Remembering Mom with a Pie

When I was 4 years old, we moved to the house where my family would live until I was 17 years old. When I look back to that house and its fantastic yard, I can only marvel, because it was a little piece of paradise. Someone, prior to our family, took the time to really plant the yard with an eye to beauty and bounty. Some plants I grew up with are ones I have never seen again, anywhere I have been. Some, I am still discovering what they were, or might have been. The lot was large, and sloped dramatically down to a huge back yard (huge, to me). My Dad grew up on a farm, and had farming blood, so he took fully half that big back yard and turned it into a garden. He planted vegetables, and tried all sorts of things, but we always had corn, spring onions, tomatoes, green beans, beets and other of the usual veggies. And he would try out things we'd never had. He had a huge strawberry patch. But that is only the merest beginning of all that yard had to offer. 

Dad Tilling his Garden 1955

Aside from the amazing array of flowers and flowering bushes, the back yard had fruit. Lots of it. There was a Rainier cherry tree and a Montmorency cherry tree, two Bartlett pear trees that ripened just as school started and a plum tree with green plums that were so sweet it was amazing. Dad would store baskets and baskets of them, carefully packed, to last into Fall and Winter. There was a peach tree and three different apple trees, a quince tree, elderberry bushes, concord grapes and some green grapes, blackberries, black raspberries and an absolutely huge red raspberry stand. And there was rhubarb.

My Mom was kept busy all summer long canning, making jams and jellies, preserving fruits and vegetables. Quince and elderberry jams were common, among all the others: raspberry, black raspberry, strawberry, cherry. When my parents finally bought a large standing freezer, Mom started freezing some of the fruits and vegetables, too. And yet with all the activity around all the fruits and vegetables, the one and only thing I recall my Mom using the rhubarb for was a Rhubarb Pineapple Pie (with raisins). Since the rhubarb stand was sizeable, this is rather surprising, but I was certainly old enough to recall another kind of use for rhubarb, had there been one.
 

Rhubarb Pineapple Pie

But regardless, this pie was always a hit at our house. Of course, Mom used canned pineapple back in those days, when having every kind of fruit or vegetable from anywhere in the world was not always the case. I do not believe my Mom ever bought or used a fresh pineapple in her life. But, when I moved to Guatemala, I had the exact opposite experience. Fresh pineapples abounded. Canned pineapple was terribly, prohibitively, expensive. I had one "Fresh Pineapple Pie" recipe, and at age 20 I really was barely starting out on my cooking and baking journey. 

Rhubarb Pineapple Pie, just baked

I was asked to make a couple of pies to donate to the Dacotah Prairie Museum's Fall Festival this coming Saturday, for their "Pie Social." I will be out of town, visiting my son that day, so they said to just freeze them. I have never, in all my years, frozen a pie, so I have no idea how they will be once thawed, but I decided to make a Rhubarb Pineapple Pie as one of my pies. Looking back through my blog and website, I realized that despite having made this pie myself, many times, somehow I had never gotten it into blog or website, so I am rectifying that right now! 

I had plenty of pineapple, after cutting up a whole, fresh pineapple, and I had plenty of rhubarb, so I made two Rhubarb Pineapple Pies; one to donate and one to take photos of and eat. It really is the most amazingly good pie, and canned pineapple is perfectly fine to use. Just drain a can of pineapple chunks; you will need 2 cups worth.

I don't know why some pies are generally made with flour or cornstarch as the thickener, and some are made using tapioca as the thickener, but this Rhubarb Pineapple Pie was one of the tapioca thickened variety, always. The colors are so pretty with the bright yellow pineapple and pink rhubarb, and then punctuated with a dot of a raisin here and there. I am not generally a fan of raisins cooked in things (I like them fine straight from the box or bag), but this pie just seems great with the addition of raisins. You can leave them out, if preferred. 

Most everyone I talk to about rhubarb pies will say that they have always made or eaten Rhubarb Strawberry Pie. I had never heard of this phenomenon before, and to this day I have yet to try it! Plus, I am not overly keen on strawberries. I know, call me weird and strange! But still, somehow that combination has never crossed my path.

Rhubarb Pineapple Pie

Rhubarb Pineapple Pie

Makes one 9-inch pie

2 cups pineapple (fresh or canned, drained), diced
2 cups rhubarb, sliced ¼ to ½-inch
¾ cup raisins
3 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
1¼ cups sugar
Dash of salt
2 tablespoons butter to dot top of pie
2 crust pie pastry for 9-inch pie
Milk or cream, for brushing
Sugar, for sprinkling

Combine the cut fruits in a large bowl and add in the tapioca, sugar and salt. Stir well and set aside to rest for 15 to 30 minutes.

Roll out half the pie pastry ⅛-inch thick and fit it into a 9-inch pie plate, easing the pastry well down into the plate, and leaving at least ½-inch of overhang. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Roll out the second pastry to ⅛-inch thick and begin cutting long strips (width is optional - I cut one-inch wide strips for the rhubarb pineapple pie) from the rolled dough. Pour the fruit filling and all the juices accumulated into the pie shell. Cut the 2 tablespoons of butter into small chunks or slivers and dot the top of the filling.

Begin making the lattice top by setting the strips in one direction across the filling, leaving enough overhang to set to the outer rim of the pie plate, as shown below.

Making a lattice top pie crust

Lift back past halfway every other of the strips, then set one long strip perpendicular to the others, right across the center. Pull back into place the strips that were lifted, then pull back all the strips that were not lifted initially, and lay a second strip parallel to the last one. Return the lifted strips into place and repeat until strips reach the end, then begin again on the opposite side, to fill in the lattice. See this blog to view the remainder of the instructional photos on lattice top pie.

Filling - Lattice Top in place - Baked Pie

Once all the strips are in place, have a small bowl of water handy and using fingers or a pastry brush, dampen underneath each of the strip's edges, so they adhere to the bottom pastry around the rim. Now flip up the bottom pastry's overhang, to cover the strip edges. Flute the edges, pressing firmly so the fluting holds all the edges securely.

Optional: Brush all the lattice strips with the milk or cream, then sprinkle sugar over the lattices. Bake the pie in the center of the oven for 45 to 50 minutes, until browned and bubbling.

My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Bourbon and Buttermilk - Creating a New Pie

It is interesting to me how I come up with "new" recipes - if any recipe can be called new, really. It seems that every time I think up a concept, if I go out and "Google It", it already exists, and in many forms, to boot. This morning I was thinking about buckwheat, because yesterday I had made the recipe I posted at the beginning of the month for pancakes made with buckwheat and Kamut flour. They were so fluffy and light I made them again for myself and was eating them this morning. I gave thought to buckwheat scones. I was thinking of what flavors would go well with buckwheat and I though of maple. Upon Googling, sure enough, there are buckwheat scones made with maple flavors. 

Bourbon Buttermilk Pie

I just thought up this new breakfast treat after breakfast this morning, and since scones are best fresh, I will wait on making them until I finish with the pancakes. Since I am the only one eating them, they will last at least 4 days. But instead, I had been thinking about my Chess Pie, which is one of my husband's and my favorite pies. It is so good, and so easy to make, I was imagining what to do to alter flavors just a little. I did see (online) some recipes for Bourbon and Buttermilk pies, some with one flavor, some with others. While they were similar to my Chess Pie, they differed in a few particulars. Since I have been making the Chess Pie for over 40 years, I figured, why mess with a good thing? I planned to stay as close to the amounts for my new recipe as possible.

Bourbon Buttermilk Pie just baked

With that in mind, I looked at that recipe and substituted the Bourbon and buttermilk, but then, what other flavors? I liked the orange extract flavor with Bourbon in the Pannettone Breads I made at Christmas time. I decided to use orange extract in this pie. Of course, when making a pie, one needs the pie pastry also. For me, the "soggy crust" at the bottom of the pie is a highlight, so I do not pre-bake the pie shell. If you are one of those who cannot stand the soggy crust, then I suggest pre-baking, as I described in my post of April 6th, except, once removing the beans or pie weights, do not continue to bake the shell. Just allow it to cool before adding the pie filling. The shell will be subjected to baking for nearly another hour, once filled.

Chess Pie, if you are unfamiliar with this term, is basically a custard pie. It has just a teensy bit of flour and cornmeal to thicken, but aside from that, it is eggs, milk and sugar.  Butter gives it exquisite flavor. All these things would stay the same, except substituting buttermilk for the plain milk. The bourbon was just an added 2 or 3 tablespoons of liquid. With the amount of egg in the recipe, this would be no problem. I opted to use vanilla bean rather than extract. While 1 teaspoon more, or less, of liquid would be no big deal, I felt that the crisp flavor of true vanilla bean would be better. In retrospect, perhaps at another time, it might be good to use brown sugar instead of white, granulated sugar, for a more caramel-y flavor. 

The results? The Bourbon is noticeable. The orange extract is not. I cannot detect anything that points to buttermilk instead of regular milk. The texture is identical to Chess Pie; smooth and creamy. All in all, while the pie is excellent, I guess more changes are needed to make it truly something other than Chess Pie. Still. If you've never had a Chess Pie, but like the idea of Bourbon in a pie, you might want to try this one out!

While I used a 9-inch pie plate for this pie, the filling was just a little bit too much. It would be best to use a 10-inch pie plate if possible, or make two smaller 8-inch pies. This is what I did:  

Bourbon Buttermilk Pie

Bourbon Buttermilk Pie

Makes one 10-inch pie
 
1 (10-inch) pie shell
2 - 3 tablespoons Bourbon or Whiskey
½ vanilla bean, scraped into the Bourbon
½ teaspoon orange extract
1 stick (8 tablespoons or ½ cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon yellow cornmeal
½ teaspoon salt
5 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk

Fit the pie crust to the plate and crimp the edges high. Place the empty shell in the fridge until needed. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine the Bourbon, vanilla seeds and orange extract and set aside. The vanilla may have to be coaxed to separate. Mine wanted to stay in clumps.

Bourbon, vanilla & extract; creaming butter & sugar; eggs added             

In a mixer bowl, cream together the butter and sugar with the flour, cornmeal and salt. Add in eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated before adding the next. Add the Bourbon mixture to the buttermilk and add this to the creamed mixture and beat to combine. Pour the mixture into the prepared pie shell and bake for 50 to 60 minutes. As this is a custard type pie, the center will still be a bit jiggly when the pie is done. It will set completely as it cools.


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.