Tamale Pie

Filling:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1½ pounds ground beef
1½ cups corn kernels
1 can diced tomatoes
3 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons chili powder
4 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons kosher salt
½ cup sliced black olives
1 cup Mexican blend shredded cheese







Cornbread Topping:

1 1/3 cups yellow cornmeal
1 1/3 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 Tsp. salt
3 eggs
1 can cream-style corn
1 cup milk or buttermilk
1/3 cup butter, melted

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In a very large frying pan warm the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion, green pepper, and chili powder. Cook until softened (about 10 minutes).

In another skillet, brown the ground beef (about 5-10 minutes). Add the meat to the onion mixture along with corn, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, cumin, olives, and salt. Stir well and simmer for 20 minutes while you prepare the cornbread topping.

Whisk together the cornmeal, flour*, sugar, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the creamed corn, eggs, milk, and melted butter. Pour the wet ingredients over the cornmeal mixture and stir together until just mixed.

Stir the shredded cheese into the beef mixture and pour it into a 9x13-inch baking dish (you may need an extra dish if beef mixture is too voluminous) and smooth the top. Pour the cornbread batter over the filling, using a spatula to spread it into an even layer. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow the pie to rest for 15 minutes before serving.

*For high altitude baking, add 1-2 tablespoons more flour.

Marshmallow Mermaid Pie

What pie-maker who has seen "Waitress" has not fantasized about Jenna's Marshmallow Mermaid Pie? Ever since I fist saw the movie and her pie topped with (childhood favorite!) fruit-flavored mini marshmallows, I've been looking for a recipe. I was shocked to find that the DVD includes a recipe for "Marshmallow Mermaid Pie" but it looks nothing like the one in the movie and the ingredients do not make me think mermaid. It's more like a cookies and cream kind of pie--plain white marshmallow filling mixed with chocolate wafers, I think. I didn't even bother making it. Instead, I set about imagining what Marshmallow Mermaid Pie would actually consist of. In the movie it looked like a pinkish custard with the colorful mini marshmallows. So what kind of custard is pink? Um, rose custard of course. If you know me you know I look for any excuse to use rosewater. But it needed something more and my favorite companion to rosewater is coconut extract. So this is a rosewater/coconut custard-y pie topped with the classic colorful mini marshmallows we all know and love.

Ingredients:

1 precooked pie crust (see recipe in my blog)
1 pint cream, whipped (I use an immersion blender)
1 6oz package instant vanilla pudding (and necessary ingredients to make)
2 tablespoons rosewater
2 teaspoons coconut extract
1/2 cup coconut flakes
1 package plain gelatin
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 cup water
Red food coloring
Flavored Mini Marshmallows

Directions:

In separate bowl mix together vanilla pudding till thick. If necessary, chill. Blend cream till thick, chill. In a saucepan mix sugar, rosewater, coconut extract, and water. Pour packet of gelatin over mixture, let sit for 1 minute. Turn stove to high heat and mix until mixture bubbles. Remove from heat and continue mixing till mixture is syrupy. Immediately blend with pudding first then add whipped cream and coconut flakes. Add food coloring at this point till desired pinkish color. Pour mixture into baked & chilled pie crust. Top with mini marshmallows till covered. Chill overnight. I would use a shallow pie pan for this one as the custard makes it difficult to remove in nice pieces, and it's rather rich.

I think Jenna would be proud.

Harvest Squash Pie

Rebecca and I were at the farmer's market this week trying to think of pie ideas and as he headed over to the only fruit available, apples, and saw how mealy they looked, we decided to head in a different direction: butternut squash. I've heard of squash pies before, and I've of course made pumpkin pies, so we decided to dive right in without a recipe. I thought I remembered the basic ingredients for pumpkin pie and accidentally mistook condensed milk for evaporated (whoops), but I always say that when you mix sugar with anything you won't be disappointed and we weren't. Check out the recipe below.

*1 large butternut squash, halved and roasted
*1 can sweetened condensed milk
*1 cup brown sugar
*1/4 cup white sugar
*1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon (would have used nutmeg if I had any)
*1/4 cup cornstarch (I don't play around with firming agents)
*1 tablespoon flour
*1 tablespoon vanilla extract
*Crushed walnuts

Directions: Pretty simple really. Just scoop out the roasted squash and blend with all of the other ingredients. Pour into uncooked crust (recipe in blog), sprinkle with walnuts, and cook for 15 minutes uncovered and then 30 minutes covered (or longer if necessary) at 350 degrees.

I honestly have never seen such a pretty color! Perfect for autumn. We served it with whipped cream and hot mulled apple cider.

Ann Walko's Apple Pie

Another Anne collecting apples

I got this deliciously basic apple pie recipe from my friend Insley (and her grandmother, Ann). I added a little water and yogurt to make it creamier. It helped in baking it at 7,000 ft elevation as well. 

Filling:

*6-7 med. size Macintosh apples
*1/3 cup sugar
*1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
*1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
*1/2 teaspoon salt
*3 scant tablespoons flour

*3/4 cup yogurt

*1/4 cup water

Directions:

1 ¼ cup sifted flour (separate ¼ cup from this and add to it ¼ teaspoon of salt) Take remaining 1 cup of flour and cut in (with two table knives) ½ cup Crisco until the mixture has bonded and is crumbly.

Next take ¼ of flour and salt and add to it 3 tablespoons of ice water.  (Sometimes it requires a bit more than this).   Stir into a paste and then add to the Crisco/flour mixture and cut again.

Ball up, divide in half and sprinkle flour on wax paper and pin to roll.  (Because the dough is usually fairly moist, quite a lot of flour can be used to roll it out and prevent sticking).
Line pan with crust.  Add filling and put 6 thin slices of butter on top of apples.  Put top crust on.  Cut off excess at edges.  Roll under and press with fork.  Cut vent holes in top crust.
Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes then turn down (to 325-ish?) and bake for an additional 40 minutes on the bottom rack.  (Put foil around the edges if they begin to brown.)

Piña Colada Ricotta Pie

Totally love this one! Even my housemates who don't like pineapple liked this one.

INGREDIENTS

* 1 can crushed pineapple

* 2 tablespoons cornstarch (or 4 tablespoons flour)

* 1/2 cup sugar

* 1 3 0z. pkg. cream cheese

* 1/2 pint Ricotta cheese (I used more)

* Unsweetened coconut flakes

* Coconut extract

* 1 tablespoon dark rum (optional, but you totally should use it)

* 1 egg

* 1/4 cup sugar

* 1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell

* 1 9 inch pie crust cut into lattice strips

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 425°F. In a saucepan, combine cornstarch with 1/2 cup sugar and pineapple. Heat until mixture reaches a boil and has thickened slightly. Add rum. Remove from heat and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer on low speed, beat Ricotta cheese, coconut flakes, coconut extract, cream cheese with the egg and 1/4 cup sugar until mixture is smooth. Pour into pie shell. Spread pineapple mixture over top of Ricotta mixture in pie. Cut the second pie crust into strips 1 1/2 inches wide and arrange strips over the top of pie in a lattice fashion. Brush the top of the crust with a tablespoon of milk which has been beaten with the yolk of 1 egg to make a golden and shiny crust. If you want to. Not necessary. Bake pie at 425°F for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 375°F and bake for another 25 minutes. I baked mine a little longer.

Chill pie for several hours before serving. You kind of have to.

Bourbon Apple Pie

Made this lovely, boozy pie for my family and friends over Christmas. Kicked it up a bit, as usual. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

* 1/2 cup craizins
* 1/2 cup Cherry Bourbon
* 3 pounds Granny Smith apples, about 4-5 apples
* 3/4 cup granulated sugar
* 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted
* Pie pastry
* 1 tablespoon buttermilk or evaporated milk
* 1 tablespoon sugar
* 2 cups Orange Juice
* 1 cup flour
* 1 cup oats
* 1/2 cup brown sugar
* Butter


Preparation:
Peel apples; cut into 1/2-inch slices. Heat orange juice in microwave for 2 minutes. Combine craizins and apples in OJ and cover for 15 minutes while you make the crust. Strain juice. Add bourbon to apples and craizins.

Combine 3/4 cup sugar, the flour, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg in a large bowl; add apple mixture stirring well to combine.

Fit 1 pie crust into a 9-inch pie plate. Spoon apple filling mixture into pie crust.

Mix up a cup of flour, the pecans, a cup of oats, and 1/2 cup brown sugar. Sprinkle over the top of pie until covered. Then take frozen butter and slice it into very tiny pieces. Cover the top of the pie with them evenly.

Bake at 450° on lower rack of oven for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350° and bake 30 to 35 minutes longer. Cover with foil if browning too much.

Salmonberry Pie

Vince and I went out to the woods last night to gather salmonberries, which are in the raspberry family but the colors range from bright orange to blackberry dark. They are not as sweet as raspberries but we had to try a pie with them. There is exactly one recipe on the internet for salmon berry pie and we had to tweak it a little because it was for a chilled pie and I had my heart set on baked. I don't know if my recipe worked yet because when I checked it this morning it hadn't set. I might put it back in the oven a little since I only put it in for 40 minutes. But here is what we did:

Salmonberry filling:

* 4 cups Salmonberries
* Water
* 2/3 cup white sugar
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 4 tablespoons cornstarch
* 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
* 1 package goat cheese brie

Topping:

* 1 pint whipping cream

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

To make the Salmonberry filling: Crush 2 cups of the Salmonberries through a sieve. This will take some time but it is essential to remove all of the seeds. Add water to Salmonberry juice to make 1 1/2 cups of liquid. Put the juice and water into a pan. Add sugar, cornstarch, cardamom, and salt. Cook on medium heat, stirring constantly for about 5 to10 minutes. Do not scorch. Remove from heat and let cool.

But slices of brie on the bottom of the pie crust (Mom's uncooked pie crust). Spread crushed berries over the cheese. Add remaining berries and pour cooked liquid mixture over the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 40+ minutes. Let cool to set. Serve warmed up with ice cream or whipped cream.

Mom's Pie Crust

Directions

Melt 1 Tblsp. butter in one cup measuring cup

Fill up to the 2/3 mark with canola oil

Fill to the 1 cup mark with water

In bowl mix 2 cups flour with 1/2 tsp baking soda and 1/2 tsp salt

Add the contents of the measuring cup

Roll out dough between 2 pieces of wax paper, invert into pie shell

Pink Princess Delight Pie

I call this my Pink Princess Delight pie because your average six year old girl would be totally in love with it. I was mostly just playing around and I've since tweaked the recipe so the filling solidifies better. At the time I thought the apples added something but now I think they may not be necessary. It's up to personal taste, I guess.

Ingredients:

* Mom's pie dough
* 3 apples peeled and sliced
* 1 can light coconut milk
* 1 tablespoon coconut extract
* 1/2 cup sweetened shaved coconut
* 1 1/2 cup frozen raspberries, thawed and mashed
* 1 cup sugar
* 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
* 1/4 cup corn starch
* 1/4 water

Directions:

Prepare pie crust (see recipe). Arrange apple slices in a decorative manor on bottom of pie crust (unlike the above picture). In a saucepan mix together coconut extract, raspberries, sugar, vanilla, water, and corn starch. Turn on high heat and whisk until bubbling. Remove from heat and continue stirring until bubbles settle and mixture is syrupy. Pour packet of gelatin over coconut milk and let sit for 1 minute. Mix coconut milk and raspberry mixture together, pour over apples into crust. Bake for 15 minutes at 400 degrees, cover with foil and continue baking at 350 degrees for another 40 minutes. Remove from oven and place on towel in freezer. Let sit for 2 hours. Remove to fridge. Serve when filling has solidified.

Mountain Berry Camembert Pie

Ingredients:

* 1 cup sugar
* 1/4 cup cornstarch
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, optional
* Dash salt
* 1/2 cup water
* 2 tablespoons lemon juice
* 1 cup fresh blueberries
* 1 cup fresh strawberries
* 3/4 cup fresh blackberries
* 3/4 cup fresh raspberries
* 1 Package of Camembert Cheese
* Mom's Dough for a double-crust pie (9 inches)
* 2 tablespoons butter

Topping

* 1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
* 1 cup old-fashioned oats
* 3/4 cup all purpose flour
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Directions: In a large saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon if desired and salt. Stir in the water and lemon juice. Add berries. Cook and gently stir over medium heat until mixture just comes to a boil. Line a 9-in. pie plate with bottom crust; trim pastry even with edge. Slice Camembert with a water-warmed knife and lay evenly on the bottom. Fill with berry filling and dot with butter. Roll out remaining pastry. Combine brown sugar, oats, flour, and salt in large bowl; toss to blend. Add butter and rub in with fingertips until mixture comes together in moist clumps. Cover; chill while preparing filling. (Topping can be prepared 1 day ahead; keep chilled.) Sprinkle on top of filling. Cover with foil and bake at 350° for 45-50 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Store in the refrigerator. Yield: 8 servings.

Week Pie: Maple Buttermilk Pie

"Maple Trees" Thierry Hennequin

I totally forgot to write about the last two pies! This one turned out alright. It was just supposed to be a maple buttermilk pie, but I like apples so I used them, and I used brown sugar instead of maple sugar (because I have no idea what that is!). I wish it would have tasted more maple-y. Maybe the maple sugar would have done that...


Ingredients:
* 1 (9-inch) baked pie shell (I used mom's)
* 6 Apples
* 2 cups well-shaken buttermilk
* 2/3 cup Grade B maple syrup
* 6 large egg yolks
* 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 3 tablespoons maple sugar
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* 1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 325°F. Put pie shell (in pie plate) in a shallow baking pan.

Whisk together remaining ingredients in a bowl until just combined and pour three fourths of custard and apples into shell. Carefully put pan in middle of oven and pour in remaining custard with a cup.

Bake until just set in center, about 55 minutes, then transfer pie to a rack to cool slightly. Serve warm or at room temperature.

* Accompaniment: lightly sweetened whipped cream

Week Pie: Popover Apple-Cranberry Pie

So trying to do metric conversions in a country that doesn't like to stock as much sugar free products as I'm used is more than a little annoying. Had some issues with the pie this week but instead of completely ruining everything I got two wonderful pies out of my six Golden Delicious apples.

I started out attempting to make a Popover Apple Pie, which is made by baking a one big popover (or Manka's Babies) in a skillet or pie pan. And making the filling in the microwave. The problem was that the apples and stuff are supposed to be mixed with sugar free cook-and-serve vanilla pudding, and they don't have sugar free pudding at my grocery store, so I got regular cook-and-serve, and then the measurements were off because of grams and ounces, ugh. So! I added 7 tablespoons of the dry pudding mix to the filling instead of a .8 oz package and used the rest to make pudding on the stove. The popover turned out to be way smaller than I expected, so I put the pudding on the base of the popover and poured a much as I could of the apple filling on top of that, and then sprinkled with toasted walnuts and powdered sugar. It was delicious! Try it. Then because the popover was so small I had so much extra filling, so I made mom's pie crust again (note 1) and put it in there.

So here's the original recipe for Popover Apple Pie:

TIME: Prep: 20 min. Bake: 30 min.
Ingredients:

* 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 2 eggs
* 2 egg whites
* 3/4 cup 1% milk
* 1 cup cold orange juice
* 1 package (.8 ounce) sugar-free cook-and-serve vanilla pudding mix
* 3/4 teaspoon apple pie spice
* 6 large peeled tart apples, sliced
* 1/2 cup dried cranberries
* 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
* 1 teaspoon confectioners' sugar

Directions:
In a bowl, combine flour and salt. Combine the eggs, egg whites and milk; whisk into the dry ingredients just until blended. Pour into a 10-in. ovenproof skillet coated with butter-flavored cooking spray. Bake at 450° for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 350° (do not open oven door). Bake 10-15 minutes longer or until deep golden brown (do not underbake).

In a microwave-safe bowl, whisk the orange juice, pudding mix and apple pie spice. Stir in apple and cranberries. Cover and microwave on high for 5 minutes, stirring once. Cover and cook 3-4 minutes longer or until apples are tender, stirring once. Spoon hot apple mixture into crust. Sprinkle with walnuts. Dust with confectioners' sugar and serve immediately. Yield: 8 servings.

Week Pie: Raspberry Lime

So I went a little cavalier with this week's pie. I wanted something relatively light after last week's Pecan Date that was super fattening so I decided to make a cold pie. I found a raspberry pie recipe on Taste of Home's web site but I really wanted to do something with lime jello, and since the only recipes I found with raspberries and lime jello also had a ridiculous amount of whipped cream, I took Taste of Home's recipe, which called for raspberry jello and used lime instead. I also grated a little lime zest in the jello mix and a little bit of pulp too. We're having a "House" party tonight, so we'll see how it goes over. It looks a bit odd, and that's why I've decided to call it (and Tinka will get this joke) "The Marriage of Easy Bake Oven and Creepy Crawlers" (because it totally looks like Plasti-Goop) or "Happy Birthday, Slimer" (Ghostbusters). I have a feeling this pie would go over really well at a 10 year boy's birthday party (see picture).

Ingredients:

* 1/4 cup sugar
* 1 tablespoon cornstarch
* 1 cup water
* 1 package (3 ounces) raspberry (or lime!) gelatin
* 4 cups fresh raspberries (I used mostly frozen on the bottom layer, and fresh on the top)
* 1 graham cracker crust (9 inches)

Directions:

In a small saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch and water until smooth. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat; stir in gelatin (and zest and pulp!) until dissolved. Cool for 15 minutes.

Place raspberries in the crust; slowly pour gelatin mixture over berries. Arrange fresh berries on the top of the jello. Chill until set, about 3 hours. Yield: 6-8 servings.

Week Pie: Pecan Date

So this week's pie was a Pecan Date. It turned out really well, but it is super RICH! (Which, on the plus side, means I will eat less of it). I am thinking of pulling a "Waitress" and start naming pies my way (or rather, her way). So this one will be called "Spent the Afternoon Exercising So I'm Not Going to Think Twice About That Cup of Corn Syrup Pie." Enjoy!


"The unexpected addition of dates to this classic pie gives the filling more body and a smooth sweetness. Don't use packaged chopped dates, which are rolled in sugar. Instead, use moist and sticky whole dates. Coat your knife with cooking spray for easy chopping."

Filling:

* 1/2 cup whole pitted dates, chopped
* 1/3 cup chopped pecans
* 1 cup dark corn syrup
* 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
* 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 4 large eggs

Directions: Preheat oven to 325°. So I used Mom's crust recipe again from last week. See the other note for the how-to. Press dough into bottom and up sides of pan. Fold edges under; flute.

To prepare filling, sprinkle dates and pecans evenly over bottom of crust. Combine corn syrup and remaining ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Pour mixture into prepared crust. Bake at 325° for 55 minutes (mine took well over an hour) or until a knife inserted 1 inch from the edge comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

Week Pie: Pear/Apple, Walnut, and Maple Syrup Pie

My goal this year is to make a new pie every week and on top of that I plan to tell you all about them, recipes included.

My inaugural pie, my first in Canada, is Pear/Apple, Walnut, and Maple Syrup Pie. It was originally just supposed to have pears in it, but I'm not the biggest fan of pears, so apples it is!

I used my mom's wonderful pie crust instead of what the recipe said. Her instructions are:

Melt 1 Tblsp. butter in one cup measuring cup

Fill 2/3 with canola oil

Fill the rest with water and zap in microwave until butter melts

In bowl mix 2 cups flour with 1/2 tsp baking soda and 1/2 tsp salt

Add the contents of the measuring cup

Roll out dough between 2 pieces of wax paper, invert into pie shell.

Filling:

* 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
* 1/3 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
* 3 tablespoons cornstarch
* 1 tablespoon lemon juice
* 4 large Comice pears (about 3 pounds), peeled, cored, and cut lengthwise into 1/2-inch-thick slices
* 1/4 cup maple syrup
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* Cooking spray
* 2 teaspoons water
* 1 large egg

Directions: Preheat oven to 450°.

To prepare filling, combine brown sugar, walnuts, and cornstarch in a large bowl. Combine lemon juice and pears in a medium bowl, and stir in syrup and vanilla. Stir pear mixture into sugar mixture. Remove 1 sheet of plastic wrap from the 12-inch circle, and fit dough into a 9-inch pie plate coated with cooking spray, allowing dough to extend over edge of plate. Remove top sheet of plastic wrap. Combine 2 teaspoons water and egg in a small bowl, and stir well with a whisk. Spoon pear mixture into prepared crust, and brush edges of piecrust lightly with egg mixture. Remove 1 sheet of plastic wrap from the 11-inch circle, and place on top of pear mixture. Remove top sheet of plastic wrap. Press edges of dough together; fold edges under, and flute.

Place pie on a baking sheet; cut 5 (1-inch) slits into top of pastry using a sharp knife. Bake at 450° for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350° (do not remove pie from oven); bake an additional 45 (I did 30) minutes or until browned. Cool on a wire rack 30 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.