Peach Blueberry Tart

Posted by trailrunner AL 8 on Thu, Jul 31, 08 at 21:44

Peach Blueberry Tart (modified from Epicurious)

Ingredients For pastry

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) very cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
For filling
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch ( may use tapioca that you have ground to a powder in spice grinder)
2 lb firm-ripe large peaches (about 4), halved lengthwise, pitted, and each half cut lengthwise into fourths
1 cup blueberries (1/2 pint)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Special equipment: a 9- to 91/2-inch (24-cm) springform pan; an electric coffee/spice grinder

Preparation Make pastry:

Pulse together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a food processor until combined. Add butter and pulse just until mixture resembles coarse meal with some small (roughly pea-size) butter lumps. Add egg and vanilla and pulse just until dough clumps and begins to form a ball, about 15 pulses.
Press dough onto bottom and evenly (about 1/4 inch thick) all the way up side of springform pan with floured glass . Chill pastry in pan until firm, about 10 minutes.

Make filling while pastry chills:

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 325°F.
( if you have convection and using a dark metal pan) If you have a light metal pan and no convection may cook at 350.

If using tapioca grind 2 tablespoons sugar with flour and tapioca in grinder until tapioca is powdery, then transfer to a large bowl and stir in remaining 6 tablespoons sugar. Add peaches, blueberries, and lemon juice and gently toss to coat. Spoon filling into pastry and bake, loosely covered with a sheet of foil, until filling is bubbling in center and crust is golden, about 1 3/4 hours. I baked at 90 min. convection. The fruit comes out some much nicer at a slow long bake than at a higher hotter one. I was amazed at how much better this is.

Transfer cake in pan to a rack and cool, uncovered, 20 minutes, then carefully remove side of pan.

Cool cake to barely warm or room temperature, then cut into thick wedges with a sharp knife before serving.

Cooks' note:
Pastry can be made and pressed into pan 1 day ahead and chilled, wrapped well in plastic wrap. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before filling.



using apples same recipe ( about 6 apples)

Fresh Strawberry Pie

Posted by aftermidnight Z8 V. Island B.C. on Thu, Jul 31, 08 at 20:30

FRESH STRAWBERRY PIE


1 baked pie shell ( I use the recipe on the Crisco box)

Enough strawberries to cover the bottom of whatever size pie plate you use




THE GLAZE

1 cup of sliced strawberries
3/4 cup sugar (or less if you don't want it really sweet)
3 TBSP. cornstarch
Pinch of salt

Mash the strawberries down, add enough water to make 1 cup of juice
Simmer for 3 minutes, strain and add enough water to make a cup once more
Pour into small saucepan, add sugar, cornstarch and salt
Cook till thick, cool

Fill cooled pie shell with whole strawberries that have been rinsed, dried and hulled
Spoon cooled glaze over strawberries and refrigerate. Serve with a dollup of whipped cream.

Note: You can add a drop or two of red food coloring to the glaze if you want a really red glaze, not necessary if you have really red strawberries. This is a pie that is best eaten up quickly.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Cake

Posted by lorna-organic on Tue, Jun 3, 08 at 23:36

Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie

Crust:
1-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
2 tblsps. sugar
1/4 tsp. lemon zest
5 tblsps. melted butter




Filling:
2 large eggs
½ cup sugar
12 oz. softened cream cheese
½ cup sour cream
2 tblsps all-purpose flour
1 tsp. vanilla extract
¼ tsp. grated lemon zest

Toppping:
Whole fresh strawberries, about 30, preferably uniform in size
1/3 cup melted red currant jelly, or orange marmalade

Heat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray pie plate lightly with oil. Combine crust ingredients. Press crust mixture into pie plate, about 3/4s of the way up the sides of the plate. Bake for 6 minutes.

Prepare filling. Beat eggs, sugar and vanilla. Add softened cream cheese, sour cream, flour and lemon zest. Beat well. Pour mixture into prepared crust. Bake for 25-20 minutes, until set. Cover with paper towel, and cool on rack for two hours Remove paper towel, and cool for one more hour.

Remove green leaves from strawberries. Place berries upside down in a uniform pattern on top of your pie. Drizzle on melted jelly or marmalade. Refrigerate for 3-5 hours to allow flavors to mingle.
* * *

I adapted this from a recipe in "Cooking Pleasures" magazine June/July 2008. They used orange zest in larger quantities. I didn't have red currant jelly, so I used pomegranite jelly. It was fine, but I think marmalade might have been better.

Lemon Chiffon Pie

Posted by aftermidnight Z8 V. Island B.C. on Mon, Mar 3, 08 at 11:56

LEMON CHIFFON PIE

1 envelope of gelatin
1 cup of sugar divided in half
1/8 tsp. salt
4 eggs seperated
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup water
2 tsp. grated lemon rind
1 9" baked pie shell

Mix gelatin with 1/2 cup sugar with the sugar and salt thoroughly in the top of a double boiler.Beat egg yolks, lemon juice and water, addto gelatin mixture, stir constantly until the gelatin is dissolved.

Cook over boiling water 5 minutes or until thickened, remove from heat, add lemon rind.

Chill stir occasionally until mixture starts to mound slightly.
Beat egg whites until foamy, slowly add remaining sugar, beat until stiff. Fold into lemon mixture and then spoon into baked pie shell. Chill until set. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream.

Tourtiere (Ground Pork and Onion Dinner Pie)

Posted by lorna-organic on Sat, Jan 26, 08 at 2:42

Cooking and baking been one of my things since I was a child. My dad walked me through my first baking project, a cake made from a mix, when I was ten. I was twelve, when I made my first apple pie, all on my own. My mom wasn't home at the time. She was astonished, when she walked in and discovered me taking a beautiful apple pie from the oven.

This recipe was given to me by a Canadian friend. It was his grandmother's recipe. It makes a lovely presentation, and is inexpensive as company fare. It is a ground pork and onion dinner pie.

TOURTIERE

Pastry (I really like this pastry)

2 cups white flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2-1 tsp. salt (depending on your taste for salt)
1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1/3-1/2 cup cold water
l tablespoon vinegar

Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Work in the butter and shortening with a pastry cutter. If you don't have a pastry cutter, you can use your fingers. Combine water and vinegar, then lightly stir them into the flour. Sprinkle your dough with flour, then knead it for one minute Divide dough into two balls, wrap in plastic, and chill for 30 minutes or more. To use, roll out each half of your dough, separately, on floured board and cut to fit the size of your pie plate. (Invert your plate over the rolled dough and cut two circles an inch larger in diameter.) I use a 9" pie plate.

Meat filling:

1-3/4s pounds ground pork
2 medium onoins, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup water
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dry mustard
3/4s tsp. sage or savory
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1-1/2 tablesppons white flour

egg glaze: 1 egg white, slightly beaten with 1 tablespoon water.

Cook ground pork in a large frying pan until it loses pink color. Push meat to the side, or temporarily remove from pan, so you can saute onion and garlic. Drain off fat. Add water, salt, mustard and seasonings to combined meat, onion and garlic mixture. Cover and simmer 15-20 minutes. Sprinkle with your 1-1/2 tablespoons of flour, sift it first so it won't lump up, and simmer for about 3 minutes until mixture thickens a bit.

Fill your pastry lined pie plate with meat mixture. Cover top with your extra sheet of pastry. Flute/seal edges, cut three 1" steam slits across the top, and brush egg glaze over the top so that it will brown nicely. Bake at 400 degrees (F) for 20 minutes, until browned. Allow to cool for about ten minutes before serving.

Sometimes I add some chopped mushrooms to the mix.

Pumpkin-Mincemeat Pie

Posted by flowerlady6 z10 Fl on Mon, Jan 28, 08 at 21:01

Here is a delicious, different pumpkin pie. We both like it. I have taken it to different Thanksgiving gatherings and it has been well liked.
***

From:Farm Journal’s Complete Pie cookbook (One of the first cookbooks I got as a newlywed, through a cookbook club.)

Pumpkin-Mincemeat Pie


Unbaked 9"pie shell
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 c. canned or cooked pumpkin
1/3 c. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ginger
1/8 tsp. cloves
3/4 c. undiluted evaporated milk
2. c. prepared mincemeat (I use the brand with rum/brandy in it)

Combine and blend together eggs, pumpkin, sugar, salt, spices and evaporated (not
condensed) milk.

Pour mincemeat into bottom of pie shell, spreading evenly. Spoon pumpkin mixture over mincemeat layer.

Bake in hot oven (400 degrees F) 45-50 min. or til knife inserted halfway between edge and center of pie comes out clean.