The Peach Pie Experiment

This post may be getting published in March, but I actually conducted my experiment in February.  That matters because it makes the title a lie...let me explain.

As you can probably imagine, I pay the greatest amount of attention to the Facebook posts that involve food.  Several months ago a post popped up from PBS on state foods.  The original article was written a few years ago and features only a few states, but it was enough to inspire a desire to see if I could come up with dishes that incorporated all the states' foods.  

Now, when you decide to embark on such a ridiculous quest, the only place to start is at the top (the top of the alphabet, that is).  Therefore, we have Alabama with it's state nut, state fruit, and state tree fruit - pecan, blackberry, and peach.  Enter in the lie...

It's February when I finally decide to make my secret food quest a reality.  Do you know what is wrong with this scenario?  You can't actually find peaches in the store yet.  However, fear not, you can find nectarines.  Obviously, they are not the same thing, but honestly who of us does not see the nectarine and the peach as basically interchangeable?  

Poor sad fruits, never getting any of the glory entirely on their own.  What are you going to do? Well, I couldn't be distracted by egotistical fruit while I was on a mission, so into my cart the nectarines went.  Next came the blackberries.  Finally, the pecans and my trifecta was complete.  Wait until you see what I did with these guys.

Peach Nectarine Pie with a Blackberry Oatmeal Crust

Ingredients:

2 c. quick oats

12 oz. blackberries

1 c. sugar

1 lb nectarines - sliced

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 c. crushed pecans

1/2 c. light brown sugar

1/2 c. flour

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

4 Tbsp butter - diced and cold

Directions:

Making the Crust:  In a sauce pan over medium heat, heat the blackberries until they begin to plump and break, allowing the juice to flow out.  Be careful not to overheat the fruit.  Strain the fruit through a mesh strainer.  You will need to help the process along with a spoon.  Strain fruit until you have a 1/2 cup of juice.

Because this is what the cool kids do with their Sundays.

Pour the juice back into the sauce pan and add the sugar.  Heat until the sugar dissolves completely.  In a mixing bowl, mix the juice and oats.  Once the oats are completely coated, press into a greased 9 inch pie dish.

Look at that color!

Bake the crust for 15 minutes in an oven preheated to 350F.

Preparing the Filling:  While the crust bakes, slice your nectarines.  You only need a pound, which should be about 3 good sized nectarines.  In a large mixing bowl, toss them with the lemon juice and cinnamon.

Once the crust is ready, add the filling.  I decided to be an overachiever and arranged the slices as neatly as I could.

Making the Topping:  The only thing left to do is make the crumble topping.  Mix the butter with the crushed pecans, brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon.  Sprinkle onto the pie.

Doesn't look like much yet, but just you wait!

Bake for 40 minutes at 350F.  Slice and serve!

I just love the colors of this pie!  The nectarines held up pretty well during baking so they are still a bit firm when you bit into them.  The crust is sweet, but not overpowering.  The flavor of the nectarines really shine through.  It is just such a different way to combine these flavors, I really enjoyed creating this one.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Sweet Potato and Apple Casserole

This casserole goes down in the win column and my friends who partook of it at Friendsgiving agreed.  I always get a little nervous though when I serve food to others.  It's an irrational nervousness, I do realize that.  I've been cooking long enough and have a good sense of things that go well together, but there is always that chance that something comes out wrong.  And, if you have read my post about cooking with my father, you already know that me, cooking with orange juice, is a bit of a mixed bag, and this recipe called for juice of an orange.  I'm already feeling the cold sweats of fear as I imagine all the ways that OJ in the oven could cause a sticky smelly disaster.  But, as we have all figured out by now, I survived to tell the tale and bested yet another one of Maria Luisa's recipes.

What I like most about this recipe is its simplicity...sweet potatoes, apples, and orange juice.  That is really all you need.  There is a sweetener and spice thrown into the recipe as well, but those are not essential.  The standout flavor comes from the three ingredients I just listed and it's wonderful.  Maria Luisa did suggest adding liquor, but I decided that was unnecessary.  She also put this recipe in the Dessert and Candy chapter of her cookbook, which I decided was stupid.  Therefore, ignoring the alcohol addition was easy.  I might have considered it IF, IF, she had added it before baking.  She suggested sprinkling on Jamaica rum or kirsch before serving.  A) That's gross and adds nothing.  B) I was taking this to a pot luck where children would be dining with us, so no. C) Kirsch?! I'm not really sure why she wants us growing hair in unnecessary places.  Feel like getting crazy and throwing in an ounce of rum with the orange juice and then baking?  Go for it.  That would probably taste good...but after? No.

Setting aside Maria Luisa's general level of ridiculousness, this is a great recipe.  It's also a good beginner level recipe.  The ability to slice and peel is as skilled as you need to be.  Though, as I am writing this I am remembering a day when a dear dear friend of mine proved that peeling a potato does indeed require skill.  I stood, in abject horror, watching her massacre a normally hearty russet potato.  Before she could demoralize Mr. Russet any further, I yanked him from her grasp and told her that if she wanted to help, she could pour the wine.  Things worked much better in the kitchen after that.  As long as you are not her, you can make this recipe easy peasy.

Sweet Potatoes and Apples

Dolce di Patate e Mele

Ingredients:

2 lbs. sweet potatoes

3 apples - peeled, cored, and sliced fairly thin

Sugar and nutmeg - enough to sprinkle on as directed

Juice of 1 1/2 oranges

2 Tbsp butter - melted

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325F.  Boil the sweet potatoes in water until tender, about 20 minutes.  When they are done, drain, let them cool for a bit, and then peel.  Peeling sweet potatoes is super easy and should not even require a peeler.  The skins will come off right in your hands.

Cut the sweet potatoes into slices, approximately 1/2 inch thick.  You will create the casserole in layers, in a buttered baking dish, starting with the sweet potatoes,

then adding the apples,

and then sprinkling on some sugar and nutmeg.

In total, I probably used about 1/4 cup of sugar and a single teaspoon of nutmeg.  Keep repeating until you have used all of the sweet potatoes and apples.  I ended up with three layers of each.  Finish with a sprinkling of sugar and nutmeg.

Then, pour the juice and melted butter over the top.

Place in the oven to bake for 30 minutes.

Yea, I had this vision of a dark brown and bubbly something but that's not what you get here.  The time in the oven is really just meant to soften the apple slices.  It tastes phenomenal and smells even better as it cooks, that I promise you.  If autumn could be captured in a pan, it would be this.