Frozen raspberries

When I was a child, raspberries were one of those things with a very narrow window. You could buy them in July, and that was about it. I don't recall being able to buy them frozen at the market like you can now, and my very urbanized mother would never have thought of buying them and storing them in a basement deep freeze. No one we knew, even the most conspicuous consumers, had a basement deep freeze.

When I started on preserving a few years ago, I was skeptical of the idea of freezing fruit--if you wanted fruit in midwinter, it seemed to me, to be absolutely pure, then making jam was the way to go. And, frankly, you could make this recipe using jam as well, it would be delicious.

But all the same, I'm glad I decided not to be so pure.

Raspberry twirl scones
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon zest
3 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, diced

1/3 cup sour cream
raspberry juice (drained raspberries)
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup honey

1 egg white, whisked with 1 teaspoon sugar

2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries, drained

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

Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, zest and salt in large bowl. Add butter and cut in with a knife, pastry blender or your fingers until it resembles a coarse meal.

Whisk sour cream, egg, vanilla, and honey in a small bowl until thoroughly blended. Add egg mixture to flour mixture; stir just until combined. Gather dough into ball and knead just enough to make the dough a solid mass. (If you knead it too much, you'll lose the flakiness that makes scones so good.)  Roll out dough on floured surface in a slab about 8x12". It should be about 1/2- 3/4 inch thick.  For larger scones, roll it on the 8" axis, for smaller, on the 12" axis.

Paint the slab with the eggwhite/sugar mix, then spread the fruit on it in a single layer. Gently roll it into a tight log, then slice into 2" pieces. Place scones on prepared baking sheet, about an inch apart. You can brush the tops with any left over egg white and sprinkle with a tiny bit of sugar if you want a little bit of a crunchy glaze. Bake until golden, about 20 minutes. Makes about 16 to 20 small scones or 8 to 10 large ones. 

Pie # 5: In which I learn there are Blue laws in Chicago

I'm teaching myself to make pie. This one is the first one that is really done from my own recipe.

I thought I had port. Nope. So I thought, oh I'll just hop into the car and get some. Nope. You can't buy liquor in Chicago between 4 a.m. and 11 a.m. on Sunday. Silly me. I thought laws based on religious practices were contrary to the Constitution in America. Sharia lives!

Port cherry pie with raisins and pecans
Crust:
1 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup rolled oats
2/3 cup shortening (yes, I use lard)
1/2 teaspoon salr
4-6 T apple cider

Filling:
2 pints pitted cherries
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup crushed pecans
1/4 c port wine
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup (packed) light-brown sugar
1/4 cup evaporated raw sugar (or  an evaporated crystal sugar)
1/4 cup wheat pastry flour
1 T corn starch
1/4 teaspoon salt

1 large egg white, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces


Preheat oven to 425

Crust:
Toss the oats, flour and salt, cut in the shortening until crumbly. Add the cider one tablespoon at a time, and work it in with a fork, using only enough to wet the dough until it sticks together. Divide into two equal pieces and chill. (You can roll them into thick disks first if you like.)

Butter or spray a 9-inch pie plate. Remove half the dough from the refrigerator. Roll it out on a lightly floured surface to form a disc, 1/8-inch thick and 2 inches larger than the pie plate. If it's a weird shape, as mine always is, trim it and puzzle-piece it into a disc, lightly rolling again to make the extra pieces stick.  Use a spatula to help lift the dough and transfer it to the pie plate. Press it lightly in the plate to fit.  Trim, leaving a 1-inch overhang. Place in the refrigerator to keep cold. You'll use the rest of the dough to create a lattice top. Note: the oat crust is not quite as elastic as a traditional flour crust, so you have to handle it very gently.

For the filling, place the fruit, raisins and nuts in a large bowl. Toss with the port. Add vanilla, sugars, cornstarch and flour; mix thoroughly.

Lightly brush the bottom crust all over with the lightly whipped egg white; spoon in the filling and dot with butter.

Roll out the remaining dough and cut nto strips 3/4-inch wide to make a lattice cover over the filling. Trim the overhang to 1 inch. Moisten the edges of the crusts where they meet with a little water, then press them together lightly and turn them under. Crimp the edges.

Brush the lattice crust and the rim with the cream. Optional: sprinkle the surface with 2 tablespoons of turbinato sugar.

Pro tip from my pastry-chef friend Lindsay: On a baking sheet, lay some foil at least 6" large than the pie plate. Place the pie in the middle, then create a loose baffle to protect the edges of the crust from burning. Be careful not to let the foil touch the crust.

Bake 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 375°F and bake until it is golden and the juices are bubbling, about 50 to 60 minutes.  Let the pie cool on a wire rack before serving.

I stopped eating candy

Which means I'm going through a chocolate withdrawal.

Cocoa powder scones
adapted from Eden East Everything

1/2 cup coconut flour (or other oddball flour, I used rice)
1 cup ground oatmeal (aka, oat flour)
1/4 cup  Cocoa Powder
1/8 teaspoon fine Sea Salt
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
5 T butter
Optional: 1/2 cup dried fruit

1/2 c sour cream thinned w 1/3 cup mint or other liqueur
1/4 cup brown sugar or sweetener of choice
1 egg
1 teaspoon pure Vanilla Extract

Pre heat oven to 350˚. In a medium bowl whisk together flours, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder, and salt. Cut in butter until it resembles a coarse meal. Mix in the fruit. Whisk sour cream, liqueur, vanilla, egg, and sugar. Add wet to the dry ingredients and form a dough. This will form a wet dough, a little wetter than drop cookies. And in fact, they're drop scones. Line a baking sheet with parchment and drop in large tablespoons; should fit about 16 on the sheet.  Bake for 15 minutes (may vary depending on you altitude and oven). Let the scones cool. Drizzle with optional chocolate glaze.

Chocolate glaze
1 1/2 T light brown sugar
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 T butter
2 T cocoa powder
2T liqueur
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
no more than 1/4 cup powder sugar

Melt the butter and sugar in a saucepan, add the vinegar and bring to a boil stirring constantly (the vinegar will keep the sugar from crystalizing). Add the cocoa powder and vanilla and mix well. Add the liqueur and whisk until blended. Remove from heat and  add enough powdered sugar to form a thick drizzle. If it gets to think, add more booze. Lick the pan. hic!

Skating and scones

Made these during the ice cut and the warm up before the Cup of Russia Free Dance event:

Pumpkin spice scones

 2 cups flour 

2 1/2 tsp baking powder 

1/2 tsp salt 

 4 T cold butter 

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1 egg, beaten 

3 Tbsp brown sugar 

3 T sour cream 

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup pumpkin puree

1/4 teaspoon maple extract

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

In a large bowl, mix together dry ingredients and cut butter into dry mixture using a pastry cutter or two knives. Mixture should resemble coarse crumbs. In a separate bowl, beat the liquid ingredients until well mixed and fold into dry ingredients. You may need to knead it lightly to moisten it entirely. 

 Roll out the dough to about 3/8" thickness, cut into discs. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes. Allow to cool, then drizzle with the glaze.

Glaze

1 1/2 T light brown sugar

1/2  teaspoon white vinegar

1T butter

1T heavy cream

2 teaspoons maple syrup 

1/4 cup powdered sugar

Melt the butter and sugar in a saucepan, add the vinegar and bring to a boil stirring constantly (the vinegar will keep the sugar from crystalizing). Ad the milk and maple syrup and whisk until blended.

  

Cut into 8 equal wedges (a pizza cutter works brilliantly for this). 

Bake for approximately 15 minutes 

Last strawberries of the season

Don't really have enough to make even a jar-ful of preserves, so I turned them into sweetener for this pretty-in-pink scone.

Strawberry drop scones

2 ½ cups whole wheat pastry flour
½ cup oats
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ stick (6 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
1 pint whole strawberries
½ cup honey
1 large egg
½ cup sour cream or yogurt + ½ cup milk, whisked

Optional-dried strawberries or other dried fruit

Pre-heat over to 400F/200C

Put the strawberries, 1 T of the honey, and 2-3 tablespoons of water in a small sauce pan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the strawberries break down. Beat them lightly with a fork to create a jam-like consistency. Allow to cool in the saucepan.

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 dried fruit, if any, into the flour mixture. Lightly beat the egg, honey, and dairy into the jam (using the same cooled saucepan--why add to the dishes), then add this mixture to the flour mixture. Stir until just combined, combining the last loose flour by hand.

Remove from the mixing bowl and knead lightly. Dough should be spongy but not sticky. Divide into two equal sections. Roll each out to 10" circle (about ½ inch thick) and cut into 8 equal wedges.

Place on parchment-lined cookie sheet about 1 inch apart and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until pale golden. Transfer the scones to a cooling rack and let them cool slightly before serving.

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.