Sweetie's Pi Day Pie

Sweetie really enjoys pies and this year on Pi Day we were also remembering our beloved black lab Pi who left us in the fall. We still miss him, a lot, as you might expect since he was the best dog we've ever had...and that's difficult because we've been blessed with a number of great dogs. Here is a photo of our Pi dog when he was young:

Usually I would bake a sweet pie, but this year I went for a quiche...basically a savory cheese, veg and custard pie. We had it for dinner on March 14th and Sweetie had more today for lunch.

If you use pre-made pie crust dough for this, it all comes together fairly quickly. You can go with the filling ingredients I chose, or use your own mixture. This one had sweet breakfast sausage as the meat, and not a lot of that, so mostly the vegetables were the stars. Onions, mushrooms, potato and asparagus were also my fillings but I think if I made this again I would skip the potato. It made the pie so dense that it took longer to bake and there was less of the delicate creamy egg custard, too. There was too much custard because of all the filling, so some dripped off and cooked on the baking sheet I had under the pie and some drips got between the pie dough and the pie tin, so the crust stuck a bit. Note to self: use less solid filling to allow room for more custard filling.

If you are planning this for dinner, do remember to start a little early since you need to blind bake the crust and let it cool a bit before putting in the fillings.

Spring Quiche with Asparagus and Swiss Cheese  and Mushrooms and Onion
Serves 4 - 6

1 9-inch pie shell, blind baked at 425 degrees F for 10-12 minutes (see notes)
1/3 cup finely chopped yellow onion
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup Swiss cheese, cut into ¼ inch dice
1/2 baked potato, peeled, thinly sliced
2 small, cooked Breakfast Sausage patties, each cut into 6-8 pieces 
3 eggs (or equivalent egg substitute)
1 ½ cups evaporated milk or light cream or 1 1/4 cup whole milk
¼ teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
dash pepper
Dash nutmeg
3-4 spears asparagus, tough bottoms trimmed off and sliced in half through the length of the spear
4 oz. crimini mushrooms, sliced thinly

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small skillet, sauté the onion  in the olive oil until translucent, about 5 minutes, stirring often. Add the sliced mushrooms, stir and cover. Turn heat to low and cook another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Sprinkle the bottom of the pie shell with the sautéed onion-mushroom mixture and Swiss cheese, distributing evenly. Top with the sliced potato. Sprinkle sausage pieces evenly over that. Set aside.

In a bowl, beat the eggs lightly, then add the milk and beat with a fork to combine, add the salt, thyme, pepper and nutmeg and beat with a fork or whisk to combine.

Arrange the half asparagus spears in a nice pattern on top of the onions, mushrooms, potatoes, sausage and cheese in the pie shell. 

Pour the egg/milk mixture over the ingredients in the pie shell. Place in the preheated oven and bake 30-45 minutes, or until set and lightly browned. I find that setting on a parchment-lined small baking sheet is a good idea in case some of the filling spills over. Cool for 10 minutes before cutting to serve.

Note: Use your favorite one crust pie dough, rolled for a 9-inch pie pan, or a package of pre-made dough like Pillsbury ReadyCrust (you'll have one pack of dough ready for another pie) at room temperature. Fit the dough into a 9-inch pie pan, crimp the edge, put in baking parchment and weigh with pie weights or beans, then bake for 10-12 minutes in a preheated 425 degree oven. Remove from oven, cool 5 minutes, remove the pie weights/beans and let pie shell, now blind baked, cool for another 10 minutes before adding the filling ingredients.

Pies

Happy Thanksgiving!

Although I love pies, especially eating them, I don't make them often...especially not as often as Sweetie would like.

I do make pies for Thanksgiving. My two favorites are pumpkin and pecan. If asked, I don't think I could choose between them.

One thing I discovered this Thanksgiving is that I really shouldn't make pies very often, because I seem to have no self control when it comes to pies...I want to eat the whole pie.

This year I used my Mom's recipe for pie crust but used a half cup (1 stick) frozen non-dairy margarine instead of the same amount of shortening, which meant that the shortening was 1/4 cup. All of the crust ingredients, even the flour, spent some time in the freezer, so everything was good and cold, which helps a lot when you are making pie crust dough.

This was perhaps the best pie crust ever. It was easy to work with, crisp and flaky and delicious.

Take a look at the two pies I made with this pie crust dough. Since both pumpkin and pecan use single, unbaked, crusts, I made one of each. Heavenly!

Its getting late, so I'll post the actual recipe for the pie crust dough tomorrow...just below here.

Summertime Memories...with Berries

Happy Summer!

You need to understand that I would never say that. I grew up near Washington, D.C. where summer was a seemingly endless time of hot, hot days combined with energy sapping high humidity. Since we didn't have air conditioning, the kids would jump through the sprinklers on the lawn and find a shady place to stay still and read. Add to the heat and humidity the need to do daily chores, including extra home maintenance ones, and you may understand my lack of enthusiasm for summer. I know that it was a long time ago, but the disenchantment still lingers.

One of the things that I did enjoy was the fruits of summer, especially the berries. My Dad had grown up on farms and never gave up on the idea of having fresh fruit to can or make jam with. On Sundays, after church, we would get packed into the station wagon and head off to the country where we would meander down rural roads until we found a good collection of blackberry bushes and a place nearby to pull off the road. We never went on anyone's property, but when five or six children and my Dad finished picking berries, there were few left for the birds. There is nothing like picking ripe, sun warmed blackberries, sweet and full of juice, and eating them on the spot. There weren't farmers markets then, but there were U-Pick farms. We would also go pick strawberries, or peaches, or grapes in season. Back home these seasonal treats were baked into pies or boiled into jams or were packed in syrup and frozen.

Today I remembered those blackberry picking days while I picked some berries for my own pies. A few were eaten on the spot and were as good as I remember. Purple fingers are a sure sign of summer when the berries are ripe.

The first thing I made today was berry turnovers. I used ready made pie dough for some and refrigerated crescent dinner roll dough for others. Sometimes I make fresh pie dough, but today I wanted to get them done before noon because that's when we get our mail. The first two were ready just in time to give a couple to our mail lady. She is a super nice gal and the mailbox is near the berry bushes, so it seemed like a good idea.

The filling includes both cornstarch and some dry bread crumbs because these berries are really juicy. If you make these pies and your berries are not so juicy, you can skip the bread crumbs. The addition of some lemon zest wakes up the flavor. I used very little sugar because I wanted the berries to shine.

Then I made a mixed berry and peach crumb-topped pie. The filling included the rest of the blackberry filling for the hand pies, plus a very ripe and juicy white peach, sliced, a cup of fresh blueberries, and a few cherries that were sitting in a bowl on the counter. Sweetie says it's the best pie I've ever made, but that may have just been so he could have another piece. I think the crumb topping with it's freshly grated nutmeg and chopped pecans really complemented the fruit.

Hoping that you will make great summer memories for yourself and those you love. If it's not berry time yet, it surely will be sometime.

Blackberry Hand Pies

4 cups blackberries, preferably fresh. If using frozen, do not thaw.

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 cup plain dry bread crumbs, not seasoned

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest

pie dough for 1 crust

1 package refrigerated crescent dinner rolls

1 egg, beaten in a cup with 1 teaspoon water

In a medium to large bowl, combine the cornstarch, bread crumbs, sugar and lemon zest. Add the rinsed and drained fresh berries or unthawed frozen berries. Mix gently to combine. (I use my clean hands).

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pie dough into a circle about 10 inches in diameter. Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, cut the dough in four equal quarters. Place a scant 1/4 cup of the berry filling on each quarter, placing it near one edge, but with enough dough uncovered to allow for sealing, about 1/2 inch. Repeat with the other three dough pieces. Brush the edges of each quarter with the egg mixture. Fold the part of the dough with no berries on it over the part with the berries, pressing down around the edges to seal. This will form a sort of triangle. Using the tines of a fork, press along the two edges to further seal them. Repeat with the other three pieces of dough. Brush some egg wash on the top of each triangle and slash a small opening on top of each with a sharp knife.

Place on a cookie sheet that has been lined with parchment paper. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven until the pastry is golden brown, about 15 minutes. Use a spatula to transfer the hand pies to a rack to cool. Can be eaten warm or cooled. Makes 4.

Unroll the crescent dinner roll dough and separate into triangles at the perforations. Using the same filling, place a small amount in the center of a triangle. Brush the edges with the egg wash and place a matching triangle of dough over the piece with the berries. Press all around the edges to seal. Using the tines of a fork, press along the edges to further seal them. Repeat with the other pieces of dough. Brush the tops of the hand pies with the egg wash and place on a cookie sheet that has been lined with parchment paper. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven until the pastry is golden brown, about 15 minutes. Use a spatula to transfer the hand pies to a rack to cool. Can be eaten warm or cooled. Makes 4.

Mixed Berry and Peach Crumb Topped Pie

Pie dough for one crust

Pie weights

Blackberry filling from Hand Pies

1 ripe peach, peeled and sliced

1 cup blueberries, washed and drained

4 fresh cherries, pitted (optional)

Topping:

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1/3 cup chopped pecans

1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold butter

Rollout pie dough to about 10" in diameter. Line a 8" or 9" pie plate with the dough, crimping the dough around the edges of the pan. Prick lightly all over. Line with parchment paper and weigh with pie weights (raw beans do fine and can be stored and re-used). Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Remove pie weights.

Prepare filling by adding the peaches, blueberries and cherries to the remaining filling from the Blackberry Hand Pies. If making from scratch, put 2 cups blackberries, 1 tablespoon corn starch, 1 tablespoons dry bread crumbs and 1/4 teaspoon lemon zest into a bowl and mix together gently. Then add the rest of the fruit.

Pour the filling into the cooled pie crust.

Prepare the topping by mixing the oats, flour, brown sugar, pecans and nutmeg in a medium mixing bowl. Using a pastry cutter, two knives, or your fingers, cut the cold butter into the mixture until incorporated and clumps form.

Pour the crumb mixture over the fruit filling. Spread it to cover the pie. Bake the pie in a preheated 350 degree F oven until the topping is lightly browned, about 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on a rack. Serves 6-8.