Must Be Time For Berry Pie

We are enjoying the time with Raine and he seems to be enjoying the conversations, being on our 'farm' and the cooking and baking I'm doing with him, plus the woodworking that Sweetie is doing with him.

Yesterday he picked some more blackberries so that we could make a pie for dinner using the Food Processor Pie Crust dough we made the day before. To those blackberries we added some frozen raspberries and a few blueberries for a three berry delight.

Raine and I have baked freeform pies like galettes before, but this was our first pie in a pie pan together. He easily rolled out the dough for the pie bottom, seeming to know instinctively to keep the thickness even across the circle. He used a small knife to even out the overhang after I showed him how to fold the circle into quarters and then unfold that in the pie pan. Then, forgetting that we were planning to do a two crust pie, I showed him how to form the edge by folding the excess under, sort of rolling it, then fixing it to the edge and making it decorative with his fingers. By that time I remembered the two crust notion, so we changed course and decided to top it with streusel instead. Fortunately the book we're using for the pie recipe also has one for streusel.

The pie turned out pretty well. Because the frozen raspberries had a lot of juice, the filling was a bit loose, even with both flour and cornstarch added before baking, but it was still delicious and the pastry was excellent. I liked the streusel crunch as an contrast to the soft filling. We all agreed that the filling was nicely tart, even with the sweet streusel.

Triple Berry Pie with Streusel Top Crust

based on recipe from Art of the Pie by Kate McDermott

1 recipe Food Processor Pie Dough (see below), using half the recipe - reserve the other half for another use

6 cups (680-900 grams), about one and a half pounds, equal parts blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, fresh picked or unthawed-frozen (We used about 3 3/4 cups frozen raspberries,1/4 cup fresh blueberries and 2 cups fresh blackberries)

3/4 cup (150 grams) sugar

Small grating fresh nutmeg (OK to use a pinch of ground nutmeg instead)

1 teaspoon (5 grams) fresh lemon juice and a few gratings of lemon zest

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (73 grams) all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon cornstarch 

1 recipe Streusel topping for pie (see below)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).

Roll out the half recipe of pie dough, fit it in the pie pan (9-inch, deep dish), fold under excess dough to create a raised edge, then flute. Place pie pan in the freezer while you make the filling.

Put the berries, sugar, nutmeg, lemon juice, zest, salt, flour and cornstarch into a bowl and mix just to combine. If there are few juices, mash slightly with a wooden spoon to create a small amount of juices.

If not already done, make the Streusel to top the pie with.

Pour the filling into the chilled pie dough lined pan. Gently smooth with the back of the wooden spoon to make level. Filling should come up to about 1/2 inch BELOW the edge of the pie.

Top the filling evenly with the Streusel (Crumble Topping).

Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and bake for another 25-35 minutes. Check after 15 minutes and cover streusel with aluminum foil, loosely, if topping is looking too brown. Pie is done when the filling at the edges of the streusel is bubbling and the pie crust is golden brown.

Set the pie on a cooling rack and cool to room temperature before serving so that the fruit filling can set up.

Food Processor Pie Crust from Martha Stewart Test Kitchen

makes 2 disks

2 sticks unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces, divided
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup ice water

Freeze 3/4 of the butter pieces in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet until hard, at least 30 minutes. Refrigerate the other 1/4 of the pieces. The frozen pieces stay chunky after being pulsed, creating steam pockets when baked (the key to flakiness) and the refrigerated bits get worked into the pastry, giving it a tender texture.

Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor work bowl. Add refrigerated butter (the smaller amount of the butter bits). Pulse to combine, about 10 times. Add frozen butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal, with some blueberry-sized clumps.

With the processor off, add the ice water. Immediately pulse until water is just incorporated, about 10 times. Squeeze a small amount of dough to make sure it holds together. Pulse a few times more if needed. When you squeeze the dough it should remain crumbly, but come together. Don't pulse it so long that it forms a ball. Adding water while the processor is running  and over-pulsing are bad ideas... could lead to tough dough.

Lay out 2 pieces of plastic wrap. Empty half the dough onto each piece. Bring edges of wrap together to gather dough and form a round mass. Press the dough this way to form a rough round mass, and press on top of the wrap to form a disk. The processed dough should resemble uneven crumbs. When you empty the mixture from the processor bowl out onto the plastic wrap, some pieces will be tiny, others will be in clumps. That is perfect! The gathered plastic wrap method of forming the disk simultaneously has you gathering the crumbs into a cohesive dough and shaping it.

Roll out disks, still wrapped in plastic, to 1/2 inch thick rounds, about 8 inches in diameter. Rounds this size will chill more quickly that hockey-puck sized ones and will soften more uniformly when removed from the refrigerator.

Refrigerate at least 45 minutes and up to 2 days. Dough can be frozen up to 1 month. 

Streusel (Crumble Topping)

1/2 cup (110 grams) brown sugar, packed

1/4 teaspoon salt (a pinch)

1/2 cup (73 grams) all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups (144 grams) whole oats, rolled

8 tablespoons (112 grams) unsalted butter

1/2 cup (60 grams) chopped nuts, optional - We used walnuts, but pecans are great, too

Put the brown sugar, salt, flour, and oats in a bowl and stir to mix.

Dice the chilled butter into small dice and scatter in the bowl. Cut the butter in with a pastry tool or two crossed knives, or use you fingers to smear the butter into the dry ingredients.  When you are done, the mixture should look crumbly. Take about a 1/4 cup in a clean hand and squeeze - it should stick together. If that works, add the nuts and mix in. If it doesn't stick together when squeezed, add another tablespoon or so of butter and work that in, then add the nuts.

Pour the mixture into a bowl or plastic bag and chill in the freezer while you make the filling.

Another Galette For Summer

 With so many kinds of fruit available now that stone fruit are coming in and strawberries and other berries are beginning to be available in lavish amounts, it was time for Sweetie to have one of his favorite desserts...the freeform pie I call galette...although that might not be the correct spelling.

The great thing about these pies is that they are easy, go together quickly, and are a great way to showcase whatever is ripe now.

For this one I combined strawberries and apricots from the farm stand on Hwy. 12, just east of Sebastopol, and some raspberries from Costco. I did toss the prepared fruit with a mixture of cornstarch and sugar, but I guess I should have used more cornstarch. When it first came out of the oven this freeform pie had juice all around it. Of course Sweetie just waited until the juices cooled and then scooped them up and ate them, but it did make the bottom a bit...oohhh nooooo...soggy. Next time, more cornstarch when the berries are this juicy.

On the health front, my back is finally better and I again have some energy, so I've been pruning a bit, deadheading the roses, and cleaning the fridge...plus doing plenty of reading of trashy summer vacation books. Fun!

For those of you who keep up with our homemaking and projects, we had tree trimmers come and cut back a few trees, mostly for safety and fire prevention issues and we have a new window on order to replace a single pane one that is original to the house. With the current cost of windows, it will be a while before we replace any more of them!

Apricot-Berry Galette

2 apricots, cut into slices, then halved
2 pints fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
1 cup fresh raspberries, washed and patted dry
1 prepared pie dough round (I use Pillsbury ReadyCrust)
1/4 cup sugar (less if fruit is very sweet)
zest from 1 lemon
1 tablespoon cornstarch (this was too little...try at least 2 tablespoons, maybe even three)
sparkling sugar/sanding sugar (optional)

Put the fruit together in a large bowl. 

 Roll out the pie dough to a 12-inch diameter circle and place on a parchment lined rimmed baking sheet. I used a pizza pan and parchment. 

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

In a smaller bowl put the sugar, add the lemon zest and rub together with your fingers to soak the sugar in the lemon oils from the zest. Mix in the cornstarch. Add the cornstarch mixture to the fruit and toss gently with your clean hands until coated and no more cornstarch is visible. Total amount of filling is about 4.5 - 5 cups. 

Mound the fruit mixture in the center of the dough and pat it down, then fold the edges of the pie dough over the berry mixture (about 4 for my galette), brush dough with some water (about 1 tablespoon) and sprinkle on some sanding sugar (optional) and you have the makings of a delicious dessert that is almost a pie, but easier and rustic looking. Gently pat the folds to keep them together, which holds in the filling.

Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 and bake until golden brown and cooked through.

Let cool on a rack 10 minutes so you don't burn your tongue. Serve in wedges on plates. Softly whipped cream or vanilla ice cream is optional but nice.

Rhubarb Adds Zing To This Crostata

 We're at the beginning of berry season, with local, divine strawberries easily available and the first of the blackberry types due locally in a couple of weeks.

When strawberries are so plentiful and ripe, I love to make a strawberry-rhubarb pie or crostata. You don't need a lot of rhubarb to add a nice zing to the filling. Yesterday morning I made a crostata (a rustic pie made by rolling out a circle of dough larger than the diameter of the pie. Once filled, the extra pastry gets folded over the filling) with a pint of strawberries and one long stalk of rhubarb. I cut all the fruit in a large dice. It only made four servings, but that was just right since Sweetie is still watching his calories and losing weight. We each had a serving for breakfast yesterday while it was warm, and ate the other two servings today for breakfast, warmed slightly in the microwave.

Use your favorite pastry for this. I used Pillsbury ReadyCrust from the refrigerator section of the market. If you look at the flaky crust in this photo you'll understand why I often use this ready made pie dough instead of making my own. Quick, easy and wonderful flaky pie crust...what's not to like? I baked it on a pizza pan but you can use a cookie sheet or similar pan. I like to use a pan without sides because I think the crust browns better all over that way.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Crostata

Elle's recipe

1 pint fresh strawberries, washed, drained, hulled and cut into large dice
1-2 stalks fresh rhubarb, washed, ends trimmed, cut into smaller dice (about 1/4-inch)
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon (less if freshly grated) nutmeg

1/2 box Pillsbury ReadyCrust or any pie dough for 1 crust pie
sanding sugar (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Put the rack in the middle or lower-middle part of the oven.

In a large bowl, thoroughly but gently mix the strawberries, rhubarb, flour, cornstarch, sugar, salt and nutmeg.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to an 11 to 12-inch diameter circle. Transfer to a sheet pan, pizza pan, cookie sheet or similar flat metal pan.

Mound the contents of the bowl in the middle of the dough circle. Spread out to a single layer, making sure that there is at least an inch of uncovered dough at the outer edges. Fold the uncovered dough up and over the fruit mixture. If you have a smaller quantity of filling, there will be more pastry over the filling (as happened with my crostata); if you have more filling, the pastry over the filling will not cover as much of the filling. It's all good!

Optional: Brush the pastry lightly with water using a pastry brush and sprinkle with sanding sugar.

Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, or until filling is bubbly and crust has browned. Remove pan to a wire rack to cook for at least 10 minutes, then cut in portions and serve.

Fathers Day Weekend

Sweetie has the nicest friends! A dear friend who has known him since they were both in high school visited this weekend with her lovely granddaughter. We had a marvelous time with them and they were the first to try out the renovated farmhouse for a few nights. Looks like we have a winner. Our daughter will be coming to stay there in about a month.

One of the fun things about having guests is that you can spoil them with good local food. Sweetie grilled some awesome local salmon one night. We had local grass-fed lamb shoulder braise another night. I marinated the lamb for 24 hours in fresh rosemary from our garden, fresh garlic and red wine. The day I served it I first sauteed carrots, onions and celery and then cooked the shoulder just like I do lamb shanks. It makes an awesome dish with lots of yummy juices which adorned the mashed potatoes that shared the bowl. I didn't take any photos, but it was delicious.

I did take photos of the pie I made. Sweetie really likes pies and I like using our farm grown fruits when I can. I used white peaches from the market and the ollieberries that grow at the bottom of our driveway. The crust was Pillsbury ReadyCrust. The secret to its deliciousness (other than perfectly ripe fruit) was that I put a mixture of plain dry breadcrumbs, brown sugar and freshly grated nutmeg on the bottom of the pie. It helps absorb the juices and also flavors the pie. If you have other fruit the recipe will work well for that, too. Peaches and blueberries are a great combo, so are rhubarb and strawberries, nectarines and plums...you get the idea! One of the nice things about this pie is that there is no top crust, nor do you need to flute the edges, so it goes together really quickly.

I did bake it briefly at a high temperature to help the crust crisp up some, and finished at a reduced heat. Check it to make sure the top isn't browning too much. If it is, tent with some aluminum foil.

White Peach and Olallieberry Pie
serves 8

1 roll Pillsbury ReadCrust pie crust, rolled into a 12-inch circle
2-3 ripe white peaches, peeled, sliced, pit discarded
1 pint olallieberries or blackberries, rinsed and drained
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 cup plain dry bread crumbs
2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
water
sanding sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 475 degrees F.

Fit rolled out pie crust into a 9-inch pie pan, leaving edges hanging over edge of pan. Set aside.

In a large bowl, use your hands to gently mix the peach slices, berries and nutmeg. Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the dry bread crumbs, brown sugar, and nutmeg. Spread this mixture evenly in the bottom of the prepared pie pan. Top with the fruit mixture and mound slightly in the center of the pie pan.

A little at a time, lift the edges of the crust onto the filling, pleating the edges as needed until all the crust has covered the outer edge of the pie. Use clean fingers moistened in water, as needed, to seal the pleats and to lightly moisten the overlapping crust, then sprinkle with a small amount of sanding sugar, if using. If not using the sanding sugar, no water is needed once the pleats are secure.

Place filled pie pan in preheated oven and bake for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F and bake another 25-30 minutes, or until juices are bubbly and crust is browned.

Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Serve slices either barely warm or cooled to room temperature.

First Berry Pie of the Season

The olallieberries along the road are fat after our rainy spring and some of them have ripened...enough for a pie for Sweetie. He really does love pie.

It's been awhile since I've made a double crusted pie but that seemed to be the way to go with this one. I picked two pints of ripe berries and rinsed them, removing a couple that were hosting tiny green worms! I checked the rest after a while, but they were all clean and shiny.

With a single fruit pie you want the flavor of the main ingredient to shine through, so I went easy on the spices, using just a half teaspoon of Penzy's Pie Spice, plus another half teaspoon of their Hi-Fat Cocoa powder. The idea was to make the berries taste richer, which these did, while not adding more than a hint of spice. You couldn't taste the cocoa at all, just the rich berry flavor.

The other thing that I did was to create a custom thickener. These were juicy berries and I didn't want a pool of juice when I cut the pie slices, so I used both flour and cornstarch. For some sweetness, since these are early berries and a bit more tart than later ones will be, I used some raw cane sugar.

The spice mix, cocoa, flour, cornstarch and sugar, plus a bit of salt, were mixed together in a small bowl. The clean and drained berries went into a large bowl. I poured the flour mixture over them and gently stirred to coat each berry.

Some days I like to make pie crust, some days I use Pillsbury Ready Crust from the market. This pie was a Ready Crust pie...faster, easier, not so many dishes to wash up, plus it is a nice, flaky crust.

A hot oven and baking stone help ensure that the bottom crust gets baked through and the top crust golden brown. I did turn the oven down to 350 degrees F for the last 15 minutes to make sure that the berries cooked through.

This was a wonderful pie! The filling held together and the taste was rich and strongly berry. If you use the Ready Crust, it really doesn't take long to have a freshly baked pie. I'll bet you know someone who would enjoy a nice pie. This would work with  raspberries, blueberries, or blackberries, too.

Olallieberry Pie
Elle original recipe

2 - 3 pints fresh olallieberries (or use 5 - 6 cups raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, boysenberries)
1/3 cup flour
1 tablespoons corn starch
1/2 teaspoon Penzy's Pie Spice, or a mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice
1/2 teaspoon Penzy's High Fat Cocoa or your favorite unsweetened cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons raw sugar or brown sugar
1 box Pillsbury Ready Crust pie crust, or your favorite two-crust pie dough recipe
1 shallow 9-inch pie pan
1-2 tablespoons butter or margarine
water
1/2 and 1/2, or light cream, or soy creamer
sparkling sugar or raw sugar or granulated sugar

Rinse the berries and drain. Set aside.

In a small bowl thoroughly mix together the flour, corn starch, Pie Spice, cocoa, salt and raw or brown sugar. I used a small whisk.

Roll out the bottom crust slightly larger than the pie pan. Carefully place crust in pie pan and smooth into pan. Dough should extend past the edges of the pie pan.

Roll out top crust, if needed,to slightly larger than the pie pan. Cut a small decorative vent in the middle of the circle of dough. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. If possible, place a baking stone on the center rack.

Place drained berries in a large mixing bowl. Pour the flour mixture over the berries, using a spatula, gently scoop to the bottom of the bowl and turn the berries over. Continue until all berries are coated with the flour mixture.

Pour berries into prepared pie pan. Dot with butter or margarine.

Use your clean finger to moisten, lightly, the pie dough where it sits over the edge of the pan (there is usually a thin flat space), then place the second circle of dough (with the vent) on top and gently press to seal around the edge.


Trim excess dough, if needed, then turn edges of the dough under and crimp, or flatten with the tines of a fork.

Use a pastry brush to brush 1/2 and 1/2 or light cream or soy creamer over the top and edges of the pie. This is usually a tablespoon or less of creamer. Sprinkle lightly with sparkling sugar, raw sugar, or granulated sugar.

Place pie carefully in the hot oven, of possible directly on a preheated baking stone.

Bake for 15 minutes.

If crust edges become browner than the center, place strips of aluminum foil to mask them from the heat.

Remove pie from oven and place on a cookie sheet (to catch drips) and return to oven. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F and bake another 15-25 minutes, or until center of pie crust is golden brown and juices are bubbly at vent.

Cool on a rack for 10 minutes or longer. Best served the same day.