Testing for the holidays

Pie #3. Getting crazy, now I'm messing with the pastry. Where will it end.

Pastry:
1 1/4 cup pastry flour
½ teaspoon salt
⅓ cup + 2T shortening
1 ½ T dried orange zest
₁⁄₈ teaspoon orange-seasoned black pepper
3-4 T orange juice or liqueur

Whisk dry ingredients; cut in shortening with a pastry blender or knife until shortening is the size of peas. Add OJ a tablespoon at a time, blending with a fork until liquid is absorbed. Roll out into a disc about 1/8" thick, and lay in a pie plate. Fold and crimp crusts. Put in fridge to chill.




Filling:

1 ½ to 2 cups pumpkin or pumpkin+squash puree
3 large eggs +2 yolks
1 cup heavy cream
2 T liqueur or brandy (I used honey liqueur)
spices:
½ cup packed brown sugar
1 T finely chopped fresh sage
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
₁⁄₈ teaspoon ground cloves
₁⁄₈ nutmeg, grated
salt

Mix the spices together. Whisk together the wet ingredients then fold in the spices. Pour into the chilled pie shell and bake at 325 for at least 20 minutes or until it starts to set. Remove from oven and cool slightly. Do not turn the oven off. While it is baking, make:

Caramelized pears
2 medium Anjou (or other firm) pears
2 T butter
splash of liqueur
2 T sugar

Melt the butter in a medium skillet, then lay the pears in a single layer. Splash with liqueur and bring to a simmer; sprinkle with sugar. Reduce heat and simmer until sugar starts to carmelize. Gently turn pears so both sides have some caramelization. Allow to cool.

Take the cooled pie and very gently lay the pears in a nice pattern (or randomly, I don't care) on the surface. Return to the hot oven and finish baking, about 10 minutes.

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.