Coconut Custard Pie from the Blender

Do you have any community cookbooks?  You know, the cute cookbooks where grannies, or moms or firefighters get together, share their favorite recipes and then make a cookbook to raise money?  I recently inherited one such cookbook from my mother titled Polish Foods as we Remember created by the Golden Age Club from Assumption Church in Oil City, Pennsylvania in 1977.  I used this cookbook to create my whole Easter feast, as well as making this Coconut Custard Pie for a new mom at my church.  It was super easy, was in the oven with about 5 minutes prep time, and was ready to go to the new mom in an hour.  You'll love the ease of it, plus the subtle sweetness and the crunch of the coconut.

Coconut Custard Pie from the Blender adapted by Joie de vivre from Polish Foods as we Remember

Ingredients:

4 eggs

1/2 c. all purpose flour

3/4 c. sugar

1/4 c. melted butter

2 c. whole milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 c. sweetened shredded coconut

Directions:

1.  Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.

2.  Place all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth.

3.  Pour ingredients into a greased and floured 10 inch pie pan.  

4.  Bake for 45 minutes until set on the sides and slightly jiggly in the very center, it should also be lightly browned.

5.  Rest on the counter for 20 minutes.  Serve immediately while warm or refrigerate and serve cold.  Leftovers should be refrigerated.

Green-Tomato Mincemeat, The Recipe!

After my previous post, a few of you asked what mincemeat was, and a couple of you asked for the recipe.  I was answering these questions one by one, but it may be easier to just post the recipe.  Thank you all for reading my blog and for asking those questions!  

Mincemeat originally was a combination of meat, fruit, and spices (hence the name) but has morphed into a sweeter creation minus the meat.  Some recipes still contain meat or suet, but most don't anymore.  It often has apples, raisins, currents and sometimes nuts, combined with spices.  The resulting mixture is sweet and gooey with lots of spice and texture.  My recipe is modified from my favorite canning cookbook Blue Ribbon Preserves by Linda J. Amendt.  This cookbook is on my counter continuously from June through September as it is just jam packed with great (and safe) recipes for canning produce.

Green-Tomato Mincemeat adapted from Blue Ribbon Preserves by Linda J. Amendt

Makes about 5 quart jars

Ingredients:

8 cups chopped green tomatoes

1 Tbls. salt

4 cups boiling water

10 cups tart green apples, chopped

4 cups light brown sugar, firmly packed

2 cups raisins

2 cups currants

1/2 cup distilled white vinegar

3 Tbls. orange zest, finely chopped

1 Tbls. lemon zest, finely chopped

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. ground allspice

2 Tbls. unsalted butter

1.  Place tomatoes in a bowl and sprinkle with the salt.  Let stand for 1 hour to draw excess moisture out of them.  Rinse and drain well.  Pour boiling water over tomatoes and let stand for 5 minutes.  Drain well.

2.  In an 8-10 quart pan, combine the drained tomatoes and all of the remaining ingredients in the order listed except for the butter, stirring gently after each addition.

3.  Over medium heat, bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly.  Reduce the heat and simmer until the apples are tender when pierced.  Stir frequently to prevent sticking.  Stir in the butter.  Remove the pan from the heat.

4.  Ladle the mincemeat into hot and sterilized jars.  Remove as many air bubbles as possible.  Leave 1/2 inch head space.  Wipe the jar rims and threads with a clean, damp cloth.  Cover with hot and sterilized lids and apply screw rings.  Process quart jars in a 200F water bath for 30 minutes.

Mincemeat Pie

Last night, we had dinner over at my in-laws so I got a night off from cooking!  My mother in law went all out with a lamb roast, mashed potatoes and lamb gravy, and homemade muffins.  I supplied the dessert.  Last summer, when apples were in season and the last of the tomatoes were hanging green on the vine, I canned some green tomato mincemeat for use in future pies.  It came in handy last night.  After church, I bought a refrigerated pie crust (I know, the shame right?), laid out the bottom crust in the pie pan, scalloped the edges and pricked it all over.  Then, I added the jar of green tomato mincemeat.  For the top crust, I found a smallish cookie cutter (I could only find my little man cookie cutter), cut the top crust into the shapes and laid them over the filling.  To get the shapes to stick together, I gently wet the bottom of the pieces before laying them on top of the other pieces.  This was super easy to do, only took a little extra time, and really upped the wow factor of the pie.

Osgood Pie

I love the library.  If it weren't for the library, I think I'd have to get a second job to pay for my cookbook addiction.  I love how all of the books are together by subject too.  I've recently been boning up on Christmas cookies and low and behold, right next to the book I'm looking for are other wonderful books on Christmas cookies.  It was while I was searching for Christmas cookie books, that my eye fell upon Pie by Ken Haedrich.  Being a cookbook addict, I naturally picked it up.  At 639 pages, this is one enormous book devoted to all things pie.  Flipping through, I was filled with giddy wonder as I found delicious sounding recipes for pies I had never imagined or heard of.  Every few pages there was a new recipe for a pie I am going to have to try.  From his notes, it sounds as if the author has personally tried all 300 of the pie recipes this book contains.  Not wanting to regain the 34 lbs. I have lost, I know I have to reign in my desire to make all of these at once, but the author did have the fabulous idea of sharing your pies with neighbors.  This makes for good neighborly friendships, and keeps you from devouring the whole pie alone.  This idea kept in line with "French" living and enjoying small amounts of desserts so as not to feel deprived.  After an enthusiastic reassurance from a neighbor yesterday that she would OF COURSE eat pie, I started out to make something called an Osgood Pie.  The author wasn't sure of the origin of the name, but after tasting the pie, I thought it might be named after some hard working midwestern farmer, who after tucking into this pie, responded with a full mouth, "Os good".  Translation for those of us who aren't dentists:  "That's good".

The pie was creamy and very sweet, studded with pecan and raisins in a custardy middle.  My favorite part was a crunchy meringue topping which floated to the surface during baking.  It was yummy, yummy and well worth consideration for gracing your Thanksgiving table.

Osgood Pie adapted from Pies by Ken Haedrich

Ingredients:

1 recipe worth of single pie crust (I used refrigerated pie crust)

1 cup dark raisins

4 large eggs, separated

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

3 tablespoons cider vinegar

3/4 cup chopped pecans

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1.  Place pastry in a 9 inch pie pan.  Sculpt the edge into an upstanding ridge.  Line with foil, place beans or pie weights into the foil and partially bake your pie crust in a pre-heated 400 degree oven for 12 minutes.  Remove the foil and the beans and set the crust aside to cool.

2.  Put the raisins in a small bowl and cover with hot water.  Set aside for about 10 minutes.

3.  Combine the egg yolks, sugar, butter, and vinegar in a large bowl.  Using an electric mixer, beat on medium-high speed for a bout 2 minutes.  Drain the raisins and stir them into the egg mixture along with the pecans, vanilla, and spices.

4.  In a medium-size bowl using clean, dry beaters, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.  Add to the filling, folding them in gently but thoroughly with a large rubber spatula.  Slowly pour the filling into the cooled pie shell.  Using a fork, gently rake through the filling to distribute the raisins and nuts more or less evenly in the shell.

5.  Place the pie on the center oven rack and bake for 10 minutes.  Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake until the filling is set, about 35 minutes.  Rotate the pie 180 degrees , so that the part that faced the back of the oven now faces forward, about 15 minutes before it is done.  Give the pie a little nudge and watch the surface carefully.  The filling should not move in waves, not even slight waves.  If in doubt, bake 5 minutes more.

6.  Transfer the pie to a wire rack and let cool thoroughly.  Serve at room temperature or cover with loosely tented aluminum foil and refrigerate it before serving.

Strawberries

Ah, it has finally happened.  After a winter that felt way too long, and a spring where winter coats were kept on retainer, strawberries finally appeared Saturday at our local farmer's market.  Those beautiful red, fragrant and delicious signs that summer is almost here.  I could smell them before I could see them.  Delicious.  I was so excited, and weary of more greens, I spent my entire budget on three flats of strawberries and immediately came home to excited yelps from my two year old who started digging in.  Finally, a strawberry worth eating!  As I was lamenting to someone a few days before about how long it was taking for the strawberries to get ripe this year, they commented that they have been buying good strawberries at our local big box store.  You can get passable strawberries at those stores, and if you have no other option, I say go for it.  But if you can wait for those locally grown strawberries, picked just that morning, those strawberries that are so fragile, fragrant and wonderful that their mere existence is temporal and limited to that day, then wait for them.  I spent the rest of the afternoon happily canning most of the strawberries into strawberry pineapple jam, strawberry jam, and strawberry topping, imagining myself remembering this happiness of summer as I spread the jam on toast in the dead of next winter.  Be sure to save some of these beauties for the next few recipes though.  Strawberries are only at their best a few weeks of the year, enjoy them while you can in all their glory.

Strawberry and Tomato Salad by Joie de Vivre

Time:  10 minutes tops if you're a very slow chopper

Ingredients:

Strawberries

Cherry Tomatoes

White Balsamic Vinegar

Directions: 

Take the tops off of the strawberries and slice into quarters or halves.  Halve the cherry tomatoes.  Mix all in a bowl and sprinkle on the white balsamic vinegar.  Slurp up and enjoy!

Fresh Strawberry Sorbet adapted from Cuisinart Ice cream maker instruction manual

Preparation:  1 1/2 hours (active:  about 15-20 minutes; 25 - 30 minutes chilling time; optional 2 hours to "ripen" in the freezer)

Makes about 10 1/2 cup servings

Ingredients:  

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

1/4 cup corn syrup

1 quart fresh strawberries, stems removed

4 tablespoons lemon juice

Bring the sugar and water to a boil in a medium saucepan.  Reduce the heat and simmer without stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved.  Transfer to a bowl and let cool completely.

Combine the strawberries and lemon juice in a food processor fitted with the metal blade.  Pulse to shop the strawberries, then process until the strawberries are completely pureed.  Combine the strawberry puree with the cooled sugar syrup and corn syrup.  Chill for 1 hour in the refrigerator.

Turn your ice cream machine on, pour strawberry puree mixture into freezer bowl and mix until thickened, about 25 - 30 minutes.  The sorbet will have a "soft serve" texture.  If desired, transfer the strawberry sorbet to an airtight container and place in freezer until firm, about 2 hours.

Nutritional analysis per serving:

Calories: 96, Fat 0g.

My Easy Strawberry Pie by Joie de vivre

Time 30 minutes

Ingredients:

Pie crust (either homemade or refrigerated)

A quart of strawberries or more depending on how thick you want your pie to be.

1/2 cup "red" jam (I use my homemade cherry marmalade)

Put your crust in a pie pan, prick with a fork all over and bake according to directions.  Heat 1/2 cup jam over medium heat until melted.  Fill pie shell with whole, halved or quartered strawberries and pour jam over the top.  Chill until cold.  Cut into wedges and serve!