Thanksgiving Part I - Holiday Pies

I'm writing this in Portland. We drove up early for our Thanksgiving visit so that we could spend a few days with Maria. She's the designated pie maker at all holiday events with her family and friends in Seattle and although they consider her a master pie maker, she looks to The Master and her mentor, Chef Verno, for cooking and baking tips and inspiration. In particular, this year she wanted to hone her pie making skills and learn the secrets of Verne's butter crust and his new rustic mini pies. Here's a picture of Maria with her teacher...and, yes, there is a cat on the counter!

We've been making and eating the rustic mini pies all summer. Not only are they a perfect size for two people, but they are quick to make and can even be made ahead, frozen, and then baked fresh when you're ready to serve. There's not a more forgiving pie. The free-form crust, which is one-fourth of a single crust, is rolled out to measure about 8" in diameter. Anything goes...misshapen, raggedy edges, more or less filling...it's all okay and they all end up with a rustic look that has pie-appeal!

Every Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday Maria makes several traditional pumpkin, pecan, and apple pies. After collaborating with her mentor, she decided to mix it up a bit this year and make two traditional pumpkin pies, pecan pie bars (I'll get to that in a minute), and a few rustic mini pies, including apple and minced meat. We've found that whether making a full sized apple pie or one of the mini pies, it's best to partially cook the filling (thinly sliced apples, sugar, spices, butter, and apple juice). In the case of the mini pies, we use one cup of cooked filling for an 8" crust and bake it for 45 minutes if freshly made and 55 minutes if frozen. The filling may be frozen in the pie crust or separately, in which case it should be thawed and used in a fresh pastry. These little pies are a great do-ahead dessert...and I mean well ahead. They may be frozen for up to three months.

Now to the mincemeat...or should I say minced meat(less), which is what I'm calling the filling I made and canned. I know that mincemeat pie is NOT universally loved. But, I love it! My mother made it every Thanksgiving and Christmas and it was my favorite. The holiday season is lacking if I don't get at least one piece of mincemeat pie. Scanning my Ball book on preserving, I found a few recipes for mincemeat and decided to try it last week. I'll give you an idea of the ingredients ...apples, light and dark raisins, dried figs and cranberries, currants, minced citrus (including the rind), candied peel, spices, brandy, sherry, and apple cider. NO MEAT! Yes, originally mincemeat pie was a savory pie that included meat. But, not anymore. It's basically a dried fruit pie and it is delicious. I need to tweak my recipe just a bit, but overall it has an excellent, fresh taste of the mincemeat pie I remember having as a child. I canned the filling in 8 ounce jars - perfect for one mini rustic pie and perfect to have for those few people at a dinner party who like mincemeat pie!

As for the pecan pie bar, it's just that...a "bar". Imagine the same ingredients that are used in a pecan pie placed in a 9"x13" cake pan, baked, cooled, and cut into bars. One of our egg customers (and excellent cook and baker) gave us this recipe last week. She raved about it! From past experience with her recipes, I knew that we'd love it. The bottom layer is a typical butter crust, but it's patted into the pan and baked until golden brown. The top layer includes all of the usual ingredients found in a pecan pie, but slightly different amounts (an extra egg and a bit less liquid) so that the filling is firmer than in the traditional pie. We made 24 bars, although they may be cut smaller to yield more. They are the perfect finger-food to top off a festive dinner or to take home in a to-go bag! Ideal for a buffet table!

If you happen to be making a butter crust, here are a few tips from The Master:
     1. Use unsalted butter;
     2. Cut cold butter into very small cubes;
     3. Add a few cubes at a time to dry ingredients in a food processor using the "pulse" mode;
     4. Stop processing as soon as the pie dough comes together...in other words, DON'T overmix!;
     5. Chill before using;
     6. Roll to desired size and place in pie dish and chill again before baking.

Pies of the Hand

First, let me explain the title. It was only after about a decade of marriage and a lot of movies, old and new, that I realized all of Verne’s really good lines and most of his good lines were from movies or music. Initially, I just thought he was incredibly clever. Then I started to hear his words when we’d watch an old movie together or listen to one of his favorite CD’s…although, scratch the music…I have and always have had a problem hearing the words when I listen to music. But, at times he has recited the entire lyrics of a favorite song and, lo and behold, I’ll hear one of those clever lines I’d credited to him. Understand, even after discovering most of his lines are not original, I was no less charmed by the man. His delivery is excellent!

As for “pies of the hand”, think back to The Witness when the grandfather talks to the young Quaker boy about a “gun of the hand” that was discovered after they took in the injured detective recovering in their home. It follows (at least to Verne) that the small pies we started making in June should be called Pies of the Hand. He refers to the book we bought entitled Handheld Pies by the same name, Pies of the Hand. Cute!

It has taken us years since the girls left for college to adjust our cooking for two. It’s especially difficult with desserts. Not so much cookies, because I freeze the cookie dough and bake a few at a time. Cakes and pies are a different story. I’d stopped making them unless we have company, because “sharing” to Verne means one piece for him and the rest for me. The pies we started making in June are sized for one to two servings, as are all of the pies in the book, Pies of the Hand aka Handheld Pies.  We started by making a single standard-sized pie crust, dividing and freezing it in quarters for future use as a small crust for a freeform, rustic tart. As the process evolved, we began making and freezing the rustic tarts (complete with filling) on a cookie sheet, bagging the pies individually after they were frozen, and then baking them whenever we got a hankering for pie.  We’ve now perfected this process and can go from the hankering to eating pie in 45 minutes!

We’ve enjoyed apricot, plum, and peach tarts this summer. Fall has arrived and so have the apples. This past week Verne helped our friend Otti harvest apples from her orchard. He wasted no time and within 24 hours had put by a dozen apple rustic tarts. It’s always wise to taste test, so we had one last night with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Just imagine…a flakey butter crust filled with just-picked apples generously seasoned with cinnamon, nutmeg, and a bit of lemon juice HOT out of the oven topped with French vanilla ice cream. The serving is just enough to leave you wanting for more. It was nummy! We just may need to do one more taste test tonight…