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Pie Tips

Pie is my husband's second love (I'd like to think our boys and I place first)!  He has 2 favorites, Hot and Cold... in other words, if it's a crust with ANYTHING in it, he is happy.  Now, although Geoff isn't too picky, he does know a good pie when he tastes one. 

There are 2 key components to Pie Perfection... first is the crust and the second, the filling.  In this first installment, we will dive into creating an amazing crust.

Let's start with the recipe:      

Double Crust

Ingredients:

2 1/2 Cups        Flour

1 tsp                 Salt

1 tsp                 Sugar

1 Cup                COLD butter, cut in small pieces 

1/4 Cup             COLD shortening

6 - 8 Tbl            ICE COLD water

Directions:

1- Cut your fat into small pieces and add to your measured flour and salt and sugar.  Combine the fat quickly by pulsing in a food processor or blender. Your mixture should resemble coarse meal.

2- Slowly add the water and continue pulsing. It should still look dry. Grab some with your hand and squeeze. It should hold together, if it didn't, add a little more water and mix quickly. Test again.

3- Divide the dough in half. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap. Push the dough into a flat disk.

4- Refrigerate for at least an hour.  

When you are ready to roll...

5- Lightly flour your board. Begin by rolling from the middle of the disk up. Turn the dough one quarter and repeat. Always roll in one direction and turn the dough often making it just large enough to fit your pan.

6- Carefully fold the dough in half over your rolling pin, pick it up and lie the dough on the pie plate (if it tears, just pinch it together again, or use scraps to repair any holes).

7- Roll out the second disk of dough.

8- Prick the pastry with a fork.  Wrap with plastic wrap and freeze the crusts until ready to fill.

Now that you know the basics, here are some tips to make sure your crust is top notch.

- When rolling out your dough, make the top crust slightly thinner than the bottom crust.

- To keep an empty pie from collapsing, gently place a slightly smaller straight-sided cake pan down on top of the crust.  Bake for about ten minutes, and remove the cake pan. Use a fork to prick any places that puff up, and bake until the crust is a light golden color.

- To avoid a soggy crust, fill the crust and get it into the oven or freezer, quickly.

- If you freeze your pie, do not thaw before baking, bake in the frozen state, adjusting baking time accordingly.

Now that the perfect crust is ready, let's talk filling...  There are many types of pie, fruit, custard, and savory...

In this segment, I am going to focus on fruit pies.  Fruit comes in all shapes, sizes, flavors.  Because of this cooking times and quantity of fruit needed in a pie varies. 

When assembling a pie, apples should fill the crust to an inch above the edge, cherries, blueberries, and similar fruit are filled to just below the rim of the pie pan. The fruit will expand when it gets hot and tends to run out of the edges if overfilled.

Here are guidelines for the quantity of fruit needed for a 9" pie:

• Apple: 8 small, 5 large = 6 to 8 cups
• Apricot: 10-12 medium = 5-6 cups
• Blackberry: 6 (1/2 pint) baskets = 6 cups
• Blueberry: 3 pint baskets = 6 cups
• Cherry: 1 pound = 6 cups
• Peach: 10 -12 small or 6-7 large = 5-6 cups
• Pumpkin: 1/2 pound =1 cup
• Raspberry: 6 (1/2 pint) baskets = 6 cups
• Rhubarb: 6 medium stalks / 5-6 cups
• Strawberry: 4 pint baskets = 6 cups
• Sweet Potato: 1/2 pound =1 cup

Now that the fruit is picked out, you need a thickener.  Here are some choices:

Cornstarch                                                                                                                                          
Is a good thickener to use with fruit to make a filling because it does not have any flavor and creates a smooth texture. It also does not thin when reheating a slice of pie.  Cornstarch has twice the thickening power of flour, but doesn’t work well if the filling is high in acidity.

Tapioca

 Is often used because it can hold more fruit juices than other thickeners without becoming rigid.  It is not recommended for a lattice top pie or other open fruit pie, as it hardens when exposed to the hot air of the oven. However, it can be used with a two-crust pie.  Tapioca has no flavor and  cooks quickly. If you use tapioca, let the filling mixture stand for at least 15 minutes before you spoon it into the crust to bake. This will allow for more efficient thickening. When you prepare a pie filling, mix the thickener first with sugar and any spices to prevent lumps and uneven thickening, then add the fruit. Granules are gritty if under cooked but are clear and soft when fully cooked.

Arrowroot                                                                                                                                              
Is not a desirable choice because it thickens before the boiling point of fruit fillings in the pies.  It imparts no flavor of its own but provides a high gloss, and just 1 tablespoon will firm up each cup of liquid. It’s fine for high- and low-acid fruit mixtures, but it creates a gloppy mess if mixed with any dairy product.

Potato Starch                                                                                                                                        
This gluten-free starch's main advantage over other starch thickeners is that it's a permitted ingredient for Passover, unlike cornstarch and other grain-based foods. Liquids thickened with potato starch should never be boiled.

Once the fruit and thickener are chosen, all that is left is flavoring with lemon juice, sugar, and spices.  Bake and Enjoy!

Some additional helpful tips:

• -Bake on a cookie sheet covered in aluminum foil to catch any juices that may run over the edge.
• -Rotate the pie 180 degrees midway through baking. This helps the pie to cook evenly and balances the surface browning.
• -When cutting, wet the knife with hot water to make a clean cut that won’t tear the filling.

“Cut my pie into four pieces, I don’t think I could eat eight.”
― Yogi Berra

Thanksgiving Leftovers

              So, it’s 8pm on Thanksgiving evening.  By now you’ve probably stuffed yourself to the gills and are semi-consciously watching football on the largest TV in the house while your family is lounging around your home.  After the turkey marathon… you deserve to relax! 

                Tomorrow, your troops will be hungry… again, and after the copious amounts of Traditional Thanksgiving fare, you are probably ready for something a little different.  Here are some unique ways to utilize your leftovers that don’t involve 2 slices of bread!

Breakfast:

Turkey (or Ham)Hash

2 Tbs Olive Oil

            1 Onion, diced

1/2 Green Pepper, diced

             2 Potatoes, diced (leftover baked potatoes work too)

1 Sweet Potato, diced (leftovers are perfect)

             1 cup Ham or Turkey, diced

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

             1/4 teaspoon dried crumbled thyme

1- Saute Onion in Olive Oil until soft.  Add the chopped bell pepper and Potatoes.  Cook until all ingredients are soft.

2-Add remaining ingredients.  Cook hash until browned, about 10 minutes.

3-ENJOY!

 

Sweet Potato Waffles      

            1 cup Sweet Potato Puree

2 cups Flour

             1 Tbs Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Salt

             3 Eggs

1 cup Milk

             1/4 cup Light Brown Sugar

1/4 cup Butter, melted

            Vegetable spray, for waffle iron

1-In a large bowl, combine the Flour, Baking Powder, and Salt.

2- In another bowl mix the Sweet Potatoes, Milk, Brown Sugar, Eggs and Butter.

3-Mix everything and thoroughly combine.

4-Bake batter in waffle pans or make pancakes.

5-ENJOY!

 

Breakfast Casserole

                2 cups Stuffing
    
                1 cup Leftover Veggies (Broccoli, Mushrooms, and Green Beans are good starters)

                1 1/2 cups Turkey and/or Ham, diced

                6 Eggs

   1 cup Milk

                1/2 cup Cheese, shredded

1-Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

2-Spray a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.

3-Cover the bottom of the dish with Stuffing.   Add a layer of Vegetables, then Meat, then Cheese.

4-Combine Eggs and Milk.  Pour mixture evenly over the ingredients in the baking dish.

5-Bake uncovered in preheated oven for 30 minutes.

6-ENJOY!

 

Lunch:

Potato Croquettes

              3 cups Mashed Potatoes

1/2 tsp Green Onion, thinly sliced

             2 Eggs, beaten

3 Tbs Flour

             1 cup Bread Crumbs

Olive Oil  -  enough to fill pan 1/2-inch

1-Scoop cold Mashed Potatoes.  Form into “hockey pucks”.

2-Dip into beaten egg, then roll through bread crumbs.

3-Fry each croquette in shallow oil until browned on both sides.

 

Southwestern Turkey Soup

                1 1/2 cups Shredded Cooked Turkey

                4 cups Vegetable or Chicken Broth

                3 large Tomatoes, diced  

   1 Green Chile Pepper, diced

                1 Onion, chopped

                2 cloves Garlic, crushed

                1/2 cup Corn

                1 Tbs Lime Juice

   1/2 tsp Ground Cumin

                Salt and Pepper to taste

                1 Avocado - peeled, pitted and diced

                1 cup Monterey Jack Cheese, shredded

1-In a large pot over medium heat, combine Turkey, Broth, Tomatoes, Green Chile, Onion, Garlic, and Lime Juice.  Season with Cumin, Salt, and Pepper.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, and simmer 15 to 20 minutes.

2-Add Avocado and simmer 10 minutes, until slightly thickened.  Spoon into serving bowls, and top with shredded Cheese

3-ENJOY!

Dinner:
Shephards Pie

1 Tbs Olive Oil

             2 cloves Garlic, minced

             1 Carrot, diced

1 small Onion, chopped

             8 oz shredded Turkey

1/2 tsp Thyme, chopped

             1 cup Chicken Broth  

1/2 cup leftover Veggies

              2 cups Mashed Potatoes

              1/2 cup Tomato Sauce

1-Preheat the oven to 425degrees F.

2-Saute the Garlic, Carrots, and Onions.  Cook until tender.  Add the Turkey, Thyme, Tomato Sauce, and Broth.  Simmer for 5 minutes.   Add Vegetables.  Place in the bottom of a 9 x 13” pan.

3-Swirl the mashed potatoes over the filling.   Broil in oven until the potatoes are lightly browned.

Dessert:

Cranberry Pastries

8 oz Cream Cheese, softened

             2 Egg Yolks

             1/2 cup Confectioners’ Sugar

1 package Puff Pastry, thawed

             3/4 cup leftover Cranberry Sauce

1-Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2-In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese, egg yolks, and 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, and Cranberry Sauce until smooth.

3-Roll out 1 puff pastry sheet into a 10-inch square.  Cut into four 5-inch squares.  

4-Place 3 Tbl Cream Cheese mixture in center of each square.  Dampen edges of each square with water and fold over to form a triangle. Press edges together with a fork to seal.

5-Transfer turnovers to a parchment-lined baking pan.

6-Bake turnovers until puffed and golden brown, about 20 minutes. Transfer turnovers to a wire rack to cool, about 10 minutes.

7-ENJOY!

 

Beverages

Jive Turkey

1 1/2 oz Wild Turkey

             3/4 oz fresh squeezed orange juice, strained

3/4 oz canned jellied cranberry sauce

             3 dashes of Angostura bitters

1-Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker, shake vigorously with ice at least 20 seconds, and fine strain into a Collins glass filled with ice.

 

Happy Feasting!