Pumpkin Pie

It's almost Thanksgiving here in the U.S., and pumpkins have been available for a little while now. Time to start thinking about making pumpkin pie! First, a few words about the pumpkins themselves. There are several different kinds of pumpkins available on the market. Most are Jack pumpkins, which are ideal for carving, but are very bland when it comes to eating. The first pumpkin pie I made, shown above, was made with Jack pumpkin (although it was advertised as a 'pie pumpkin') - see below:

The next one, I used kuri squash for - a red squash, very good for soups and, it turns out, 'pumpkin' pies:

This resulted in:

For my Thanksgiving pie, I am going to use a Cheese Pumpkin. These are supposedly very good for pumpkin pie:

Anyway, whatever kind of pumpkin you end up using, the process is pretty much the same. First, you half and deseed the pumpkin and bake it until the flesh is soft. You puree the flesh and set it aside. Next, make pastry for the crust and pre-bake it (blind). Lastly, you make the filling with the puree, fill the pastry shell and bake until set. The following recipe is adapted from 'The Art of Simple Food' by Alice Waters. It makes one 9 inch pie.


Pumpkin Puree
Cut your pumpkin in half with a heavy knife and scoop out the seeds (save, clean and roast for a snack if desired). Put both halves cut-side down on a baking sheet and bake at 350 F until tender (a butter knife slides into the flesh easily). Allow to cool, then scoop the flesh out, leaving the skin behind. If you have a food mill, put the flesh through to puree it; otherwise you can mash it with a potato masher or fork.
You will need 15 oz of your puree for one 9 inch pie. A small pumpkin should yield about that much, but a big one may result in a lot more. The cheese pumpkin above will probably be enough for 3 pies! Extra puree could be used to make pumpkin ravioli, soup, pumpkin bread, pancakes etc.


Pastry
(9 oz flour, 8 oz cold butter, 1 egg, cold water)
Follow the instructions here, allowing for the fact that you will have at least twice as much dough as you need. You can stop at 'Now put the pan in the refrigerator while you make the filling.' This will leave you with half the dough in the refrigerator, wrapped, a pie shell in a pie pan, also in the refrigerator, and some dough scraps that you cut away from the pan. Combine the scraps with the wrapped dough, press pretty flat, wrap again, tightly, and either freeze or keep in the refrigerator to use for another tart or pie. Let the pie shell rest in the fridge for a total of 1 hour, then remove, prick the base of the shell with a fork, line with foil, cover with pie weights (I use uncooked dried beans, reserved for this use) and bake for 15 minutes at 375 F. Remove foil and weights and bake another 5 or so minutes until golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool while you make the filling.


Filling
In a small saucepan, whisk 1/4 cup cream and 2 tsp flour together and boil until they thicken. Whisk in another 3/4 cup cream and boil again. Allow to cool a little. Meanwhile, in a bowl, whisk together 15 oz pumpkin puree (see above), 3 eggs, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 2 tbsp pumpkin pie spice (a mix of ground spices - usually cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice or clove), a pinch of salt and a glug of maple syrup. Lastly, whisk in the cream mixture.


Finishing
Pour the filling into your shell. Bake at 375 F for about 45 minutes - until the center of the filling is almost set. Cool on a rack, then cut and serve with whipped cream (I flavored mine with nutmeg and a little powdered sugar). Enjoy!


Note 1 - If you do not want to use fresh pumpkin, you could substitute canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling - it should only contain pumpkin). Use the same amount. It should work OK.


Note 2 - Metric Info: 350 F = 175 C; 15 oz = 425g; 9 inches = 23 cm; 9 oz = 255g; 8 oz = 225g; 375 F = 190 C; 1/4 cup = 60 ml; 3/4 cup = 180 ml; 1/2 cup = 120 ml.

Apple Pie

'Tis the season for apple pie. Plenty of good apples available from local orchards. I went with a lattice pattern (by request) instead of a solid top. It was a bit more work, but I think it was worth it.

Start by preparing the pie dough. Put 9 oz (about 2 cups) flour into a medium-sized bowl, and add 8 oz cold butter, cut into thin slices, and a good pinch of salt. With your hands, rub the butter into the flour with your fingers until only a few large flecks are visible. Now add 1 egg, beaten, made up to 1/2 cup in volume with ice cold water (I use cold water and put the egg-water mix in the freezer for a few minutes while I rub in the butter). Knead the liquid into the flour for no more than a minute. The dough will be wet. Sprinkle over some flour and pat into a rectangle. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour (or as long as a day if you like; you can also freeze the dough for months).

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and cut the rectangle in two. Replace one half in the fridge, and roll the other out into a thin round (use as much flour as needed to avoid it sticking to your work surface). Make sure it is big enough to line your pie pan. I used a 9 inch pan. Grease the pan with butter first, then lay the pastry in it, cutting around the edge to get rid of any overhang. Now put the pan in the refrigerator while you make the filling.

You will need a bunch of apples. I used 3 lb of Gala apples. You can use whatever kind of apple you desire, but you may not need as much as 3 lb - my pie was a little stuffed. I think it would have worked with just over 2 lb of apples.

Peel, core and slice your apples. Work quickly to avoid browning. I put the slices into a bowl and sprinkled them with a little lemon juice, then added about 1 cup brown sugar, 2 tbsp flour, 1 tsp cinnamon and a few grindings of fresh nutmeg (or a shake of ground). You could also add a small pinch of salt. If the apples are too juicy, add more flour; if they are too tart, add more sugar. Pile the apples into the pie crust and set aside. Roll out the rest of your dough (add your scraps from the shell also) to about the same thickness as you did the shell and cut long strips of roughly equal width. Using a finger dipped in water to 'glue' the strips to the pie shell, make your criss-cross lattice over the apples by alternating the directions of the strips. I started by going across the middle and worked my way towards the edges but it doesn't really matter which order you do it in.

Once you are finished assembling the pie, tidy up the edge of the crust and set your pan on a cookie sheet or similar (to collect any juice that might leak from the pie). Bake at 425 F for 25 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 F for another 30 minutes or so, until the pastry is nicely golden and the apples are soft. Allow to cool most of the way to room temperature before serving, with cream or ice cream. Enjoy!

Note 1 - This is my favorite pie dough recipe. It is based on one in 'A Platter of Figs and Other Recipes' by David Tanis. An awesome cookbook.

Note 2 - Metric Info: 9 oz = 260g; 8 oz = 225g; 1/2 cup = 120 ml; 9 inches = 23 cm; 3 lb = 1.4 kg; 2 lb =  900g; 1 cup = 240 ml; 425 F = 220 C; 350 F = 180 C.

Chicken Pot Pie

Today's recipe is adapted from Jacques Pepin's 'Complete Techniques'. I had a lot of chicken meat left over from last night's roast chicken and needed to find a use for it.

How many potpies you can make obviously depends on how much leftover cooked chicken you have. I had enough to make 4 pies, each in a 4-inch oven-safe ramekin. Take 3/4 cup white wine, add 3/4 cup chicken stock (preferably homemade), a dash of dried thyme and 1/2 small onion, sliced, and combine them in a pan, bring them to a simmer for 20 minutes, then strain the liquid through a fine sieve. Reduce the liquid to a volume of 3/4 cup (this took me 8 minutes of boiling), then add 2 tsp beurre manie (rub 1 tsp softened butter into 1 tsp flour) and whisk until smooth. Boil 5 minutes, then add 3/4 cup heavy cream and return to a boil. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, boil some salted water. Add 2 small carrots, peeled and diced, and boil for 2 minutes. Add 1 rib celery, diced, and boil another 30 seconds. Add 1/2 cup frozen peas and boil a further 30 seconds. Strain and reserve.

Distribute cooked chicken (cut into small chunks), vegetables and sauce between ramekins, being careful not to fill all the way to the top. Take a sheet of puff pastry (you could make your own, but I bought a package of frozen dough - I used half of a 1 lb package). If frozen, allow it to thaw first, then roll it out to a thickness of 1/8 inch (my pastry was already this thick), and cut 4 rounds (each a little larger than the top of the ramekin). Beat 2 egg yolks, and brush each round with egg on 1 side. Place each on a ramekin, eggy side downwards. Press gently around sides of ramekin. Try to keep the pastry taut. Brush the tops with egg and refrigerate the pies for 1 hour.

Preheat your oven to 375 F. Bake pies on a sheet tray for 30 minutes. Serve straight away. Enjoy!

Note 1 - If you do not have leftover chicken, you could poach some raw chicken pieces in the wine and stock (keep simmering until cooked through) - you decide how much meat to use based on how many people you have to feed.

Note 2 - Metric Info: 4 in = 10cm; 3/4 cup = 180ml; 1/2 cup = 120ml; 1 lb = 450g; 1/8 in = 3mm; 375 F = 190 C.