Category Archives: pies crumbles crisps n cobblers

Turkey Pot Pie


1 recipe pastry for a (10 inch) double crust pie

4 tablespoons butter, divided

1 small onion, minced

2 stalks celery, chopped

2 carrots, diced

3 tablespoons dried parsley

1 teaspoon dried oregano

salt and pepper to taste

2 cubes chicken bouillon

2 cups water

3 potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 1/2 cups cubed cooked turkey

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 cup milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Roll out bottom pie crust, press into a 10 inch pie pan, and set aside.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat; add the onion, celery, carrots, parsley, oregano, and salt and pepper. Cook and stir until the vegetables are soft. Stir in the bouillon and water. Bring mixture to a boil. Stir in the potatoes, and cook until tender but still firm.

In a medium saucepan, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Stir in the turkey and flour. Add the milk, and heat through. Stir the turkey mixture into the vegetable mixture, and cook until thickened. Cool slightly, then pour mixture into the unbaked pie shell. Roll out the top crust, and place on top of filling. Flute edges, and make 4 slits in the top crust to let out steam.
Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), and continue baking for 20 minutes, or until crust is golden brown

Dutch Apple Pie


Ingredients

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
  • 3/4 cup butter, melted

  • FILLING:
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 3 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1-1/4 cups cold water
  • 3 cups diced peeled tart apples
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

  • In a large bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, oats and butter; set aside 1 cup for topping. Press remaining crumb mixture into an ungreased 9-in. pie plate; set aside.
  • For filling, combine the sugar, cornstarch and water in a large saucepan until smooth; bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat; stir in apples and vanilla.
  • Pour into crust; top with reserved crumb mixture. Bake at 350° for 40-45 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

French Silk Pie aka Chocolate Cream Pie


 

  • 30  chocolate wafers
  • 2 tablespoon(s) chopped pitted dates
  • 2 tablespoon(s) water
  • 1 tablespoon(s) canola oil
  • 1 tablespoon(s) brewed coffee
  • 1 tablespoon(s) water
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon(s) unflavored gelatin
  • 1  large egg
  • 1/2 cup(s) 1% milk
  • 8 tablespoon(s) packed light brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup(s) unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 ounce(s) bittersweet (not unsweetened) chocolate
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoon(s) dried egg whites
  • 1/2 teaspoon(s) cream of tartar
  • Chocolate shavings (see Tips & Techniques), optional

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Coat a 9-inch pie pan with cooking spray.
  2. To prepare crust: Combine chocolate wafers and dates in a food processor; process until finely chopped. Add water and oil and process until moistened. Press into the bottom and sides of the prepared pan.
  3. Bake the crust until crisp, about 10 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack.
  4. To prepare filling and garnish: Combine coffee and water in a small bowl. Sprinkle gelatin on top and set aside to soften.
  5. Whisk egg, milk, 3 tablespoons brown sugar, and cocoa in a small saucepan until smooth. Cook over low heat, whisking constantly, until thickened and an instant-read thermometer registers 160°F, 5 to 7 minutes. Do not let the mixture come to a simmer. Remove from the heat. Add the reserved gelatin mixture; stir until dissolved. Add chocolate and vanilla, stirring until melted. Set aside to cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes.
  6. Place egg whites and cream of tartar in a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until frothy. Increase speed to high and beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add the remaining 5 tablespoons brown sugar, beating until the meringue is smooth and glossy.
  7. Whisk one-fourth of the meringue into the chocolate mixture until smooth. Scrape chocolate mixture into the remaining meringue and use a whisk to incorporate it with a folding motion. Spoon into the crust and chill, uncovered, until set, about 3 hours.
  8. If desired, garnish with chocolate shavings before serving.

Tips & Techniques

To make chocolate shavings: Place a block of chocolate (2 ounces or larger) on wax paper and microwave on Defrost until slightly softened but not melted, 15 to 30 seconds. Use a swivel-bladed vegetable peeler to shave off curls. If the chocolate gets to hard to shave easily, warm it again.

Upside-Down Apple Skillet Pie


This is a nice variation to use when you are pressed for time and still want the homemade taste of apple pie!

Ingredients

Makes: 6 servings
Cook: 30 minutes
  • 1 stick butter
  • ½  cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon, McCormick®
  • 1 can (21-ounce) apple pie filling, Comstock®
  • 2 cups presliced apples, Ready Pac® More Fruit
  • 1 Refrigerated piecrust, Pillsbury®
  • 2 tablespoons apple juice concentrate, thawed, Minute Maid®
  • 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

    Directions

    1. Preheat oven to to 425 degrees F. In a 10-inch cast iron skillet or ovenproof pan, melt butter over medium-high heat. When butter has melted, stir in brown sugar and cinnamon. Cook until it begins to bubble. Stir in apple pie filling and apple slices.
    2. Unroll piecrust and place over skillet. With a wooden spoon, push edges of piecrust into skillet. Brush with apple juice concentrate and sprinkle with sugar. Cut slit in top of crust to allow steam to escape.
    3. Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool 1 hour before slicing.

It’s All About Pie Crust…..


The big dilemma for those of us who like to cook but don’t always have the time to do everything perfectly is whether to attempt to make our own pie crust or to buy a frozen store bought version. Most frozen pie tins available in supermarkets across the country bake up into something that can taste pretty industrial.

If you do choose to make your own pie crust, there are a dozen methods out there for doing so. Every cook and every cookbook seems to have their own favorite. All butter, all shortening, vegetable oil, part butter/part shortening, lard; the list goes on.

The following are instructions for making 1) a basic butter crust (pâte brisée) for sweet and savory pies and tarts, 2) a butter crust with ground almonds replacing some of the flour for added flavor for sweet pies such as apple pie, 3) a pre-baked pie crust needed for dishes such as quiche, 4) a combination butter and shortening crust, and 5) an egg wash finish for the pie.

The instructions will yield enough dough for 1 10-inch pie with a crust top, or 2 10-inch topless pies or tarts. If you are making a tart or just a pie bottom, cut all ingredients in half.

Perfect Pie Crust Recipe

  • Prep time: 1 hour, 15 minutes

One of the secrets to a flaky pie crust is to work with very cold butter. Cut the butter into cubes and freeze, at least 15 minutes, best over an hour or even overnight. The minute I even think I might want to make a pie, the first thing I do is cut some butter into cubes and put it in the freezer.

INGREDIENTS

All Butter Crust for Sweet and Savory Pies

  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
  • 1 cup (2 sticks or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 6 to 8 Tbsp ice water

METHOD

1 Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor; pulse to mix. Add butter and pulse 6 to 8 times, until mixture resembles coarse meal, with pea size pieces of butter. Add ice water 1 Tbsp at a time, pulsing until mixture just begins to clump together. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it’s ready. If the dough doesn’t hold together, add a little more water and pulse again.

2 Remove dough from machine and place in a mound on a clean surface. Gently shape into 2 discs. Knead the dough just enough to form the discs, do not over-knead. You should be able to see little bits of butter in the dough. These small chunks of butter are what will allow the resulting crust to be flaky. Sprinkle a little flour around the discs. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour, and up to 2 days.

3 Remove one crust disk from the refrigerator. Let sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes in order to soften just enough to make rolling out a bit easier. Roll out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to a 12-inch circle; about 1/8 of an inch thick. As you roll out the dough, check if the dough is sticking to the surface below. If necessary, add a few sprinkles of flour under the dough to keep the dough from sticking. Carefully place onto a 9-inch pie plate. Gently press the pie dough down so that it lines the bottom and sides of the pie plate. Use a pair of kitchen scissors to trim the dough to within 1/2 inch of the edge of the pie dish.

4 Add filling to the pie.

5 Roll out second disk of dough, as before. Gently place onto the top of the filling in the pie. Pinch top and bottom of dough rounds firmly together. Trim excess dough with kitchen shears, leaving a 3/4 inch overhang. Fold the edge of the top piece of dough over and under the edge of the bottom piece of dough, pressing together. Flute edges using thumb and forefinger or press with a fork. Score the top of the pie with four 2-inch long cuts, so that steam from the cooking pie can escape.

All Butter Crust with Almonds

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
  • 1/2 cup finely ground blanched almonds or almond flour
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 heaping teaspoon brown sugar
  • 6 to 8 Tbsp ice water, very cold

Follow directions as for the All Butter Crust Pâte Brisée, but with the above ingredients. Include the ground almonds in with the flour and the salt and sugar in step 2 above.

To Pre-Bake a Pie Crust

If your recipe calls for a pre-baked crust, as many custard pie recipes do, follow all the steps above until you get to the point where it says to put in the filling. Note that you will need to make only a half recipe if you are only doing a bottom crust. Freeze the crust for at least a half hour, until chilled. This is an important step in pre-baking. Otherwise the crust will slip down the sides.

Preheat your oven to 350°F. When the pie crust is sufficiently chilled, line the pie crust with parchment paper, wax paper, or aluminum foil. Fill at least two-thirds full with pie weights – dry beans, rice, or stainless-steel pie weights. Bake with weights for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, cool a few minutes and carefully remove pie weights. Poke small holes in the bottom of the pie crust with a fork and return to oven (without the weights) and cook for an additional 10 minutes, until the crust is golden. Cool completely before filling. You may need to tent the edges of the pie with aluminum foil when you bake your pie, to keep the edges from getting too dried out and burnt.

Combination Butter and Shortening Crust

Ingredients for one double-crust 9 inch or 10 inch pie:

  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 Tablespoons sugar
  • 3/4 cup (a stick and a half) unsalted butter, chilled, cut into 1/4 inch cubes
  • 1/2 cup of all-vegetable shortening (8 Tbsp)
  • 6-8 Tablespoons ice water

1 Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor; pulse to mix. Add the butter and pulse 4 times. Add shortening in tablespoon sized chunks, and pulse 4 more times. The mixture should resemble coarse cornmeal, with butter bits no bigger than peas. Sprinkle 6 tablespoons of ice water over flour mixture. Pulse a couple times. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it’s ready. If the dough doesn’t hold together, keep adding water, a tablespoon at a time, pulsing once after each addition, until the mixture just begins to clump together.

2 Remove dough from machine and place in a mound on a clean surface. Divide the dough into 2 balls and flatten each into 4 inch wide disks. Do not over-knead the dough! Dust the disks lightly with flour, wrap each in plastic, and refrigerate for at least an hour, or up to 2 days before rolling out.

3 After the dough has chilled in the refrigerator for an hour, you can take it out to roll. If it is too stiff, you may need to let it sit for 5-10 minutes at room temperature before rolling. Sprinkle a little flour on a flat, clean work surface and on top of the disk of dough you intend to roll out. (I use a pastry sheet from the Pampered Chef that has the pie circles already marked.) Using a rolling pin, apply light pressure while rolling outwards from the center of the dough. Every once in a while you may need to gently lift under the dough (a pastry scraper works great for this) to make sure it is not sticking. You have a big enough piece of dough when you place the pie tin or pie dish upside down on the dough and the dough extends by at least 2 inches all around.

4 When the dough has reached the right size, gently fold it in half. Lift up the dough and place it so that the folded edge is along the center line of the pie dish. Gently unfold. Do not stretch the dough.

5a If you are only making a single crust pie, use a pair of kitchen scissors to trim the dough to within 1/2 inch of the lip of the dish. Tuck the overhang underneath itself along the edge of the pie dish. Use your fingers in a pinching motion, or the tines of a fork to crimp the edge of the pie crust.

5b If you are making a double crust pie, roll out the second disk of dough. Gently place onto the top of the filling in the pie. Use a kitchen scissors to trim the overhang to an inch over. Fold the edge of the top piece of dough over and under the edge of the bottom piece of dough, pressing together. Finish the double crust by pressing against the edges of the pie with your finger tips or with a fork.

6 Use a sharp knife to cut vents into the top of the pie crust, so the steam has a place to escape while the pie is cooking. Optional Before scoring, you may want to paint the top of your crust with an egg wash (this will make a nice finish).

Egg Wash

A lovely coating for a pie can be achieved with a simple egg wash.

  • 1 Tbsp heavy cream, half and half, or milk
  • 1 large egg yolk

Beat egg yolk with cream and brush on the surface of the pie with a pastry brush.

Pecan Pie


  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 cup dark corn syrup
  • 1/4 t. salt
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
  • 1 9-inch unbaked pie shell

How to make it

  • Preheat oven to350 degrees
  • Cream butter. Gradually add sugar and beat until fluffy. Add corn syrup and salt. Beat well. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in pecans.
  • Pour into pie shell. Bake 50 to 55 mintues or until a knife inserted halfway between the outside and the center comes out clean.
  • Cool completely before serving.

 

Sour Cream Raisin Pie


One of my husband’s favorite pies.  This one had to ‘grow’ on me, but I do like it now.  Didn’t used to……
Flaky Pie Crust:

 

2 cups sifted pastry flour
3/4 cup Crisco
1 teaspoon salt
4 to 6 tablespoons ice water

 

Sift together flour and salt. Add half the Crisco, broken into tiny pieces. Work the Crisco into the flour gently with your fingertips until the mixture contains walnut sized lumps.Sprinkle water over flour, stirring quickly until the dough just begins to hold together. Press mixture together, place in a ziploc bag and store in the refrigerator one to two hours to rest.

Remove from refrigerator 15 to 20 minutes before rolling out and allow to sit at room temperature.

Roll out thinly and line two 8 inch pie pans. Using a fork, pierce the crust in several places and bake in a 400°F oven until lightly golden but not brown.

Filling:

 

2 cups sour cream
3 egg yolks
3/4 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup water

 

In a small covered sauce pan, cook raisins with water until liquid is absorbed (about five minutes). Allow to cool.Combine sugar and flour. Add beaten egg yolks, sour cream, cinnamon and vanilla.

Cook in a double boiler until mixture begins to thickened. Mix in raisins, and divide evenly into two 8 inch prebaked pie crusts.

Spread with meringue.

Meringue:

 

3 egg whites
6 tablespoons sugar

 

Beat egg whites until stiff, but not dry, in the clean bowl of an electric mixer, gradually adding in sugar.Spread meringue on top of raisin filling. Sprinkle lightly with sugar.

Bake at 350°F until meringue is lightly golden (about 12 minutes).

Makes two 8 inch pies.

Serve at room temperature with whipped cream.

 

 

Chicken Pot Pies


* 3 whole (6 split) chicken breasts, bone-in, skin-on
* 3 tablespoons olive oil
* Kosher salt
* Freshly ground black pepper
* 5 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
* 2 chicken bouillon cubes
* 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
* 2 cups yellow onions, chopped (2 onions)
* 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/4 cup heavy cream
* 2 cups medium-diced carrots, blanched for 2 minutes
* 1 (10-ounce) package frozen peas (2 cups)
* 1 1/2 cups frozen small whole onions
* 1/2 cup minced fresh parsley leaves

For the pastry:

nocoupons

* 3 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
* 1/4 pound cold unsalted butter, diced
* 1/2 to 2/3 cup ice water
* 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash
* Flaked sea salt and cracked black pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the chicken breasts on a baking sheet and rub them with olive oil. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, or until cooked through. Set aside until cool enough to handle, then remove the meat from the bones and discard the skin. Cut the chicken into large dice. You will have 4 to 6 cups of cubed chicken.

In a small saucepan, heat the chicken stock and dissolve the bouillon cubes in the stock. In a large pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter and saute the onions over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, until translucent. Add the flour and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add the hot chicken stock to the sauce. Simmer over low heat for 1 more minute, stirring, until thick. Add 2 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and heavy cream. Add the cubed chicken, carrots, peas, onions and parsley. Mix well.

For the pastry, mix the flour, salt, and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Add the shortening and butter and mix quickly with your fingers until each piece is coated with flour. Pulse 10 times, or until the fat is the size of peas. With the motor running, add the ice water; process only enough to moisten the dough and have it just come together. Dump the dough out onto a floured board and knead quickly into a ball. Wrap the dough in plastic and allow it to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Divide the filling equally among 4 ovenproof bowls. Divide the dough into quarters and roll each piece into an 8-inch circle. Brush the outside edges of each bowl with the egg wash, then place the dough on top. Trim the circle to 1/2-inch larger than the top of the bowl. Crimp the dough to fold over the side, pressing it to make it stick. Brush the dough with egg wash and make 3 slits in the top. Sprinkle with sea salt and cracked pepper. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour, or until the top is golden brown and the filling is bubbling hot.