Pies and other joys

Well it has been a while....where is the pie!

2011-09-27T13:20:00.000-07:00

Way too many months and miles between posts. Quite a bit of changes from January and not enough pie. Pecan pie has been on my brain for the last few weeks, so the next pie I make will be the pecan from the Joy of
Cooking book. My favorite and has yet to let me down. I will admit to changing out the vanilla for bourbon flavor or rum flavor, cooking it a bit longer to make it less like pudding and more like candy!!
Oh, also, very important, pre cook the pie crust bottom for about 7-10 min at 400, not to crisp, but just a bit cooked, makes all the difference in the end result.

More pie talk later,
Alice K

Learning about Gluten Free pie crust and baking

2011-01-28T10:00:00.000-08:00

I guess we all have to evolve, but good grief, this feels like starting over. Talk about hard as a rock pie crusts!! Anyone with a killer gluten free pie crust that rivals regular crust, please share !!

Kisses and hugs in advance for your help, the pie lady...

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Gone Bad

2010-05-24T22:10:00.000-07:00

So people tell me all the time, your pies are so perfect, doesn't anything ever go wrong??? OK, how about the oven doesn't heat. Miss busy here set the oven temp to 375, popped the pie in (yes before it came up to temp) and went on about my business......about 1 1/2 hours later, hmmmm I don't smell the pie!!! (my way to time it) The oven never heated up!!!! That was on a Thursday afternoon.....called the service guy, sure, we'll be out Friday afternoon.....so I put the pie in the fridge, gambling it would be OK, maybe...

Friday comes, he says the oven is fine, it is just not getting the right amount of electricity,, WHAT?? OK, you know me, so I ask, how does that happen over night, it worked fine yesterday....he doesn't know, but not anything he can do, call the electrician, so I call my trusty electrician, he can't come until Monday, which turns into Tuesday (needless to say, by this time the pie is toast, no pun intended) Kate, the daughter says we should have taken it to a neighbors oven...well, since I never can seem to make strawberry rhubarb pie that does not juice everywhere and wanted to still have my neighbors speaking to me, that didn't happen.

End of story, the electrician turned everything off, checked all the connections, turned everything back on and $40 later, the oven worked fine.....reminded me of the IT support guys at work "turn the computer off, wait ten minutes then turn it back on" fixed it every time !!

New week, since the baked potatoes came out fine, I'm trying the strawberry rhubarb pie again this Friday to take for a group of folks all participating in a pasta cooking class : http://www.soulfoodfarm.com/classes.html after that, pie might be welcome to close the afternoon with.
As I cook, I'll measure it out for you and re post the recipe later....Happy cooking, Alice K

We are apple pied out, what about a Brownie?

2010-02-26T15:36:00.001-08:00

Not really being a chocolate affecionado, I rarely think of baking anything chocolate, but for some reason, the rainy day, the wind, the cozy blanket with my book? A brownie just sounded delicious.
Well, I always keep powered cocoa in the cubbard, don't you? The great stand-by Hershey's Cocoa Powder, they have a great brownie recipie on the box. Not sure if you can ruin it, just watch the cooking time, you don't want them "too" done. I split mine in half and put vanilla ice cream in between, yum yum!! Have fun......

I took this right off of the Hershey website:
http://www.hersheys.com/recipes/ I typed in Hershey's Best Brownies in the search box !! Thank you Hershey's cocoa!!

Ingredients:1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine

2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

4 eggs

3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa or HERSHEY'S SPECIAL DARK Cocoa

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup chopped nuts(optional)

Directions:1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 13x9x2-inch baking pan.

2. Place butter in large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at MEDIUM (50%) 2 to 2-1/2 minutes or until melted. Stir in sugar and vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well with spoon after each addition. Add cocoa; beat until well blended. Add flour, baking powder and salt; beat well. Stir in nuts, if desired. Pour batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Frost if desired. Cut into bars. About 36 brownies.

The Pie Spirit hits: Cherry Pie

2010-01-02T10:46:00.000-08:00

My dear friend Kay Ward is coming for a visit. What a blessing it is to have friends that remember when you used repurpose frozen orange juice cans to roll your hair up in, after all, it did produce the best loose curls !!
Besides the fact that both Kate and I are longing for cherry pie, I am making it for a late night snack tonight while we are catching up.

2 - 24 oz jars of Dark Morello Cherries (Trader Joe's carries a product from Germany, in light syrup), I have used "red tart cherries" packed in water, fresh red tart cherries picked right from the tree.
1/2 -3/4 cup of the juice from the cherries
1 1/4 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of instant tapioca
1/4 - 1/2 t of almond extract
Very small Pinch of salt

Ok, I measure out the cherry juice first. If you are making deep dish, you may want up to a cup of the juice. Sorry to say this is to taste, some like their pies really juicy (use more juice) some like their pies so you can cut a piece and it looks like a picture in a cook book. I like it somewhere in between.

Add the instant tapioca to the juice, this needs to sit and get soft, about 15 mins will do it. About the time it takes you to pinch the cherries and make the crust !!

Drain the remainder of the cherries, I do this one jar at a time. You then need to touch each cherry, pinch it a little, looking for pits, then toss it in the bowl with the juice. There is nothing worse than having a delicious bite of pie in your mouth and then crunching down on a cherry pit !! Need I say more?

Add the sugar, almond flavoring (this is also to taste, it might take a few pies for you to get the amount to where you like it. If you just hate almond flavoring, I guess you could use vanilla, I haven't, but if you do, probably add a shake or two of cinnimon. I somethimes add the cinnimon even with the almond.

Stir this up and set aside while you make the crust, top and bottom. I will admit to making my crust with a bit more shortning to make it "short" which means tender. Make sure to make a good sized steam hole in the center, about the size of a silver dollar. Then sprinkle the top of the pie with sugar, generously.

Bake at 375 F for about 45 min to 1 hour, until the top and bottom is golden brown.

This is a family favorite and never fails to please.

Holiday Pie Baking....or not

2009-12-27T13:32:00.000-08:00

This is the first holiday season that I did not bake at least one pie.....for some reason the pie spirit did not call on me, but let me say, I did dig up a great persimmon pudding (more cake like than pudding) recipe from Gramma Kirk, well it was to die for.....

Sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, cloves, ginger and allspice:

• 1 1/2 C all purpose flour ( I use unbleached white)

• 1 1/2 t baking soda

• 1/2 t cinnamon ( I do fudge a bit and add extra for the cinnamon, cloves and allspice)

• 1/4 t each: salt, cloves, ginger and allspice

Set aside to be added later to the wet ingredients

Now, in a large bowl, whisk together:

• 1 1/2 cups pureed persimmon pulp (ok it says from 3 ripe persimmons, mine were very small, it ended up being 2 cups and worked great, I just scrape the pulp out with a spoon or dull knife) remember this fruit must be on the verge of "way too ripe" to be edible.

• 1 C of Sugar

• 1/2 C melted unsalted butter ( I have used salted on occasion)

Now whisk in

• 2 eggs - room temprature

• 3 T brandy

• 2 t vanilla extract

• 2 t lemon juice

Slowly add dry ingredients, stir "just to blend", that means do not beat it to death !!!

Now add: 1/2 cup raisin, I like the golden ones, but regular will work

1/2 cup chopped walnuts, can be left out, but really adds to the pudding !

Now I line two bread bans with parchment paper (butter pan lightly first to make the paper stick) or generously butter a 2-quart pudding mold ( since I don't even know what this would look like, I use the bread pans)

Pour the batter into the pans evenly, I gently bang (ok that is a contradiction in terms, but even so, do it) the pan on the counter to even out the batter and burst any air bubbles. I then get my large glass-baking dish, 9x13 or so, set the bread pans in it, a little space in between, then carefully add heated water to the glass-baking dish to about 1 inch from top of glass dish. Cover loosely with aluminum foil. The point is to steam the pudding.

• The recipe did not indicate an oven temperature, I used 350 F for about 75 min. It does say "cover and steam for 1 1/2 hours adjusting heat to maintain a steady simmer. I checked it at 60 min, but it was not even close to being done.

• After removing from the oven, let pudding rest in "mold" 5 min ( I let it sit about an hour, with the parchment paper lining, it is easy to lift out)

This is traditionally served with Bourbon Hard Sauce, so it says, although we just eat it, sometimes with whipped cream.

Good luck, I have made this for years with many different recipes, I think it came out best this year.

Apple pie, a slight twist

2009-10-14T23:06:00.000-07:00

Made apple pie last weekend using Marti's apples, not sure if Liam picked them, added cloves and nutmeg, yummmm. Alice K

Alice's pie crust, plus commentary

2009-09-29T20:19:00.000-07:00

OK, Liz is right, where is the pie crust recipie !!!

down and dirty: enough for two crust 9-10 inch pie - this is exactly what the recipe calls for out of the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, vintage 1970, I stopped measuring years ago and I'll give a few alternative hints

2 cups unbleached white flour
3/4 Crisco, (white, not butter flavored) (I know, but this is what works best)
1 teaspoon salt
10 Tablespoons of ice water

Ok here goes,

I DO measure the flour and salt, stir together before you add the shortning.....
Shortning, ok, I have been know to have Crisco shipped from the states to new zealand to make pies for Cheryle !! Tom Barton still reminds me that it was $64. That is how much I like the way the crust comes out with it. I have been know to reduce the shortning a bit and add a few tablespoon of butter, usually when I am at the bottom of the crisco can. Depending on the weather, if you get too much shortning in your mix, the dough will be what we call "short", it will be so soft, you won't be able to pick it up to put it into the pan. It takes practice to get it just right. I usually put a little less than the 3/4 cup and add to the flour as I cut it in.

cut shortning into flour with a cutter (has several slender bars, half circle, sound familar? or two knives. I know some recipes call for you to pinch the shortning and flour with our fingers, but I find it gets too warm, ruins the dough

water: sprinke the water as you stir with a table knife, rotate bowl while you stir and sprinkle, less is better, stop when the dough starts to cling together, there should not be very much dry mixture on the bottom of the bowl.
Now the trick, when the dough is moist, don't start making balls!!! Just kind of seperate it into two sections, about a little more than 1/2 for the bottom crust. Gently press the larger lump together in your hands, shape gently like you would a hamburger patty. Just enough to hold it together.
I use a cotton cloth to roll out the dough, I have found it just works the best for me. It is pretty heavy, like canvas weight, and I only wash it if cherry juice etc makes it icky. Flour liberly, about 1/4 - 1/3 cup, sprinkle around larger than the size of your pie dish
Put the lump of dough in the middle, press down with your rolling pin, I usually do about 4 from front to back, turn the pin, and do it the other way, then start rolling away from you in a "V" pattern, think of your belly button as the starting place, roll from the bottom of the "V" to the left, on the edge of the crust to the top, pressing very gently, don't put too much pressure on the crust, now keep up the pattern as you go to the right, then turn the crust around, and do it again until the crust is large enough for your pan
Crust can be as thick as you like it, the thicker the crust , the longer you have to cook the pie, I usually have it a little thicker than a CD.
fold in half then, again, it will look like a triangle - Pick it up, take the "V" apart, so it is a half circle, place the folden part in the center of the pan, unfold towards you, gently, I reach my hands in and under so the majority of your hands are inside the crust, flip gently towards you and manuver it into the pan
there should be a little hangover all around the edges
pour your pie filling into the pan, dot with butter if it is called for
roll out the top crust - follow same process as #8 then cut vents, I cut out the "V" about 1/2 inch makes a nice circle, then a few slits close to the circles on the folded sides
I also sprinkle the top generously with white sugar, makes the top great

Most of you don't know that I made a lot of bad pies before this process seemingly produced consistantly perfect pies, so don't get discouraged, just get some good tasting buddies, or throw it to the pigs.

Let me know how it goes.....

Hello from LakeLady

2009-09-26T18:54:00.000-07:00

Well for the first post I'll just say that pie for breakfast is a good thing and in moderation, will be appreciated by all. When my kids were young and going to three different schools, sometimes left over pie and a glass of milk had more appeal than cold ceral....they all grew up to be strong and healthy.

Pie of the day, apple, . use your favorite pie crust
I use a 6-8 cup mixing bowl
Step one:

6-8 med sized apples (mix up the types of apples, sweet and tart)

Peal, core then quarter each apple (I'm going to assume you know how to do this). Each quarter then should be sliced into small triangle, about 1/8 of an inch, not too thin, so instead of long ways , cut the quarter the short way, across the width, does that make sense? Maybe I'll have to get a web cam and send a pic for you... anyway, once you have about 4-5 cups of apples sliced, for a nine inch pie

Step 2:

1 cup of sugar
2-3 Tablespoons of white unbleached flour or corn starch
1/4-1/3 cup of juice or water (see comments below)
1/4- 1/2 teaspoon of cinnimon
several grates of nutmeg fresh or less than 1/8 teaspoon
small pinch of salt
several grates of fresh ground pepper or VERY small pinch

mix in a two cup measure cup, the sugar, now if you like a really tart pie or have really sweet apples, just adjust it to taste, the 2-3 tablespoons of either flour or corn starch, I have mixed it half and half when I have been short either one, and it works fine. Once you have all the dry ingrediants in the cup, stir in the juice or water with a table knife, not a spoon. Now this is the trick, you need about 1/4 - 1/3 cup of a tart juice (I love using a Tangelo for the juice, but you can use a med size orange or lemon) It should be thick like a slurry, not soupy. Mix it good, then pour it over the apples and gently stir.
Let it sit on the apples while you make or prep the crust.
Pour the apples into the bottom crust, dot with 6 small dots of salted butter about 1/2 teaspoon per dot,
cover with top crust, make sure the sides are sealed and there is ample "steam" slits or holes towards the middle of the top crust.

I generously sprinkly white sugar all over the top and bake in a 350-375 degree oven, if you bake at 375, keep a close watch at about 40 min. At 350, it takes over an hour, but you usually come out with a great bottom crust, I do always use a glass pie dish, the pie just seems to come out better....well good luck, next time we'll talk pie crust.