Spinach Pie

Spinach pie is really one of my favorite pies. I've always been a savory-vs.-sweet kind of gal, and this just hits the spot - it's even good, if not better, cold the next day. This pie was my (small) contribution to the Thanksgiving feast this year. We did Thanksgiving with family in New York this year, thanks to Kaylynn and Alexis, and it was a blast. The food - none of which I can take any credit for, aside from this pie - was out of this world. We even had oysters. Oysters!

The pie seemed to go over well, and was enhanced by the fact that it was a collaboration between myself and Joef's Aunt Sylvia, who made a delicious gluten-free crust for my filling. I need to get that recipe from her - for now, I've posted the usual and always satisfying crust recipe, and will update with the gluten-free version when I have it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

1 lb frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and drained
1/2 lb muenster cheese, grated
1/2 cup granted parmesan
Sprinkle of nutmeg
1 egg
1 onion, diced
2 medium-sized potatoes, boiled
Milk
Butter
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
Pie crust (below; gluten-free recipe to follow)

Put some olive oil in a large frying/saute pan and heat over medium. Add onions and allow to begin to soften, then add spinach. Stir around and let the spinach get hot and the onions soften. Add a little butter - 1-2 tbsp - and melt that in. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Meanwhile, break your egg into a large mixing bowl, beat it, then add your two cheeses and stir. Sprinkle in a little nutmeg (remember a little goes a long way). When your potatoes have boiled, mash them up with a little milk and butter, then combine in the large mixing bowl with the egg and cheese.

When you feel the spinach is cooked, remove it from the heat and let it cool a little bit so it doesn't cook the egg. Then mix it in with ingredients in the mixing bowl. Stir well, adding a little milk if you feel that it's dry. Pour it into the crust (see below).

CRUST (with gluten)
1 1/2 cups flour
1 stick butter, cut roughly into tablespoons
1/4 cup cold water

Preheat oven to 375. Combine the flour and butter in a bowl, and mix with your hands until fluffy and combined. Add the cold water, and again mix with your hands until you have dough that you can roll out. Add flour if it's getting too sticky. Place floured wax paper on your counter and roll out the dough on the paper (lightly flour the rolling pin, too) until it's about the thickness you want for your crust. Lift the dough over your pie tin, press down into the tin, and trim the edges (save them). Patch as necessary, then pour in the filling.

Take the remaining dough and roll it out again. Crust should cover the top of the pie. Use your fingers and thumb to pinch together the edges of the pie to get that ripply effect, and pierce top with tines of a fork.

Bake until crust is golden-brown.

Peach Hand Pies

(filling and concept adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

I've been wanting to make hand pies ever since the first time I heard the phrase "hand pie". There is something incredibly appealing about that term - it just sounds so comforting and delicious. So when I found myself with more fruit than I could possibly eat before it went bad after a fruit-picking (apples, peaches, and asian pears!) trip to a local orchard, it was time to fulfill the dream, as it were. And this time, I remembered to use my mom's much-easier-and-equally-delicious crust recipe, this time. Bonus!

FILLING
2 pounds of peaches
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar, plus - I used more because my peaches weren't quite ripe
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon bourbon, if you have it - I used drambuie
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Peel and chop the peaches into small chunks. Mix them with the flour, sugar and pinch of salt, and add the drambuie and vanilla. Add more sugar to taste. Set aside for awhile if you have the time - I let them sit for about an hour plus.

CRUST
1 1/2 cups flour
1 stick butter, cut roughly into tablespoons
1-2 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup cold water

EXTRAS
1 large egg + 1 tbsp water, beaten - to act as the glaze
Extra sugar for dusting

The less you handle the crust mixture, the better - it makes for a flakier crust. Combine the flour, sugar, and butter in a bowl, and mix with your hands until fluffy and combined. Add the cold water, and again mix with your hands until you have dough that you can roll out. Add flour if it's getting too sticky.

Place floured wax paper on your counter and roll out the dough on the paper (lightly flour the rolling pin, too) until it's about the thickness you want for your crust. Use a bowl to cut out circles of dough. My first roll-out made about three rounds - I prepped those, then rolled out the dough again and repeated the process. Do this until you've used all your dough. I had seven and a half pies by the end; I also had leftover filling. (If you want a bigger filling-to-crust ratio, you might make them larger so as to fit more filling.)

The filling process works this way: place your rounds of crust on an ungreased baking pan/sheet. Brush the circumference of each with your egg mixture, then spoon in some filling on one side of the round. Fold the other side of the round over the filling, and press the edges of the crust together. Use the back of a fork to make a design on the edges, and poke a couple of holes in the crust with the fork. Then, lightly brush more egg mixture over the top of the pie, and sprinkle with a little sugar.

Once the pies are filled, place them in the fridge for about 20 minutes while you preheat the oven to 375. Then place the baking sheet with the pies in the oven and cook until golden brown, about 20-30 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool a bit. Then enjoy - eat them right from your hands!

Guest Recipe: Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie

And my lovely mother, Jill, to thank for this recipe! (Happy Mothers' Day, Ma!) My mom is the best at pies, and this was no exception. With fresh rhubarb from the Farmers' Market, this was a hit, as always. Plus, she showed me a much simpler (and equally delicious) recipe for pie crust that I'll be hanging on to.

(Also, this is another 3-recipe day, so scroll down for Baked Cod and Toothpick Caprese!)

Preheat oven to 350.

FILLING
1 heaping (more like 1.5) cup strawberries (measure, then slice)
2 lbs rhubarb (roughly 10 stalks), sliced into roughly 1 inch sections
1 1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch (maybe more? it was a very juicy pie, but we think we cooked it too quickly - have adjusted this recipe to reflect what we think is a better cooking time)

Combine these ingredients in a bowl, then set them aside while you make the crust.

CRUST
1 1/2 cups flour
1 stick butter, cut roughly into tablespoons
1/4 cup cold water

The less you handle the crust mixture, the better - it makes for a flakier crust. Combine the flour and butter in a bowl, and mix with your hands until fluffy and combined. Add the cold water, and again mix with your hands until you have dough that you can roll out. Add flour if it's getting too sticky. Place floured wax paper on your counter and roll out the dough on the paper (lightly flour the rolling pin, too) until it's about the thickness you want for your crust. Lift the dough over your pie tin, press down into the tin, and trim the edges (save them). Patch as necessary, then pour in the filling.

Take the remaining dough and roll it out again. Slice it into strips and then arrange/weave them in a lattice pattern (the hardest part) over the pie filling. Use your fingers and thumb to pinch together the edges of the pie to get that ripply effect.

Place the pie in the oven and cook for 45 minutes or until crust is golden-brown (check it at 30 minutes to see how it's going). Remove from oven and allow to cool. Serve with vanilla ice cream, or on its own.

Chicken Potpie and Banana Splits

(taken from "Comfort Food" by Rick Rodgers - Williams Sonoma)

It's starting to get warm in Wisconsin, so it's last call for hearty dishes like chicken potpie. (Oh, who am I kidding, I make unseasonal meals all the time.) This was another first for me. I didn't really have the right pot, so the crust fell in and didn't cook as well as it might have. But the filling was very good. Here's the deal:

CRUST
Flour, 2 1/2 cups
Salt, 1/2 tsp
Unsalted butter, 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp, chilled
Vegetable shortening, 3 tbsp, chilled
Ice water, 1/2 cup

Whisk together the flour and salt in a large bowl. Cut the butter and shortening into chunks and scatter over the flour mixture. Mix the butter and shortening into the flour mixture just until the mixture forms large, coarse crumbs.

Pour the ice water over the flour mixture and toss it together with a form until the dough forms moist clumps.

Form the dough into a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes.

FILLING
You can do this while the dough is chilling. The recipe calls for dividing all of this into smaller ramekins - I just made it all in a big dutch oven - which is maybe why the crust fell in. In any case...

6 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 pound quartered mushrooms
1 cup chopped leeks, white and green parts
1/2 cup diced carrots
1 cup peas
1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp flour
4 1/2 cups chicken stock
1/3 cup dry sherry
2 tbsp tarragon, minced
4 cups cooked, shredded chicken (from purchased rotisserie, if you want)
Salt and pepper
Crust from above
1 egg

In a large frying pan, melt 1 tbsp of the butter over medium. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally until they start to brown. Then stir in the leeks and carrots, cover, and cook, stirring from time to time until the leeks are tender. Remove from heat and stir in the peas.

In another large saucepan, melt the rest of the butter (5 tbsp, gasp) over medium-low heat. Whisk in the flour and let it bubble for about a minute. Gradually whisk in the chicken stock and sherry and then the tarragon. Bring it to a boil, whisking. Stir in the chicken and the veggie mix and season with salt, pepper. Let it cool (they suggest an hour, if you have it).

Preheat the oven to 400 and place the filling in an oven-proof container - I used a dutch oven.

Place the dough on a lightly floured surface, lightly dust the top of the dough with flour, then roll out the dough until it's about 1/8 in thick. Beat the egg with a pinch of salt. Lightly brush the dough with the egg, then place the crust over the dutch oven with the filling in it, removing extra crust if needed. Make sure the crust is taught and sticking to the edges of the dutch oven. Lightly brush with the egg. Pop it in the over until the crust is golden brown, about 25 minutes. Done!


Er, luckily we worked out today. We finished this off with banana splits, which Joef taught me how to make:

1 banana
3 scoops vanilla ice cream
Whipped cream to taste
Hot fudge to taste

(One could make one's own whipped cream and hot fudge - but we'll do that another night.)

Split the banana in half, position it around the ice cream, top with fudge and finish with whipped cream.

Lemon Meringue Pie

(taken from "Comfort Food" by Rick Rodgers - Williams Sonoma)

Went out of my cooking comfort zone yesterday - and today - to bake my first pie! I'm usually not one for anything that takes more than a half hour of prep, but it seems to have been a success.

I started this on Saturday night, ran out of time, and had to finish the next day. Also, I took some shortcuts on the crust. Advance warning - this is a long one - both length of the recipe itself and the time it takes to make.

OK, here goes:

CRUST
Flour, 1 1/4 cups
Sugar, 1 tbsp
Salt, 1/4 tsp
Unsalted butter, 5 tbsp, chilled
Vegetable shortening, 2 tbsp, chilled
Ice water, 1/4 cup

Whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Cut the butter and shortening into chunks and scatter over the flour mixture. Using a pastry blender (what?) or 2 knives (I used my hands, frankly), cut the butter and shortening into the flour mixture just until the mixture forms large, coarse crumbs.

Pour the ice water over the flour mixture and toss it together with a form until the dough forms moist clumps.

Form the dough into a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes or up to two hours. (Note - I was running out of time, so I stuck it in the freezer for about 10 minutes. Then I ran out of time while I was rolling it out, so I ended up refrigerating it, formed into the pie dish, overnight. Turned out good enough despite all that.)

FILLING
Crust (above)
Eggs, 8
Sugar, 2 cups plus 2 tbsp
Cornstarch, 1/4 cup
Fresh Meyer lemon juice, 1 cup
Salt, 1/4 teaspoon
Unsalted butter, 4 tbsp, cut into tbsp
Finely-grated Meyer lemon zest, from 3 lemons

Unwrap your dough onto a floured work surface and dust it with flour. Roll it out with a rolling pin into a round about 12 inches in diameter and 1/8 inch thick (you don't have to worry about it being too even, because you'll have to trim the sides anyway). Transfer to a 9-inch pie dish, fitting the dough to the bottom and sides of the dish. Trim the over-long edges off, leaving a bit of an overhang. Fold the overhang under itself, then "flute" the edge with your fingers: give it ridges just along the edge. Use a fork to pierce the dough all over. Line it all with aluminum foil and freeze for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 375. Put the dough-lined dish on a baking sheet and fill it with pie weights. (What? I know. Turns out you can just fill it with rice. It keeps it from getting bubbly. Note that the aluminum is still on at this point.) Bake about 12-15 minutes. Take it out, remove foil and weights, put it back in until it's golden brown - another 12-15 minutes. Take it out and let it cool while you make the filling. Raise the oven temp to 400.

Beat the 3 eggs until blended. Separate the yolks and whites of the remaining 5 eggs, adding the yolks to the beaten whole eggs and putting the whites in a separate large bowl. Cover those whites and set them aside at room temp. Beat the yolks into the beaten eggs. In another bowl, whisk 1 1/2 cups of the sugar and the cornstarch, then whisk in the beaten eggs, lemon juice, and salt. Transfer this to a heavy saucepan over medium heat, and heat it until it comes to a full boil, whisking almost the whole time. It should get nice and thick. Reduce the heat to low and let it bubble for 30 seconds. Remove it from the heat and whisk in the butter. Strain through a coarse mesh sieve into a bowl to get rid of any pieces of cooked egg white. Stir in the lemon zest, then pour it all into the baked crust.

OK, almost done! Using a handheld mixer on high speed, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Beat in the remaining 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar, one tbsp at a time, until it becomes very thick and shiny. Use a spatula to spread this over the filling, making sure the meringue touches the crust on all sides. Swirl the meringue around and make peaks. Pop it in the oven until the peaks get golden brown, about 5 minutes. Take it out and let it cool for at least 3 hours. If you like it nice and cool, put it in the fridge.