Celebrating National Pie Day with Pear Pie

Last week I got a bag of Bosc pears.  By this week they were beautifully ripened and juicy.  But there were more of them than my family would likely eat before they got over ripe.  So naturally they needed to go into a pie.

I found a recipe in the cookbook Pie by Ken Haedrich, and made it last night with  a few changes.  We invited my friend Laurie over to share the pie and an evening of conversation.  She brought Butter Pecan ice cream which was wonderful with this pie. I then celebrated National Pie Day this morning by having another piece of this pie for breakfast.  I definitely give this pie 5 stars, it is delightful!

Pear Pie with Streusel Topping

Pastry for single crust pie, in deep pie dish

Filling:

5 cups peeled and sliced ripe pears

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (I was out of lemons, so used the juice of one lime - turned out great)

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

pinch of salt

Streusel topping:

1 cup flour

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons cold butter cut into chunks

1 tablespoon milk

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Put pears in large bowl and add other filling ingredients.  Stir lightly to coat pears with the sugar and spices.
• Pour pear filling into prepared pastry lined pie pan and smooth them down with your hands.  Place in the center of the preheated oven and bake for 35 minutes.
• In the meantime, prepare the streusel topping.  Cut the butter into the dry ingredients, then stir in the milk.  (You can also pulse in a food processor).  Rub the mixture between  your fingers to make large crumbs.  Refrigerate until ready to use.
• Remove the pie from the oven and reduce the temperature to 375 degrees.  Carefully dump the streusel crumbs onto the center of the pie, then spread evenly over the top of the pie with your hands.  Return the pie to the oven and bake for another 30 minutes.
• Let cook for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Champagne Grape Pie

Belonging to a produce co-op has given us the opportunity to save money on fresh fruits and veggies while we also increase the amount of these foods that we eat, but the best part is that we have received foods that we probably would not have tried otherwise.  It's so easy to get into a rut with fruits and vegetables, always eating the same old thing. We've also had chances to try new varieties of the standard foods we've always bought - this week it was a kind of grape we've never had: "Champagne Grapes".  Oh my goodness, these things are DELICIOUS!

I usually suspect smallish grapes of being overly tart, but that is definitely not the case with Champagne grapes.  They are smaller than the grapes we usually eat, perhaps the size of beads or pearls, but they are also sweeter than the grapes we normally find in the supermarket.

This weekend we decided to invite our neighbor Kim over for a visit since her husband was out on the road driving truck.  I got out a pie cookbook to look for ideas using whatever I had on hand, and was surprised to find a recipe for Champagne Grape Pie!  Naturally, I had to try this one out.  The recipe is from the book Pie by Ken Haedrich.

I have simplified this recipe a little, because in the cookbook he goes through all sorts of steps about chilling the pie dough and freezing the pie shell and stuff like that which I never do and do not find necessary.  My pie crust is nice and tender and flaky without going through all that foolishness, so I don't see any point in typing all that up.  If you're gentle with your pastry dough you don't need all those extra steps.  Here's my easier version of the recipe.

CHAMPAGNE GRAPE PIE

1 recipe double crust pastry
4 cups champagne grapes, stemmed
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2-1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
coarse or sanding sugar

• Combine the grapes, sugar and lemon juice in a medium bowl.  Mix well and set aside to juice.
• Prepare pastry and roll out half.  Line a standard 9-inch pie pan with the pastry.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Stir the cornstarch into the filling, then turn the filling into the pie shell, smoothing the top with a spoon.  Roll out remaining pastry and put on top of the pie.  Trim and flute the edges.  Brush the top with ice water and sprinkle with coarse sugar.  Cut steam vents into the top of the pie.
• Place the pie in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.  Reduce oven heat to 375 degrees and cook an additional 30 minutes.
• Transfer the pie to a wire rack and let cool for at least 2 hours before serving.

We thought this pie was great topped with sweetened whipped cream.  I'm sure it would be fabulous with ice cream too!  We all liked this pie...Eight year-old Ryan devoured two pieces!

Strawberry-rhubarb pie

I know spring has really arrived when the rhubarb in my garden gets ready for it's first harvest.  The rhubarb was just in time for Mother's Day this year, so I made strawberry-rhubarb pie for my mom.  The rest of the family got to have some too.  I used a recipe from the cookbook "Pie" by Ken Haedrich, although I don't use all the steps he does (he refrigerates or freezes his pastry dough, but I skip these steps because I don't think it's necessary if you handle the dough with care).  This pie got high marks from the 10 people I served on Mother's Day.


Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumb Pie


1 unbaked deep dish pie crust
Filling:
3 cups fresh rhubarb stalks sliced 1/2 inch thick
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
4 cups hulled and halved fresh strawberries
1/4 cup quick-cooking tapioca

Cornmeal Crumb Topping
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup fine yellow cornmeal
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold butter, cut into chunks

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
• Combine the rhubarb, sugar and lemon juice in a large bowl.  Toss well to mix, then set aside for 10 minutes.
• Add the strawberries and tapioca to the bowl and toss well.  Scrape the filling into the pie shell.  Bake for 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, make the topping.  Combine the topping ingredients in a bowl and mix with a pastry blender (or pulse in a food processor).  Once the mixture resembles fine crumbs, rub between your fingers to make large buttery crumbs.  Refrigerate until ready to use.
• Remove the pie from the oven and reduce the temperature to 375 degrees.  Carefully dump the crumbs in the center of the pie, spreading them evenly over the surface with your hands.  Tamp them down gently.  Return the pie to the oven and bake until the juices bubble thickly around the edge, 30 - 40 minutes.
• Let cool for at least 1 hour before serving.  This pie is great served slightly warm with vanilla ice cream.
• It's a good idea to put a large aluminum baking sheet under this pie while baking, as it is beautifully juicy and sometimes bubbles over.