -- one pear, one apple, one cup of fresh blueberries, one stalk of rhubarb and of course frozen blueberries, blackberries and cranberries -- but pie intimidates me and my Sticky, Chewy, Messy Gooey book had this super simple and easy pie that looked really good, so I took the easy way out.

I used the second round of pie crust from yesterday's pie misadventures and while it wasn't totally messed up by all the abuse from yesterday, it wasn't exactly a dream to roll out -- I kept having to pinch pieces together that wanted to go their own way and of course I was worried about the texture after baking. Once I rolled out the dough and put it in the pie plate I put the whole thing in the fridge while I prepped the filling.

The filling is super easy -- toasted walnuts, maple syrup, eggs, brown sugar, a little butter and vanilla. The only problem was that I slightly over-toasted the walnuts so every now and again when you eat a bite of the pie you get a slightly burnt walnut. I happen to hate burnt walnuts, so it really frustrated me. When I baked the pie the crust also got a little over-done, I should have checked it after 20 minutes and probably should have shielded the edges with foil. But, since I didn't do any of that, the crust is dark brown instead of golden brown.

The texture on this crust isn't quite as good as yesterday's crust, but it is still easily one of my better crusts, even if it is dark brown. I added a little more liquid to this one yesterday since it was really dry and crumbly which gave it a bit more of the plasticky texture I dislike so much, but some of that also might be from the over-browning.

And of course the all important flavor. mmmmm... maple... I love maple. So the crust is a bit overdone, and a few of the walnuts are a bit of the burnt side... but the maple syrup makes everything all better. So sweet and nice and yummy.



Ingredients:
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup grade B maple syrup
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsps unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 cups chopped toasted walnuts
one 9-inch pie shell, unbaked

Position rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 450.

In a bowl, beat together the eggs, maple syrup, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt until smooth. Beat in the cooled melted butter and the walnuts.

Pour the filling into the pie shell and bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temp to 350 and bake until the pie crust is golden and flaky and the filling is set 30 to 35 minutes longer. Let cool on a wire rack to room temp before serving.

No Pan Pear Pie

How is it that a very basic recipe such as pie crust can turn a normally reasonable (okay, quit laughing) person into a deranged, raving, screaming, hair-pulling lunatic? Pie crust has driven me to tears in the past, and it will pretty much ruin my day each and every time I attempt it. Some people would just concede defeat -- after all, Pillsbury apparently sells a perfectly good frozen pie crust -- or so I've heard. I wouldn't know of course because my stubborn streak kicks in and insists that as someone who prides herself on her baking, I should be able to make a good pie crust.

So I have practiced. I have researched it. I have tried various recipes from various experts all claiming that pie crust isn't really all that hard if you just follow a few key steps. I know all the key steps: keep the butter cold, use ice water, don't cut the butter in too much, use a light hand, and don't add too much water. Shortening crusts have the best texture, a combination of shortening and butter is usually the safest route, but an all-butter crust, if you can make it successfully, is the best bet for flavor, but the most fickle to achieve.

I have seen recipes that recommend vodka, apple juice concentrate, lemon, or vinegar in addition to ice-cold water in order to give the crust the flaky, tender texture you're looking for, and to inhibit the gluten from developing in the flour. Some people swear by an egg yolk in the crust. Some swear by hand mixing, others by the food processor, and yet others by using both techniques.

After my latest Strawberry Rhubarb pie crust disaster I was determined once again to master pie crust. So, like any good food blogger, I turned to the food blogging community to see what was out there that I might still be missing. One blogger -- Bake or Break -- talked about the Alton Brown recipe and the episode of Good Eats -- The Crust Never Sleeps -- he saw that explained to him perfectly how pie crust should be made. I used to hate Alton Brown and Good Eats, but I have recently come around to liking him and the show. Chris, being the ever-wonderful boyfriend that he is, found the episode on YouTube and I sat down to watch it.

The episode was eye-opening. The flour/butter mixture after he added all of his water was clearly far drier than any pie crust I have ever attempted before. I have long suspected that my primary problem with pie crust was too much water, but watching this episode really opened my eyes to how little water really went into a pie crust. So, armed with fresh information, new techniques (warm butter mixed into the flour as well as cold chunks of butter, and corn meal for "toothiness") and Chris by my side, we set out to make the Pear Blueberry Gallete that Alton made.



I think Chris wanted to duck and cover after the first 15 minutes or so. Nothing, and I mean nothing, pisses me off faster than dealing with pie crust. Once again, the problem was the water. Based on the video, we didn't add a lot of water (actually water and apple juice concentrate mixed) and we used a spray bottle to apply it. It still looked awfully dry to me, but the video clearly showed a dry, floury mess being transformed into perfect pie crust by a 20 minute rest in the refrigerator. Ours did not transform. Ours remained a dry, floury mess. So, we added a little more liquid and tried again. 20 minutes later we threw it out.

By this point though Chris had made the pear/blueberry filling for the gallete so we debated what we should do. Try the Alton method again? Try the Pastry Queen pie crust? Give up and bake something else? I decided that I needed to bake something successfully in order to snap me out of my now very nasty mood, so I picked up the book I recently bought -- Sticky, Chewy, Messy Gooey by Jill O'Conner and started flipping through it. After a couple of minutes I got up to fold laundry so I handed the book to Chris.

He of course flipped to the pie crust recipe in the book and was immediately intrigued because she used coconut oil in her pie crust instead of shortening since it had some of the same attributes as shortening, plus it has a nice flavor, and none of the nasty rep that lard or shortening has. Being the food geeks that we are, we actually had a bottle of coconut oil in the cupboard so we tried again.

Round two: cold butter, cold coconut oil, ice water, egg yolk, lemon juice, flour, sugar, salt. Once again the flour mixture still seemed far too dry after I added the liquid -- but I restrained myself from adding more. I formed into into a disc with dry crumbly edges and put it in the fridge hoping against hope that a 30 minute chill would transform it into pie crust. Didn't happen. It came out of the fridge the same crumbly, dry mess that I put in there.

By this point I think Chris was more than ready to run away since I was almost to the point of throwing stuff. However, I took my anger and frustration out on the crust and started pushing and pounding it into a shape and it turned into a pie-crust like substance. I continued what I was doing for a while until I got a respectable disc, then threw it into the freezer while I did the same thing with the second dry, crumbly disc thing. After 10 minutes in the freezer I pulled the first one out and managed to roll it out into a pie form so we made the Alton gallete.

The verdict? The best pie crust I have made to date. In fact, the first pie crust I have made that I have not been embarrassed by. We have made progress. It's still not perfect, but it is flaky, and tender and tastes good. It's not quite to the point of being something you want to eat just by itself -- but it's almost there, and that gives me hope. My conclusion for the whole experience is that I have been hesitating to work the dough at all before I put it in the fridge to chill, and not working the dough means that the moisture that Alton spoke about in the video can't actually work it's magic on the flour since a lot of the flour isn't actually touching. So the next time I make a pie, I will add far less water than I think is necessary, and then I will actually work the dough into as much of a disc as possible before chilling it. Who knows, it may even work.

The recipe below is the pie crust from the Sticky book, and the filling from Alton. I do recommend a rimmed baking sheet though -- in the video Alton baked his on the flat back of a sheet pan, but when I baked mine on a rimless pan we nearly smoked ourselves out of the house and it was pretty much the last straw for a frustrating day.




Perfect Pie Crust
by Jill O'Conner in Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey

2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
2 tsps sugar
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) cold, unsalted butter, each stick cut into 16 small pieces and frozen
6 tbsp solid coconut oil, cut into small bits and chilled
6 to 8 tbsp ice water
2 tsps fresh lemon juice
1 large egg yolk, beaten

(I did everything in the food processor but am writing the instructions as they were written in the book.)

Sift the flour, sugar, and salt together into a large metal mixing bowl. Cut the frozen butter and chilled coconut oil into the flour until it resembles coarse meal combined with little pea-sized bits of flour dusted butter. (Or, for the same texture, use small pulses to combing the sifted flour and fats together in a food processor fitted with a metal blade.)

Whisk together 6 tbsp of the ice water, the lemon juice, and the beaten egg yolk. Dribble the liquid into the flour mixture and stir together with a fork, using a light touch so as not to blend the larger bits of fat into the flour. Stir with the fork just until the dough comes together into a moist, but not sticky, ball. Use your hands to gently gather the dough into a ball. You should still see some tiny pieces of butter in the dough. (when the crust bakes, these will melt and create wonderfully flaky layers in the pastry)

Divide the dough in two and flatten each ball into a round disk. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes, or up to overnight. The chilled, well-wrapped dough can also be sored in self-sealing plastic bags and frozen for up to 1 month for later use.

For the filling:
2 Anjou pears, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
4 tablespoons sugar
1 pinch grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup blueberries
1 teaspoon flour
1 1/2 cups pound cake, cubed (I used the Brown Sugar Pound Cake I made earlier this week)
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water
1/2 teaspoon sugar

Heat oven to 400 degrees F.

Heat a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add pears to the pan and toss for 2 minutes. Add the balsamic vinegar and continue to toss for 30 seconds. Add sugar and cook until the pears have softened. Add the nutmeg, cinnamon, and the butter and melt slowly. Fold in the blueberries. Remove from heat. Sprinkle on the flour and combine well. Allow to cool to room temperature.

Place the chilled dough on a floured piece of parchment and roll out to a 1/4-inch thick disk. Transfer to a baking sheet. Place cubed pound cake in the middle of the dough, leaving a 3-inch margin of crust on all sides. Spoon filling over the cake cubes and top the pears with 1 ounce of cubed butter. Lift excess crust onto filling and repeat in a clockwise fashion until a top lip has formed around the edge of the whole tart. Brush the tart with the egg wash and sprinkle the crust with the sugar.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the filling begins to bubble and the crust is golden brown.
Remove from the sheet pan immediately and cool on pie rack.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

I'm not usually much for landmarks or numbers, but I noticed the other day that Peabody had posted a special blog noting her 100th post (years ago of course, but it happened to be on Irish Cream Cheesecake and I was looking for recipes using Irish Cream.) Out of curiosity I looked at my numbers and realized that I was on post number 148. At first I didn't think too much about it, but then I realized that I had the perfect way to commemorate 150 blog posts -- by baking Strawberry Rhubarb Pie since that was the recipe that got me started on all of this.

I wasn't sure about the food blogging thing when I started. I figured I would post a few recipes then get bored and quit. The funny thing is that blogging about the stuff I bake actually makes me want to bake more, plus it drives me to bake things I wouldn't necessarily try otherwise. When I blog about a recipe it helps me figure out what I really liked (or didn't) about a particular recipe, and it makes me start thinking of ways I could improve on any given recipe. And because I don't want a lot of repeated recipes on the blog, I end up searching for new recipes and new techniques to try.

I also figured I wouldn't have that many readers -- I mean, there are literally hundreds of great food blogs out there on the internet, so I figured my blog would be read by my friends and family and that would be about it. The great thing about it was that when coworkers asked me for recipes I could always point them to one spot without having to remember to bring various recipes in to work or to write things out for people. For the most part my friends and family are my primary readers, but I'm occasionally surprised by the positive comments I get from complete strangers who happen to like my blog, and of course always thrilled to discover that my blog got a mention somewhere else on the internet. I'm not sure how long I will keep blogging, but I suspect I will continue for at least another 150 posts. :)

Now, back to the Strawberry Rhubarb Pie...

I didn't use the same recipe that I used the first time -- instead I used the recipe from my book Bubby's Homemade Pies. I didn't think this pie was quite as pretty as the first one since the first one had you brush an egg wash on before baking which gave it a nice golden glow. With this one you just sprinkled some sugar onto the top. I did do a proper lattice crust on this one though, so that's a first. However, when I finally pulled it from the oven, the middle was awfully liquid still. Cooling it helped some, but it was still really runny -- more pie soup than pie filling.

The crust also was not quite the success I was hoping for. The bottom crust was slightly tough and crispy and the top crust was crispy on the edges and kind of soggy (from the pie soup) in the middle.



Since I know that part of my problem with pie crust is that I don't work fast enough cutting the butter into the flour I put the bowl of flour into another bowl with an ice bath which bought me some extra time (it also created a pool of ice water all over my counter and on the floor... but whatever.) I also noticed that according to Bubby the crust is supposed to be slightly tacky when you get all the water mixed in so I kept adding water until I got an ever so slightly tacky mess without it being sticky. I thought I did much better with this crust as opposed to some other pies I have attempted -- but once again I was just fooling myself. I don't know what it is about pie, but I just can't seem to get it right.

Bubby's All Butter Pastry Pie Dough
8-10 inch double crust or 12-inch single crust

5 to 6 tbsps ice cold water
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
11 1/2 tbsps cold unsalted butter

Measure the water for the crust (with a bit of extra water in the measure in case you need a touch more) and then add ice cubes. Chill it in the freezer.

Measure out the flour (unsifted) by leveling off dry measuring cups, and add the flour to large bowl. Add the salt to the flour and give it a quick stir to combine evenly.

Use cold butter, measure out the amount you need, and then coat the cold, solid stick with the flour in the bowl. Using a dough scraper or a long butcher knife, cut the butter lengthwise in half, and then lengthwise in quarters, coating each newly cut side with flour as you go. Dice the butter into 1/4 inch cubes. Break up any pieces that stick together and toss them all to coat them with flour. If it is warm, chill briefly before continuing.

Using a pastry cutter, press the blades through the mixture bearing down repeatedly like you would to mash potatoes. Repeat this gesture until the largest pieces of fat are the size of shelling peas and the smallest are the size of lentils. Rechill if necessary.

Add water one of two tablespoons at a time, quickly tossing the mixture with your hands after each addition to distribute the water evenly. Work the dough as little as possible.

Continue adding water a little at a time until there are no floury bits left -- just little comet-like cobbles that don't quite cohere. To test the dough for consistency, lightly pat together some dough the size of a tennis ball. If the ball crumbles apart or has lots of dry looking cracks in it, the dough is still too dry; let it bread apart. Add a drop or two more water to the outside of the ball and work it just a little. If it holds and feels firm and supple, mop up any remaining crumbs with the ball. IF they pick up easily the dough is probably wet enough.

For a double crust divide the dough into slightly uneven halves and shape each half into a ball. Cover each ball tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least half an hour to relax and slow the gluten development.

For the Pie Filling:
3 cups strawberries, halved or thickly sliced
3 cups (1 1/2 pounds) rhubarb, cut into 1/2 to 1/3 inch pieces
1 cup sugar, plus extra for sprinkling on top of the crust
4 1/2 tbsps all purpose flour
1 tsp orange zest
1/8 tsp salt
2 tbsps unsalted butter cubed

Roll out the pastry and line a 9-inch pie tin with the bottom crust. Roll out the remaining dough for the top crust. Rechill the pastry if necessary.

Preheat oven to 450.

In a large bowl, combine the strawberries, rhubarb, sugar, flour, zest, and salt. Mix the ingredients briefly by tossing them as you would a salad. Scrape the fruit into the pastry-lined pie tin. Dot the fruit with the butter and cover it with the top crust. Trim and crimp the crust; chill the pie for 10 minutes in the freezer (CRAP! I knew I forgot a step!!!). Cut vent slits if not using a lattice and sprinkle the top crust lightly with sugar.

Bake the pie on a lipped baking sheet for 10 minutes, or until the crust looks dry, blistered and blonde. Turn the oven down to 375, and bake for at least 30 minutes more, or until the crust is golden brown and visible juices are thickened and bubble slowly through the slits in the top crust.

Cool the pie completely before cutting it, at least a few hours. Serve it at room temp.

Beef Tenderloin Pot Pie

We had beef tenderloin for Christmas dinner here in Michigan. An herb-crusted tenderloin in the oven, cheesy scalloped potatoes and steamed broccoli with the caramel apple cake for desert. Yum.

Tonight we took the leftover tenderloin and combined it with some other things into a pot pie. Chris and I chopped up some potatoes, carrots and celery and sauteed them until they were mostly done. Chris made a roux and added beef stock and cream to get a rich beef gravy. We put the veggies and the meat into a deep dish pie plate, topped it with some frozen peas, poured the gravy on top of that, and then topped the whole thing with the Pastry Queen pot pie crust, which is so user-friendly that even the pie-crust-challenged like me can manage it just fine. Okay... just fine might be a bit of a stretch, I had to take a break in the middle and walk away before I threw the whole mess away, but it's still a super-easy, super flaky and yummy pie crust -- just look at the picture and you can see... I'm just inept at pie crust.

Tomorrow morning we're going to take the leftover meat and veggie mixture and scramble it with some eggs for a hash. Nothing better than using leftovers in creative and yummy ways. :)

Key Lime Pie

Greg requested Key Lime Pie for his birthday which I felt good about making since it uses a graham cracker crust and not an evil pastry crust. Okay, actually I agreed to make the pie thinking I would have to make a pastry crust, therefore I was really relieved when I found a recipe for key lime pie in my America's Test Kitchen book and it called for a graham cracker crust.

A word about the America's Test Kitchen if you are not familiar with the books or the t.v. program. The show is on PBS (not sure if it's still on or not) and it approaches food and cooking from a very science-y perspective. In the books they look at what makes a recipe work and why. They experiment with regional variations, as well as simple equipment and ingredient variations to discover what makes the best recipe and then they explain what they did, why they did it and what the results were. It's not the first book we turn to for every night cooking, and I wasn't actually looking for a key lime pie recipe when I was flipping through it the other day -- I was just flipping through it because I haven't in a while and I wanted to refresh my gnat-like memory on what was in there.

I'm not going to go into all the details about the key lime pie recipe -- it goes on for several pages -- but a couple of things they found was that there was no discernible flavor difference between key limes and regular limes, so they recommend regular limes because they're bigger and easier to zest and juice. They also went into details about how and why the lime juice reacts with the sweetened condensed milk and various techniques for mixing the lime portions. All-in-all -- very cool books for anyone interested in the science of food.

I will also say (as I'm sure you can see from the picture) that I had a little fun with the whipped cream just because I now own the piping bags and tips and I could. (well, that and the ATK book said that you could either spread the whipped cream on top with a spatula or pipe it on to make it pretty -- I decided to try pretty.)

Ingredients:

Lime filling:
4 tsp grated zest plus 1/2 cup strained juice from 3 or 4 limes
4 large egg yolks
1 (14-oz) can sweetened condensed milk

Graham Cracker Crust:
11 full size graham crackers, processed to fine crumbs (1 1/4 cups)
3 tbsp granulated sugar
5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Whipped Cream
1 1/2 cups heavy cream, chilled
1 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar

For the filling: Whisk zest and yolks in medium bowl until tinted light green, about 2 minutes. Beat in milk then juice; set aside at room temp to thicken.

For the Crust: Preheat oven to 325. Mix crumbs and sugar in medium bowl. Add butter; stir with fork until well blended. Press crumbs evenly into a 9-inch pie pan. Refrigerate pie plate for 20 minutes to firm crumbs. Bake until lightly browned and fragrant, about 15 minutes. Transfer pan to wire rack; cool to room temp about 20 minutes.

Pour lime filling into crust; bake until center is set yet wiggly when jiggled, 15 to 17 minutes. Return pie to wire rack; cool to room temp. Refrigerate until well chilled, at least 3 hours.

For Whipped Cream: Combine heavy cream and sugar in the chilled bowl of an electric mixer and beat until firm peaks form. (okay -- the book goes into a lot of detail about why you chill the bowl and how to tell when firm peaks form -- I don't feel like typing all that so I leave you to your own devices to figure that out... I usually ask Chris when I'm in doubt....)

Use a spatula to spoon the whipped cream over top of the filling, or use a pastry bag to attempt a pretty whipped cream topping. :)

Blueberry Disaster (Pie)

I had a request for Blueberry Pie the other day and I accepted the challenge gracefully. After all, I suspected that the primary problem with the crust was that I was adding too much water and the only way to get better was lots of practice. I confidently bought some frozen blueberries and planned my attack. What I failed to plan for of course was losing internet access for the majority of the weekend, which left me with few resources to double-check baking times since I was using frozen berries instead of fresh.

*Shrug* I could still manage... I had faith!

The crust was a disaster from the beginning. I used the Dorie Greenspan recipe that I have had the *most* success with and I used my experience with previous disasters (a.k.a. crusts) to carefully add the water. However, I think I went a bit overboard and didn't add enough water. The crust had trouble coming together, and when I tried to roll it out (after an overnight rest in the fridge) it started out fine, but ended up ripping in a couple of places. I thought it would be okay -- that it would swell while baking and the rip would be less noticeable. I was wrong. It didn't help that I forgot to add the butter to the top of the pie so I had to peal the top crust back and throw it on there in a hurry.

I did give a piece of pie to the person who requested it -- and she said it tasted great with a little honey. It helped that she doesn't like crust all that much and that we agreed to call it blueberry cobbler... Stupid pie.

I'm not going to bother with the recipes at this point... well, unless someone really wants them. But why pass on disasters when I have so many other recipes to write about and a few days to make up?

Thanksgiving Pot Pies

To use the last of our Thanksgiving leftovers Chris and I decided to do something at least a teensy bit more interesting than turkey sandwiches... we made pot pies. This had to be one of the easiest meals we've put together and it was very good. Chris shredded the turkey and stirred it up with the last of the stuffing and some of the gravy. I put the crust ingredients into the food processor, made the crust and rolled it out. We put the turkey/stuffing mixture into 10 oz ramekins and cut some crust to go over the top. Then we threw them in the oven at 375 for about 25 minutes.

I used the pot pie crust recipe from the Pastry Queen and I can definitely see using it again. The last time we made pot pies we used a butter pie crust and it seemed a touch greasy. This crust was flavorful and had a light, airy texture from the cream cheese. It was also super easy and not finicky at all which makes it hands down superior to a regular pie crust. The crust rounds just rested on the edges of the cups and when we pulled them out of the oven they lifted right off. We will certainly repeat this recipe with variations on the fillings. The great thing about pot pies, is just about any combination of savory meat/veggie fillings will work perfectly.

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter
3 cups all purpose flour
10 ounces chilled cream cheese
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground white pepper
1 large egg

Preheat the oven to 375. Cut the butter into 16 pieces. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, pulse the butter and flour until crumbly. Add the cream cheese, salt, and white pepper. Continue pulsing just until the dough forms a ball.

Set the dough on a flat surface dusted with flour. Use a floured rolling pin to roll the dough out to 1/4-inch thick. Measure the diameter of the pot pie bowls and cut dough rounds that are 1 1/2 inches larger in diameter. Whisk egg in a small bowl. Lay the dough rounds on top of the pot pie, making sure the dough hangs evenly over each bowl. Brush the dough lightly with the beaten egg. Bake the pies for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown. Serve immediately.

Chocolate and Coconut Pecan Tart

Way back in 2001 the ex and I hosted our first Thanksgiving feast at our house. We were emerging as foodies at the time, but of course Thanksgiving is a whole new level of chaos and features recipes that are only made a couple of times a year. Luckily, we subscribed to Bon Appetit, and the Thanksgiving issue that year was particularly good. Yes it was a mess, and there were near misses and a few utter misses, but the food was edible, some of it quite yummy, and the company was good.

I have been incredibly lucky in the years since to share Thanksgiving with one of my oldest and best friends and her husband --Lindsay and Randy who are also foodies that take great pleasure in finding new recipes and sharing food with friends. The three of us, and the others who have come and gone over the years, have collaborated on a number of recipes and enjoy being in the kitchen cooking together -- especially on Thanksgiving. The stuffing they made yesterday was fantastic and I will probably want that recipe for future Thanksgivings, especially considering I have never liked stuffing all that much. Lindsay also made a gorgeous apple pie -- a feat I have yet to accomplish -- with a perfect crust and nicely spiced apples. (yes, that's envy in my tone...)

The funny thing about Thanksgiving is that there are always a few recipes that just have to be on the table in order to make it feel right. I'm a turkey person and just don't think Thanksgiving would be right without a roasted turkey. Buttermilk biscuits, mashed taters and gravy and some form of fresh green beans are also available pretty much every year. At least two recipes from that first Thanksgiving I hosted though have made an appearance in almost every feast after that -- the cranberry sauce cooked in red zinfandel, and the absurdly sweet chocolate, coconut and pecan tart.

This tart is probably the sweetest recipe I have every made -- usually eliciting a jaw aching, teeth clenching, oh my god I can't believe something that sweet can be that good sort of reaction. There is not only 1 cup of light corn syrup in the filling, but also 3/4 cup of brown sugar. It is basically a super sweet pecan pie filling, with lots of chocolate chips and coconut. The chocolate chips probably cut some of the sweetness, but they don't really do much. It is amazingly good, but only in very, very small portions.

I actually wasn't going to make the tart this year though because the crust is such a pain in the ass. In the past, before I had enough experience with tart/pie crusts, this crust has brought me to tears as I attempted to make it work. This year, Chris helped me and we just fudged our way through. The crust calls for two egg yolks as the liquid ingredients -- but it is rarely enough. We added milk a half teaspoon at a time to bring it together, but even then we were kind of guessing. It still looked like a dry chocolate powder and flour mixture sitting in the bowl, but if you clumped it together it would stay clumped so we just pressed it into the tart pan and baked it. I really need to find a new tart crust to use with the filling when I make it again -- for now though, here is the recipe, as printed in Bon Appetit. You can also find it online on epicurious...

Ingredients

Crust
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 large egg yolks


Filling
1 cup light corn syrup
3/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (6 ounces) miniature semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons shredded unsweetened coconut
1 1/2 cups (about 7 ounces) pecan halves, toasted

Preparation

For crust:
Preheat oven to 375°F. Whisk flour, cocoa, sugar, and salt in large bowl to blend. Add butter; rub in with fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Whisk yolks in small bowl to blend; add to flour mixture. Stir until moist clumps form. Gather dough into ball; press over bottom and up sides of 11-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Bake crust until set, about 15 minutes. Cool while preparing filling. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F.

For filling:
Blend corn syrup, sugar, and butter in medium bowl. Whisk in eggs, vanilla, and salt. Stir in 1/2 cup chocolate chips, 3/4 cup coconut, and pecans. Pour filling into prepared crust.

Bake tart until filling is set and golden brown on top, about 40 minutes. Place tart on rack. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup chocolate chips evenly around edge of warm tart. Let stand just until chips soften, about 5 minutes. Using small spatula, spread chocolate to form 1-inch border around edge of tart. Sprinkle chocolate border with remaining 3 tablespoons coconut. Cool completely. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover loosely with foil; let stand at room temperature.)

Florida Pie

Florida pie, isn't a very clear title but it's basically a coconut cream pie on a graham cracker crust, with key lime "custard" poured on top of the cream base and topped with meringue. This pie marks a number of firsts for me -- first time I made a coconut cream pie, first time I used key limes and the first time I made meringue... at least the coconut cream and the key limes worked out for me...

The meringue didn't turn out horribly, but I wasn't thrilled with the whole process. Whisk the egg whites and the sugar in a pan on the stove until hot, then put them into the mixer and whisk some more until they have stiff peaks. They smelled "egg-y" when I was finished with all the whisking, and there were some liquid-y spots that I didn't put on top of the pie. But the meringue tasted okay and the rest of it looked okay. We turned the broiler on and Chris watched the meringue very carefully to make sure it didn't burn, but in the time it took him to open the oven and pull the pie out -- the meringue had turned from nice golden, perfect brown, to slightly charred looking. It still tastes great, but very annoying. Next time, we're totally using a hand-held blow torch. Just as soon as we get around to buying one again...

This was not a quick recipe to make either. I made my graham cracker crust which had to bake and cool before we could use it. You also need to bake and then chill the custard/lime mixture which is at least another hour and a half. The meringue pissed me off right from the beginning when I managed to spill 3 egg whites on the floor after I bumped the bowl I was putting them in. The meringue takes another 15-20 minutes to make, then the whole thing has to be chilled again for another 30 minutes before serving. Totally worth it, and not really all that difficult, just time consuming.

I pulled this recipe from the Dorie Greenspan book when I was looking for a way to use some key limes. I originally thought I would make a more traditional key lime pie, but this looked too tempting to pass on. The coconut cream is sweet and full of great coconut flavor and the lime adds a nice tart contrast. The graham cracker crust is of course wonderful -- it seems you can hardly go wrong when there is a graham cracker crust involved.

Ingredients:

1 9-inch graham cracker crust, fully baked and cooled, or a store bought one
1 1/3 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups shredded sweetened coconut
4 large eggs, separated
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup fresh Key (or regular) lime juice (from about 5 regular limes)
1/4 cup sugar

Getting Ready: Preheat the oven to 350. Put the pie plate on a baking sheet lined with parchment or with a silicone mat.

Put the cream and 1 cup of the coconut in a small saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium-low heat, stirring almost constantly. Continue to cook and stir until the cream is reduced by half and the mixture is slightly thickened. Scrape the coconut cream into a bowl and set it aside while you prepare the lime filling.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the egg yolks on high speed until thick and pale. Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in the condensed milk. Still on low, add half of the lime juice. When it is incorporated, add the remaining lime juice, again mixing until it is blended. Spread the coconut cream in the bottom of the graham cracker crust, and pour over the lime filling.

Bake the pie for 12 minutes. Transfer the pie to a cooling rack and cool for 15 minutes, then freeze the pie for at least 1 hour.

To finish the pie with meringue: Preheat the broiler.

Put the 4 egg whites and the sugar in a medium heavy bottomed saucepan and heat over medium-low heat, whisking all the while, until the whites are hot to the touch. Transfer the whites to a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or use a hand mixer in a large bowl, and beat the whites at high speed until they reach room temp and hold firm peaks. Using a rubber spatula, fold the remaining 1/2 cup coconut into the meringue.

Spread the meringue over the top of the pie and run the pie under the broiler until the top of the meringue is golden brown. (Or, if you've got a blowtorch, you can use it to brown the meringue.) Return the pie to the freezer for another 30 minutes or up to 3 hours before serving.

Chicken Pot Pie

Chris does most of the cooking in the house, leaving the baking up to me. Occasionally though, we pair up for a meal. Last night Chris made a chicken and rice soup. He used a whole, cut-up chicken in a big pot with chicken stock, water, carrots, rice, rosemary, thyme, sage and a touch of cayenne. He boiled that for an hour, then pulled the chicken out, took the meat off the bones and threw the meat back in there. It was fantastic for dinner, and for lunch today. He mentioned at some point though that it reminded him of a chicken pot pie... which of course got both of us to thinking about dinner for tonight.



It just so happened that I had a pie crust all ready to go in the fridge... this was the pie crust I made the other day in an attempt to redeem the plastic texture of the pumpkin pie, and I was just waiting for some inspiration to use it. Chicken pot pie was certainly inspiring. Chris made a roux, then heated the soup up and mixed the roux in. I rolled out my pie crust, we poured the soup mix into a small casserole dish, put the rolled out pie crust on top and threw it in the oven. Adapting some instructions in my book Bubby's Pies, we baked it for 8 minutes at 450, then for 10 minutes at 350. It was fantastic. Rich and flavorful, the crust wasn't as flaky was I would have liked (still have to work on that), but it did not have the plastic texture that I hate (maybe the food processor is the way to go), and it tasted great. We are definitely going to be making pot pies again. YUM.

Pie crust is my arch enemy

If I had to choose a recipe that I feel like I should be able to master as a fairly accomplished baker it would be pie crust. Pie crust has driven me to tears before and I have loudly proclaimed my surrender on more than one occasion. However, the strawberry rhubarb pie I made this summer made me think I could do it. That recipe was a very good attempt -- not perfect, but pretty damn close all the same. So I bought a book called Bubby's Homemade Pies and I started my adventures with pie crusts once again. The descriptions in the book of how the pie dough should look and feel at each step in the process are incredibly easy to understand and I started my first crust with confidence. I even took Bubby's advice and made it all by hand, since that's the time-honored way to do it -- no food processor for me! The first all-butter crust I made was flaky and tasted good, but had the disturbing texture of plastic. Presumably I did something wrong, but for the life of me I don't know if it was over mixing, too much water, warm ingredients or a combination of all three.

I attempted another one last night for a pumpkin pie. The whole process was pretty much a disaster. It seemed to be going well through the mixing and rolling out stages -- which are usually pretty traumatic -- but I forgot to line the crust with foil before pre-baking it and I forgot to put it on a rimmed baking sheet to catch all the butter dripping off the edges. The smoke boiling out of the stove when I pulled the pie from the oven nearly drove us out of the house, and I had to throw the whole mess away because of the rice stuck to the bottom. I tasted the beautifully golden brown edge though and the plastic texture was still there.

So for my next attempt I tried a Rebecca Rather all-butter crust recipe from The Pastry Queen. I used the same mixing techniques though and while the plastic texture was less pronounced on the finished product -- the whole thing was tough and chewy, even though the flavor was still pretty good. Nothing like using a serrated knife to saw through the crust on the edge of the pan...

I'm going to use the same Rebecca Rather recipe and mix it in the food processor -- see if that helps any with the texture. And after that I'm going to start playing with shortening/butter pie crusts and see if I can make one of those pie crusts work.

Stupid pie crust. And I don't even like pie...