Pie

Not a pretty pie, but tasty!

Apple-strawberry pie
Pastry:
I'm gonna make you find your own recipe. I used the one in my mother's old Woman's Home Companion Cook Book. Yes, with lard.

Filling:
4-6 cups of apples (depending on the size of your pie tin), peeled, cored and roughly cut
1 pint of strawberries, halved
juice of 1/2 lemon

Seasoning:
1 teaspoon coriander seeds, or 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons coarse sea salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

If you use whole coriander, grind the spices with a mortar and pestle.

Put the fruit in a large bowl and mix in the seasonings and lemon juice until thoroughly coated. Line a pie tin with one pastry sheet. Fill with the seasoned fruit and dot with butter. Lay the second sheet over the top and crimp the edges. Do not ask me how to crimp or otherwise decorate pies, because this is only the second one I ever made and it's not a pretty sight. Working on it.

Bake in a 425 oven for 30-40 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown. Because the fruit is not pre-cooked, it retains a degree of crispness and an amazing fresh-picked taste.

Gingerbread scones

I'm gearing up for gingerbread people at the end of the week, which will be my Christmas gifts this year (decorated to look like the recipient). In the meantime, a seasonal adaptation of my basic scone recipe.

Gingerbread scones
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unbleached wheat or whole wheat flour
½ cup oats
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 T maple sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground Cinnamon,
2 teaspoons ground Ginger
1/8 teaspoons ground Clove
¾ stick (6 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into bits (or grated frozen butter. Make sure the grater is also frozen)

1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup applesauce
1 large egg
1/2 cup plain yogurt or sour cream

Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.

Mix dry ingredients; add butter and mix until mixture resembles coarse meal. (I used frozen, grated butter this morning). Mix the wet ingredients and beat lightly with a fork. Using the fork, stir sour cream mixture into dry mixture until dough forms. Dough will be smooth and maleable. Roll out to 11" diameter, about 1" thick and cut into 8 wedges, or use a large ice-cream scoop to make 20 smaller scones. Lay on baking sheet and bake about 20 minutes. Serve warm with butter for best yummies.



Oh yeah. I made an apple pie, too. (First pie I ever made in my life, if you don't count quiche.)

Never throw anything away

The ice rink where I work has the most wonderful concessionaire. A skating mom herself, she transformed the concession stand from garbage-central to an honest-to-goodness healthy cafe; she makes everything from espresso brownies to salmon burgers with a hot plate, panini grill, and toaster oven.

Like all fast-food stands, she's got "meal deals," but hers are a sandwich, Italian soda (your choice of flavors), a homemade cookie, and a piece of fruit. Last week I grabbed a banana which I never ate. By the time I remembered it, it was, well let's call it "overripe."

Did I mention never throw anything away? I roasted the apple peels (from the home made applesauce), some garlic cloves, and the last of the summer's tomatoes in a 300F oven for 60 minutes, then simmered it all in apple cider for 30 minutes. Run through a food mill, then smooth with an immersible blender. Tomato-apple soup. Recipe on Mahlzeit.

Apple banana scones

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (for October unprocessed, use all unbleached wheat flour)
1 cup unbleached wheat or whole wheat flour
½ cup oats
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 T cane sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¾ stick (6 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into bits (or grate frozen butter. Make sure the grater is also frozen)
¾ cup walnuts, crushed

3T light corn syrup
1 large egg plus one egg yolk
1 overripe banana, mashed
2/3 cup apple sauce
1/3 cup plain yogurt or sour cream

Preheat oven to 400F (375 if you have a baking stone in your oven) and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Adjust a baking rack to the middle position.

Beat together the liquid ingredients and set aside. You can leave out the corn syrup; your scones will just be a little less sweet. If you leave it out, replace the liquid (more apple sauce or sour cream works fine).

Mix the dry ingredients, then cut in the butter with a pastry cutter, knife or your hands until it resembles a coarse meal. Stir the nuts into the flour mixture. Add the liquid mixture to the flour mixture. Stir until just combined. Dough will be very sticky.

For drop scones, place in tablespoon scoops onto a parchment-covered baking sheet about 1 inch apart on and bake for 15 to 17 minutes, or until pale golden. Transfer the scones to a cooling rack and let them cool slightly before serving.