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!

Pork Shepard's Pie

I feel confident stating we've all had experiences with Sheppard's Pie, that layered concoction of ground beef, mixed veggies, and mashed potatoes.  At its core, it's sort of amazing.  All the necessary food groups in a single dish, so if you are in a rush or not someone who likes getting crazy in the kitchen then it's perfect.  Brown some meat, move it into a 9x13, throw a bag or two of frozen mixed vegetables on top, finish with mashed potatoes.  I would even argue it's better to use the dehydrated flakes for this dish, which makes life that much simpler.  Pop it in the oven and 30 minutes later you have dinner. 

Most would say you shouldn't mess with perfection. So why mess with the basic Sheppard's Pie?  Well...because I can.  I had roasted a pork shoulder, which is maybe not the wisest choice when you are cooking for one.  You end up with POUNDS of pork in the fridge.  At that point you need to get creative with ways to use up a lot at once.  I stood in the middle of my kitchen and did a 360, evaluating everything I already had at my disposal... pork, about 3 pounds of potatoes, and an assortment of frozen and fresh vegetables....hmmmm.

It sounds like I have at least two thirds of a Sheppard's Pie, but can you really make it with pork as opposed to beef?  Do I dare?  I ask myself this as I stare at a mountain of pork.  Oh do I ever dare!

 

Pork Sheppard's Pie

 

Ingredients:

 

4 c. cooked pork shoulder - diced

4 Tbsp butter
3 carrots - diced

1 medium onion - diced

2 celery stalks - diced

1/4 c. flour

2 c. chicken stock
1 c. frozen mixed vegetables
3 lbs. Russet potatoes
1/2 c. sour cream
Milk and butter as needed for potatoes

Directions:

In are large skillet, melt butter and saute onions over medium heat until softened, about 7 minutes.  Add carrots and celery, saute for an additional 7 minutes.

Add the flour and mix until you have that pasty brown concoction in your pan. Add the stock and mix until that paste is dissolved.  Add the pork and simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes.

When ready, transfer to a 9 x 13 casserole dish.  Shake the cup of frozen vegetables over the top.  Now, we switch to the mashed potatoes.  Peel and quarter the potatoes. Boil until they are tender, drain, and put back in pot.  Add milk, butter, and sour cream then mash together.  You will have a lot of mashed potatoes.

At this point you could just dump all of the mashed potatoes on top of everything else in the casserole dish then pat down with the back of a spoon.  However, I'm a rather particular individual.  I wanted an even layer and I didn't want to get the frozen veggies mixed into the potatoes.  Therefore, I went the uber fussy route.  I placed spoonfuls of potatoes down, one at a time, and gently created a thin layer of potatoes.  Then I dumped the remaining potatoes on top and patted it all down to create a flat top.  I told you, I'm particular.... with a dash of fussy.

When you are ready, pop this bad boy into an oven that has been heated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Bake for 30 minutes. 

Hungry yet?


Buttermilk Pie

When I pick up a book or turn on a movie or television show, it is most likely in the genre of supernatural/paranormal thriller.  I have been known, on more than a few occasions, to wait until midnight, triple check the door lock, turn off all the lights, and turn on a horror flick.  A little weird? Sure.  But, everyone gets to have their things and this one makes my list.

At the moment, I have been very nearly devouring any supernatural YA book series I can get my hands on.  My library card is working overtime now that it is summer. The current series I am reading, Beautiful Creatures, has a character - Amma - who has a penchant for making charms toward off evil and is also quite the baker.  If you saw last week's post you know that I am currently wishing I could have Amma make me a charm to ward off stupid mistakes in the kitchen!

Several times throughout the book it talks about her pies, including Buttermilk Pie.  Every time it was mentioned, I kept thinking to myself, "is this really a thing or did they just slap two words together and pretend."  So, I looked it up.  Buttermilk pie is a thing.  Apparently it originated in the United Kingdom and is now a staple of the American South.  My "investigation" also revealed that there are really only two ways to make buttermilk pie - with some zing and without.  With zing equals the use of lemon and a little nutmeg, which were the only variations to the basic recipe that I found.  It seems the recipe for Buttermilk Pie is pretty standard.

I was just going to use one of the online recipes and try the basic version to see what the fuss was all about until I came to the end of book one, finding that there were recipes included.  You bet I did a little happy jig in my seat.  This was a little treasure added to the digital versions.  The first book did not include the buttermilk pie recipe, but it was included in the second book.  What follows is that version.  I figured I had to use the book's recipe otherwise I was not being true to what originally inspired me to try it and obviously I would not want to anger Amma by eating anyone else's buttermilk pie.

Ingredients:

1 ½ c. granulated sugar

1 Tbsp flour

4 eggs

1 stick butter - melted

1 c. buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 unbaked 9 inch pie crust

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the sugar and flour.

Whisk in the eggs, one at a time.

Add the melted butter, buttermilk, and vanilla.  Mix well then pour the mixture into the pie shell

Bake for 60 minutes or until the top is lightly browned and the center is set.  There should be just a bit of jiggle when the pan is shaken.

Cool to room temperature before serving.

As you may have guessed, this is a super simple recipe with amazing results.  I brought it to work and I received rave reviews from my co-workers.  One even referred to it as sinful.  It is pretty sweet, so be warned, a thin slice goes a long way with this recipe.  Regardless, it's worth keeping in the recipe arsenal!

Experiment Gone Awry

I own what I have deemed as an absolutely ridiculous number of cookbooks, especially considering the fact that I rarely ever open one.  There are some I have never opened and I decided it was time to rectify that error.  The first cookbook I decided to try a recipe from was Paul Hollywood's Pies and Puds [and no, I'm not including the link because I think you should purchase it or use this particular retailer if you do, I just would not want to be accused of not giving appropriate credit...even though, yes, I think it's a worthy addition to the cookbook arsenal].

The recipe that peaked my interest the most was Hollywood's Temptation, which is an adaptation of Jansson's Temptation, a traditional Swedish recipe.  Of course I chose this recipe because it allowed me to combine my anglophile ways with my love of Alexander Skarsgard.  Honestly, how can you not love a man whose resume includes vampire and Tarzan?!  But I digress...

The original recipe calls for pickled sprats, which are a small bait fish in the herring family.  Paul modified his recipe and chose to use hot smoked salmon. I, for no other reason than because it's my recipe now and I can if I want to, decided to use beef instead of fish.  As a side note, bad idea, which we will discuss later.  I also added leafy greens so that this could become more of a one-dish meal.  I picked up two different greens at the farmers market and I knew they would add some really nice flavor to the dish.  The first was Lamb's Quarter, which has a similar flavor to spinach.  It's great either cooked or raw, though some people might find the hairy underside to be a bit of a turn-off.  It's not something you would detect when cooking but you know they are there when you are handling the leaves.  I also picked up some rainbow chard and decided it would add some nice color to the pie.

Lamb's Quarter

Steak and Potato Pie

Ingredients:

Phyllo dough - thawed according to directions on box
14 oz sirloin tips - cut into small chunks
28 oz white potatoes (I chose the ones labeled as good for boiling, steaming and roasting) - peeled and thinly sliced
1 lg onion - sliced
1 qt whole milk
1/2 c. heavy cream
1 tsp mustard powder
2 c. chard
1/2 c. Lamb's quarter (spinach is a close substitute)
5 Tbsp. unsalted butter
salt and pepper

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400F.

Over low heat, melt 1 1/2 Tbsp of the butter.  Add the onions and sweat them for approximately 20 minutes.  You want them to be soft and turning a golden color.  Add the lamb's quarter and chard, cooking long enough to wilt the greens.  Set aside.

Place the potatoes in a large pot and add just enough milk to cover.  Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.  You want them softened but not cooked through.  Remove the potatoes and reserve 1/2 c. of the milk.

Melt the rest of the butter.  Now that all of your food is prepped, you can unwrap the phyllo dough and begin creating your crust.  You will want to grease a 10 inch spring form pan.  Before putting in each layer of dough, brush with the melted butter.  I used about 8 sheets of 9x14 inch phyllo.  You want to have excess hanging over the side because you will use that to cover the top of the pie.

To layer the filling, start with 1/3 of the potatoes, then add 1/2 the vegetable mixture, then half of the meat.  Repeat, ending with the final third of potatoes.

Mix the reserved milk, cream, and mustard powder.  Pour over the filling.  Fold the excess dough on top of the pie and brush with butter.  Bake for 35 minutes.

For me, cooking is a way for me to connect with people, get creative, challenge myself, and learn.  In that educational spirit, I am going to let you all in on the "good, bad, and ugly" of this particular challenge...

Good:  The taste.  It really did come out well.  The potatoes came out nice and soft, soaking up the flavor of the milk.  The greens added some nuttiness that I personally enjoyed.

The bad:  The phyllo dough.  Part of what drew me to this recipe was the phyllo dough.  I could not remember if I had ever used it before and I always like challenging myself so this was a great opportunity.  Phyllo and I do not get along.  However, I still have a package and a half of sheets so phyllo and I will be getting better acquainted over the next few weeks.  Also, using a 10 inch pan was a poor choice, just a bit to large.  Use an 8 inch pan and you'll have better, well formed, layers.

The ugly:  Using beef.  That was such a bad decision I cannot even express that enough.  The beef tasted great but raw meat creates juice and so it was a poor choice for a pie with a phyllo dough crust.  I should have known better, I have no one else to blame but myself.  Honestly, I'm lucky the pie didn't explode when I unleashed the pan latch!  Pies with juicy contents should have a standard pie crust, something hearty that will be able to hold the juice and not turn to mush.  If I had stuck to smoked fish the pie would have turned out perfect because the milk was sucked up by the potatoes.

So, the moral of this is "choose your crusts wisely."  I will definitely do this recipe again but, the meat version will use a more appropriate crust.  If I decide to stick to phyllo dough, I will be using smoked fish.

Live and learn friends...and enjoy the spoils even when they come out a little wonky.

Chicken Pot Pie

I love roasting a chicken because of all the things you get to do with it afterwards... stock, soup, pot pie, sandwiches, etc.  Today, let's talk pot pie.

Crust:

2 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
2 sticks cold butter
~ 1/2 c. ice water

Filling:

1 white potato - peeled and diced
3 cipolline onions - chopped
1 c. mixed vegetables
1/3 c. butter
1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. milk
2 c. chicken - cooked and shredded
2 c. stock
Salt and pepper to taste

You can begin this a couple days in advance since you can leave the pastry dough in the refrigerator for up to two days.  But you need to at least give yourself an hour for the dough to rest in the refrigerator.

Combine flour and salt, then add butter cut into chunks.  Using a pastry cutter, but the butter into the dry ingredients.

Once the butter is about the size of large peas, begin to add the ice water.  Only do a tablespoon or two at a time.  Continue cutting the ingredients together and adding the water until, once you press it between your fingers, it stays together.

Dump the dough onto a clean surface.  Divide into two equal portions.

 

 

Knead dough just enough to create a firm disc, then wrap in cling wrap and place in fridge for at least 1 hour, up to two days.

 

 

When you are ready to create the crusts, take one disc at a time out of the fridge and roll out to a 10 inch round.  Place the first round into a greased and floured 9 inch pie dish.

 

Now, on to the filling!

 

Boil diced potato until you can pierce them with a fork.  Melt butter in a sauté pan and then add chopped onions.  I use cipolline onions because of their smell after they have been cooked in butter.  It increases the anticipation of the finished product.

 

Cook onion until tender then add flour.  Mix thoroughly then add stock and milk.  Simmer until thickened.  Thickening took me about 7 minutes.  Add vegetables, potatoes, and chicken.  Taste test then add salt and pepper until satisfied.

 

 

Add the filling to the pie dish.  I promise, it will all fit!

 

 

Place the top crust over the filling and crimp edges.  Make four slits to allow steam to vent during cooking.

 

Place pie in oven, preheated to 425F.  Bake for 35 minutes.  Remove when crust is golden brown.  Let cool for about 10 minutes then enjoy!





My Great British Bake Off Obsession

Thanks to PBS I recently discovered the greatness that is The Great British Bake Off.  I watch it before Downton Abbey on Sunday nights and I binge watch old episodes and clips on Youtube.  Oh, Youtube, you destroyer of all my evening plans! So, it's really GBBO that we all have to thank for my return to blogging and this time blogging about food.  I watch the show and all I want to do is recreate the dishes they make.

Sadly, PBS Food does not have every GBBO recipe however, it has some, including the recipe from Season 5 for Kate's plum, apple, and rhubarb pork pies.  Now, when you go grocery shopping on January 30th in New England it is unlikely that you will find rhubarb.  So we are already wading into the world of recipe adjusting.  Add that to not finding boned pork shoulder (no, I had no desire to spend an hour cutting around a bone, I'm too lazy for that) and wanting to get rid of the puff pastry in my freezer versus making hot water crust pastry and you have a not even remotely like Kate's pie result.  However, I don't care.  Why?  Because I am making a recipe inspired by Kate so I have decided it counts.  And, I have never made a meat pie so I get that added challenge element to the whole deal.

So, welcome to my Fruit and Pork Pie Concoction

Ingredients

Oven preheated to 400F
9" pie dish
1 gala apple - peeled, cored, diced
6 pitted prunes - chopped
1 1/2 oz superfine sugar
1 lb ground pork
2 strips bacon - chopped
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. ground mace
1 sprig fresh thyme - leaves picked and chopped
1 sage leaf - chopped
1 bay leaf - chopped
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp. sea salt
2 sheets puff pastry

Because I couldn't find superfine sugar I used regular granulated sugar that I then put into my coffee grinder.  You don't want confectioners so be mindful not to grind the sugar for more than a pulse or two.  I am also a prep first cook second person, so all my ingredients were measured out and ready to go before I moved over to the stove.

In a sauté pan over medium heat cook apples, prunes, and sugar.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 - 10 minutes.  You want all the excess liquid evaporated.  (For those of you who watch GBBO, you know Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood's utter distaste for soggy bottoms!)  Set aside in bowl to cool.

Now, on to the meat.  Cook the bacon first then just before desired crispness add the ground pork to brown.  Just before that is done add the spices.  Mix to just incorporated, drain excess liquid, then add to fruit mixture.  Squish the two mixtures together then transfer to prepped pie plate.

The pie plate:

Grease and flour a 9" pie dish.  Roll out thawed puff pastry on floured surface and roll to appropriate size.  Transfer to pie dish.  Check for holes and cracks.

Once the mixture is in the pie dish, roll out the second pastry sheet.  Brush with egg wash and place on top of pie. Crimp edges together.

Bake for about 30 minutes, or until top is golden brown, in 400F oven.

The prunes give the mixture a nice burst of sweetness.  The ground mace gives a really good flavor to the meat, but be careful.  Too much and it will take over the dish and not in a good way.

All in all, a successful foray into the world of meat pies!