Peppery Cornmeal Pie Crust #recipe from Molly MacRae

 

The Hoosier Mama Book of Pie, by Paula Haney and Allison Scott, taught me the magic of making pie crust in a food processor. I still make pie crust in my old mixing  bowl with a pastry blender too, because my hands have 60 years of pie-crust-making memories in them, but it’s amazing how quickly a good crust comes together at the push of a button.

This cornmeal crust is ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC. I used it for one of our old favorites, spinach quiche, and may never go back to a standard crust for quiche again. Sometime this summer I’m going to experiment with leaving out the pepper and paprika and see how a double cornmeal crust works for fruit pies. My guess is that any fruit pie in a cornmeal crust will be ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC. If I don’t fall into a pie stupor I’ll let you know if that guess is right.

 

Peppery Cornmeal Pie Crust

(adapted from The Hoosier Mama Book of Pie by Paula Haney and Allison Scott)

 

Ingredients for a single crust (double the recipe for two crusts)

1 stick very cold unsalted butter

1 1/2 teaspoons red wine vinegar

3 1/2 tablespoons cold water

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup yellow cornmeal

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon white pepper

1/4 teaspoon sweet paprika

 

Directions

Cut butter into 1/2-inch cubes.

Stir red wine vinegar into the cold water and set aside.

Combine flour, cornmeal, salt, paprika, and white pepper in the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times to combine.

Add butter and pulse until ingredients start to look sandy, 8 to 10 times or more.

Add vinegar water and pulse 4 or 5 times more until ingredients start to come together (don’t allow dough to come completely together in food processor).

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, gently knead together, and form a ball. Wrap ball in plastic wrap and let rest in refrigerator until ready to use but for at least 20 minutes.

Roll dough, fit into pie plate, and fill with the savory filling of your choice.

 

Coming Soon - Come Shell or High Water!

Book 1 in the Haunted Shell Shop Mysteries 

 

When widowed folklorist Maureen Nash visits a legendary North Carolina barrier island shell shop, she discovers its resident ghost pirate and the mystery of a local’s untimely death . . .

If you'd rather visit Scotland, try my Highland Bookshop Mysteries. 

In the mood for yarn and cool, green mountains of Tennessee? Try my Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries.

There are short stories and stand-alone mysteries, too.

And super-gentle cozy mysteries written under my pen name, Margaret Welch.

 

The Boston Globe says Molly MacRae writes “murder with a dose of drollery.” She’s the author of the award-winning, national bestselling Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries and the Highland Bookshop Mysteries. As Margaret Welch, she writes books for Annie’s Fiction and Guideposts. Her short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and she’s a winner of the Sherwood Anderson Award for Short Fiction.

Visit Molly on Facebook and Pinterest and connect with her on Twitter  or Instagram.

 

Open-Faced Apple Sheet Pan Pie

AKA, The Last of the Northern Spies

Since I’m still cleaning and sorting, I’m kind of letting serendipity choose my recipes, as I did last week. This time a yellowed newspaper clipping magically rose from the mess. I’d cut off the margins, so I have no idea where it came from, although I’d guess it was the Boston Globe. The deciding factor was that one of the apples mentioned in the recipe was Northern Spy, and I still have a supply of those from last year. So, since spring is nowhere in evidence here, I’ll call this the Last of the Northern Spy Apples.

This has only the one crust on the bottom (saves rolling!), and no topping, so feel free to add whipped cream or ice cream.


Open-Faced Apple Sheet Pan Pie

Ingredients:

Crust:

2 cups flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3 Tblsp sugar
1/2 stick unsalted butter, cut up
1 small (3-oz.) package cream cheese, cut up
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp white vinegar
4 Tblsp ice water

Find yourself a quarter sheet pan (9x13 inches—ideally it would have a low rim, but a regular baking pan works, as long as the size is right). Line the bottom with parchment paper. 

In a food processor, combine the dry ingredients and pulse to blend them. Add the butter and cream cheese and continue pulsing until the mixture forms crumbs.

In a bowl, stir together the egg, vinegar and water. Open the food processor and sprinkle the liquid all over the dry ingredients. Put the lid back on and pulse briefly, only until the mixture forms large damp clumps. Add more ice water if needed, a Tblsp at a time. (This will not form a ball, but don’t worry.)

Turn the clumpy mixture out on a floured board or countertop. Kind of chop the clumps together with a large knife or scraper until they form a dough. Wrap it in foil, then form into a flat rectangle and refrigerate for an hour.

Roll out the pastry on a floured board and make a 10” x 14” rectangle. Turn it regularly to keep the rectangular shape. [Note: you know how hard it is to make tidy corners with pie crust? Just do your best. I will say the crust is pretty elastic and didn’t fall apart with handling.]

Well, it's not quite a rectangle

Ease the crust into the pan and press it into the edges and up the sides of the pan. Fold the excess dough over the edges. Press against the sides of the pan with a fork. Refrigerate or freeze the pan.

Apple Filling

9 large baking apples (Northern Spy, in this case)
3 Tblsp butter, cut up
1/4 cup sugar
pinch of salt
4 Tblsp flour
Cinnamon sugar: 3 Tblsp sugar and 1-1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Peel, core and thinly slice 3 of the apples. In a large nonstick skillet over medium-low heat, melt 2 Tblsp of the butter. When melted, add the sliced apples and sprinkle with the 1/4-cup of sugar and the salt.

Cook, stirring gently with a heatproof rubber spatula, until the sugar melts. Lower the heat and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Spread the apples on a plate or shallow bowl to cool.

Gradually fold 3 Tblsp of the flour into the mixture. Spread the apple mixture over the pastry to make a single layer. Sprinkle with the remainder of the flour.

Peel, core and thickly slice the remaining apples. In a bowl, toss the apples with all but 1 Tblsp of the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Arrange the apples (rounded side up) on top of the layer of sauteed apples. Dot with the remaining butter and sprinkle with the rest of the cinnamon sugar.

Bake on the bottom rack of the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, or until the apples are tender and the pastry is golden at the edges.

Baked

Set on a wire rack to cool slightly.  Serve warm, cut into squares.

Now I'll have to start thinking about getting my apple trees ready for a new season!

Books: There should be a new Relatively Dead e-book in the next few weeks--we're still wrestling with the title and cover, although the book is written. 

Then Murder at the Mansion will kick off the new Victorian Village series in June. 

Katherine Hamilton’s goal in high school was to escape from her dead-end hometown of Asheford, Maryland. Fifteen years later she’s got a degree in hospitality management and a great job at a high-end boutique hotel in Baltimore. Until, that is, the hotel is acquired by a chain, and she’s laid off. When Kate’s high school best friend calls with a mysterious invitation to come talk with the town leaders of Asheford, she agrees to make the trip, curious about where this new opportunity might lead.

Once Kate arrives, the town council members reveal that their town is on the verge of going bankrupt, and they’ve decided that Kate’s skills and knowledge make her the perfect person to cure all their ills. The town has used its last available funds to buy the huge Victorian mansion just outside of town, hoping to use it to attract some of the tourists who travel to visit the nearby Civil War battle sites. Kate has less-than-fond memories of the mansion, for personal reasons, but to make matters worse, the only person who has presented a possible alternate plan is Cordelia Walker―Kate’s high school nemesis.

But a few days later, while touring the mansion, Kate stumbles over Cordelia's body. Kate finds herself juggling the murder investigation and her growing fascination with the old house, which itself is full of long-hidden mysteries. 

You can pre-order it at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

And! Looks like there will be a new Orchard Mystery in the fall! Watch for more details.

Lemon Meringue Pie

Lemon Meringue Pie

Congratulations to Lucy Burdette on today’s release of KILLER TAKEOUT, the 7th Key West Food Critic Mystery!

LESLIE BUDEWITZ: In the olden days, children, high school freshman girls were required to take Home Economics. (Boys were required to take a business class; our school had no wood shop.) We used the old soda fountain room for cooking classes. When lemon meringue pie day rolled around, I was the only girl in the class who showed up with all the ingredients for a pie crust and fresh lemons. I kid you not—every other girl brought in a pre-made pie crust or a stick of pie crust dough, and lemon pudding. Sister Diane was not amused—by me. Apparently I had violated instructions, or who knows what. To get a grade for that day’s lesson, I was required to make a pudding pie at home and bring it in for her to taste. I think she just wanted to eat more pie.

Ah, the scars. I can’t say that’s why I hadn’t made a lemon meringue pie again in more than 40 years, but when I stayed an extra day in Phoenix after Left Coast Crime to visit a friend, with a lemon tree in her yard, I was inspired. I stuffed lemons into every spare space in my suitcase!

Both crust and filling  recipes come from Williams Sonoma, with just a few minor changes. If you’re one of those cooks who shies away from pie because the crusts roll out looking like Idaho—a beautiful state, but not a good look in pie—don’t fear! This crust rolls out easily, with no breaking or crumbling. I roll crusts between two pieces of waxed paper—a trick I learned from my mother, not Sister Diane—which makes transferring the crust to the pie plate super easy. And for pie weights, use dried beans, then tuck them away for next time. Because I promise, you won’t want to wait 40 years to make this again.

Basic pie dough for a single crust pie:

1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
3 tablespoons cold water (more, if you live in a dry climate)

To make the dough by hand, in a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar and salt. Using a pastry cutter or 2 knives, cut the butter into the flour mixture until the texture resembles coarse cornmeal, with butter pieces no larger than small peas. Add the water and mix with a fork just until the dough pulls together.

To make the dough in a food processor, place the flour, sugar and salt in the large bowl. Add the butter and pulse to blend, then mix on low speed until the texture resembles coarse cornmeal, with the butter pieces no larger than small peas. Add the water and mix just until the dough pulls together, or “gathers.”

Place dough on a sheet of waxed paper or a lightly floured cutting board, shape into a ball, and flatten into a disk. I like to flatten it with my hands or the rolling pin, then top with another piece of waxed paper and begin rolling, from the center. Turn the paper or cutting board so you can roll it out evenly, to about 12 inches in diameter and 1/8 inch thick.

Makes enough dough for one 9-inch single-crust pie.

Lemon Meringue Pie Filling

8 large eggs
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 cup fresh Meyer lemon juice (about 4 lemons)
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
4 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons
Finely grated zest of 3-4 Meyer lemons

Place the dough in a 9-inch pie plate, fitting it into the bottom and sides. Trim the dough, leaving a 3/4-inch overhang. Fold the overhang under, then flute the edge. Using a fork, pierce the dough all over, then line with aluminum foil and freeze for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375̊F. Place dough-lined plate on a baking sheet and fill the foil with pie weights. Bake until the dough looks dry and is barely golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove the foil and weights. Continue baking until the crust is golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes more. Transfer to a rack and cool while you make the filling.

Raise the oven temperature to 400̊F.

In a small bowl, beat 3 eggs until blended. Separate the remaining 5 eggs, adding the yolks to the beaten whole eggs and putting the whites in the bowl of your mixer. Cover the whites and set aside at room temperature. Beat the yolks into the beaten eggs.

In a medium bowl, whisk together 1 1/2 cups of the sugar and the cornstarch, then whisk in the beaten eggs, lemon juice, and salt. Pour mixture into to a heavy saucepan, place over medium heat, and bring to a full boil, whisking continuously. Reduce heat to low and let bubble for 30 seconds. Be careful not to undercook or overcook the filling or it will separate as it cools. Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter. If you spot any bits of cooked egg white or lemon seeds, pluck them out with a fork. Stir in the lemon zest, then pour into the baked crust.

With a mixer, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. One tablespoon at a time, beat in the remaining 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, beating until the egg whites become a meringue with stiff, shiny peaks. Using a rubber spatula, spread the meringue evenly over the hot filling, making sure the meringue touches the crust on all sides (to prevent the meringue from shrinking). Swirl the meringue with the spatula to form peaks. Bake until the meringue is browned, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a rack and cool completely before serving, at least 2 hours.

Makes eight servings. In theory, anyway.

From the cover of GUILTY AS CINNAMON: 

Murder heats up Seattle’s Pike Place Market in the next Spice Shop mystery from the national bestselling author of Assault and Pepper.

Pepper Reece knows that fiery flavors are the spice of life. But when a customer dies of a chili overdose, she finds herself in hot pursuit of a murderer…

Leslie Budewitz is the author of the Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries and the Spice Shop Mysteries—and the first author to win Agatha Awards for both fiction and nonfiction. The president of Sisters in Crime, she lives in northwest Montana with her husband, a musician and doctor of natural medicine, and their cat Ruff, a cover model and avid bird-watcher.

Swing by my website  and join the mailing list for my seasonal newsletter. And join me on Facebook, where I often share news of new books and giveaways from my cozy writer friends.

Strawberry Tart

by Sheila Connolly

The last of the local strawberries… I hadn’t been to a farmers market this spring, so I kind of over-indulged when I was in Northampton, buying two overflowing quarts of beautiful ripe berries.

There are only two of us at home these days, and that was a lot of strawberries. First round: the old stand-by, strawberry shortcake, with home-made shortcakes and plenty of whipped cream. Didn’t use up even half of the berries.

Also in Northampton, I visited one of my favorite used bookstores, The Raven, where I bought (1) a four-volume edition of the History of Middlesex County, published in 1927 (maybe only a Massachusetts genealogist can get excited about that); (2) Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (which somehow I’d never read); and (3) two cookbooks. I can’t stop myself.

One of these cookbooks was Seasonal Fruit Desserts, by Deborah Madison, which had lots of nice recipes (I’m always on the lookout for new apple recipes). But what struck me was that there were not one but two new pie-crust recipes! I may have mentioned (often) that I am pie-crust challenged—these two may be numbers 14 and 15. But hope springs eternal!

So there I was with a pile of strawberries and a new pie crust recipe—but I couldn’t find a single recipe I liked. So I snooped around and combined several, and this is the result.

Strawberry Pie

The crust:

8 Tblsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, 

     at room temperature

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 tsp salt

3 eggs, at room temperature

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

grated zest of one orange (optional)

1 cup all-purpose flour

Butter a 9" round or square tart pan.

Beat the butter with the sugar and salt with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat again until smooth.

Add the flavorings, then the flour, and mix just to combine. 

Scrape the batter into the tart pan (be sure to gather up all the bits of flour from the bottom of the bowl).  With an offset spatula, spread out the batter, pushing it up against the sides to make a rim.

If the batter is too soft to handle, refrigerate it for 10 minutes.

When making your tart, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line the tart pan with the dough and set it on a cookie sheet. Bake for about 30 minutes, until it just begins to brown.

Remove from the oven and let cool (it will shrink down a bit).

Lemon Curd:

Wait, what’s that doing here? Call it mortar, so you have something to set your strawberries in, to bind them to the crust. (You could also use a simple pastry custard without the lemon.)

2 large eggs

1/2 cup sugar

3 Tblsp fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

1-1/2 tsp grated lemon peel

Grate the peel from the lemon. Squeeze the lemon to extract the juice. (One large lemon will provide both enough juice and peel for this recipe.)

Whisk the eggs, sugar and lemon juice in a small heavy saucepan. Add the butter and the lemon peel. Place over medium heat and stir until the butter melts. Keep stirring until the curd thickens to the consistency of pudding, which should take about 5 minutes.

Place in a small bowl, then press plastic wrap on the surface (to prevent a skin from forming). Chill at least 2 hours.

Putting it all together:

Remove the rim from the tart crust and place the crust on a serving plate.

Spread a thin layer of the lemon curd to cover the bottom.

Arrange the strawberries on top of the curd.You can use whole strawberries, or slice them as I did (tastes good either way!). 

Melt some jelly (seedless—take your pick from any red jelly you like) and brush over the top of the berries.

Chill to set—then eat quickly! This tart gets soggy overnight.

P.S. The other pie-crust recipe from the Seasonal Fruit Desserts cookbook? A more typical rolled crust, but made with maple or brown sugar and a bit of whole-wheat pastry flour. Now, what kind of filling should I try?

Privy to the Dead, still in its first month. I promise there's nothing disgusting in the privy!

At Amazon and Barnes & Noble

Have a wonderful (and safe) Fourth of July!