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.
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.)
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.