Test Out Some Pies for the Holidays

It is best if a trial run is essayed before presenting these pies to guests, but they have all been made repeatedly at my house, so I know for a fact they are all wonderful. And, trial runs mean you get to have the pies all to yourself for a bit. 😁

I have been making these pies for a very long time, and they are some of my most favorite. One of them is an apple tart, but it still falls in that "pie" category. One uses mincemeat. I do love mincemeat, as does my husband. However, its spices can be a bit overpowering. We would keep servings small, even though loving it. I solved that problem by topping it with a layer of cheesecake, making this the very best of both worlds. And another is a custard type pie, with just enough body. It's fairly foolproof. And it is SO amazingly good! Drool!

Frangipane Apple Tart

The tart is just delightful, and careful placing of the apples makes it just as pretty as a picture. It has its own lovely tart shell, an easy recipe, and is filled first with frangipane, an almond creamy mixture. The apples are placed on top of the frangipane and it is baked. Once baked, brushing the top with a glaze makes it glossy and inviting.

If you prefer to be able to remove the tart from its pan, you will need a 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom. If it is made in a pretty tart pan, it need not be removed from the pan.

Frangipane Apple Tart

Makes one 9-inch tart

Frangipane Apple Tart

TART PASTRY:
1½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
¼ cup shortening or lard
3½ - 4 tablespoons milk or water

FRANGIPANE FILLING:
⅔ cup blanched, peeled whole almonds, OR (¾ cup finely ground almond meal)
⅔ cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
½ teaspoons almond extract
1 or 2 tablespoons Amaretto liqueur or Apricot Brandy, optional
APPLES:
4 - 5 medium cooking apples
2 cups water
juice of 1 lemon
¼ cup sugar
4 tablespoons melted butter
cinnamon, for sprinkling
GLAZE:
½ cup apricot preserves
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons Amaretto liqueur or Apricot Brandy, optional

To make pastry: Place the flour and salt into a large bowl. Cut in the butter and shortening or lard as for pie, until you have coarse crumbs. Add the milk, tossing with a fork until the crumbs begin to hold together. Gather the dough together into a ball and wrap in plastic. Chill the dough for 1 hour. When ready to use, roll the dough to about ⅛-inch thickness and fit into a 9-inch tart pan, easing into the fluted indentations without stretching. With a small knife, trim off the edges evenly with the top of the pan. Set in the refrigerator while preparing the filling.

To make Frangipane filling: If using blanched, peeled whole almonds, place them in the food processor and process until fine. Add the sugar along with the egg and yolk, melted butter, almond extract and Amaretto liqueur, if using. Process until well combined. If using almond meal, all the ingredients can be all combined in a bowl and whisked together. Pour filling into the crust, spreading evenly to edges. Set aside. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Prepare Apples: Place water and lemon juice into a bowl. Pare and core the apples. It is best to slice them in wedges from top to bottom of the apples, getting about 6 to 7 slices per quarter apple. Set the slices into the lemon water while preparing the rest of the apples. When ready, drain and blot dry the apple slices. Begin setting the slices into the frangipane filling, placing them so the wider end of each slice is toward the edge. Set them closely and nearly upright. Circle them all around the edge, then fill in the center as possible. Brush the apples generously with the melted butter. Sprinkle them with the sugar and sprinkle on cinnamon as desired. Bake the tart for about 45 minutes, until the apples are nicely tender.
While the tart is baking, prepare the glaze: In a small saucepan, melt together the apricot preserves and the water. Once melted, pass the mixture through a strainer, pressing with the back of a spoon to get as much of the fruit through as possible. Add the Amaretto liqueur if using and stir to combine.
Once tart is baked, while still hot, use a pastry brush to apply the glaze evenly over all the apples, being careful not to dislodge them. Allow to cool to room temperature before slicing. 

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The next pie I am showcasing here is the Cheesecake Mincemeat Pie. This one just screams holidays, and if you have any love at all for mincemeat, you must absolutely give this one a try. The creamy, mild cheesecake is the perfect foil for the extreme spiciness of the mincemeat.

Cheesecake Mincemeat Pie

In another of those happy accidents, while originally the sour cream was to make another layer over top of the cheesecake, I was so frantically busy trying to get various pies made one Thanksgiving, that I didn't read the recipe properly and just mixed the sour cream and extra sugar in with the rest of the cheesecake ingredients. It came out perfectly. And voila! One less step to fuss with when time is at a premium.

Cheesecake Mincemeat Pie

Makes one 10-inch pie

Cheesecake Mincemeat Pie

1 (10-inch) single-crust pie shell

MINCEMEAT FILLING:
2 cups prepared mincemeat
1 tablespoon cornstarch
½ cup walnuts or pecans, chopped
1 - 2 tablespoons liqueur, optional: orange liqueur or brandy are good choices
 
CHEESECAKE TOPPING:
12 ounces cream cheese, softened
½ cup sugar
1 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 tablespoon cornstarch
½ teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. When making the pie crust, make sure the edges are crimped well up on top of the rim of the pie pan. The filling is very generous. Line the shell with foil, gently fitting without disturbing the shell. Fill with pie weights, or dried beans or rice. Blind bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from oven. Remove the foil and pie weights. Lower oven temperature to 375 degrees.
Combine the prepared mincemeat with one tablespoon cornstarch, the walnuts  and liqueur, if using. Spread this mixture evenly in the partially baked pastry. 

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add the sour cream, and then the eggs and beat until combined. Add in one tablespoon cornstarch and vanilla, until smooth. Pour this mixture over the mincemeat; spread evenly. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until nearly set. Cool slightly, then chill for at least 6 hours before cutting. 

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The third pie I want to share here is one I have made since my earliest days of baking. It is simplicity itself. It is made with things most often already in the pantry and fridge. It is so delicious that it is hard to credit, with such simple ingredients. What more could one ask of a pie?

Chess Pie

This one is called Chess Pie, though I have no idea where that title may have originated. I found it originally in a little Better Homes and Gardens Pies and Cakes book, © 1966. I have tried altering a few things over the years, though the most notable is the use of lime juice instead of lemon. Sometimes I enhance the lime flavor with 1 or 2 drops of Boyajian Lime Oil, but only occasionally. It makes a thin crust-like top and a thicker lower layer, with the creamiest of custards in the middle. This is a must-try.

Chess Pie

Makes one 9-inch pie

Chess Pie

1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon yellow cornmeal
5 eggs, well beaten
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell, edges crimped high - filling is generous

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream sugar and butter together with an electric mixer (hand or stand mixer is fine). Add in the flour and cornmeal. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, then the milk, vanilla & lime juice and beat well.

Pour the filling into the unbaked pastry shell. Very carefully set into the oven on a middle or lower middle rack. Bake for 55 - 60 minutes, or until a knife inserted between center and edge comes out clean. It should still jiggle slightly in the center.



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.

Heavenly Delicious Maple Bourbon Pecan Pie

Double Chocolate Pecan Pie (Chocolate shell with chocolate in the filling)

This pie has graduated from an amorphous idea floating around in my brain to slowly taking shape, coming clearer and clearer like a shape slowly coming through a heavy fog, until finally taking on a concrete form. The idea has been playing in my mind for more than a year now. The thing is, I generally only make pecan pie for Thanksgiving. Last year, our friend Rich was here for Thanksgiving. Rich is a confirmed chocoholic. Therefore, last year's pecan pie was made with a chocolate pie shell and grated chocolate in the pie mixture itself. And my "Bourbon Pecan Pie" idea was still just that amorphous blob, floating in the back of my brain.

So it was that this year, when I found that none of my usual guests could make it to our Thanksgiving dinner, I started playing with all of my Thanksgiving recipes. I changed how I made my turkey, the stuffing, the cranberries, and finally - finally - I got to the pecan pie. I originally planned to make only a pumpkin pie. It was only going to be my husband, his sister and me, after all. 

But then that formless blob in the back of my mind just seemed to become insistent. The more i tried to convince myself that I just didn't need 2 pies, the clamor became louder. I guess it was just time for this thing to take shape. No ifs, ands or buts.

I have only ever used one recipe for My Best Pecan Pie. It has always been really good, so why mess with a good thing? It was a recipe printed on the inside of a ceramic pie plate that I acquired about 22 years ago. I have never even given a thought to using different ingredient amounts. When I made it into Double Chocolate Pecan Pie last year I only added in some grated chocolate to the existing recipe. 

Maple Bourbon Pecan Pie

So this year, it seemed I was seeing pecan pie recipes everywhere. Some said to use maple syrup. Some said to use Bourbon. I really never saw one that mentioned both these things in the same recipe, but to me it sounded like a match made in heaven. To be clear, I am not a Bourbon drinker. I had a drink once with Bourbon. It was okay. I never acquired a taste for Scotch at all. I do use these liquors in cooking and baking. The smell of Bourbon is very appealing, to me. The thought of Bourbon and maple just doubled the appeal, to my mind's "taste buds". I sat down and looked at recipes for pecan pies. In comparing one recipe I saw elsewhere to the recipe that is on the inside of my pie plate, well! The recipes were so very opposite to one another it was almost ludicrous. Since I knew how my pie turns out, and had no quarrel with it, I tried to use that recipe and alter it a little. The comparison recipe for example, used 1½ tablespoons of butter. My Best Pecan Pie recipe used a whole stick of butter! Hmmmm. 

Maple Bourbon Pecan Pie, served

I sat with my old recipe and took it apart, recreating it to where it felt like it should work. My goal was to be able to just taste the bourbon and the maple. Neither should become the dominant note. The Pecans are the star of this show. Other flavors are there to enhance. Maple syrup, while tasting wonderful, is runnier than the dark corn syrup I usually use, so I didn't want to use too much maple, for fear it would not set properly. To further enhance the maple, I used just a half teaspoon of maple flavoring. Again, I didn't want it to overwhelm. In most places where an alcohol such as Bourbon is used, be it in a cake or pie or any other dessert, the amount used is 2 tablespoons. Almost everywhere, this is true. I felt that 2 tablespoons was a safe amount then, to give the taste without going over the top either in flavor or liquid ingredients. This is the recipe I came up with:

Pecans placed on top and set into the oven to bake.

Maple Bourbon Pecan Pie

Makes one 10-inch pie

pie pastry for one 10-inch pie
¾ cup granulated sugar
1½ teaspoons cornstarch
¾ teaspoon salt
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup dark corn syrup
¼ cup pure maple syrup
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons Bourbon
½ teaspoon maple flavoring
1 to 1½ cups pecan halves

Fit pie pastry to a 9½- or 10-inch pie plate, crimping high. Set into the refrigerator while preparing the filling. Set oven to 350 degrees (325 if using Convection Bake).

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the first 3 dry ingredients. Add in the lightly beaten eggs and whisk only just to combine. Do not beat. In a separate bowl, stir together the corn syrup, maple syrup and melted butter. Once combined, stir in the Bourbon and maple flavoring. Pour this mixture into the sugar and egg mixture in the medium bowl. Whisk gently to combine the ingredients. Pour this mixture into the chilled pie shell. Top artfully with the pecan halves, rounded side up. Alternatively, just combine the pecans with the filling mixture and pour into the pie shell.

Bake the pie for about 1 hour, or until set. Cool completely before cutting. Enjoy!

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.

A Report on How All my Dishes Came Out

Our Thanksgiving Feast 2014 (held yesterday)

Rich Turkey Gravy (roux method)

My husband, his sister and I celebrated our Thanksgiving yesterday, the day AFTER Thanksgiving. This past week I have been describing the dishes I planned to make, or had made as I went along. I made the Cran-Cherry Relish with Port earliest, on November 21st, since cranberry relish will last for quite a while once made.  I made a decision regarding what I intended to do with my turkey, i.e. butterfly a smaller bird, "dry brine" or "salt rub" on it, and I planned to rub an herbed butter under the skin before roasting. I described all this in my post of November 24th. I went into  my method for making a simple, delicious turkey stock in preparation for my Rich Turkey Gravy to come on November 25th. In the November 26th post, I went into the making of my favorite Sweet Potato Casserole, which is an old recipe and always wonderful, as well as my plans for a recipe of Stuffing with Bacon, Cornbread & Chestnuts and also how I planned to make my Riced Potatoes with Boursin and Chives.

As well as these preparations, I also created a recipe for a Maple Bourbon Pecan Pie, which came out unbelievably good. The smell of it while baking was certainly a precursor of the flavors to come! I used my recipe for Spicier Pumpkin Pie for our pumpkin pie.

The Results

Cran-Cherry Relish with Ruby Port

Cran-Cherry Orange Relish with Port

I hadn't tasted the Cran-Cherry Relish with Port, except for licking the spoon after it was made and stored in the fridge. This was a most amazing recipe. I have always loved my Cranberry Orange Relish, but this new recipe truly topped even that old favorite. Oh, my was it good!

Rich Turkey Gravy

The gravy was made using the roux method, described in my post titled, Two Methods to Make Great Turkey Gravy. It turned out excellently, although there were almost no pan juices from the turkey, to give that extra boost of flavor.

Stuffing with Bacon, Cornbread & Chestnuts

Stuffing with Bacon, Cornbread & Chestnuts

My Stuffing with Bacon, Cornbread & Chestnuts was good. To me, it was no better than my original "Better Than Mom's Stuffing" recipe. Considering the cost of the jar of chestnuts from Williams Sonoma, it was not worth that much. My sister-in-law, who loves chestnuts, was quite enamored of this version of my stuffing, and also said that the cornbread in the mix gave it just that tiny bit of crunch. She felt it was a keeper. I may keep the cornbread part, but spending over $18 for the chestnuts - when, to me, their flavor was undetectable  - was not worth that price. Period. I love chestnuts also, but I would much rather use them in something with less other flavors vying for attention. If you should want to try this new version of stuffing, go to the original recipe for Better Than Mom's Stuffing, use only a 1-lb loaf of sandwich bread and substitute 8 ounces of cornbread for the rest. The chestnuts are up to you. Or use regular pecans or walnuts as the recipe states. Those are the only differences in my newer recipe. 

Riced Potatoes with Boursin & Chives

Riced Potatoes with Boursin & Chives

I love my riced potatoes no matter how I choose to prepare them. Most often made with cream cheese, we are perfectly content with them. I often add chopped scallions if they are in my vegetable drawer. Sometimes I sub a 4-ounce log of goat Chevre for the cream cheese. I have, on occasion, mixed the riced potatoes with Boursin cheese in past. It is pricier than buying cream cheese or even the goat cheese, so it is generally reserved for special occasions. It is always wonderfully good, and these potatoes were no different.

Roasted Salt-Rubbed Butterflied Turkey

The Dry-Brined or Salt-Rubbed Turkey

My review of the butterflied and salt rubbed turkey are mixed. If you choose to salt rub your turkey, keep these thoughts in mind:

• Once the turkey has been salt rubbed and left to set, the skin cannot be loosened to insert an herbed butter or other flavoring underneath. To add an herbed butter under the skin, this must be done prior to the salt rub.
• The salt on the turkey will cause various things to happen: 1) the skin contracts and dries, giving an exceptionally crispy skin once roasted. 2) the salt will cause the juices to stay locked inside the turkey while roasting, leaving almost no pan drippings. 3) You will need an alternate to pan drippings for basting purposes. 4) If you have a salt sensitivity, while the turkey is perfectly seasoned (in other words, it is perfectly salted, without tasting salty), it can make you as exceedingly thirsty as if you ate a really salty ham.

Our turkey, sliced and served

As for the first point, I had already made a very flavorful herbed butter I intended to place underneath the skin before roasting. This was the first time I made a salt rubbed turkey, so it was a surprise, how much the skin contracted. I could not loosen the skin at all without tearing. Instead, I used the herbed butter to baste the turkey while roasting.

I always use the pan drippings from the turkey to add into the stock I've made previously. This gives the stock that extra "roasted turkey" flavor, making an already flavorful stock exceptional. With less than a quarter of a cup of pan drippings to add, there was no real boost to flavor. While my gravy was great, it could have been even better.

As to the last point, I do happen to be very salt-sensitive. After dinner I was drinking water like there was no tomorrow. This truly surprised me, because although I knew how much salt was applied to the turkey (3 tablespoons - which is not that bad, considering the bird was 13 pounds), it did not taste salt-y at all. It just tasted absolutely, perfectly seasoned. It was also pretty juicy, easy to cut and eat. It was really, fantastically - GOOD. 

As I bought a turkey that was between 12 to 14 pounds and butterflied (or spatchcocked) the turkey, it roasted in 90 minutes. This was a real plus. The whole salt-rubbed, butterflied turkey was delicious. I say this with no reservation.

My recommendations on this matter? 

If you do not have a salt sensitivity and do not need the pan juices, this method is highly recommended. On the plus side, this method is for you if:

• you love crispy skin
• you love perfectly seasoned turkey all the way through
• you want a turkey that roasts quickly (butterflied)
• you love a turkey that stays moist
• you have no real salt sensitivity

The Pies

Spicier Pumpkin Pie with Galeux D'Eysines Pumpkin

I used the Galeux D'Eysines French heirloom pumpkin puree in my Spicier Pumpkin Pie for our Thanksgiving. The Galeux D'Eysines pumpkin, once roasted, was one of the wetter types I have used. It exuded massive amounts of liquid while baking, and once I removed the squash meat from the skin, I set it into a colander for a further few hours to drip. This left me with a total of about 3 cups of pumpkin puree from this whole pumpkin. In comparison, the Jarrahdale blue squash, set in a colander after removing the flesh from the skin, exuded little liquid, and yielded about 12 cups of pureed squash. I have used the Jarrahdale squash for the past 3 years to make my pies, and it has a wonderfully silky texture, great for pie. The Galeux D'Eysines pumpkin was also one of the most silky-smooth textured of the various squash or pumpkins I have used and yielded a most beautiful and exceptionally tasty pumpkin pie. It also had the brightest orange flesh inside of any squash or pumpkin I have used, yielding a really beautifully colored pie. 

The Maple Bourbon Pecan Pie was heavenly. Absolutely one of the best flavored pecan pies you could ever want! I will post that recipe next time. 

I hope everyone had a most wonderfully, blessedly happy Thanksgiving holiday. I sure did!

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.

What to do with Green Tomatoes?

What with moving to a new house this past Spring, I didn't get around to planting any tomatoes. My sister-in-law did, and she was supplying me with tomatoes all season. But as anyone who plants tomatoes in the north knows, once we get a couple of cold snaps, the tomatoes just give up on any idea of ripening. And so we come to the question: "What to do with green tomatoes?"

Green Tomato Apple Streusel Pie

I had never even tasted green tomatoes before, so I am unfamiliar with the knowledge of what flavor they might blend with. I have the idea to try making my Guatemalan Green Sauce (Salsa Verde) with them and see what differences come out in the flavor. Meanwhile, I saw many pies out on the web that were either green tomatoes with apples, or alone. I prefer to make larger pies, so I used my 9½-inch plate, which has a very deep dish. I set down what I thought would be a good start for a recipe, and got down to business. This is what I wrote:

Green Tomato Apple Streusel Pie

2½ cups green tomatoes, peeled, sliced thinly

Green Tomato Apple Streusel Pie

4 cups baking apples, peeled, cored, sliced thinly
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon cloves
1½ cups sugar
⅓ cup flour
1 teaspoon lime zest
1 tablespoon lime juice
1½ tablespoons unsalted butter for dotting pie
1 single pie pastry, fitted into a 9 1/2 or 10-inch pie plate, crimped high

STREUSEL
4 tablespoons butter
½ cup flour
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
½ cup chopped nuts (I used pecans)

I proceeded to make the pie, combining in a large bowl the tomato and apple slices, then the lime zest and juice with the salt. In a small bowl I combined the cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, sugar and flour. This was poured over the apples and tomatoes and tossed well, then left to macerate while I prepared the pie pastry and made the streusel. The streusel was made by combining all ingredients except the nuts and mixing well with fingers until it started to make large clumps. The nuts were added last, and I set that aside. I preheated the oven to 350 degrees. I poured the tomatoes and apple mixture into the pie shell and topped with the streusel. The pie baked for 1 hour.


I had no idea what to expect for flavor. There was a slight different flavor, but not enough to jump out and make one wonder about it. I did add way too much sugar. The pie is terrific, but awfully sweet. I would cut back the amount of sugar in the apple and tomato mixture to either 1 cup or 1¼ cup. Certainly 1½ cups was overdoing a good thing. The other thing is to possibly use 1¼ cups of sugar, and then top with a second crust or a lattice crust and omit the streusel.

Other than that, I love the pie. I am planning to make another one and see how my changes make it come out. Meanwhile, there is nothing a sweet tooth wouldn't enjoy. It was a very good first experiment with green tomatoes.


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.