CLASSIC CHERRY PIE

If you follow my blog regularly, you know that I enjoy combining recipes to get an end result that suits us. That's what I did with this cherry pie recipe.

The first cherry pie recipe I tried tasted OK, but there was a watery liquid in the bottom of the pie that seperated from the filling...not a good thing.

Next, I tried a recipe that used flour as a thickener, but it left a cloudy filling ... not what I wanted.

Next I tried tapioca to thicken the filling and it eliminated the cloudy fruit filling problem, but it was hard to guage just how much tapioca was enough and how much was too much; it also produced inconsistent results...not good.

So, as usual, I took a little bit of this recipe and added it to that recipe and then threw in a couple of my own ideas and came up with todays recipe. I served it on Father's Day and picky-picky husband actually said  "This is THE best cherry pie I've ever eaten!!"  After I picked myself up off of the floor (not literally, lol) , I knew I had a winner!!!

 

 

The filling is sweet and the crust is unbelievably flaky and delicious.  Some people freak out with a pie crust that uses shortening, however, not only does shortening produce a flakier crust, but it has HALF of the saturated fat of butter!! NOTE: I always us butter flavored Crisco in my crusts.

CHERRY PIE FILLING

(2) 14 ounce cans unsweetened tart pie cherries
1 1/2  cups granulated sugar     DIVIDED
4 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons corn starch
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon almond extract  (do not leave out)
2 teaspoons butter, room temperature

Drain the cherries but SAVE THE LIQUID.  Put one cup of the liquid into a heavy saucepan with the corn starch, salt and HALF OF THE SUGAR, mix well.

Bring this mixture to a boil, while stirring, and cook until it gets VERY THICK (only takes a minute or so once it starts to boil (keep stirring fast).

Remove from heat and stir in the butter, almond extract and the OTHER HALF of the sugar, mix well.  Gently fold in the drained cherries.  Let cool while you make the pie crust.

 

This is the all time best pie crust I have EVER made and I've made tons of them.  This dough handles beautifully (no need to chill the dough) and makes either 3 single crusts or a large 2 crust pie with some left over. Everyone I've served this crust to is wild about it.

PIE CRUST

4 cups all purpose flour
1 3/4  cups butter flavored Crisco shortening
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup ice cold water

Cut the shortening into the flour with a pastry cutter (or a couple of forks) until the shortening is about half the size of a green pea.

Mix the sugar, salt, egg, vanilla and ice water together, until well mixed, then add it all to the flour-shortening mixture. Work it with your hands until everything comes together in a big ball. Try to do this fairly quickly so that the heat of your hands doesn't melt the shortening. No need to chill this dough.

Roll out a bottom crust, on a floured counter,  to fit a 9" pie pan.  Put the cherry filling into the bottom crust and then brush the edges of the crust with a little egg white that has a few drops of water whisked into it (this will help "glue" the bottom crust to the top crust).

Roll out a top crust, on a floured counter, and lay it over the filled bottom crust.  Cut off the extra dough that hangs over the rim of the pie plate (see note). Pinch the top and bottom crust edges together (or use a fork). 

After you have pinched the two crusts together, brush the top pie crust with more of the egg white wash (the same that you used to "glue" the edges ) and then sprinkle the whole surface, lightly, with granulated sugar.

Cut several small vent holes in the top crust.  Bake in 375 preheated oven for 35 to 45 minutes or until the crust is golden brown (I usually leave it in for 45 minutes). COOL PIE COMPLETELY BEFORE CUTTING.

 

NOTE: When you are trimming the excess unbaked crust from around the rim of the pie pan, leave it just a little long so that you can tuck under the edge before you pinch the pie edge into a design.

NOTE: I bake all of my pies on a cookie sheet just in case they spill over.

MINI CHICKEN POT PIES

Picky-picky husband loves chicken pot pies, but they definitely  have not been on my "quick fix" list until now. This "recipe" is almost a cheater recipe, because you can skip the filling recipe below and just use your favorite leftover chicken (or turkey) and gravy to make
these. 

They were so tasty that picky-picky husband went back for seconds!! With this quick and easy technique, I can see we will be having mini chicken pot pies a lot more often.



2 potatoes  cubed fairly small
1 cup favorite veggies(I use a frozen pea-corn-green bean mix)
1/2 stalk celery chopped fine
1 tablespoon onion chopped fine
1 carrot sliced thin
1 COOKED chicken breast (or leftover turkey) small cubed
1 tube of refrigerator rolls (see note about brand)
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
2 1/2 cups chicken broth (see note)
2 teaspoons chicken bullion
pepper to taste

In a large sauce pan, saute the onion and celery in a little butter until soft. Add the chicken broth, potatoes, veggies, bullion and pepper (DO NOT ADD THE CHICKEN or TURKEY MEAT AT THIS STAGE). Boil about 5-8 minutes or until potatoes and carrots are fork tender.

Drain but SAVE THE BROTH!! In a medium size sauce pan, melt 3 tablespoons of butter then add 3 tablespoons flour and stir, (cook for about a minute to cook out the raw flour taste).  Add the saved chicken broth (whisk like crazy when you add the broth). Cook until the mixture thickens, then put the cooked veggies back in. Remove from heat and set aside. Note: If the "gravy' seems a little thick, just add a couple tablespoons more chicken broth.

Spray a large (Texas size) muffin pan lightly with vegetable spray (even if it is a non-stick pan). Roll out each refrigerator biscuit very thin and place one in each muffin cup.

Then use your fingers to press the thinned out biscuit up the sides and to the top of each cup.

NOTE: If you don't have a Texas size muffin pan, see note below.

NOTE: We call tube refrigerator biscuits "whomp rolls" because of the sound they make when you "whomp" them on the edge of the counter to open them. I've tried several brands and they will ALL work, but the very best one (for these mini pot pies) is a Kroger brand biscuit called JUMBO butter biscuits (our Fred Meyer sells them).

Place pieces of cooked chicken in the bottom of each little pot pie and then spoon the veggies and gravy over it (almost to the top).

Place the muffin pan on a cookie tray (in case you've filled them too much) and bake in preheated 375 oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.

Remove from oven and let sit for 3 or 4 minutes BEFORE taking them out of the pan; this will really help.

Don't worry, they stay hot forever!! Use a butter knife to assist you in lifting these out of the pan.

NOTE:  If you don't use chicken bullion, you'll have to add a little salt to the sauce.

NOTE: On occasion, I buy Pillsbury Grands refrigerator biscuits, but they don't work well for this recipe (too bready). The Kroger brand of Jumbo Butter Biscuits roll out nice and thin and they bake into a thin crusty-buttery shell.

NOTE: I don't think this recipe will work very well in a standard cupcake pan unless you chop everything VERY small and use only half of a refrigerator biscuit (but I've never tried it).

ENJOY !!!

EASY BUTTERSCOTCH ICE CREAM TOPPING

It is finally grilling season in Alaska and that means food, friends and family. Our crowd loves ice cream and I've been playing around with a variety of ice cream toppings. This quick and easy one is a big favorite right now, but I'm working on a pineapple topping as well.

EASY BUTTERSCOTCH ICE CREAM TOPPING
¼ cup butter
1¼ cups light brown sugar (packed)
16 large marshmallows
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
dash of salt
1 cup of evaporated (canned) milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon rum extract

Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat. Stir in the sugar, marshmallows, corn syrup and salt.

Stirring constantly, keep your heat very low until everything is melted and smooth then raise the heat to a medium low setting. Bring to a gentle boil (keep stirring) and boil for 1 minute.

Remove from heat and cool for five minutes. Stir in evaporated milk and extracts, mix until everything is very smooth.

Store in fridge (keeps for a couple weeks if it lasts that long). Tastes great cold or warm.

BISQUICK CLONE RECIPE

I found a recipe, recently, that I really wanted to try, however, it called for 1 cup of commercial Bisquick, an item I don't usually stock in my pantry.  I wasn't too keen on buying a whole box of Bisquick (when I only needed a cup of it) so I went Internet surfing for a Bisquick clone recipe.

I found several but they all called for shortening (not exactly what I was looking for). Then I found the following recipe, which uses Canola oil (on http://www.food.com/ )  I used it to make biscuits for dinner tonight and we were VERY pleased with the light, flaky results. They were very similar to commercial Bisquick biscuits (picky-picky husband said the were much better than Bisquick) and you can NOT beat the convenience!! I intend to keep a canister of this mix in my pantry from now on.

This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled and I love that the ingredients are always on hand.

BISQUICK CLONE MIX

4½ cups all purpose flour
4 tablespoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons Canola oil

Whisk everything together (I used my stand mixer with the whisk attachment) but a hand whisk would work just as well, it will look like this.

Store this mixture in a container with a tight fitting lid (at room temperature) for up to 6 weeks. Use it exactly like you would for ANY recipe that calls for Bisquick (biscuits, muffins, pancakes, pot pie crusts, etc.). It not only saves a lot of money, but it tastes great too!!

BISCUITS (makes 6)

2¼ cups Bisquick Clone Mix
2/3 cup milk

Mix with a spoon until it comes together, then turn out onto your counter that has been dusted with a little more of the dry mix (don't use flour). Knead lightly 10 times, then pat to 1/2" thick. Cut with 2½" biscuit cutter. Place on greased cookie sheet (I use parchment) and brush with melted butter. The melted butter is optional, but we like them that way.

Bake at 450 for 10-12 minutes (my electric oven took 12 minutes).

I found a neat Bisquick recipe site that has lots of interesting recipes: CLICK HERE