Rhubarb ginger pie

 Happy pi day! I still had frozen rhubarb in the freezer from last summer, so I decided rhubarb pie was called for. Much like pecan pie, every time I set out to bake a rhubarb custard pie, I try to recall which recipe I decided on last time and always forget. Was it Nana's? The other one from Nana's cookbook? Or the one from the other cookbook? I did remember that I've paired ginger with rhubarb before to much success, so I went with that.

Here's today's version, a 6 inch ~deep dish pie. Next time, defrost rhubarb. Today's filling was runny, which I suspect was due to the water in the frozen rhubarb. Still delicious.

Ingredients:

• Pie crust (I default to easy oil or combo butter/shortening. You do you.)

Filling:

• 1 egg
• 1 Tbsp cream (milk would be fine)
  
• ~3/4 cup sugar
• 1.5 Tbsp flour
• a pinch freshly grated nutmeg
• a knob (1.5 Tbsp?) diced fresh ginger
  
• ~2 cups frozen rhubarb
  

Crumb topping:

• flour
• whole wheat flour
• brown sugar
• powdered ginger
  

Make filling. Pour into bottom crust. Make crumb topping. Scatter on top. If feeling crafty for pie day, cut a pi shape out of leftover crust and place on top. Bake in 375-400 degree oven for an hour. Left cool. Devour.

Pecan Pie

Every Thanksgiving, I look up a bunch of pecan pie recipes. I look in church cookbooks; google for recommendations; check blogs that I trust. I even look at the pecan pie recipe on the corn syrup bottle. And every year, I end up making a recipe that’s a combination of several of the above, but I never record what I did. So this year, I’m writing it down. Not necessarily to repeat, but such that I remember what I’ve tried before.

Crust (Based on Julia’s)

2/3 cup white flour
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
6 Tbsp cold butter
2 Tbsp shortening
3 Tbsp cold water

Make crust. Refrigerate.

Filling*

1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup corn syrup + enough molasses to get up to a scant half cup
1 1/4 cup good quality pecans
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs beaten
6 Tbsp butter

Heat the butter, sugar, and syrup on the stovetop until boiling. (Roll out crust while waiting to heat up. Stick 9in pie plate back in fridge once prepped.) Take off heat. Stir in vanilla, eggs, and pecans. Pour into the prepared crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 45ish minutes. Let cool at room temperature for 2 hours+ before cutting.

*After designing this from a hodge podge of recipes, I noticed the pie recipe on the pecan bag is remarkably similar.
 

Birthday Pie

The story is that mom put the blueberry peach pie in the oven. And then her water broke. Thus, pie is mandated for my birthday.

Recipes used for today's potluck picnic.

Easy Oil Pie Crust
The family classic.

Stir together:

2 cups flour (we usually use up to 1/4 of it [1/2 cup] whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon salt

Combine:

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup milk

Mix into flour mixture with a fork. Shape into a ball and divide into two balls. Make one ball slightly larger for the bottom crust. Roll out between two sheets of wax paper.

Blueberry Peach Pie

Mom won a blue ribbon at the Gilbert Peach Festival for this one.

Makes one 9” pie.

Mix together the pie filling:

   1 c. blueberries

   3 c. peaches

   1-2 Tbsp. lemon juice

   3/4 c. sugar

   2 Tbsp. tapioca (or 3 Tbsp. flour)

   1/2 tsp. cinnamon

   1/2 tsp. salt

Make Easy Oil Pie Crust (or other pie crust of choice).

Shape into ball and divide into two balls, making one slightly larger for the bottom crust.  Roll out larger ball between two sheets of waxed paper.

Place rolled out dough into pie crust.  Place filling on top.  Dot with 2 Tbsp. margarine. For top crust, roll second ball between used wax paper. Cut into strips for lattice top, or simply place crust on top of filling.

Making the lattice.

Bake at 400º for 10 minutes; then 30-35 minutes at 350º.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Adapted from Vegalicious

Makes one 9” pie.

Mix together the pie filling:

   2 c. rhubarb

   2 c. strawberry

   1/2 c. sugar

   1/2 c. brown sugar

   2 Tbsp. tapioca (or 3 Tbsp. flour)

   1 tsp. cardamom (I used about 5 green pods worth. Cut them open, grind them up with a mortar and pestle. Or a rock and bowl. Same difference.)

   1 tsp. ground ginger

   1/2 tsp. salt

And the rest is the same. I baked them in the oven at the same time.

But I'll copy/paste here to help us all out later.

Make Easy Oil Pie Crust (or other pie crust of choice).

Shape into ball and divide into two balls, making one slightly larger for the bottom crust.  Roll out larger ball between two sheets of waxed paper.

Place rolled out dough into pie crust.  Place filling on top.  Dot with 2 Tbsp. margarine. For top crust, roll second ball between used wax paper. Cut into strips for lattice top, or simply place crust on top of filling.

Bake at 400º for 10 minutes; then 30-35 minutes at 350º.

Edited to add photos taking on a getaway weekend.

Mora-Manzana Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving, we headed up to Rumi Loma, since that’s where we have an oven. It was a marvelous day, and we split up cooking dinner. Coral made a green bean casserole. Then, Elizabeth made mashed potatoes with a mushroom gravy. Alex was put in charge of stuffing. Tim and Jesse worked together to make macaroni and cheese. (I must admit that I was sad that it was creamy mac-and-cheese. In my opinion, that’s just blasphemy.) Then, I was in charge of baking a pie. Since we lacked both pumpkin and pecans, I decided that apple was the best option. However, that seemed a bit boring so I added in mora (blackberries).

Mora-Manzana Pie

3 cups sliced apple

2 cups blackberries

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

2 Tbsp. flour

½ cup sugar

½ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp nutmeg

2 Tbsp. browned butter

First, prepare your choice of crust. Then, mix all of the ingredients except for the butter. Layer the mixture into the crust. Next, pour the butter over the pie. Finally, lay the top crust on top. (I suggest lattice.) Then, bake until done, and eat.

Lemony Geometric Goodness

"A triangle of pie is the best way ever discovered to round out a square meal," according to the Farm Journal's Complete Pie Cookbook.

Ever since I received this cookbook from Nana, I've meant to try a recipe. However, with a table of contents with everything from custard pies to cake pies to a whole chapter devoted just to pie toppings, picking a place to begin is not easily done. Thankfully, my friend Brooke has raved about lemon chess pies for the past two years. She couldn't believe that I was a Southerner who had never tasted one. Well, I righted that by baking one earlier this week.

And I have to agree with Brooke. Lemon chess pies really are delicious (though fairly sweet), and Southerners and Northerners alike need to try one.

Lemon Chess Pie a la the Farm Journal's Complete Pie Cookbook:

Unbaked 9 inch pie shell (*I made a regular shortening and butter crust rather than our family's traditional oil. I also added a bit of lemon zest to the dough)
2 cups sugar
1 Tbsp. flour
1 Tbsp. cornmeal
4 eggs
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup milk
4 Tbsp. lemon zest
1/4 cup lemon juice

Combine sugar, flour, and cornmeal in large bowl. Toss lightly with fork to mix. Add eggs, butter, milk, lemon zest and lemon juice. (*Note: You're adding dairy and lemon juice together, so of course, it will curdle, but don't worry, it still tastes great.) Beat with rotary or electric beater until smooth and thoroughly blended. Pour into pie shell.

Bake in moderate oven (375 degrees F) 35 to 45 minutes or until top is golden brown. Cut pie while warm.

(Two last notes: It is probably best to refrigerate any extras rather than leaving on the counter indefinitely. Second, the cookbook recommends serving with unsweetened whipped cream. Mom, Dad and I thought that the pie did just fine without it.)