A recipe for cranberry pie from the Alaska Railroad.
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 tablespoons flour
3/4 cup water
2/3 cup seeded raisins
2 cups cranberries
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 two-crust dessert pie pastry
How to do it:
In a saucepan, combine the sugar and flour. Add water, raisins and cranberries, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Stir in the vanilla.
Pour the mixture into an unbaked 9 inch pie crust shell with a rim and cover with a lattice top. Bake for 40-50 minutes in a 350 degree oven until crust is brown. Cool before serving.
Ingredients:
1 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Shortening
2 Eggs
2 Cups All-purpose Flour
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 Cup Chopped Fresh Figs
1/2 Cup Chopped Walnuts
How to do it:
1. Preheat over to 350 degrees
2. Cream sugar and shortening and add beaten eggs and vanilla extract
3. Sift dry ingredients and blend with creamed mixture.
4. Fold in chopped figs and walnuts.
5. Drop tablespoons of batter on greased cookie sheet.
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes.
Note: The dough will appear quite dry and crumbly until you add the figs. This is normal.
A classic recipe for Riz au Lait.
Ingredients:
1 cup of rice
3/4 cup of sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons of grated nutmeg
4 eggs
2 cups of milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of grated lemon rind
How to do it:
Boil the rice until very soft and drain. Combine the rice and milk and bring it to a boil. Add the lemon zest.
Beat the eggs and sugar well together till very light and add to the boiling rice and milk. Cook for one minute longer.
Remove from heat and add the vanilla and half the nutmeg. Place all in a dish to cool. Sprinkle the top with the remaining nutmeg and serve cold.
If you wish to have a baked custard, place the custard in a pan or in cups. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until brown. Serve hot with a cream sauce.
Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups fresh picked-over strawberries, raspberries or other berries
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 cups cognac
2 cups Madeira wine
1 tablespoon ground cloves
1 tablespoon ground allspice
1 tablespoon orange zest
1 tablespoon lemon zest
2 sticks cinnamon
1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger root or 2 teaspoons ground ginger
Seasonal fruits
Sugar
How to do it:
Add the berries to a saucepan and crush them. Add the 1 1/2 cups sugar and bring to a boil. Simmer, stirring until the sugar is dissolved and a syrup forms. Strain and discard the pulp. Add the strained syrup to a clean, sterilized crock with a 16 to 20 cup capacity.
Add the cognac, Madeira and spices. The brandy mixture is now ready for fruits to be added as they appear in season. Fruits might include peaches, pears, grapes, cherries, berries and so on. The fruits should have the stems removed, but leave the pits and skin intact. Each time a quantity of fruits or berries is added, measure them and add an equal quantity of sugar. Stir gently until sugar is dissolved. The fruits should at all times be submerged in the brandying liquid. The crock should be kept lightly covered and stored in a cool dark place for at least six months before using. Some of the fruits will float temporarily, but at they age, they will sink.
Yields 10 to 19 cups, depending on the quantities added.
Ingredients:
1 quart ripe firm black bing cherries
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup Kümmel spirits
How to do it:
Rinse the cherries in cold water and drain. The stems may be left on.
Add the cherries and sugar in a 1 quart jar. Add equal amounts of vinegar and Kümmel. There must be enough liquid to cover the cherries.
Put the lid on the jar and add the screw cap. Turn to seal loosely. Store in a cool dark place for up to six months.
Yields 1 quart.
From the files of Chef Paul Prudhomme comes another recipe for the pounds of figs I have coming out of my ears.
Ingredients:
1 recipe Sweet Dough
1 pint Fig Preserves
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
6 paper thin slices of orange
4 paper thin slices of lemon
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
How to do it:
Line the pie pan with the dough, reserving one third of the dough.
In a medium sized bowl, combine the fig preserves and grated nutmeg. Mash well with a pastry blender to break up any chunks of figs. Add the remaining ingredients and mix with a large spoon.
Pour the prepared fig mixture into the pie shell and spread evenly over the dough. Distribute the lemon and orange slices evenly so each slice of pie will contain some. Push the slices down into the preserves and make sure they’re coated. Use the reserved dough to form a lattice.
Bake at 375º until dark golden brown, approximately 24 minutes. Remove from oven and cool until firm (about 15 minutes.)
The fig trees (all three of them) are ripening their fruit and in my battle with the local birds, I have picked bushels of figs. Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but I have figs coming out of my ears. Anyway, here’s a recipe that uses fresh figs.
Ingredients:
2 lbs. fully ripe figs
2 tablesoons lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, unsifted (or whole wheat flour if you want to be healthy)
1/2 teaspoon each baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cup rolled oats
How to do it:
Wash the figs and cut off the stems and the blossom end. I’m not sure if that’s really what it’s called, but it’s the opposite end from the stem and if you look at a fig, you’ll know what I’m referring to. Coarsely chop the figs and you should end up with three and a half cups. Combine with the sugar and lemon juice in a pan and cook over medium heat. Stir often or it’ll scorch and when it begins to thicken, turn down the heat. Once it’s reduced to two cups, remove from the stove and allow to cool.
Cream the room temperature butter and brown sugar. Mix the flour, salt and baking soda then add the butter mixture, mixing well. Add the oats and you should have a crumbly concoction. Press half the mixture in the bottom of a well greased 9×13 baking pan. Evenly spread the fig mixture across the top of the crust. Top with the remaining oat crust and pat lightly. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until light brown. Cool in the pan on a wire rack and cut whilst still warm. Makes approximately two dozen bars.
Also know as pâte douce pour les tartes, this is a great pie dough.
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg
1/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into tiny pieces
3 tablespoons cold milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
How to do it:
Sift together 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of the flour and the baking powder in a small bowl. Set aside.
In a medium size bowl, mix the egg and sugar and blend with a spoon until very frothy, approximately one minute. Add the butter and stir until butter is separated into very small pieces but not creamed. Add the milk, vanilla, ground nutmeg and cinnamon. Stir for a few seconds. Add the flour mixture and stir just until blended.
Flour a flat surface. Divide the dough into one 2/3 portion and one 1/3 portion. Spoon each portion onto the floured surface. The dough will be very sticky. Flour your hands and roll the larger portion of dough in flour until it no longer sticks to your hands. Place it in the center of an ungreased 9 inch pie pan and line the bottom and sides evenly with the dough. Gently press the dough into place. Flour your hands as needed. When done, shake off any extra flour from the shell.
Fill your pie with filling before making a lattice with the remaining dough. Flour your hands again and separate into 6 equal portions the remaining 1/3 portion of dough you set aside. Stretch three pieces into long flat strips and lay across the pie parallel to each other. Stretch the remaining three pieces in the other direction across the pie. Use a dish towel to remove any extra flour from the strips and pie tin rim.
Bake the pie according to the directions.