Banana Split Pie Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 graham cracker crust
• 1 (4 oz.) pkg. sugar-free instant vanilla pudding mix
• 2 c. low-fat milk
• 2 bananas, sliced
• 1 (15 oz.) can crushed pineapple
• 1 c. Cool Whip
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 c. pecans, chopped

Procedure:

• Mix pudding with milk and beat until thick, pour into crust. Put
• Banana pudding. Squeeze pineapple to remove all the juices.
• Sprinkle over bananas. Cover with Cool Whip, sprinkle pecans on
• Top. Well, cool.

Banana Split Pie Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 graham cracker crust
• 1 (4 oz.) pkg. sugar-free instant vanilla pudding mix
• 2 c. low-fat milk
• 2 bananas, sliced
• 1 (15 oz.) can crushed pineapple
• 1 c. Cool Whip
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 c. pecans, chopped

Procedure:

• Mix pudding with milk and beat until thick, pour into crust. Put
• Banana pudding. Squeeze pineapple to remove all the juices.
• Sprinkle over bananas. Cover with Cool Whip, sprinkle pecans on
• Top. Well, cool.

Masala Kheema Shepherd's Pie

It'll be St Patrick's day in a couple of days, and I thought it fitting to share a shepherd's pie on this Irish festival. That raised an all-important question though: Is the shepherd's pie British or Irish? I always thought of shepherd's pie as a classic British thing, but others (the Irish?) claim it's Irish. Oh well. I'm doing it Indian-style anyway. Yes, indian. I want the kick of spice in my pie.

I adapted a Gordon Ramsay video recipe for the classic shepherd's pie--the man's brilliant, I love how no-nonsense he is. But I also incorporated the spices in kheema matar (spicy minced meat with peas i.e. matar. I didn't use peas, so it's just a masala mince)-- this man is brilliant too-- for an extra special touch of spicy goodness.

Masala Kheema Shepherd's Pie

serves 4

Ingredients

for the filling

500g lean minced lamb (if it's beef, it'll be cottage pie)

2 large onions, grated

1 large carrot, grated

handful of mushrooms, finely chopped

2 tbsp tomato puree

2 cloves garlic, grated

1 tsp ginger, grated (or 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste)

1 cinnamon stick

2-3 cardommom pods, crushed

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp garam masla

2 green chillies, finely chopped

1/4 cup whole plain yogurt

sea salt, black pepper

1 tbsp flour

for the mash

3-4 large potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 egg yolk, beaten

2 tsp butter

1 tbsp parmesan + extra to top (optional but it's a secret ingredient that'll lift the dish)

sea salt, black pepper

Method

1. Boil potatoes.

2. Add oil to a hot pan, and the whole spices to toast.

3. Add the minced meat, breaking it up and searing the meat to get the caramelised brown. Season.

4. Grate in the onions, carrots, garlic and ginger. This helps them to disintegrate into the sauce better, a Ramsay tip, which is why I didn't add the onions before the mince like what vahchef did. Also add in the flour to cook out, this will help thicken the gravy later.

5. Add the mushrooms, ground spices and tomato puree, cook for 3 min more, then add the yogurt and let simmer for 10-15 min.

6. Meanwhile, your potatoes should be cooked. Drain, mash and season. Add the egg yolk, butter and parmesan to the mashed potato.

"mash that deserves to sit on my mince"

7. Add the green chillies and garam masala powder to the mince and continue to cook uncovered till you get a dry gravy. You don't want a soggy shepherd's pie. Also a good idea to pick out the cinnamon stick (and the cardamom pods) now.

8. Tip the filling into a baking dish, then top with the mashed potato and another sprinkling of parmesan. Fork through (important, to get the crispy edges!), and dot with butter.

9. Bake at 180 degrees celsius for 20-25 min, or till golden.

Serve with a light salad, hopefully more indian style with thinly sliced red onions and cilantro.

How can you not love a good shepherd's pie? You can't go wrong with buttery parmesan-mashed potatoes and minced meat that's coated with rich savoury gravy , but add to that the piquant flavour and aroma of spices, and it's definitely a winner for the singaporean in me!

This is part of Hearth and Soul Blog Hop #39, Tasty Tuesday, Real Food Wednesday, Full Plate Thursday, Simple Lives Thursday.

Gobble Gobble

So, I meant to write about Thanksgiving...turkey dinner is basically my favourite meal. Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, homemade dinner rolls...Kraft dinner (yea, you read that right. Family tradition!) pumpkin and apple pie. Yum! So good. But the problem with Thanksgiving is that I'm generally so busy running around the kitchen that I'm not taking pictures. And once I come out of the two-day food coma, I've lost the energy to remember exactly how much sugar and molasses went into the pumpkin pie this year and which dinner roll recipe I ended up using after days of perusing the net. I know..excuses, excuses.

Anyway, turkey dinner has now come and gone but in case anyone still has some leftovers (possibly in the freezer?) here's an easy recipe for a leftover turkey pie. We had it over the weekend in Collingwood and it was really nice to have the pie pre-made and just ready to pop in the oven. Especially as we were all a bit tired on Saturday from being woken up at 5am by the PUMPKIN that someone threw through the window of the chalet! Luckily the resort staff were able to get it boarded up fairly quickly so the crisis was averted.

Leftover Turkey Pie

1/2 a batch of Pie Dough
2 cups leftover turkey, shredded
2 tbsp butter
1 small yellow onion, diced
3 carrots, peeled and diced
2 stalks celery, diced (I didn't actually use any this time, but it's a pretty standard pot pie veg)
About 2 cups leftover cooked vegetables or frozen corn and peas (I used the corn and peas plus roasted sweet potatoes and some mashed squash made it in as well)
2 cups gravy
1 cup milk
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp chicken bouillon seasoning (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

1. Melt butter over medium heat in a large saucepan or wok. Add diced onions and saute until onions are translucent. Add carrots and celery; cook until vegetables are starting to soften but still fairly firm (you should be able to poke a fork through the carrot pieces but they shouldn't fall apart).

2. Option a: if you don't have gravy, add some more butter and about 1/4 cup of flour and cook for about 5 minutes until the floury smell is gone. Slowly add about 2 cups of chicken stock until the mixture is smooth and thick.

Option b: if you do have gravy, add the gravy!

3. Add the spices and salt and pepper. If you're using the chicken bouillon, mix into the milk before adding. Add milk slowly and adjust depending on how thick you want your mixture to be. Play it by ear.

4. Add the turkey and cooked vegetables. Continue cooking until everything is thick and bubbling and looks like pot pie filling!

5. On a floured surface, roll out pie crust to fit your pan. I used a 1.5 qt casserole dish, but you can use a pie pan, or even a dutch oven or any sort of pan that is about the same size. Pour filling into the pan and roll crust on top. Tuck the edges over the casserole/pie pan and crimp or smush (whatever you need to do to make it stay up). Cut two slits into the top of the pie and bake at 350 degrees Farenheit, 190 degrees Celsius for 40 minutes to an hour until filling is bubbling and crust is golden.

6. If you're freezing, let the filling cool before you put the top on and then cover with foil and freeze. Bake as above but you may need to leave it in the oven longer (I think mine was in for about an hour and then I got impatient and turned the broiler on. Probably should have left it in for about another twenty minutes...the middle wasn't exactly piping hot)

7. Let cool for at least 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Menu 19: Summer Supper

A quiche all creamy and full of spinach, a zucchini salad with the tantalizing flavors of Provence, followed by a Lemon Ice (from the market or check out my March 22, 2011 blog). Seems like a pretty perfect summer supper to me.

Spinach Quiche
I love this quiche and I don’t care whether quiches are in or out of fashion. If you are not up for making a pie crust, buy one. If you are not up for a pie crust of any kind, make this quiche without one. I have a friend who actually prefers it that way.

1 partially baked 8-9 inch pie shell (Recipe below) or purchase one from the supermarket.
Note: If the supermarket one comes unbaked, follow the instructions on the wrapper for partial baking or look to the recipe below.

2 tablespoons butter
½ onion, chopped
4 cups finely chopped spinach or 1 package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon smoky sweet paprika
1 cup grated cheese, whatever you like or have on hand cheddar, Swiss, Parmesan or a mix
1¼ cups heavy cream, warmed in the microwave
4 eggs, lightly beaten

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF.
2. Melt the butter in a large skillet and sauté the onion until tender but not browned.
3. Add the spinach, cover and cook for 5 minutes. If you use fresh, you’ll need to chop again. No need to do that if you use frozen. Add the salt, pepper, nutmeg, paprika, and ½ cup cheese.
4. Pour the warm cream slowly over the eggs while beating. Gradually beat in the spinach mixture. Taste for seasonings. Ladle into the pie shell. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
5. Bake for 30 minutes or until set. It will take longer for larger pies—45 minutes perhaps. Let sit for 15-20 minutes before serving. Serve warm.

Notes:
For a bigger pie shell, increase the cream to 1¾ cups and the eggs to 5.
If you make this quiche ahead of time (the day or the morning before serving), refrigerate and then reheat at 300ºF. for 20-30 minutes to warm it slightly.

6 servings
Adapted from Craig Claiborne’s The New York Times Menu Cookbook

Pie Crust

For an 8 or 9-inch pie plate or tin:
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup plus 3 tablespoons (1 stick plus 3 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut roughly into ½-inch pieces
7 tablespoons ice water or more if necessary

1. Combine the flour and salt in the container of a food processor. Add the butter and pulse until the butter and flour are blended and the mixture looks like cornmeal, about 10 seconds.
2. Add the ice water to the mixture. Pulse until you see the mixture coming together. If it doesn’t after a couple of additional pulses, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it does.
3. Dump the contents of the container onto a sheet of plastic wrap and mold it into a ball. Flatten the ballot a disk; bring the plastic up around the dough to cover it completely. Either freeze for 10 minutes or refrigerate for 30 minutes. (You can also refrigerate the dough for a day or two or freeze it almost indefinitely. If frozen, defrost before rolling.)

 4. Sprinkle a smooth countertop or a large board with flour. Unwrap the dough and place it on the work surface; sprinkle the top with a little flour. If the dough is hard, let it rest a few minutes to warm up just a little.
5. Roll with light pressure, from the center out. Continue to roll, adding a small amount of flour as necessary, rotating the dough occasionally, and turning it over once or twice during the process. When the dough is about 1/8-inch thick, place your plate upside down over it to check the size. You want your circle of dough to be about 2-3 inches bigger than the plate it will go into.
6. If the size is correct, move the dough into the pan by folding the dough in half and placing the fold in the middle of the pan. Carefully unfold the dough and press it gently into the outer edge of the plate.
7. Trim (I use scissors) the extra dough about 1 inch above the rim. Fold the dough above the rim in half (to ½ inch) and crimp with your fingers to make a decorative edge. With the scraps, you can fill in any part of the circle that’s missing.
8. Place the plate in the freezer for 10 minutes or the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Partially Baked Pie Crust

1. Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
2. Prick the dough all over with a fork to help prevent the crust from poufing. (You’ll see what I mean when it happens.)
3. Tear off a large piece of aluminum foil. Press the sheet into the dough, especially on the sides. Weight the foil with a pile of dried beans or rice, pie weights, or a tight-fitting oven-proof skillet or saucepan—anything that will sit flat on the surface and hold the dough in place. Sometimes I just do the foil and don’t weight it with anything and it’s just fine.
4. Bake for 12 minutes. Remove from the oven; remove the weights and foil. If it has poufed, wait for a few minutes for it to settle and then prick the bottom, once again, with a fork.
5. Bake for another 4-5 minutes or so until the crust is just starting to turn a light brown and the bottom looks set.
6. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack.

Adapted from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything: Simple Recipes for Great Food, Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking and M.F.K. Fisher’s The Cooking of Provincial France

Green and/or Yellow Zucchini Salad with Feta (also Summer Squash)

1¼ pounds squash of your choosing, roasted (see recipe below)
½ cup drained and chopped oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
OR
½ cup dried sun-dried tomatoes (not packed in oil), chopped
½ cup pitted and sliced Kalamata or Nicoise olives
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped shallots or green onions
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil or more if you’d like
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint or more if you’d like
6 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons raspberry or red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
Salt and pepper to taste
3 ounces crumbled feta cheese

Roasting the squash:
1. Cut into ½ -inch slices.
2. Place on a rimmed baking pan and mix with 2 tablespoons olive oil and some salt and pepper.
3. Roast at 425ºF. for about 30-40 minutes turning them mid-way. They should be nice and brown on both sides. Let cool slightly before continuing with the rest of the salad.

Making the salad:
1. In a medium bowl, combine all the remaining ingredients, except the feta. You can do this while the squash is roasting. Add salt and pepper to your taste.
2. In a serving bowl, layer the cooled squash with the other combined ingredients. Sprinkle the top with feta cheese.
3. Serve at room temperature. If you make it ahead, refrigerate until about an hour before serving.

4 servings
Adapted from John Ash’s From the Earth to the Table

Beeb's Brambly Apple Blackberry Crumble

Laura: an epic introduction Part 1.

Hello! I am a messy cook. Jessica (over there, delicately forming sugar cages and perfectly laced peach pies) is worthy of Martha Stewart magazine but alas, I must fully embrace the rustic family-style cooking trend. And yes, during the day I am paid to make things pretty while Jessica is paid for math so I don't know how this happened.

It's not that I don't love a good complex recipe (oh I do! the most!) it's just that after simmering that sauce for four hours I want it in my mouth – damn the presentaion, plate, knives, forks, etc.

Needless to say, the science of baking and I have a complex relationship (leveled cups of flour? ha!). I save 'baking' for a weekend of Julia or Deb role play.

So now then: "Brambley Apple & Blackberry Crumble: when you can't be arsed to make pie."

Pie has its place. I love pie. But there is something about just chucking a bunch of apples, blackberries & topping into a dish then, popping it into the oven for 30 minutes and come out with something so perfect and delicious. Amounts? Times? Ballparks! Simple! Perfect! Delicious! How the fuck did it do that?

Okay so you have to caramelize the apples so the gooey apple-caramel coasts the blackberries. And topping the buttery crumb with clotted cream (whipped, extra thick or creme fraiche will work as well) is required by law. But how else are you going to make the 'best crumble in England'*

To summarize: Pie is great but crumbles are your dirty secret.

*independently validated by a bunch of English people who have eaten more crumble in their lives than you can imagine.

Brambly Apple Blackberry Crumble
(heavily adapted from a BBC recipe, now offline – philistines!)
Filling
3 large Bramley apples (use what you can find, tart cooking apples are traditional)
30g/1¼oz butter
150g/5oz caster sugar (or 150g of granulated sugar)
pinch of cinnamon
A squeeze or two of lemon juice (to taste)
80g/3oz fresh blackberries (looks tiny but trust, there is enough)

Topping
100g/4oz unsalted butter, diced
220g/8oz plain flour
100g/4oz caster sugar
clotted cream

Method
1. Preheat oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
2. Peel, core and cut apples into ¼in thick slices (or so they are relatively thin and even)
3. Heat butter in large saucepan. Add apples and gently sauté.
4. Add sugar and cinnamon. Continue stirring until apples are just cooked and the goo is thick and ready to coat the blackberries.
5. Add blackberries & lemon juice and stir very gently until coated with delicious.
6. To make the topping, lightly rub butter into flour and sugar until crumbly.
7. Spoon apples and blackberries into shallow, oval 23cm/9in ovenproof
dish. Sprinkle crumble mixture over top until fruit is covered. I enjoy crumble. I am liberal on this step.
8. Place in oven until light golden brown (usually between 15-40 minutes depending on your oven)
9. Serve with clotted, whipped or heavy cream. Creme fraiche works as well if you like a sour tang... I just wouldn't recommend vanilla ice cream, the flavours clash.

Busy Bee

So it's been a pretty busy summer. Birthdays, weddings and a trip to Chicago has booked up practically every weekend in July and August. Not to say that it hasn't been enjoyable, but I haven't been cooking as much as I'd like. And I'm sorry to say that I haven't baked a single cobbler, pie or cake with my favourite summer fruit: peaches!

I went to the market this past weekend and had a little panic attack that I was missing peach AND corn season (though I believe both are actually in season for another month...I get a little anxious!). That led to me buying a dozen ears of corn (which aren't as light as you'd think), shelling the ears and freezing both the kernels and cobs (for soups). I bought some peaches too. Yum! I still don't have much time for the next few weeks to bake so we'll probably just be enjoying them fresh, but they did remind me of some delicious hand pies that I made last summer when I was baking up a storm while spending a few weeks in Ancaster with my mom.

These may seem a bit intimidating, and are admittedly a bit more work than a traditional pie. But they're so cute, how could you resist? Plus it's pretty much impossible to take pie in to work or social settings without easy access to plates and serving utensils. But hand pies? Hand pies are perfect for the office! Or parties! Or stuffing a plateful into your mouth while telling yourself "they're so small, one more can't possibly make a difference...". Whatever. Make them. Love them.

Peach Hand Pies
adapted from SmittenKitchen
Makes 14 to 24 (depending on cutter size)

1 batch of Pie Dough
1 1/2 lbs peaches, preferably freestone
1/2 lb blueberries
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
Juice of half a lemon
1 tsp vanilla extract

One egg yolk beaten with 2 tablespoons water (for egg wash)
Sugar for sprinkling on top (optional)

1. Make pie dough; you don't need to divide into discs here but I would divide into two balls for easier handling later. Make sure it's been refrigerated for at least an hour

2. On a lightly floured counter, roll out one half of the dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Using a 4 1/2-inch-round biscuit cutter (or a knife if you don't have a biscuit cutter...seriously, I make biscuits enough that I should probably get some of those), cut circles out of the rolled dough until you can't anymore. Transfer the circles to a parchment-lined baking sheet, and chill in the refrigerator for about a half hour. Repeat with the other half of the dough.

3. Blanch the peaches: bring a large pot of water to a boil, drop the peaches in and let them boil for about 2 minutes. Remove from water and dunk in ice water to stop the cooking. Once cool, peel and chop the peaches into small pieces, (remember they need to be small enough to fit into small pies!)

4. Make the filling: mix peach bits with bluberries, flour, sugar, lemon juice and vanilla, plus a pinch of salt. Set aside.

5. Remove the chilled dough from the fridge and let stand at room temperature for just a few minutes until they're pliable. Spoon about 1 to 2 tablespoonfuls of filling onto one half of each circle of dough. Brush a little cold water around the edge and fold it in half so the other side comes down over the filling. Seal the pie, and press down on the edge with a fork. Repeat with the rest of the dough. Place the hand pies back onto the parchment-lined baking sheet, and return to the fridge to chill for another 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Farenheit, 190 degrees Celsius

6. Remove the chilled hand pies from the fridge, cut a small slit in each and lightly brush with the egg yolk wash. Sprinkle some sugar over the pies, and bake for about 20 minutes, until they are golden brown and just starting to crack. Remove from oven, and try to let them cool slightly before you taste them.

KBB # 17 Smoked Beef & Cheese Lattice Pies

Tema KBB # 17 kali ini mengangkat tentang " Lattice Pies" tapi harus dengan filling yang rasanya gurih / asin dan boleh menggunakan pastry sheet yang siap jadi. Awalnya terlihat wah enak nih tidak perlu susah susah bikin dan bisa cari di spm terdekat. Karena lain hal dan puff pastry aku ternyata gagal dan tak berkembang sebagaimana layaknya, akhirnya aku putuskan untuk membuat si Lattice ini dengan mengguna resep " Mak Dita" yang menurut aku paling mudah ...thank u mak resepnya very easy to made lah....

Yuks mari simak resep KBB kali ini ya :


Smooked Beef Lattice Pies

by Nilamsari


Crust :
original recipes from Dita W

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tbs sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter
5 tsb or more ice water (aku gak pake ini karena udah cukup untuk di pulung)

Cara membuat :

Campur bahan kering dengan butter dingin yang sudah dipotong potong hingga berbutir butir kemudian tambahkan air es secukupnya hingga adonan bisa di bentuk kemudian simpan dalam pendingin kurleb 30 menit.

Isi Pie:
5 pcs smooked beef - potong kecil kecil
150 gr keju cheddar parut
sejumput garam
3 butir telur - kocok lepas

Semua bahan isian di campur jadi satu.

Penyelesaian :
Ambil dough pie bentuk kemudian isi lalu tutup dengan bentuk lattice, oven hingga matang.

Beef & Stout Pie

The transformation of ‘stew’ to ‘pie’ by the simple addition of a pastry case or lid is a great one.



Although little more than starchy filler, hiding slow cooked meat within the confines of a flour and fat housing does wondrous things to the contents. Wondrous, magical things.

A cheap staple food with a lengthy and sometimes less than illustrious history, the pie has undergone a renaissance of late. Artisanal and gourmet offerings now jostle for space alongside mass produced efforts with less than stellar provenance. The pie is becoming a shining beacon of all that is great about British food. Hearty, wholesome and delicious. Food we should rightly be proud of.

The most satisfying of pies, though, are the ones that you nurture yourself. A tender, slow cooked meaty filling and a suet exterior that manages to be both crunchy and yielding at once. A barely audible crack as the pastry gives to the pressure of cutlery and a waft of richly scented steam as the contents spill out onto the plate.

‘Double carbing’ is a point of contention. In most cases desire trumps sensibility and a mound of buttery mash will be on hand to capture the gravy. If not then a couple of slices of bread, generously spread with butter, will be needed to mop up the overflow. Once you’ve gone for pie, you may as well ignore the guilt.

The best meat for cramming into pastry is a cut that needs slow cooking. Chuck steak, brisket, oxtail or short ribs are all ideal but shin probably tops the list.

Beef shin, onion and mushroom pie



Half a kilo of boneless shin should be enough for four people and definitely won’t break the bank. Expect to pay no more than 3 or 4 quid.

500g boneless beef shin, cut into chunks
6-8 small onions, each about the size of a ping pong ball
Half a handful of dried mixed mushrooms – porcini and shiitake are ideal
A tablespoon of tomato puree
A couple of bay leaves and two sprigs of thyme
A can of stout – Guiness or Murphy’s are both good
500ml of stock, either dark chicken or beef
As many button mushrooms as you want, cut into quarters
Salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce for seasoning

You will also need a favoured pastry recipe.

Peel and quarter the onions trying to leave the root end vaguely in tact.

Toss the beef in seasoned flour and brown in oil over a high heat, in batches if necessary so you don’t overcrowd the pan. Drain the meat on a couple of sheets of kitchen roll and brown the onions in the pan for a couple of minutes. Return the meat to the pot, add the tomato puree and cook for a couple of minutes before pouring in the stout and stock.

Poke the herbs and dried mushrooms into the liquid, cover with a cartouche and cook in a very low oven for 4-5 hours. Add the button mushrooms and cook for a further hour then remove from the oven and leave to cool whilst you make the pastry.

Line a large pie dish or a series of individual ones with the pastry, spoon as much of the beef and mushroom filling in as you can then top with more pastry. Brush with egg, poke a little hole in the top and cook for 35-40 minutes at 160-180 degrees centigrade.



Serve with peas and either mashed potato, bread and butter or both and a sticky onion gravy if you’re craving extra richness.

For more meaty chunks, follow me on Twitter

End of Summer Tomato Tart

Tomato Cheese Tart

Pie crust for a low-sided 12-inch pizza pan, partially baked and cooled
12 ounces Swiss, Emmenthaler or Gruyere cheese (or other melting cheeses), cut in thin slices
2 or 3 large tomatoes, cut into ½-inch slices
OR
7 medium roasted tomatoes (14 halves)
Salt and pepper
1 teaspoon dried basil or 3 tablespoons finely cut fresh basil (in chiffonade*)
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Coarse salt for garnish

1. Sprinkle the fresh tomato slices generously with salt and place them on a cake rack to drain for about 30 minutes. Pat them dry with paper towels.
OR
Drain the roasted tomatoes if they have been sitting in their accumulated liquid.
2. Preheat the oven to 375ºF.
3. Arrange the cheese slices, slightly overlapping, in the bottom of the cooled crust and place the drained or roasted tomatoes side by side on top. Sprinkle with a few grindings of black pepper, the dried or 1 tablespoon fresh basil and the grated Parmesan cheese.
4. Bake in the lower third of the oven for 25 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and the top of the tart is lightly browned. If the top isn’t quite brown enough, you can put the tart under the broiler for a minute or two, watching it carefully.
5. Sprinkle with a bit of coarse salt and the remaining 2 tablespoons of basil chiffonade just before serving. Serve hot or warm.

4-5 servings
Adapted from the Time Life Series Food of the World M.F.K. Fisher's The Cooking of Provincial France.
 

*To make a chiffonade, stack basil leaves on top of each other. Roll the leaves lengthwise and cut crosswise into 1/8th-inch slivers. The end result should be a pleasing tangle of basil-y goodness.

Pie Crust

For a 12-inch pizza pan with low sides:
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup plus 3 tablespoons (1 stick plus 3 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut roughly into ½-inch pieces
7 tablespoons ice water or more if necessary

1. Combine the flour and salt in the container of a food processor. Add the butter and pulse until the butter and flour are blended and the mixture looks like cornmeal, about 10 seconds.
2. Add the ice water to the mixture. Pulse until you see the mixture coming together. If it doesn’t after a couple of additional pulses, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it does.
3. Dump the contents of the container onto a sheet of plastic wrap and mold it into a ball. Flatten the ballot a disk; bring the plastic up around the dough to cover it completely. Either freeze for 10 minutes or refrigerate for 30 minutes. (You can also refrigerate the dough for a day or two or freeze it almost indefinitely.)
4. Sprinkle a smooth countertop or a large board with flour. Unwrap the dough and place it on the work surface; sprinkle the top with a little flour. If the dough is hard, let it rest a few minutes to warm up just a little.
5. Roll with light pressure, from the center out. Continue to roll, adding a small amount of flour as necessary, rotating the dough occasionally, and turning it over once or twice during the process. When the dough is about 1/8-inch thick, place your pan upside down over it to check the size. You want your circle of dough to be about 2-3 inches bigger than the pan it will go into.
6. If the size is correct, move the dough into the pan by folding the dough in half and placing the fold in the middle of the pan. Carefully unfold the dough and press it gently into the outer edge of the pan.
7. Trim the extra dough about 1 inch above the rim. Fold the dough above the rim in half (to ½ inch) and crimp with your fingers to make a decorative edge. With the scraps, you can fill in any part of the circle that’s missing.
8. Place the pan in the freezer for 10 minutes or the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Partially Baked Pie Crust

1. Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
2. Prick the dough all over with a fork to help prevent the crust from poufing. (You’ll see what I mean when it happens.)
3. Tear off two pieces of aluminum foil. Press the sheets crossed over each other to conform to the dough, especially on the sides. Weight the foil with a pile of dried beans or rice, pie weights, the bottom of a 12-inch spring-form pan or a tight-fitting skillet or saucepan—anything that will sit flat on the surface and hold the dough in place. Sometimes I just do the foil and don’t weight it with anything and it’s just fine. The pouf goes down.
4. Bake for 12 minutes. Remove from the oven; remove the weights and foil. Prick the bottom, once again, with a fork.
5. Bake for another 4-5 minutes or so until the crust is just starting to turn a light brown and the bottom looks set.
6. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack.

Adapted from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything: Simple Recipes for Great Food, Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking and M.F.K. Fisher’s The Cooking of Provincial France.

Pork Pie

Full many a glorious morning I have seen
Flatter the mountain tops with sovereign eye.
Kissing with golden face the meadows green,
Gliding pale streams with heavenly pork pie

William Shakespeare, Sonnet 33

We are a nation of pie lovers. That is undeniable.



From steaming hot meat and potato pies that grace chip suppers across the north to the crescent shaped Cornish pasty of the south, if it’s a scorching filling wrapped in artery clogging pastry, we adore it.

Legislative affirmation of this fact came just last month when the legendary Melton Mowbray pork pie was finally granted Protected Geographical indication by the EU.

It now stands proudly alongside such luminaries as Parmesan Cheese and Champagne. Only pork pies from Melton Mowbray can be labelled as such. Anything else is a mere pretender.

But pretenders aren’t necessarily a bad thing when they originate in your own kitchen.

Recent dispatches from New York saw me trying to re-create some of the tasty food that was consumed there. It was great fun, making pizzas and bagels and hot dogs and cheeseburgers.

So much so that it got me thinking – why not try it more often, with things that originate closer to home. Why not try to create in the home kitchen those foodie treats we know and love: doner kebabs, pink wafer biscuits, custard creams, marshmallows.

By using excellent ingredients and leaving out all the unnecessary bits and bobs it should be possible to cook versions of these treats to rival anything that can be found on the shelves. Artifice by more natural means.

Before I get started on the big things, I wanted to start small. Keep it simple.

If my girlfriend and I are ever out and attacked by hunger pangs it inevitably falls not to a chocolate bar to quell the cravings but to a pork pie.

There is something so satisfying about the combination of heavily seasoned meat housed in a crunchy yet melting pastry that just makes us smile. It is a rare treat, but a treat nonetheless.



We’ve been hunting for the perfect pie for a while. One whose meat:pastry ratio is spot on and where the jelly doesn’t overwhelm you with its strangely appealing yet vaguely disgusting texture. It’s a fine pie tight rope to tread and some get it right.

Others fail miserably. Hopefully now that the pork pie has some certification it will mark an end to any disappointments.

Recipe: Pork Pie

This isn’t a traditional pie. This is me freestyling, throwing caution to the wind and rolling easy. The result? A perfect picnic item, great served with homemade chutney, just erring on the side of sweetness.



For the filling you’re going to need some pork. Don’t scrimp here. Toddle over to your friend the butcher and ask him for some fatty shoulder or hand meat. While you’re at it inquire politely about acquiring some bacon offcuts. They shall be your new best friend and work out about a quarter of the price of regular bacon.

[I cannot believe I just shared my best culinary secret with you.]

Oh, and ask him to throw in a couple of pig’s trotters too, you’re going to need them later.

Once you’ve got hold of your meat, head home, turn on the stereo and get cooking.

800g pork hand (or shoulder) meat
300g cooking bacon (smoked or unsmoked, dependent on your preference)
Two trotters
A couple of onions
1 litre or so of chicken stock
Thyme, finely chopped
Sage, finely chopped
Cayenne Pepper
Ground ginger
Allspice
Nutmeg
Salt and pepper

For the pastry (taken from HFW’s Meat Book):
100g lard
100g butter
200ml water
Two eggs
550g plain flour

Your first job is to make the jelly. Split the trotters down the vertical and them to the stock and the onions in a pan, bring to the boil and let it simmer gently for about three hours.

Next up, make the pastry. Melt the lard and butter into the water over a gentle heat. Don’t boil it. Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl, crack in the eggs and stir them in. Gently pour the water/butter/lard mix into a glass, take a big sip and pour the rest over the flour and egg. Mix together until a dough forms, knead for a couple of minutes. It may need more flour. When you have a verifiable dough cover it with cling film and get it into the fridge.

Finally, you’re going to need to dice the meat. Finely. And that means small. You could cheat and mince it but who wants a pie filled with sausage meat? Sharpen your favourite knife, crank up the music and get chopping.

Once you’ve transformed your great hulks of meat into delicately fine dice, it will need seasoning. When cold, food can taste bland – as such be generous with the seasoning, especially the salt. I’d go for a teaspoon of sea salt as well as a pinch of everything else and a good grind of pepper.

To check the seasoning, fry a little of the mixture off like a mini-burger and taste it (it’s a hard job but someone has to do it). Adjust as required.

By now your pastry should be cool and far more workable than it was before when it was all warm. Take a cricket ball sized handful (or a baseball if that’s your thing) and roll it into a vaguely spherical shape.

Squidge the bottom of a jam jar into the dough-ball and start working it up the edges:



Don’t be too precious – this is a pie, not something to grace the plate of a three star Parisian temple to haute cuisine. Once you have a rough outline, ease the jar free and pile in the filling. When you think it’s full, add another spoonful and ease the pastry around it.



Cut off a piece of dough about the size of a ping-pong ball (gawd bless sporting analogies), roll into a disc and top your pie. Crimp the edges together, brush the top with beaten egg, poke a hole in the lid and place into a roasting tray.

Repeat until out of dough or filling or both.



Bake at 180 degrees C for thirty minutes then turn the oven down to 150 degrees and bake for another twenty minutes.

Leave to cool on a wire rack and tend to your jelly. Trotters, being jam packed with gelatin, make an excellent jelly after simmering away gently for a couple of hours.

Strain your stock through a fine meshed sieve, return to the heat and reduce by about a third. To see if it is ready, spoon off a little of the stock in a small cup and refrigerate. If it sets, it’s ready. If not, carry on cooking.

Once the pies have cooled down you’ll need to get the liquid jelly into them, a procedure that those of you unskilled in veterinarian sciences might find tricky. I improvised with a syringe. I’ll leave it to you to find the best way (pouring is not, repeat not, the best way).



Try and resist the temptation to bite into your pies before they’ve been refrigerated overnight. They are best eaten outdoors with a picnic blanket under your arse and a bottle of something cold and beery in your hand.

For more high fat delights, follow me on Twitter.

Pie!

So remember that pie I've been thinking about for weeks? I actually did make one this weekend. I went to the local strawberry farm on Saturday afternoon and bought a couple of quarts of Ontario strawberries and a few stalks of bright and vibrant rhubarb for my first ever strawberry rhubarb pie. I really enjoy rhubarb because it's so tart and I don't like super sweet fruit desserts, but had never actually cooked with it before so I was very excited to try this out!

I also decided to try a (sort of) new pie crust recipe. I've been reading Ratio by Michael Ruhlman which is all about cooking with ratios rather than measurements, and focuses on the basic ingredients that you need to make something. In the case of pie, they are flour, fat and water. The recipe I normally use involves egg and vinegar, but I've been thinking lately that my pie crusts have been a bit too "puffy" and the egg probably has something to do with it. So I figured I would try it with just the basics and just a dash of sugar to sweeten it a tad.

And the result? Man was this good. Tart and sweet, with a wonderfully flaky crust. I forgot just HOW good strawberries and rhubarb are together. There was just the right amount of fruit chunks and slightly thickened syrup. I barely even noticed the Splenda, which when executed badly can totally kill a dessert for me (I have an unnatural aversion to artificial sweeteners).

So in short...I will be making this pie again before strawberry season is over. You should too.

Pie Dough
3-2-1 pie crust ratio
15 ounces flour
5 ounces butter
5 ounces vegetable shortening (I use Tenderflake)
5 ounces ice-cold water
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp sugar (optional)

Filling
from Bon Appetit via smittenkitchen
3 1/2 cups chopped rhubarb
3 1/2 cups chopped strawberries
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar (I used Splenda so that my dad could have a slice)
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt

1. Cut out butter and shortening amounts, and freeze for about 1/2 hour Making sure the ingredients are cold is incredibly important when making pie crust. I try to store the tools I'm going to be using in the freezer while my butter and shortening are in there as well to keep everything cool.

2. Measure out flour, salt and sugar into a large bowl

3. Cut in (or grate in) butter and shortening into the flour

4. Add water a couple tablespoons at a time, until flour mixture starts to clump together. Form a ball with your hands (be careful not to overwork the dough or it will end up tough)

5. Divide into two discs, wrap with saran wrap and refrigerate for about 20 minutes or until ready to use (you can do this a day or so in advance as well)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Farenheit

6. Combine filling ingredients together in a bowl.

7. Roll out bottom of pie crust until it's about 1 inch wider than your pie plate and transfer to pie plate

8. Spoon in filing

9. Roll out second crust. Slice into 1/2 inch strips and weave into a lattice pattern on top of pie. Trim edges with a bit of overhang and fold up so that your strips stay in place. Crimp edges if desired (I usually do, mostly because I find that my crust doesn't really "stay" in place if i don't).

10. Bake for about 20 minutes, then reduce temperature to 350 degrees and continue baking until edges are golden and filling is bubbling (This particular recipe said to bake for almost 2 hours. I only baked for about an hour)

Random Pie Crust Tips:
1. Use plenty of flour

2. Turn the dough at a 90 degree angle once or twice to make sure your dough isn't sticking to your surface

3. Don't freak out - it will get easier every time you make a pie

4. When you're ready to transfer the bottom crust to your pie plate, fold into quarters and place in your pie plate so that the bottom point is in the middle, and unfold