Pumpkin Pie

Oh no. I typed up this recipe. And then accidentally ate all the pie before taking a picture!! Oooops. I feel bad stealing the picture from the blog the recipe is from, so, click the link below to see pictures!!

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Like everyone else, I made a pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving. This pie turned out perfect--light and fluffy and not very sweet. Definitely a keeper recipe! (Adapted from here)

this pie crust, but with pecans instead of walnuts

2 large eggs

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

3/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup skim milk

1 15oz can pumpkin

1 tsp cinnamon

3/4 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp allspice

dash of salt

2 tablespoons melted, unsalted butter

1. Set a rack in the middle of the oven and heat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a 10-inch pie pan (the deeper the better) with crust. Bake the empty crust for 10-15 min.

2. Whisk the eggs in a large mixing bowl until they are blended. Stir in the brown sugar, cream, milk, pumpkin puree, cinnamon, ginger, allspice and salt. When they are blended, stir in the melted butter and pour the filling into the pie shell.

3. Place the pie in the oven and decrease the temperature to 350 degrees F. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until a toothpick poked into the center of the pie comes out clean. Set the pie on a rack to cool. This pie tastes great cold, room temp, or warm, with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

PIstachio PIneapple cream PIe

I made a couple pi-stachio pi-neapple cream pi-es last weekend for pi day.
As usual the recipe is super simple and quick, and the fun was in the decorating.
I took these to a pi day party and my dance class.

Ingredients (makes 2 pies):
2 ready made crusts (graham or oreo)
1.5 packets of instant pistachio pudding powder (5.1oz)
1 can of unsweetened pineapple chunks (20oz)
2 cups of milk
8oz vanilla ice cream
1/4 cup of chocolate shavings
1/4 cup of very finely chopped almonds
chocolate frosting (optional)

Directions:
Mix the pudding powder, ice cream, and milk and refrigerate for 5 mins to set.
Then mix in the chocolate, almonds, and pineapples.
Pour into crusts. Keep refrigerated or frozen until serving time.
Use frosting to decorate (optional) or top with the chocolate shavings and almonds.

Mini Chocolate Almond Pie Surprise

My roommates had plenty of bars of chocolate and a huge bag of almonds leftover from a recent camping trip, so we decided to use up some of that.

Time: 0:20
Serves: 6-10

Ingredients:
6-10 mini ready-made graham cracker pie crusts
1 package (16oz) silken tofu
12 oz chocolate (we used Hershey's milk chocolate b/c we happened to have a lot)
1 tsp vanilla extract (we should have substituted 1/2 tsp almond extract, in retrospect)
1/3 cup chopped almonds, or to taste.

1. In a food processor or a blender, blend the tofu with the vanilla.
2. Melt the chocolate (since we were making 25 pies in one evening... to save time, I just stuck it in the microwave instead of doing the double boiler thing). Pour into the food processor and blend until well mixed.
3. Line the bottom of the pie crusts with the chopped almonds. That's the "surprise." :) Cover the almonds with the chocolate-tofu mixture. I filled it halfway first and lightly mixed the almonds with the chocolate-tofu, then covered it up and smoothed it out with the bottom of a spoon.
4. Refrigerate until firm. Garnish with some toasted slivered almonds if desired.

Hint: Don't tell people it's made with tofu. They'll never know, and don't things taste better if you think they're less healthy? ;)

Mini Raspberry Pie

For our roommate's 25th birthday, OhmsAndFarads and I convinced a friend to make her 25 pies, of 5 different flavors. This resulted in an epic 6hr pie-making marathon. Someone suggested raspberry as one of the flavors, which sounded good since it didn't require peeling/coring/juicing/etc. I based our pie off this recipe, but this resulted in way too much filling.

Time: 0:45
Serves: 6-10

Ingredients:
6-10 mini ready-made graham cracker pie crusts or one batch of crust from Mini Cherry Tarts
2 cups raspberries - don't pack it down when measuring
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
~ 1 Tbsp cornstarch as needed

1. Bring water to a boil. Dissolve sugar in the water and add half the raspberries (1 cup). Mash it up a bit with a spatula - the drupelets will separate and you'll get a very nice, uniform sauce.
2. Dissolve the cornstarch in some cold water and add to the pot, stirring so it doesn't lump up. This will thicken the sauce nicely. Simmer to let the water evaporate until you get a nice, thick sauce. Add more cornstarch/sugar if needed.
3. Line the bottoms of the pie crusts with the remaining raspberries. Cover with the raspberry sauce. Let chill in fridge until firm.

I think we wound up with 6 raspberry pies and leftover raspberries/sauce, which we just ate/used as jam. The result of all our hard work? A lot of pies and a very pleasantly surprised roommate. :)

Mini Peach Pies

Since the mini cherry tarts were such a hit with my family, I decided to go with a similar concept for my team's picnic/BBQ. The white peaches looked so good in the store that I couldn't pass up the opportunity to make mini peach pies. I don't think I should use white peaches in the future though, since the color looks too washed out with a basket weave crust.

Time: 2:00
Serves: 10

Crust
See the recipe from the mini cherry tarts; it's exactly the same. I made the crusts a bit thinner for pies, though it's really just to your preference. Remember to set aside part of the dough for the top.

Filling
I borrowed the basics from the first Google result and modified it to the ingredients I had.

Ingredients
1 cup peeled, thinly sliced peaches
1.5 Tbsp sugar
1.5 Tbsp flour
two dashes cinnamon (I used about 1/8 tsp)
two dash salt (about 1/8 tsp)
1/2 Tbsp Triple Sec

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Pour the Triple Sec on the peaches and mix to cover thoroughly. I don't know why peach pie recipes all call for lemon juice, but as I had no lemons on hand, I substituted the liqueur. The alcohol bakes off and it tasted fine.

3. Mix the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt. Pour on the peaches. Mix thoroughly.

4. Spoon the peaches into the pie crusts. Try to make them bulge up in the middle as much as possible. If the filling mix is too liquidy, don't add all the liquid to the pies - it will bubble out and ruin the look of your pies.

5. Roll out little circles to cover the pies with, making sure to slit them for vents. You can also try to cut four strips of even width and making a basket weave.

6. Bake for 40-45min. Let cool and set for 15-30min before removing from muffin pan and serving.

Alton Brown's Apple Pie

Our friends DSY have a special talent when it comes to pies. They've been known for such masterpieces as lemon meringue pie and kiwi pie. This week, they followed Alton Brown's instructions for a delicious apple pie (recipe here).

See the before picture:

Aaaand the after:

Barely a morsel left :)

Pi(e) Day!! part 2

As per Adrienne's suggestion, a post about pi(e) day! We had a pie potluck, which yielded some very tasty pies... Chocolate Banana Cream Pie
modified from here

(yes, yes it does have a PI made from bananas)

crust:
9 graham crackers
1/4 c. melted butter (approximately)

filling:
3/4 c. sugar
8 tbsp. cocoa powder
6 tbsp. flour
2 1/4 c. milk
2 tbsp. melted butter
2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1 Tbsp. vanilla
1 banana

For the crust, crush the graham crackers (food processor is best, blender/hands work as well...the finer the better but coarse is ok too, in my opinion) and combine with melted 1/4 cup of butter. Press into the bottom of a 6-8" pie dish.

Over a double boiler, combine all dry ingredients. Slowly add some of the milk, then gradually all the rest until smoothly blended. Keep stirring until mixture starts to boil and gets thick. Continue to cook about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, beat egg yolks in small bowl. Add melted butter and vanilla. Temper the eggs by pouring spoonfuls of the hot milk mixture and stirring. After combining the egg mixture with ~5 spoonfuls of milk mixture, pour all of the eggs into the milk mixture. Stir until smooth. Remove from top boiler and allow to cool.

While the pudding is cooling, slice the banana and arrange in concentric circles in the bottom of the pie dish. When the pudding has completely cooled, pour into baked pie shell. Refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours. When ready to serve, garnish with more banana, whipped cream, etc. Use your imagination!

Overall, this recipe gives a little too much pudding for a 6-8" pie dish, so it works out perfectly--you have leftover pudding to eat while the pie is in the fridge!

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Other pies included a pizza pie (recipe modified from here)

6 mushrooms, sliced
1 1/2 c. cheese (I used an "italian blend" of cheeses)
1 1/2 c. milk
3 eggs
3/4 c. Bisquick mix
1/2 c. pizza sauce (recipe below)
1 bell pepper, chopped

Heat oven to 425F. Grease 10" pie plate. Sprinkle mushrooms and 1/3c. cheese in pie plate.

In medium bowl, beat milk, eggs, and Bisquick with electric mixer until smooth. Pour over vegetable mixture in pie plate.

Bake 20 mintues. Spread pizza sauce over top. Sprinkle bell pepper and remaining cheese over pie. Bake another 15-20 min until cheese is light brown. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting.

The base of this pie turned out very very very eggy (which would have been obvious if I had paid more attention to the recipe instead of just making it haha), so next time I would probably add more Bisquick and only 1 egg.

Pizza Sauce recipe:
vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 tsp garlic paste
5 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 Tbsp black pepper
1 Tbsp McCormick's Italian Seasoning (I think it has basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, sage, etc)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt

Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot, add onions and sautee until translucent. Keep stirring or they'll stick! Add garlic paste, tomatoes, and remaining spices. Bring to a boil. Simmer until the sauce has become very thick. Remove from heat and pour sauce into blender; puree.

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Also making appearances:

St. Patrick's Day Quiche
Chicken Pot Pie:


Beef Stir Fry Pie:
From the chef of this masterpiece:

The stir fry pie recipe was taken from here:

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=522960

The version at the party involved about 3/4 cup rice, the forgot the onions, and sat in a 9'' pie pan instead of 10''

Kiwi Pie:

FOUR Apple pies:
(unfortunately I only got pictures of 3...Virginia's-delicious-lattice-brown-sugar -Lodi-apple pie was devoured before I remember to get a picture...)




needless to say, we all were STUFFED for a couple days after pi day...

Pi(e) Day!

I didn't have a big Pi Day party like Roshni (who should make a post about all the pies at that party -- hint hint) but I did celebrate the day with my favorite pie, my mom's Tollhouse Cookie Pie. For those who enjoy the taste of Tollhouse Cookies, this pie is an easy alternative, since you don't have to stand over the oven for a long time and drop the cookies onto the cookie sheet. For those who are cooking for one, it also keeps much better than cookies do (unless you eat it all really fast because it's so good...which...um, I definitely did).


Ingredients:
2 eggs
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar (packed)
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup cooking oil
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1 refrigerated pie shell

Beat eggs until foamy. Combine flour, brown sugar, and sugar, and add to eggs. Add butter and oil, mix well. Add chocolate chips. Pour into unbaked pie shell. Add a few chocolate chips on top, if desired. Bake at 325 degrees, for approximately an hour (check after 50 minutes). Allow to cool on the stove top for half an hour if you like your pie warm, or cool in the refrigerator for an hour if you want it cooler.