Pies Galore!!!!!

PIES!!!! It's PIE season!!!! WAHOO!!!!!!! As many of you know, this Saturday I am hosting my annual Festival of Pies and I have been baking like a maniac! I am currently baking pie number 8, Lemon Pucker Pie, and I have nine more to go! Three will be made the day of and I can't wait to pull them out of the oven to please the drooling crowd!!!! I'll be adding recipes as I go but I had to share at least one picture with my blog folks! The above is the Cranberry Window Pie from The Pie and Pastry Bible. The recipe will follow soon but check back periodically for more pictures and fun-time recipes!!!!!

Here's the list of pies:

1. Pumpkin Pie
2. Lemon Pucker Pie
3. Cranberry Window Pie
4. Honeycomb Chiffon Pie
5. Chocolate Cream Pie
6. Chocolate S'more Pie
7. Grape & Pear Pie
8. Gingery Apple Crumb Pie
9. Walnut & Date Torte
10. Piroshki
11. Turkey Curry Pies
12. Apple & Blackberry Pie
13. Buttermilk Chess Pie
14. Shoofly Pie
15. Swiss Chard, Raisin & Pine Nut Tart
16. Apricot Cheesecake Tart
17. Fig Tart with Mascarpone

Three cheers for PIES!!!!!!!!

The Recipes:
Piroshki

Pastry:
31/2 c. sifted flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
½ c. butter
2 eggs
1 c. thick sour cream

Filling:
1 large onion, finely chopped
4 tbsp. butter
1 lb. ground beef
Salt
Pepper
2 tbsp. minced fresh dill
1 tbsp. flour
2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped

Heat oven to 375F

For the pastry:
1. Sift flour with baking powder and salt.
2. Work in the butter with a pastry blender.
3. Beat the eggs very slightly; mix with the sour cream; then add to the flour and stir till dough is thoroughly mixed. It should be quite smooth but not stiff to handle.
4. Roll out to less than ¼ inch thickness. Cut with a 5-inch cookie cutter and fill with 1-11/2 tbsp. filling

For filling:
1. Saute the onion for 5 minutes in 1 tbsp. butter; then add the remaining butter, heat and add the meat. Brown the meat. Salt and pepper to taste.
2. Add the minced dill and stir.
3. Sprinkle with flour and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add 1-2 tablespoons water if mixture is dry.
4. Cool and add chopped eggs

Cut and fill pockets of dough. Wet one half of the edge of dough with water, fold over dough and pinch to close (or you can be fancy). Bake on a cookie sheet at 375F for 15 minutes, until golden on the edges.

Grape & Pear Pie

1 recipe pastry for double-crust pie
1/3 c. all-purpose flour
¼ c. packed dark brown sugar
2 tbsp. butter, melted
1 tsp. finely shredded orange peel
5 cups whole seedless red or black grapes
2 medium red pears, cored and sliced
1 egg white

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Prepare you pastry. For filling, in large bowl stir together brown sugar, flour, melted butter and orange peel. Add grapes and pear slices. Toss.
2. Roll out one disc of dough and line a pie pan, making sure to press dough up against the walls of the pan. Trim even with the edge of the pan.
3. Pour filling into the pastry.
4. Roll out remaining dough and place on top of filling. Trim to ½-inch beyond the edge of a pie plate. Fold over and pinch to seal. Cut slits in top pastry to allow steam to escape. Place on baking sheet.
5. Cover edge of the pie with foil. Bake 35 minutes; remove foil. Bake 35-40 more minutes or until top of pastry is golden and steam is escaping from slits in top crust. Remove from oven. Cool 6 hours. Store, loosely covered, in refrigerator up to 24 hours.


Swiss Chard, Golden Raisin and Pine Nut Tart

½ c. Golden raisins
1 c. water
2 lb. red Swiss chard, stems and center ribs discarded
1 large egg
½ c heavy cream
1 ½ tbsp granulated sugar
½ tsp. finely grated fresh lemon zest
1/3 c. pine nuts, toasted
Pastry dough for a double crusted pie

Special equipment: 10” by 1” round tart pan

1. Bring raisins and water to a boil in a 1-quart heavy saucepan, then remove from heat and let stand, covered, 1 hour. Drain in a colander, then pat dry with paper towels. Put oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 400F.
2. Blanch Swiss chard in a large pot of salted boiling water, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until tender but still bright green, about 5 minutes. Transfer chard with a slotted spoon to a large bowl of ice and cold water to stop cooking. Drain chard in a colander, then squeeze out excess water by handfuls. Coarsely chop chard.
3. Whisk together egg, cream, granulated sugar, zest, and a pinch of salt in a large bowl. Stir in pine nuts, raisins and chard until combined.
4. Roll out one disc of dough to fill tart pan and hang over the edge of the pan at least ½ inch. Fill evenly with chard mixture. Roll out second disc of dough and trim. Crimp edges together. Using a fork, poke stem vents in the top of the tart. Bake until top is golden, about 1 hour. Allow to cool for 10 minutes to an hour and serve.


Walnut-Date Torte

¼ c. boiling-hot water
1 ½ c. pitted dates (1/2 lb.), finely chopped
1 ½ c. walnuts (5oz.)
¾ c. sugar, divided
2/3 c. matzo meal
1 tbsp. grated orange zest
½ tsp. ground cardamom
¼ tsp. salt
4 large eggs, separated, at room temperature 30 minutes
Accompaniment: Whipped cream

1. Preheat oven to 350F with rack in the middle. Generously grease a 9-by-2-inch round cake pan with softened butter or vegetable oil and dust with matzo meal, knocking out excess.
2. Pour hot water over dates in a large bowl and let stand 15 minutes to soften.
3. Pulse walnuts in a food processor until chopped, then add ¼ c. sugar and pulse until nuts are finely ground. Add matzo meal (2/3 c.), zest, cardamom, and salt and pulse until combined.
4. Beat egg whites with a pinch of salt in a bowl using an electric mixer at medium-high speed until just hold soft peaks. Add remaining ½ c. sugar in a slow stream, beating until whites hold stiff glossy peaks.
5. Whisk yolks into date mixture. Fold one third of yolk mixture into whites, then fold in remaining yolk mixture gently but thoroughly. Fold all of nut mixture into batter.
6. Spoon batter into cake pan and bake until golden and springy to the touch and cake just begins to pull away from side of pan, 35-40 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 30 minutes, then invert onto rack and cool completely.

Turkey Curry Pie

½ lb. ground turkey
1 tbsp. soy sauce
½ tsp. sugar
¼ tsp. salt
1 tsp. vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped (1 cup)
1 tbsp. curry powder
1 large russet potato, peeled and cut into ¼ inch pieces (1 cup)
4-6 brown mushrooms, stems removed and cut into ¼ inch pieces
4 tbsp. butter
6 tbsp. water
2 (17 ¼ ounce) packages frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 large egg, lightly beaten

1. Mix together turkey, soy sauce, sugar, and salt with your hands until combined well. Heat oil in a 10-inch nonstick skillet over moderately high heat, add turkey and cook, stirring occasionally and breaking up beef into small pieces, until just browned, about 4 minutes. Remove turkey from the pan and drain.
2. To the pan, add butter, allowing it to melt, and add onion and cook, stirring occasionally until softened, 3-5 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook until they are softened and browned, 5-8 minutes. Add curry powder and potatoes and cook, stirring occasionally until potatoes are translucent, 3-5 minutes. Add water and cook, stirring and scraping up brown bits from the pan, until liquid is absorbed and potatoes are tender, about 1 minute. Return turkey to the skillet and stir. Cool, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes.
3. Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat to 400F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment.
4. Roll out one sheet of dough into a 12-inch square. Cut into four equal pieces or cut out four 5-inch rounds with a cookie cutter. Mound 1/3 cup of filling into the center of two pieces of pastry. Brush edge with beaten egg and stretch another piece of pastry over the top of the filling, crimping edges with a fork and poke vent holes in top of each pie. Brush tops with eggs. Repeat until all pastry has been used. Place on lined cooking sheets and bake until pies until they are a deep golden brown and puffed, 25-30 minutes. Cool pies to warm, about 10 minutes, or room temperature. Makes about 8 pies.


Apple and Blackberry Pie

1 recipe pastry for double-crust pie

2 pounds tart green apples (such as Granny Smith), peeled, quartered, cored, cut into
1/4-inch-thick slices
1 1/2 cups frozen unsweetened blackberries, unthawed
1/3 cup plus
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons all purpose flour

Milk
Sweetened whipping cream

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Mix apples, blackberries, 1/3 cup sugar and flour in large bowl.
2. Roll out 1 dough disk on floured surface to 12-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish.
3. Spoon filling into crust. Roll out second dough disk on floured surface to 12-inch round. Place dough atop filling. Fold top crust edge under bottom edge and pinch to seal. Crimp edges decoratively. Brush crust with milk. Sprinkle with remaining 2 teaspoons sugar. Cut several slits on top of pie.
4. Bake pie until crust is golden brown and fruit is tender, covering edges of pie with aluminum foil if browning too quickly, about 55 minutes. Cool pie on rack 30 minutes. Serve pie warm with sweetened whipped cream.


Chocolate S’more Pie

For crust
1 graham cracker crumb crust, baked and cooled completely

For chocolate cream filling
7 ounces fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not more than 70% cacao; not unsweetened), finely chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1 large egg, at room temperature for 30 minutes

For marshmallow topping
1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin (from a 1/4-ounce package)
1/2 cup cold water
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Vegetable oil for greasing

Special equipment: a candy thermometer

Make chocolate cream filling:

1. Make graham cracker crumb crust and reserve.
2. Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Put chocolate in a large bowl. Bring cream just to a boil in a 1- to 1 1/2-quart heavy saucepan, then pour hot cream over chocolate. Let stand 1 minute, then gently whisk until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Gently whisk in egg and a pinch of salt until combined and pour into graham cracker crumb crust (crust will be about half full).
3. Cover edge of pie with a pie shield or foil and bake until filling is softly set and trembles slightly in center when gently shaken, about 25 minutes. Cool pie to room temperature on a rack (filling will firm as it cools), about 1 hour.

Make marshmallow topping:

1. Sprinkle gelatin over 1/4 cup cold water in a large deep heatproof bowl and let stand until softened, about 1 minute.
2. Stir together sugar, corn syrup, a pinch of salt, and remaining 1/4 cup water in cleaned 1- to 1 1/4-quart heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil over moderate heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved, then boil until thermometer registers 260°F, about 6 minutes.
3. Begin beating water and gelatin mixture with an electric mixer at medium speed, then carefully pour in hot syrup in a slow stream, beating (avoid beaters and side of bowl). When all of syrup is added, increase speed to high and continue beating until mixture is tripled in volume and very thick, about 5 minutes. Add vanilla and beat until combined, then immediately spoon topping onto center of pie filling; it will slowly spread to cover top of pie. Chill, uncovered, 1 hour, then cover loosely with lightly oiled plastic wrap (oiled side down) and chill 3 hours more.
Brown topping:
1. 
Preheat broiler.
2. Transfer pie to a baking sheet. Cover edge of pie with pie shield or foil and broil 3 to 4 inches from heat, rotating pie as necessary, until marshmallow topping is golden brown, about 3 minutes. Cool pie on a rack 10 minutes. Slice pie with a large heavy knife dipped in hot water and then dried with a towel before cutting each slice.



Gingery Apple Crumb Pie

1 uncooked piecrust, fitted into a 9-inch pie plate
1/2 cup cup cold unsalted butter (1 stick), cut into small pieces
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 pounds apples (about 5; such as Granny Smith, Braeburn, or Empire), peeled and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1. Set an oven rack in the lowest position and heat oven to 375º F. Place the pie plate on a foil-lined baking sheet.
2. In a food processor, pulse the butter, ¾ cup of the flour, and ¼ cup of the sugar until large clumps form. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate until ready to use.
3. In a large bowl, toss the apples, ginger, cinnamon, salt, and the remaining ½ cup of sugar and tablespoon of flour.
4. Transfer the apple mixture to the crust, sprinkle with the crumb topping, and bake until the top is golden and the apples are tender, 55 to 60 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.