Onion Pie - Zwiwwelkuche

I originally saw  this recipe some while back in one of my Mennonite/Amish cookbooks and then was delighted to see it on the Good Morning America Website. It was presented by the esteemed and inestimable Julia Child.  It has been haunting me since I first read about it.

Gorgeous buttery crust topped with a thick layer of golden onions, crispy bacon and fresh, thick sour cream and the lightest sprinkle of caraway seeds, baked to perfection.

Reviews of similar recipes on Allrecipes.Com  and Recipezaar gave this recipe glowing remarks of how rich it is and that it's a new family favorite and so on.  I could barely wait to take my first bite.  The aroma of this while it was baking was mouth watering and we were filled with anticipation.

After all that, can you believe that neither Sweetie-Pi nor I really cared for this?  It seemed to us to be seriously lacking in flavor.  I used full fat sour cream (low fat can sometimes translate to low flavor), but perhaps a different brand?  I used yellow onions, but perhaps Vadalias would have been better?  One thing is for certain, the amount of salt called for in the dough was not enough  for our tastes, but then, I  confess I used only used regular table salt, so perhaps the sea salt has a deeper, saltier flavor. Aside from that, the crust was delicious.  It's thick, bready, buttery, and reminds me of the softer type crusts used for thick pan pizzas, and indeed that is how I intend to use this recipe in the future. 

I really want to like this and I'm not willing to give up on it, smiles, because I think it has the potential to be all that I imagined.

Onion Pie ~ Zwiwwelkuche

(Good Morning America website)

Start the crust first.

Yeast Raised Butter Crust

(other recipes I've seen suggest using a store bought pie crust)

1/4 oz.  (one package, 2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water (98F)
3 1/2 cups  white-bread flour
1/2 teaspoon sea salt**
1/4 c. cold unsalted butter, cut up
3 large eggs, separated, using  yolks only

Proof the dry yeast in the lukewarm water in a small bowl or two-cup measure.

Sift the flour and salt into a deep bowl. Add the butter and rub the mixture through a sieve or colander to form a fine crumb or process it in a food processor.

Make a well in the center of the crumbs. Beat the egg yolks into the yeast and pour into the well in the crumb mixture. Stir and work into a stiff dough. Knead 5 to 10 minutes on a well-floured work surface until the dough is soft and spongy and no longer sticks to the fingers.** Cover and set aside in a warm place to rise until doubled in bulk (about 1 1/2 hours).**

Preheat the over to 375 F. Fill the crust with the pie filling as directed and bake for 40 minutes or until the filling is set in the middle and the crust is golden brown.

Note: Any sort of pie filling may be baked in this crust as long as the volume of the prebaked filling does not exceed 1 to 1 1/2 qts.

Onion Pie Filling

4 cups sliced onion
3 tablespoons safflower oil or butter
2/3 cup diced slab bacon
4 large eggs
1 cup sour cream or organic yogurt
1 teaspoon caraway seed

While the dough is rising, put the onions and the oil or butter in a heavy skillet, cover, and sweat over medium heat until soft and beginning to brown (about 15 minutes). Fry the bacon in a separate pan until golden, then drain and reserve. Preheat the oven to 375 F. Press down the raised dough and roll it out to 1/4-inch thick.** Line a baking pan measuring 8 1/2 x 14 inches with the dough.

Roll the edges of the dough down and tuck under to form an even rim about 2 inches high along the sides. Let the crust recover for about 15 minutes, then spread the cooked onions and bacon evenly over the bottom.

Beat the eggs until lemon colored, then combine with the sour cream. Spread over the onions, then scatter caraway seed over the top. Bake 30 to 40 minutes or until the filling has set and begun to turn golden brown on the surface. Serve hot or at room temperature.

**I used regular table salt and found that the bread was bland; I would increase the salt to at least one teaspoon if your not using sea salt.
**In my estimation this dough was very sticky to work with and required at least another 3/4 to 1 cup of additional flour to make it easier to work with and knead.  My kitchen was quite warm on the day I made this dough, and the dough only took 1 hour to rise.
**I did not roll the dough out (because it is sticky to work with). After punching it down, I let it rest for five minutes or so, and  I greased my cookie sheet, and pressed and pushed the dough into place, like a pizza dough, allowing it to rest again, then proceeded with adding the toppings.

Chocolate Cream Pie

Lately, I am on a bit of a pie kick,  Perhaps it's because summertime is rapidly approaching and the season here is all too short so I must have as many light and creamy and fruity pies as I can.  Perhaps it's just because I love pies, irregardless of the season. That's probably more closely related to the truth, smiles.

I've mentioned before that I am not a great fan of chocolate, preferring citrus and vanilla and fruit flavors, but perhaps I should recant that and refine it to say I am not a great fan of bad chocolate, but, then, is anyone.  I have been on a years-long quest to find a really good chocolate cream pie, and so far this one is as close as I've come; it's not perfection, but it is very good and worth the small effort it takes.

I have two chief complaints about chocolate cream pies.  One is that they can be too chocolaty (or worse yet, tastes like watered down chocolate)  for my tastes, and secondly, they do not seem to have that smooth, creamy mouth feel that I am looking for. (When I make those prepackaged hot chocolate mixes, I always add more cream because I know that it's not creamy enough for me.)  This recipe uses a combination of milk and heavy cream and gives the option of adding additional chocolate for a richer chocolate flavor.

Why isn't this pie perfection?  Well, I went ahead and added the extra chocolate (see recipe) and it made it too chocolaty (even for Ole Sweetie-Pi who is the chocolate lover in this house and the reason I made the pie) and it could still do with a bit more cream, so I will change the milk to cream ratio next time.  Then we'll see.  I think I'm onto something here.

However, as everyone has their own idea of what's perfect, so I'm going to share the recipe.

Chocolate Cream Pie
 (From the cookbook The Perfect Pie by Susan G.Purdy)

Prebaked 9-inch pastry shell (I use this recipe)

1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon
2 1/2 cups milk**
1/4 cup heavy cream
4 ounces semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate
3 tablespoons Dutch-processed coco, optional
2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

Blind bake your favorite pie crust recipe.  My current favorite for blind baking is the one from Penzey's that I posted here.

Melt the four ounces of chocolate in the top of a double boiler.

In a medium-sized sauce pan combine the sugar, cornstarch and salt (and the 3 tablespoons of cocoa if you are using it.). 

In a bowl, add the egg yolks, then whisk in the milk and cream.

Slowly whisk the egg-milk mixture into the cornstarch-sugar, taking care to ensure that all the cornstarch is picked up from the bottom of the pan and is dissolved.

Set the pan over medium heat and cook the mixture for about 12 minutes:  Stir frequently the first five minutes using a  wooden spoon,  then whisk constantly for about 7 minutes, until the mixture is thickened and reaches a boil.  You should see fat heavy bubbles work up to the surface and burst.  Boil for 1 full minute while stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and stir in the butter, vanilla, and melted chocolate.  

Strain the cream ** into a bowl, then spoon into the prepared pastry shell.  Cover the hot cream with plastic wrap or dab with butter to prevent a skin from forming.  Set the pie aside to cool, and then chill until shortly before serving.

Top with your favorite whipped topping.

**The recipe only says "milk," but I would be inclined to say "whole milk," especially if you, like me, enjoy a creamier tasting cream pie. 
**I wouldn't bother straining the cream unless I thought there were undissolved lumps.  Otherwise I think this is an unnecessary step.

Old Fashioned Banana Cream Pie

There are certain foods that just say summertime fun to me, whether it's for a family picnic, 4th of July party,  barbecue or homecoming.  I like love fancy layered cakes, but to me there's still nothing homier than a pie.  And at the top of that list is a a beautiful cream pie, custardly good with gorgeous, perfectly ripe fruit flavoring every bite.  And to me, I have found the perfect banana cream pie.  Ole Sweetie-Pi loved this pie.  I loved this pie.  We loved this pie!  This is now my go-to banana cream pie recipe.

I also tried another pat-in-pan crust recipe, and this time I had much better success.  It's an oil crust and did a terrific job of holding its crispy-flaky shape after being blind baked.  It doesn't have the same desirable buttery flavor I like to associate with a pastry crust, but I'm so pleased with the way it turned out, that I will use this crust for future prebaked crust recipes. 

Old Fashioned Banana Cream Pie

(Recipezaar #14979)

One prebaked pastry crust, cooled (recipe to follow)

3 cups whole milk
3/4 cups white sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 egg yolks, beaten
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 ripe bananas

In a large saucepan scald the milk.  Remove any milk solids that might develop.

In a separate saucepan, combine the sugar, flour and salt; gradually whisk in the scalded milk.  Over medium heat, stirring constantly, cook until thickened.  Cover, cook two minutes more, stirring occasionally.

In a small bowl, have the 3 egg yolks, slightly beaten, ready. Stir a small amount of the hot mixture into beaten yolks (tempering the yolks with the hot liquid so as not to curdle them).  When thoroughly combined, stir yolks into hot mixture.  Cook for minute more more, stirring constantly. Stir in the butter and vanilla. 

Let custard sit until lukewarm.

When ready, pour about a cup of the custard into the bottom of the prepared pie crust.  Slice 3 ripe bananas over the top and then pour the remainder of the custard over the bananas.

Wrap in plastic wrap to prevent a crust from forming on the custard and refrigerate until cold and custard is set.

Serve with either a meringue made from the leftover egg whites or nice dollops of whipped cream.

No Roll Pie Crust
(Recipezaar #73041)

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar **
1/8 teaspoon vanilla**
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup canola oil
3 tablespoon milk

Preheat oven to 375*F.

Put all ingredients into a 9-inch pie plate.  Mix with a fork until well blended and pat into the pan. Push the pastry up the sides and make a nice edge.

Generously prick the crust with a fork to prevent bubbling during baking (I pricked every 1/4 inch or so around the sides and across the bottom).

Bake 15-17 minutes, or until nicely browned.

**The original recipe calls for one tablespoon vanilla sugar, a product I do not keep on hand.  I substituted one tablespoon sugar and added a couple drops of vanilla extract.  Seemed to work fine, and was especially nice to use with a pie that called for vanilla as part of the flavoring.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

My brother Grant and I were jabber-jawing the other day, and he asked me if I remembered our Great Aunt Effie's strawberry rhubarb pie.  Do I ever!  It was the first time I had ever had strawberry rhubarb pie and we both agreed, it was love at first bite.  Aunt Effie, a tall, big-boned, taciturn Vermonter,  was my grandfather's sister.  She ran a boarding house, making meals for the lodgers every day of her life.  I was only 12 years or so, sat silently in her kitchen, watching her in awe, as she sternly rolled out the dough and threw together a pie lickety-split, no recipe required.  To this day I don't think I've ever had a pie as good as the one she made, but then I wonder, is any pie, like a kiss, any sweeter than the first.

I tried a new pie crust recipe made with a food processor.  I loved the way it worked up, it looked and handled beautifully, but despair at the way it turned out.  Can you say tough?  Oh my!  So I left the crust and ate the filling, which is very very good!

Glazed Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie

(Farm Journal's Homemade Pies, Cookies, & Bread)

Pasty for 2-crust pie
1 1/4 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt (also known as a "pinch")
1/3 cup flour (I used cornstarch)
2 cups fresh strawberries, washed, dried, hulled, cut in halves
2 cups (1-inch pieces) fresh rhubarb
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, diced
1 tablespoon sugar
1 egg beaten with one tablespoon water (if desired, for glazing)

Combine the 1 1/4 cup sguar, salt and flour in a small bowl. 

In a separate bowl, combine the strawberries and rhubarb.  Pour half the fruits into a pastry-lined, 9-inch pie pan.  Sprinkle with half the sugar mixture.  Repeat with remaining fruit and sugar mixture. 

Dot the top with butter.

Apply the top crust, and flute the edges and make vent holes, or make a lattice top.  Brush top of pie with either cold water and sprinkle on one tablespoon sugar or brush with the beaten egg and water mixture and sprinkle with sugar.  (The egg wash gives a shiny glaze.)

Bake in a preheated 425*F oven, 40 to 50 minutes or until rhubarb is tender and crust is browned.

My Notes:  I think I had my pie on too low a rack.  The crust was very dark at the end of 50 minutes but the juices had not thickened, even after sitting for 3 hours.  I raised the oven rack,  covered the pie with tin foil, and put it back in a 350*F oven for 30 minutes,  The pie thickened up nicely.  Whew!

Here's a question for you.  Lots of folks have issues with a pie like this being too runny, and I admit it can be hard to gauge just how much thickener to add.  I want to say that my Aunt Effie started her pie filling on the stove first and then added it to the pie crust.  Anyone heard of that before?  I can't seem to find a recipe that supports the hazy memory.

Apple Pie

I think anyone who loves apple pie probably has a favorite, and really, is there any such thing as a bad apple pie? There are some that are better than others, without question, but even apple pies made by novices have a certain appeal (one that comes to mind must have had a quarter cup of cinnamon in it. I ate it, enjoyed it, told the cook how wonderful it was.). And then there's Mom's apple pie. I have seen far-away looks of people who fondly recall their Mom's apple pie, and none will ever be as good as the ones in their memory.

I have a couple of cookbooks that I love so much that I own duplicates of them, with the second copy being stored away for safe keeping if the first one should ever wear out and become unusable. Jim Fobel's Old Fashioned Baking Book is one example. One of my two favorite apple pie recipes and my favorite cheesecake recipe are between those hallowed covers. This cookbook has been so well loved that it's even been brought back from being out of print and reprinted. I've made this recipe countless times, have served it to a number of friends and family who have declared this to be "the best." In all humility, I don't know if this can be crowed "the best" but I do know it's mighty, mighty fine.

I had to take these photos under fluorescent lighting as we've had a steady rain and no natural light to speak of. The red coloring is a bit too saturated (to compensate for the green of the fluorescent, I think). Also I do not know how to make a beautiful pie crust edge. Oh, well, what lies between the pastry is beautiful!

Apple Pie
(Jim Fobel's Old Fashioned Baking Book)

2 1/2 pounds (5-7) tart green cooking apples **
1 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Water or apple cider (optional)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits

Pastry for a double crust pie (your own, or store bought)

Glaze (optional, but very nice to give a finished look to the crust)
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon water
1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Have your rack in the center of your oven and preheat to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

Have one half of your pastry dough rolled out into a 12-inch circle and ready to be transferred to the bottom of a 9-inch pie plate. You can lightly roll it in half onto and over your roller, fold in half, or fold in quarters to transfer. Gently unfold and ease it into the plate, taking care not to tear or stretch the dough, but if you do, just moisten a finger and patch it (no one's going to see the bottom crust anyway). There should be a generous overhang of pastry. Refrigerate the dough until you need it.

Peel the apples and quarter them lengthwise. Core the apples and cut the quarters into wedges about 1/2 inch thick. You should have about seven cups of apples. Sprinkle with lemon juice to retard browning of your freshly cut apples.

In a large bowl combine the sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Add the apples and toss well. If your apples seem particularly dry add the tablespoon of water or apple cider. Remove the prepared pastry dough from the fridge, and turn the apple filling into the pan. Mound the apples in the pan, patting them firmly. Dot with butter.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the remaining pastry to a 12-inch circle. Moisten the edge of the crust that's in the pie plate. Lay the newly rolled pastry over the apples and press the two crusts together, all around. Tightly roll the overhanging pastry under all around to make a raised edge. Then using your fingertips or a fork make a decorate edge. Cut three or four vents in the center of your pie to allow steam to escape.

For the glaze, stir together the egg yolk and water. Brush the top crust (but not the fluted edge), twice. Sprinkle with sugar.

Place pie on a baking sheet and bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes. Then reduce the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and continue baking for another 20-30 minutes longer or until the pie is golden brown and the apples are tender when pierced with a knife through a steam vent. Cool on a rack before serving.

Very good with ice cream, but here in New England, it's also served with a wedge of nice cheddar cheese.

**Let me share a secret with you about making some of the best apple pie ever. Most recipes just say 5-7 cooking apples and may make a suggestion of Granny Smith, Golden Delicious, Pippin, Braeburn, etc. Let me say that they are half right. To have the absolute best apple pie, you have to mix the apple varieties, at least two different kinds. Personally, I use Granny Smith and McIntosh. Granny Smith holds their shape while baking, but the McIntosh tends to cook down, filling in any gaps that might be caused by an uneven layering of the Granny Smiths. I probably use 5 Granny Smiths and 3 McIntosh apples, see how it looks in the pie plate and add or subtract apples depending on whim, fancy, size of the apple, and ability to resist snacking on sugar-cinnamon coated apple wedges, grins.

Onion Pie

I saw a 10 pound bag of Vadalia onions on sale and, of course, I just had to have them. I love the sweeter, milder onion flavor of the Vadalia. One of my favorite ways to use these onions is in this simple, quiche-like pie. This old standby is terrific when money is short and payday isn't until the end of the week. A simple salad goes wonderfully with this for a meatless meal, and goes just as well as a side with a delicious steak when the purse strings aren't drawn quite so tight.

Many recipes for onion pie call for a pastry crust, but this one is a little different as it uses crushed saltines and butter, a time saver and certainly very do-able for those who may be timid about preparing a pastry crust.

This pie is at its best served warm from the oven on the day it is made.

Onion Pie

1 cup finely crushed saltines (about 28 crackers)
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine, melted

2 cups thinly sliced onion, separated into rings (about 2 medium)
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
3/4 cup milk
2 eggs beaten
1/4 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (or your choice, a mix of cheese is delicious)
3/4 teaspoon salt **
dash ground black pepper
dash paprika

Mix cracker crumbs with the 1/4 cup melted butter. Press into the bottom and up the sides of an 8-inch pie plate.

In a saute pan, melt the 2 tablespoons of butter and add the onions. Cook the onions until translucent but not browned. Pour onions into the prepared crust. Combine the milk, egg, salt and pepper and pour over the onions. Sprinkle with the cheese and paprika.

Bake at 350F about 30 minutes or until a sharp knife inserted halfway between center and edge comes out clean.

Garnish with additional cooked onions and parsley if desired. Serves 4 to 6.

**I have found, depending on the saltiness of the cheese(s) you are using that 3/4 teaspoon salt is too much. I just toss in a pinch of salt and have found that to be quite satisfactory.

I've used any number of different cheeses with this, Swiss, mozzarella, Monterey Jack, sharp cheddar, Mexican cheese blend. All have been very good!

Spaghetti Squash-Coconut Custard Pie

Do you remember this old Weight Watcher's recipe? Spaghetti squash virtually replaces all the high calorie, high fat coconut and you still have a delicious coconut custard pie that satisfies that dessert craving. As spaghetti squash tends to take on the flavors around it, its flavor is barely discernible. Ole Sweetie-Pi, who doesn't like squash anything, liked this.

Start by preparing your spaghetti squash. I cook mine whole. There are a number of ways to prepare it. You can boil it whole in a pot of water for about an hour or until it pierces easily with a knife. Or place on a baking sheet, and bake at 375F for an hour, or you can put it on a microwave safe dish, microwave it on high maybe for 15 minutes or so. If you choose to bake or microwave it, make sure and pierce it all over to let the steam escape or you might have a squash explosion from the steam that builds up inside the squash. You can also cut the squash into half and proceed, which will reduce preparation time, but you will need a sharp cleaver and the arms and strength of a WWF wrestler.

Once it's softened, let this cool, as the squash will be too hot to handle comfortably. Once cool, you can cut it open, scrape out the seeds and stringy stuff, discard them, and what you have remaining is some nice pulp. With a fork, scrape out the pulp, (it should come off in nice shreds) and proceed with the rest of the recipe. I made the squash the night before, let it cool overnight.

Whew! The good news is, this pie needs no crust!

Now for the pie recipe.

Spaghetti Squash-Coconut Custard Pie

2 cups skimmed milk
6 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
1 cup cooked spaghetti squash
A little grated coconut to sprinkle on top

Put all ingredients (except the spaghetti squash and the coconut) into a blender or food processor (or just mix well in a large bowl). Blend or process for three minutes until smooth. Stir in squash. Pour into a deep-dish 9- or 10-inch pie plate. Sprinkle a little coconut on top. Bake at 350F for 40-45 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center come out clean.

Now, you'll notice that this recipe does not call for sugar, so for me it was not quite sweet enough. I think I'll add a small amount of coconut into the batter to add sweetness and also to amp up the coconut flavor because my favorite part was those little bits of coconut that were sprinkled on top.

Grins. Is that defeating the purpose of the recipe?

Very Blueberry Pie

Ever been blueberry picking, hot sun beating down on you, pail in hand, picking blueberries, maybe with mosquitoes buzzing around you. Mysteriously, an equal amount of those luscious blue-purple globes found their way to the bucket and to your mouth. And when you bit down on them they squirted their sweet tart juice down your throat and you knew you were eating sunshine. It was like that for me. My grandmother used to take me on an old logging road near her home, and we followed it alongside the little brook that separated her property until we arrived at her secret blueberry patch. There we would eat like two mischievous children, coming come back with with only a brimming bowlful, enough to make a pie.

I love blueberry pie, but so many of them are thick with crust and starchy filling. I'll eat them, can't say no, but if you LOVE blueberries, don't want a lot of ingredients between you and those wonderful globes of goodness, try this Very Blueberry Pie. Nothing but a mound of whipped topping is between you blueberry heaven.

I clipped this recipe out of a grocery store pamphlet some years ago. The recipe instructions call for salt, but it's not included in the ingredient list. I've Goggled the recipe and can't find this precise one so I add a 1/4 teaspoon. Seems to work fine.


Very Blueberry Pie

1/4 cup cold water
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

4 cups fresh or dry-pack frozen blueberries, rinsed and drained
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water

1 baked 9-inch pie shell (recipe to follow)

Make a smooth paste with the 1/4 cup cold water flour and salt and set aside.

Boil 1 cup blueberries with sugar and 1/2 cup water. Add the flour paste*** and stir until thickened. Remove from heat and cool.

Add the remaining blueberries. Put into baked pie shell.

Refrigerate. Serve with sweetened whipped cream.

***When I followed these directions, I had a horrid lumpy floury ball that seized in the middle of my blueberries. I stirred and stirred, the mixture did thicken up, but there were unsightly strands of flour throughout. I ended up putting the mixture through a fine sieve and then tossing away a floury mass. The syrup was smooth and thick, but it would've been better if if were thicker. I haven't made this recipe in a while and I don't remember this happening the last time. If you have any ideas how to avoid this in the future, I'd be glad to adopt it. Perhaps the flour/water mixture needed more water?




Because this pie needs one prebaked pie crust, I went to Allrecipes and found Easy Pie Crust and the submitter isn't kidding; this crust is super easy. You make the crust right up in the pie pan you're going to use, pat it around the sides and bottom, and then bake. No rolling out. No extra dishes to wash. It's an acceptable crust, and it worked well. I think a rolled crust is better tasting and has a better texture. This one was kind of crumbly, almost like a cracker crumbly. I reduced the salt and added extra sugar as some reviewers suggested, but I thought it was too sweet. Would I do it again? Perhaps. But if I saw another similar recipe I wouldn't hesitate to try it.

Peach & Raspberry Pie

Gosh, I love pie. Good ole apple is probably my favorite, but I pretty much love them all. Pumpkin, pecan, strawberry-rhubarb (now we're talking!), chocolate cream, banana cream, custard, lemon meringue, blueberry....oh I could go on and on.

So, it was no surprise to me that when I spied this recipe on the King Arthur Flour website, I knew I had to try it. The good cooks over there put a lot of effort in developing some of the very best recipes, and this recipe did not disappoint.

I used frozen peaches and raspberries, and gave my pie a generous six cups of filling; 4 cups of peaches and 2 cups of raspberries. No thin pies for me! I should have thought about the extra juiciness the added fruit would produce. When I cut into the pie, even after sufficiently cooling, it was too juicy. I used 1/3 cup cornstarch called for in the recipe, but next time I'll increase it to maybe just shy of half a cup. I think I'll add a tad more sugar. I love the tartness of raspberries, but a little extra sweetness would've have hurt. Grins.

The vanilla was a surprising touch, though not discernible in the baked pie. In mixing the ingredients, the vanilla, cinnamon and fruit mixture created a wonderful aroma and was enough to make want to me eat the filling Au natural. Heavenly!

As you can tell, I only used the filling part of their recipe because I favor pies over tarts. This pastry recipe has become my favorite. It's a No Fail recipe, and I think it's appropriately named. The only time I've messed it up was when I thought the flour didn't need all the water, and I reduced it. Big mistake. Follow the simple directions, and you will be rewarded with a pie crust that is wonderful to handle. It's velvety smooth and bakes up flaky. I'm not saying that this is the best pastry recipe ever (I think an old fashioned lard is probably flakier and more tender), but for sheer ease, I think you'll have to go some to beat this recipe.

Recipe is from Marcia Adams' New Recipes from Quilt Country, though I have seen it any number of places on the web. My picture is a little pale; the dough will actually be more yellow than shown because of the butter-flavored shortening.

Perfect Pie Crust

4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 3/4 cups butter-flavored vegetable shortening**
1 egg
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1/2 cup water

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt and shortening. Blend until you have reached the texture of coarse crumbs.

In a separate small bowl, combine the egg, vinegar and water. Beat to combine.

Drizzle the liquids over the flour mixture and mix thoroughly.

Shape the dough into a patty, wrap in plastic wrap, and place in the freezer for 45 minutes, or refrigerate overnight.

When chilled, divide the dough into fourths. Each fourth is one single crust; use two for a two-crust pie. Roll and use immediately or wrap each portion separately and refrigerate or freeze.

**I've seen this exact recipe using the non-buttered flavored shortening, and in a pinch one day, I tried it. It was just okay to me; I think the butter flavored shortening has a better flavor.

The dough will keep nice for a couple of days in the fridge; I have frozen it, defrosted, and used it, but it's not as good tasting, in my opinion.

Best Yet Strawberry Pie

I received a lovely email from a representative of Pom Wonderful, the nice folks who provide us with their delicious and healthful pomegranate products. I've purchased and enjoyed their products in the past, so when I was asked if I would like a sample, I didn't hesitate. I already knew how much I liked them!



I was completely taken aback by their generous gift and knew then and there I would have to make something special. So I decided to adventurous! After some thought and some research, I decided to redo my favorite strawberry pie. I like the pie but strawberries are out of season, and it just doesn't have a clearly defined fruit flavor. I studied the recipe for a while and I knew what it needed. Haven't I stated before that water doesn't add flavor to anything? The answer was so clear (and ruby red and delicious!).

I swapped out the water for an equal amount of pomegranate, added maybe a teaspoon of grated lemon peel, omitted the food coloring and followed the rest of the recipe as written.

Have mercy, this turned out to be the best yet strawberry pie. The pomegranate complimented and enhanced the strawberries, giving the pie a more complex fruity flavor, but not overpowering the strawberries. The filling is rich, ruby red,luscious.It makes a gorgeous, glistening pie, and more importantly, oh so good!

And don't you just know I'm thinking about upscaling my blueberry pie.