Pomelo-Coconut Tart with Candied Citrus

I love citrus desserts. It all started when I was pregnant. I was watching episodes of Dexter back to back and, in case you don’t watch the show, in Season Three, there’s this whole subplot where Dexter is trying to find “the perfect key lime pie” for a family friend on her death bed. Five months pregnant, bored out of my mind, lonely, and constantly starving, watching those episodes of Dexter was all it took to ignite the most hardcore craving for key lime pie in the history of ever. But it didn’t stop, and the key lime pie craving turned into a an insatiable hunger for all things sweet and citrus. Lemon meringue, orange sticky buns, blood orange sorbet….all were consumed in disgusting quantities….

Anyway, in the midst of my citrus dessert frenzy I started toying around with ideas about how to expand the classic key lime pie recipe to other citrus fruits….and although my daughter is 17 months old, I am just now moving out of the realm of fantasy into actually making it happen. *Sigh* there’s been a lot going on…and I am incredibly lazy.

This recipe calls for pomelos — which are more or less really big, slightly sweet grapefruits — but you could certainly use regular grapefruit (or lemon, lime, blood orange, or any other relatively sour citrus) in place of them. The crust is essentially a coconut shortbread, and the filling a revision of the classic key lime pie. Candied citrus 100% optional.

Ingredients:

Candied Citrus (needs to be done 1-2 days ahead of serving):

– 20-25 very thin (I recommend using a mandolin) slices of citrus, any kind

– 1 1/2 c. sugar

Crust:

– 1/2 c. sweetened coconut flakes

– 3/4 c. flour

– 1/2 c. cold butter

– 1/3 c. powdered sugar

– 1/4 tsp. salt

Filling:

– 2 (14 oz.) cans sweetened condensed milk

– 2 Tbsp. finely grated pomelo zest

– 1 cup freshly squeezed pomelo juice

– 4 large egg yolks

 

 

Directions:

1. Place sliced citrus in a large casserole dish. Cover each piece well with sugar. Toss to coat.

2. Cover and place in refrigerator. Let sit 1-2 days, tossing occasionally.

3. Preheat oven to 350F

4. Spread coconut over a sheet pan and toast, stirring occasionally until golden — about 10 minutes. Let cool.

5. Combine flour, coconut, powdered sugar, and salt in a large bowl

6. Cut in cold butter. Mix until dough just begins to form. (This can most easily be done by pulsing in a food processor, but I did it by hand and got the same result….with a bit more time and effort)

7. Form dough into a ball

8. Press dough into a tart or pie pan

9. Freeze until firm — about 10 minutes

10. Bake at 350F until golden  — about 25 minutes — then set aside and allow to cool completely

11. Whisk together freshly squeezed pomelo juice, zest, and egg yolks

12. Slowly add sweetened condensed milk, whisking all the while

13. Pour filling into pie crust (you will have some left over — I poured it into a tiny dish and baked it separately)

14. Bake at 350F for 15-20 minutes, until just set in the center

15. Let cool 30 minutes

16. Loosely cover and chill in refrigerator 8 hours or longer. Filling will set as it cools and bubbles in filling will disappear

17. Decorate with candied citrus. I also mixed together a little powdered sugar and water and coated the edge of my pie pan so that I could adhere toasted coconut for added decoration.

18. Serve chilled. Excellent with fresh sweet whipped cream…

Best Apple Pie

This apple pie recipe is about as classic, simple, and delicious as it gets. This recipe is super-easy but sure to impress — the perfect pie for Thanksgiving, or just any cozy autumn evening you want something comforting and special.

Ingredients:

– Pie dough (you can use store-bought crust here, but if you do, you must use two)

– 7-8 medium sized apples (about 3.5 pounds) — I used a mix of Honeycrisp, Jonagold, Braeburn, and Granny Smith

– 1/4 c. butter or butter substitute

– 2 Tbsp. flour

– 1/2 c. granulated sugar

– 1/2 c. brown sugar

– 2 tsp. cinnamon

– 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

Directions:

1. Prepare pie dough according to recipe. Put in refrigerator to chill at least 30 minutes

2. Preheat oven to 450F

3. Peel, core, and slice apples

4. Melt butter, then pour over apples and toss to coat

5. Combine flour, sugars, and spices

6. Sprinkle dry mixture over buttered apples and mix well

7. Separate pie dough into two equal parts. Roll out one half of dough to about 1mm thick and fit to pie pan

8. Put apple filling into pie. Don’t worry if it seems like there are a lot of apples — they should mound over the top of the crust/tin and will reduce when baked

9. Roll out second piece of dough

10. Carefully place dough on top of pie to cover. Roll top edges over the overhanging dough from the bottom piece and pinch into place

11. Use a sharp knife to cut several holes into the top crust so that steam can vent

12. Bake in oven at 450F for 15 minutes, then reduce temperature to 325F and bake for an additional 25-30 minutes, until golden brown

13. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly. Can be baked ahead of time and reheated at 200F for 15 minutes before serving

14. Enjoy! We enjoyed ours so much I forgot to take pictures after we cut into it! 🙂

Mushroom Pot Pie with Port Gravy

On Saturday I took my daughter, Harriet, the farmer’s market here in Charleston. I love farmer’s markets, and wish that we had more of them, but navigating your way through the throngs of oblivious people while avoiding being tripped by a dog leash or run over by a double-wide stroller is often enough to sap my motivation to go. Also frustrating are the often outrageous prices for produce that may or may not actually be organic and local….I don’t mean to bash farmer’s markets: I really do love them, and think it’s important to support local farms and food purveyors, but the one in Charleston could certainly stand some improvements….

Regardless of my complaints and the brain-melting heat, Harriet and I actually had a lovely time wandering the market, and found some really amazing things. We bought a basket of locally grown Asian Pears, which were crisp and juicy and mind-blowingly delicious. We also got fresh peaches and gold cherry tomatoes. But our best find was the Mepkin Abbey oyster mushrooms. (Mepkin Abbey is a community of Trappist Catholic monks here in South Carolina, and they grow THE most amazing oyster mushrooms.)

Usually when I get Mepkin mushrooms I just sautee them with some butter or olive oil and salt, but this time I wanted to do something really special with them to showcase their amazing flavor. I love baking so making mushroom pie seemed like the obvious way to go. Pot pies are so easy to make, and so delicious and comforting — they always remind me of being a kid. The port gravy elevates this a bit, so it’s more sophisticated than your typical pot pie. If you don’t have port, you could substitute a dry red or even a white wine, but nothing quite compliments the flavor of mushrooms the way port does, in my opinion. If you are a meat eater, chicken would be an excellent addition to this, but I think that the meatiness of the mushrooms makes this plenty substantial on its own. Similarly, you can use any kind of mushrooms you have available, and could also swap out the peas and spinach for any vegetable you prefer, or simply omit them and make this a straight mushroom pie….

Ingredients:

– 1 Perfect Pie Crust,* or two store-bought crusts

– 1/2 c. butter, or butter substitute such as Earth Balance for a vegan pie

– 1 lb. fresh mushrooms (I used 1/2 oyster and 1/2 cremini)

– 3/4 c. frozen peas

– 2 c. loosely packed fresh spinach

– 1 vidalia or other yellow onion, diced

– 1/4 c. flour

– 1  c. vegetable stock**

– 1/2 c. ruby port

– 1/2 Tbsp. dried thyme, or 1 Tbsp. fresh

– Salt and Pepper to taste

*Reduce sugar in recipe to 1 Tbsp.

** You can buy vegetable stock in any grocery store but I like to make my own — every time I cook with vegetables I save the trimmings in a large plastic bag in the freezer. Before long I have a bag full of asparagus ends, leek bulbs, broccoli stalks, etc. To make stock, simply put all of your veggie bits into a large pot, cover completely in water, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour or until liquid is reduced by half

Directions:

1. Trim, wash, and dry mushrooms

2. In a large saucepan melt 1/4 c. butter (substitute) over medium-low heat

3. Add mushrooms and gently sautee until they are browned and softened

4. Add peas and spinach and cook until spinach is just barely wilted

5. Salt and pepper to taste

6. Transfer vegetables to a heat-proof bowl and set aside

7. Return saucepan to stove, turn heat up to medium and add remaining 1/4 c. butter (substitute)

8. Add diced onion and sautee in butter until translucent

9. Add flour and stir continuously for 2 minutes

10. Slowly add stock while stirring, creating a thick gravy

11. Add port and stir well

12. Add thyme and salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat

13. Add vegetables to gravy and mix well

14. Preheat oven to 425F

15. Fit 1/2 of your pie crust (or 1 whole crust if using store-bought) into the bottom of a 9” pie pan or similarly sized casserole dish, making sure that some of the crust overhangs the edges of the dish

16. Fill bottom crust with vegetable-gravy mixture

17. Carefully place second half of pie crust over the top, pinching the edges of the dough to seal together

18. Use a knife to cut the top so that heat can escape (and your pie doesn’t explode in the oven!)

19. Bake at 425F for 20-25 minutes, or until crust is golden brown

20. Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before serving

This is a hearty entree, but could certainly be made to be served as a side dish. I think it is perfect on its own, served with a little salad (and a glass of wine!). I made a little salad with the gold cherry tomatoes I got at the farmer’s market, with avocado, red onion, and some tangy feta….

Delicious!

Stone Fruit Pie with Lattice Top

On Sundays I always like to bake something for us to enjoy throughout the week. Today at the market I found the loveliest plums, apricots, and cherries. Normally so expensive, when these fruits are in season I try to use them as often as possible. Today they looked so good I bought plenty so that we will be able to snack on them throughout the week and so that I could also make a wonderful stone fruit pie.

I love making pies, and make them often, especially in the summer. However, someone — I won’t say who — is trying to watch their cholesterol so today I tried making a vegan version of this pie and substituted half of the white flour in the pie crust with whole wheat flour. Substituting the butter in the pie crust proved not to be as much of an issue as I had feared it might. The wheat flour on the other hand was. I usually prefer wheat — I think it has a more robust flavor. I guess that’s just the thing though: you don’t want your pastries to be “robust” — you want them to be light, and flaky, and decadent. Don’t get me wrong — the crust was still quite good, but it wasn’t nearly as indulgent and delicious as a white flour crust… This pie filling is to-die-for though — just the right balance of sweet and tart — but you can use this basic recipe for a pie with any summer fruit (berries, peaches, etc.) My philosophy with fresh, seasonal fruits and vegetables is to do as little to them as possible: simpler is always better with quality ingredients!

Stone Fruit Pie

Ingredients:

– 1 Pie Crust (See my preceding blog entry — “Perfect Pie Crust”)
– 2 cups pitted quartered cherries
– 2 cups pitted sliced plums
– 2 cups pitted sliced apricots (fresh, not dried)
– 1/2 cup sugar
– 3 Tbsp. cornstarch (this is what will bind the sugars from your fruits so that your pie isn’t runny and your crust doesn’t get soggy)
– 1 egg (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F

2. Make pie dough

3. While dough is chilling, remove pits from fruits and slice. Put fruit pieces in a large bowl

4. Add sugar and cornstarch to fruit and mix well

5. Let fruit sit

6. Roll out one half of your pie crust and fit into a 9” pie pan

7. Make the lattice top for your pie (See preceding blog “How to Make a Lattice Top for a Pie Crust” for detailed instructions)

8. Your fruit should now look a bit syrupy — in other words, it should look like pie filling 🙂

9. Pour filling into pie crust

10. Place lattice on top of pie

11. Tear excess ends from lattice

12. Fold overhanging pieces of bottom crust over lattice ends

13. If you’d like to use an egg wash (I did not since I was making vegan pie today) simply beat an egg with a little bit of milk or water and coat lattice using a pastry brush. This will add a little bit of shine to your crust but is purely aesthetic and does not affect the taste.

14. Bake in oven at 400F for 50 minutes. Check after 35-40 minutes — if crust looks too dark cover with aluminum foil and continue baking

15. Remove from oven

16. Let cool for at least 20 minutes.

17. Slice, top with ice cream of whipped cream if you desire, and enjoy

And about 30 seconds later….