Category: pies

losing my marbles

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you see marbles, i see pie weights.  rather than buy fancy pants pie weights made of aluminum or pottery, i use my marbles.  beans and rice will also work but the thought of using them once and throwing them away seems wasteful to me.  but then, saving them for additional uses seems stupid since i bake pies at home very infrequently.  they also get stinky after repeated use and that makes it seem even more impractical to save them.  so, i use my marbles.  next time you need pie weights, use your marbles-they can stand the heat, you can wash them if they get greasy and they won’t get stinky!

how am i losing my marbles?  they bounce!  inevitably, a few miss the pie plate and roll off the counter top.  they bounce around the kitchen before disappearing down the basement stairs to never be seen again…

food styling, kinda-sorta: apple and strawberry-rhubarb pies for a magazine

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ever wonder just what the person behind the food blog does in real life?  we read the blog, follow them, use the recipes and even communicate with them, call them “friends” but do we really know them?  not really, and that’s okay.  so many food bloggers are simply talented home cooks/bakers while others are professionals in the kitchen.  myself, i fall into the latter category; i am a pastry chef and cookbook author.  
for years now, i have heard people ooh and aah when i tell them that i am a pastry chef.  it’s as if it is something so fantastic and magical and oh how they wish they could be one too.  if i only had a dollar for every time someone said, “oh that must be so much fun!”  really, fun?  it can be on occasion.  most of the time, it is hard work, physically draining and a bit stressful.  even so, i still have fun and most of all, i love doing what i do and could not imagine holding down any other type of job.  
every now and then, i have the opportunity to do something exciting on the job.  remember back in february when my coworkers and i went to the james beard house in new york city?  i am still in awe.  there have been photo shoots and video segments and all sorts of exciting events.  one such event was a recent photo shoot for a big magazine, i won’t name it now-but i will when it hits the stands.  there was a country music star in the photos too but, i was just happy for the chance to make a few pies for a national magazine.
for the shoot, they chose apple and strawberry-rhubarb pies, six of each.
apple pies getting ready to go into the oven
and in the blink of an eye, they are ready!
so are the strawberry-rhubarb pies
i can almost smell them-can you?

probably my two favorite fruit pies, apple and strawberry-rhubarb.  yup, this is the sort of day i would call fun.  the sort of day that makes getting up at 2:40am worth the lack of sleep.  the sort of day that makes working on your day off just fine.  it’s true, i live to bake, absolutely love to bake, so there.

raspberry-fig crostata: a tuesdays with dorie recipe

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it’s fig season and our tree is loaded with ripening fruit.  we have two trees actually, a brown turkey and a celeste.  the figs above are from the brown turkey tree; the celeste tree is not producing much fruit yet.  we have been picking the little fruits by the dozen and when i learned this weeks challenge was a choice between a johnny cake cobbler and a raspberry-fig crostata, i had to make the crostata since i had plenty of figs.

we are currently posting without a host but there is a website with some of the recipes on it and the crostata is one of them, see it here.  luckily, there is another link in the recipe to the dough.  but if i may climb on my soapbox for a moment, please consider buying a copy of the book.  as a published author, i cannot tell you how much it means to have the book you worked on sell.  if you cannot buy it, at least try to borrow it from a library or a friend.

i have a collection of tart pans.  for this recipe, i chose the smaller, deep pan which is about 8 inches in diameter.  my thinking was that it would have a nicer ratio of fruit to crust in the deeper pan.

a few notes about the dough, it is a bit sticky and crumbly.  it does not hold itself together well when moving it so be prepared to do some patchwork.  since it was so rich with sugar and eggs, i skipped the egg washing step.  and since i used the smaller pan, i needed a lot less dough-i have about a third of it left.  do not worry, i plan to make some linzer cookies with it.

when it came out of the oven, it was nice and sparkly despite the lack of a wash on top.

beautiful

it was late when i finally pulled the tart out of the oven so we waited until the next day to dig in.  it help up nicely but honestly, the fruit filling could have used more flour.  if i make this again, i will definitely double the flour.

love the color of the filling!  come bake with us sometime.  to see the other participants results, visit the tuesdays with dorie page.

summer vegetable tart; a tuesdays with dorie challenge

Published on by alisahuntsman3 Comments

this week, we made a vegetable tart using phyllo dough for the crust.  i knew i had a package lurking in the freezer and i decided to use it rather than buy a new package.  should have just bought the new one…this dough, even though it thawed in the fridge for a day, was not going to cooperate.  it came apart in pieces.  there was no way to get the required 4 sheets and cut them in half.  there was no way to make a shell using 8 half sheets, layed in an overlapping manner.  my shell was a total hack job and i am certain i used more than 4 sheets.

and that folks, is as pretty as it gets.  the directions called for 1/2 a cup of clarified butter.  i simply melted 3 tablespoons and and honestly, it was more than enough-i used about half.  after prebaking the shell, i worked on the filling.

banana peppers from the garden, portobello mushrooms, onions, spinach, garlic, a few cherry tomatoes and a handful of basil, oregano and thyme.  to keep the tart from weeping excessively, i cooked it slowly over low heat.

we watch our cheese consumption here and i am not a goat cheese fan.  this tart had about a cup of blended feta, fontina and romano cheeses, most of it sprinkled over the top.  a quick trip under the broiler gave it a little bit of a melt but not much.

it was mostly vegetable, perfect for summer.  honestly, i would rather have this on a pizza crust with a little white sauce.  the phyllo dough crust just didn’t do much for me.  it certainly was not easy to serve-it was hard to cut cleanly, the crust was not strong enough to support the weight of the filling.  the cheese did not glue it together either.  from a cookbook authors point of view, it was easy to see why they did not include a photo, even a small black and white one; this thing was not pretty.  even so, my husband devoured it and declared it a success.  go figure…

to see what all the other participants made, check out the tuesdays with dorie page.  interested in baking along?  get a copy of the book and jump right in, we’d love to have you join us!

baked yogurt tart with summer fruit; a tuesdays with dorie post

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what’s in a name?  when it comes to a menu or a recipe title, everything.  the title “baked yogurt tart” just does nothing for me.  a picture would help sell it but the publisher must have decided not to include one, too bad, it might have helped.  might being the key word.
so shy would i bother to make one?  curiosity and a husband who never fails to ask me, “what’s for dessert?” after every dinner we have together.  the catch, neither one of us eats much dairy.  sure a splash of half and half in coffee or a little butter on toast, maybe the occasional slice of cheese but a slice of a yogurt filled tart?  not likely.  while i tolerate it better than my husband can (physically-as in gastrointestinal abilities), i still prefer to avoid it since i generally feel better if i do.  the only way i could make this would be to use a soy or coconut yogurt.  honestly, neither one is something i eat much of just because of the long list of stuff they add to it to give it a texture similar to real dairy yogurt.  but since i want to bake along with the tuesdays with dorie followers and i know my husband will ask that burning question, i baked the tart.  
the recipe is easy to follow.  it calls for 1/4 of the pie dough recipe.  i cheated.  i had two prebaked mini pie shells in the freezer; i thawed them for the recipe.  to make the filling, i mixed up 1/3 of the recipe which resulted in the perfect amount for 2 little pies.  for the fruit, i topped one with peach slices and the other with strawberry slices.  the baking time had to be reduced to 25-30 minutes and they came out of the oven a tiny bit jiggly in the center.  they set up just fine.  the only criticism, they look rather dry and a little leathery on top.  i may have to brush a little warm honey over them before serving.  
to see the full recipe, check out this great website from a la carte communications.  and as always, to see the what the other bakers came up with, be sure to visit the tuesdays with dorie page.

coconut yogurt looks a lot like regular low-fat yogurt.  it has a lot of vegetable stabilizers in it to accomplish that so it is hardly an unprocessed food.  the taste was more vanilla than coconut but even more surprising was just how sweet it was since it was labelled “plain.”

 i love that the recipe was so easy to divide.  i just needed one egg.
 yeah, it was a lazy day in my kitchen; the hand mixer came out for this recipe.
 i love summer fruit, i was able to control myself and slice enough of it for the tarts.
 looking good
 fresh from the oven-pretty!

 the fruit looks a little dry and leathery.  it needs a little glaze over the top to give it a shine.

if my husband is lucky, i will let him have a bite or two…

french apple tart: tuesdays with dorie

Published on by alisahuntsman5 Comments

 as a person who bakes a lot of pies, i can honestly say that there isn’t much you can do to improve an apple pie.  sure you can change the type of crust or add different things to it but in the end, you still have an apple pie and what more could you want?  chocolate may be my first choice in all other types of desserts and sweets but when it comes to pie, apple is always my favorite and a perfect choice for a cold and dreary winter day.

this week’s tuesdays with dorie/baking with julia challenge is hosted by gaye of laws of the kitchen and the participants baked the french apple tart found on pages 379-381.  to view the full recipe, visit gaye’s blog or be kind and buy a copy of the book, baking with julia; it is worth every penny!

the recipe makes a 9″ tart which was just too much for two people.  first thing on the list was to make a quarter of the pie dough recipe.  lurking in a bowl in the dining room was a group of apples left from thanksgiving; embarrassing isn’t it.  further inspections yielded a bag of fourelle pears (from the same holiday) living in the produce drawer in the fridge.  needless to say, i had plenty of fruit to make the recipe!

 the filling recipe is a little different.  the apples were peeled, cut into cubes and mixed with the other ingredients.  this mixture was spread out on a pan and roasted.  two things, my apples were old and didn’t give off much juice and second, i forgot the bread crumbs.  neither caused problems-the filling mashed up nicely.

to keep it simple, i used mini pie pans rather than tart pans.  the quarter sized batch of pie dough made 4 pie shells.  i prebaked them all and froze two for another day.  my favorite baking trick is to use a coffee filter to line the pie shell and then use glass marbles for weights.

 the prebaked pie shells were filled with the mashed, roasted apples.
 the pears were peeled and sliced thin.

 then they were arranged around the top of the pie, brushed with a little melted coconut oil(rather than butter) and sprinkled with sugar.

hot from the oven, mmmmmmm….apple pie.  it was real tasty with some vanilla ice cream!!!  be sure to visit the tuesdays with dorie page to see how the rest of the bakers made out.

peaches and cream pie

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 did you know that august was national peach month?  i learned that fact the hard way-i had to make a peachy dessert for the cafe for each day of the month.  hello, september!!!  really, though, i had fun with it and came up with a couple worth sharing.  one is the peaches and cream pie.  lovely, creamy, vanilla custard poured over fresh, ripe peach slices and finished off with a crunchy, crumb topping.

 many were baked over the course of the month.  many were sold.
peaches ‘n cream pie
1 (9″) pie shell
3 cups sliced peaches-peel them first!
2/3 cups sugar
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup half and half
1 batch of crumb topping-recipe follows

preheat the oven to 325.  place the pie shell on a sturdy baking sheet, line it with parchment paper and fill it with 2-3 cups of dry rice or beans.  bake until the bottom no longer looks shiny and wet but seems mostly opaque and the edges are lightly golden, about 20 minutes.  remove from the oven and carefully spoon out the rice/beans and remove the paper.  turn the oven up to 350.

to mix the filling, place the peach slices into the prepared pie shell and set aside.  in a mixing bowl, whisk the sugar, flour and salt together.  whisk in the eggs and vanilla and mix until completely combined.  whisk in the half and half.  pour the custard over the peaches and sprinkle the crumb topping over the pie evenly.  bake until the crumb topping is evenly browned and the filling puffs up and the pie is somewhat firm in the center, 50-60 minutes.  allow it to cool completely before slicing for the best looking slices.

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
combine the ingredients in a bowl and using a pastry blender or a fork, cut the butter into the flour and sugar until it resembles coarse meal.  

just one more reason i made so many of these pies-my coworkers.  when they like the desserts, many more get sold.  go kaylin!

fig and peach galette; tuesdays with dorie

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ordinarily, i have my act together; i don’t miss appointments, i am usually early so that i am not late, i remember things.  not this week.  instead of being on the ball, i have been hit by it.  somehow, i managed to miss, and i mean completely miss, this weeks challenge for tuesdays with dorie.  i read the post, i knew it was coming.  i just assumed it was next week.  time to get my head out of my (insert the noun of your choice here) and get to work.
the challenge this week is the berry galette and it is hosted by lisa of tomato thymes in the kitchen and andrea of the kitchen lioness.  to read the full recipes, visit either of their sites and to see the entries from the other members, visit tuesdays with dorie.
i love to make galettes.  they are easy to assemble and they aren’t supposed to look picture perfect.  how can you not love that?  the dough is quickly mixed up in the food processor.  the recipe called for 1/4 cup of cornmeal and i immediately went to the freezer and pulled out the bag of blue cornmeal that i keep stashed in there.  blue cornmeal gives doughs and odd shade of grey but the nutty flavor and slight crunch it adds make it a wonderful addition to any recipe calling for cornmeal.
blue cornmeal

 the instructions for using a food processor tell you to pulse it to a consistency of moist curds and that is just what it looks like when it is properly mixed.  according to those instructions, you can use it without a resting period but are cautioned to use ample flour to prevent sticking.  that sounded like work and a set up for failure to me.  needless to say, i chilled the dough by setting it in the freezer while i made the filling.

 our fig tree was producing figs like crazy two weeks ago but it has slowed down considerably.  i found  a flat in the fridge that had been forgotten and decided to use them.  since it was only about 3/4 cups, i threw in some chopped up peaches too.  a little lemon zest, vanilla bean and cardamom finished it off.

 the chilled dough rolled out easily with absolutely not sticking.  to eliminate the flour, brush off the top of the dough.  turn it over onto the baking pan and then brush the flour off the other side-this can be done easily if the dough is chilled since it will not tear and stretch as much.
 look at the blue cornmeal flecks in the dough

 once the filling is on the dough round, you are instructed to sprinkle sugar and honey over it.  well, i skipped the sugar and used a double dip of the honey from our bees.

 ready to go into the oven…
beautiful!
a special thanks to our hostesses with the mostesses-truly a job well done!

blueberry-nectarine pie

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this month, good things come in threes, as in three things made using the book “baking with julia” for the tuesdays with dorie challenge.  this week, we made blueberry-nectarine pie and the event was hosted by hillary of manchego’s kitchen and liz of that skinny chick can bake .  be sure to visit either of their websites to see the recipe or buy the book!

first step was to mix the pie dough.  the recipe gives three methods for mixing the dough; by hand, by mixer or by food processor.  i chose to mix mine in the food processor.

the recipe is pretty simple but it does something most recipes do not, it calls for a combination of real butter and shortening.  most importantly, it calls for chilling the shortening and cutting it into neat little cubes.  it also requires a somewhat lengthy chilling time(several hours) for the dough and a short chill time for the completed pie prior to baking.  i didn’t adhere to the chilling times and can honestly say, the soft dough was easy to work with and the baked pie looked fine.  perhaps i should also mention that making and baking pies is a large part of my job and maybe this is easy for me since i am accustomed to working with pie dough.  maybe, but it could also be that this time, i was lucky.

so there i was shopping in trader joe’s with the husband as i picked up two baskets of blueberries, selected half a dozen white nectarines all the while hoping that there would be extra fruit for me…

 white nectarines are very delicate in flavor, kind of like a washed out peach but they are still tasty.

 the recipe calls for cooking the filling prior to making the pie.  knowing how much the blueberries would color the filling, i doubled up the amount of flour, actually i think i may have added more than double, and just gently tossed the filling and then scraped it into the pie shell.  i wanted to preserve the color combination that you see above; pale slices of nectarines swimming in a purple blueberry pool.

i remember reading the recipe and the author states to use only 2 teaspoons of lemon juice so that the pie isn’t tart.  this perplexed me.  two teaspoons surely wouldn’t have the power to do that.  and no, it didn’t.  to add more flavor, i also included some cardamom and vanilla bean paste.

 when the pie was finished in the oven, it was obvious that it was a blueberry pie.  despite my efforts, the nectarines lost their battle with the blueberries since it dominated both the color and the flavor profile of the pie.  next time, i would reverse the proportions and use 2 cups blueberries with 3 cups nectarines or better still, 3 cups peaches (or apricots, just throwing that out there).

love the color of the filling, the pie tasted pretty good too…

maple syrup-smoked pecan tart

Published on by alisahuntsman1 Comment
the latest food52.com challenge-use maple syrup in a recipe.  easy enough, right?  but the thing is, too many recipes with maple syrup also use maple flavor and that is something that i do not care for.  maple syrup is a subtle flavor that when concentrated, it can be cloying to the palette.  that is probably why i hate pancake syrup and if i am going to eat waffles or french toast, the syrup will be a pure maple or it will be skipped.   so with my distaste for cheap syrup in mind, i let my mind wander and ponder what i could bake with the bottle of grade b maple syrup sitting on my pantry shelf.  wait, grade “b”?  yes, grade b.  why “b” and not “a”?  flavor, plain and simple.  grade b has a stronger flavor that grade a, it is also a little darker but in my book, it is perfect to bake with and no  maple-like extracts are required.  to find grade b, look in the syrup section of some supermarkets-possibly publix, or head out to whole foods or trader joe’s since both carry a selection of grade b maple syrups.

 one of my latest thrift store acquisitions-a $2 deep 8″ tart pan with a removable bottom

the plan is to make a pecan pie in a tart pan but with some liberties to the standard recipe.  for a perfect pecan pie-and trust me, i make hundreds of them, one must mix the filling ingredients in the proper order or the butter will separate from the filling and spill out of the pan during the baking and leave you with a puddle in the oven and a pie that almost looks deep fried.

 place your sugar, spices and flour (if the recipe calls for it) in a bowl and whisk to combine them.  break up the lumps so that when you mix the filling, there aren’t any large sugar lumps left to sink to the bottom of the pie.

 melt the butter slowly-warm butter works better than boiled butter in the next step.

 in short, you are creating an emulsion.  add the butter and vanilla and/or other flavors to the brown sugar and whisk to form a smooth, glossy paste.

 to create the emulsion, the eggs need to be added carefully so only add them one at a time and whisk each one in completely.  scrape the bowl as you go.  this is with one egg added

 egg #2 whisked in

 egg #3 added and whisked in here.  do you see the difference in color?  it is nicely combined and the butter and eggs are blended together so that the filling will not separate in the oven.

 last step to make the filling is so add the syrup-in this case, it is maple and corn syrups that are added.

 to get a perfectly baked pie or tart, one must start with a partially baked shell.  there is nothing worse than getting a forkful of gummy under baked crust along with a bite of pie!  here i use my favorite trick-a restaurant sized coffee filter and marbles.  coffee filters are designed to hold a large amount of wet grinds without tearing.  they absorb a little of the grease so that it doesn’t stick and you can literally lift the filter with the weights right out of the tart shell and set it aside to cool.  filters do not get brittle like parchment, they do not cause creases and cracks like foil and they do not melt like wax paper so if you can get ahold of some, give it a whirl!  and just so that you don’t think i have lost my marbles, those are my pie weights!

 while any pecan would work, i like the smoky flavor of pit smoked pecans.  it adds something to the tart and the way the flavors of maple and smoke (think bacon without the pig here) work together transcends a basic dessert staple into something really special that will have them reaching for seconds.  to amp up the flavor, i also added a little dry rub to the filling but you could skip that and if you are really adventurous, you could try using a little ground chili to add another dimension.

 place the nuts in the shell and pour the syrup over them-this gets them coated with the syrup and the ones on top look shiny and taste a little caramelized when the tart is fully baked.

 let the tart cool completely in the pan then remove it-a warm tart will break pretty easily and the fluted shape of the crust tends to create weak spots so heed the advice and just wait.

beautiful…
for the complete recipe, see my entry on food52.coms best maple recipe contest by clicking here.  and as always, bake one and send me a photo, i will post it here!  bake on friends, bake on