Hands on.

Today I'd like to talk about pies.  I've been thinking about them for a while now--maybe on and off for a few months.  I was flipping through a cookbook, and I came across a recipe for these, and they immediately brought me back to my childhood, when I would go to the grocery store with my mom and linger in the baked goods section, begging and pleading for a sweet treat.  Sometimes the market would have sales on the Hostess fruit pies (or the supermarket brand equivalent, which was often cheaper--I couldn't taste the difference), and my mom would give in, and the moment we got home I would search through the grocery bags to find the pies and savor every bite.  I may even like these hand-held versions better than the traditional large round pies, if only for the nostalgia.  The crust wasn't flakey and buttery, but firmer with a sugary glaze on top.  "Real fruit filling" meant pieces of fruit suspended in gelatinous, brightly colored, sickly sweet goo.  But for the non-discriminating sweet tooth that I was, what did I care.  

I saw them recently at Whole Foods.  These perfectly shaped crescents, crimped at the edges, with cherry filling and a slight sheen.  They looked delicious.  I was inspired.  I could recreate the childhood experience--and make them just slightly more wholesome and...refined.  I bought the ingredients, but forgot the yeast for the pastry dough.  Not feeling like going back to the store, I searched on-line for an alternative recipe and found one on food.com that didn't require a yeast-based crust.  Perfect--or so I thought.  

The dough turned out sticky and unwieldy, but I was determined to make it work by tweaking the flour proportions.  Eventually I was able to get it to a consistency I could roll out to cut out circles, though it would stick to the fork when I used it to seal the edges.  I had enough patience at that point to make only 9 small pies, and during the baking process, the juice from the blueberry filling oozed out of many of them.  I felt defeated.

But biting into one did not disappoint.  The crust was like a sugar cookie, and I liked it even better a day later, when it softened up so that it didn't break apart as I bit into it, holding the pie in my hungry hands.  Some call them empanadas, buns, hand pies...  Whatever they're called, and despite the little bit of extra labor (e.g. if working with defiant pastry dough), these pies are fun to eat, and even more fun to give out. 

Blueberry Hand Pies


Crust recipe adapted from food.com, filling recipe adapted from Marcy Goldman's A Passion for Baking.


Makes approximately 18 pies


Line baking sheets with parchment paper, and preheat oven to 375F degrees.


1.  Using a wire whisk, mix together in a bowl:
- 2-1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
- 1 t. baking powder
- 1/2 t. salt


2.  Using a pastry hand-held mixer, blend in:
- 1/2 cup of butter, cut into cubes


3.  Continue mixing in the following, using your hands to blend completely until the dough comes together:
- 2 T. yogurt (or sour cream)
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/2 t. vanilla
- 1 egg
- 3/4 cup sugar


4.  Form the dough into a round mass, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate the pastry dough for at least one hour.


5.  While the dough is being chilled, cook over medium heat in a small saucepan:
- 2 cups of blueberries (fresh or frozen)
- 3/4 cup of sugar
- 1 t. cinnamon
- 1 T. water or lemon juice


6.  Once the mixture in #5 begins to bubble, add the following, and cook for another 4 or 5 minutes, until the mixture thickens; allow filling to cool, then cover and refrigerate:
- 1 T. corn starch dissolved in 2 T. water


7.  When ready to make the pies, break of pieces of dough to roll out at a time, keeping the rest of the pastry dough refrigerated.  Roll out the dough using a rolling pin to 1/4 inch thickness, and cut out 5" circles.  Spoon out about 1-1/2 T. of filling in the center of the circle, and fold the circle in half, sealing the edge with the tip of a fork.  Poke the top of the crust with fork a few times to allow steam to escape.


8.  Bake the pies for approximately 20 minutes, or until slightly golden brown.  Sprinkle powdered sugar on top when ready to serve.

Something blue.

This post has nothing to do with weddings, but a lot to do with more blueberries! I think this has been a summer of blueberries for me. There must have been a couple of weeks where I was consuming them by the pounds, though I'm tempering that now. I like to think of them as fruits with the best ROI (return on investment). They're plentiful and not too expensive. They go well with other foods like yogurt and cereal, and are high in antioxidants. They're refreshing, and when I use them in desserts, I don't have to worry about peeling, slicing and all that--just wash and go.

So deciding on trying this recipe was a no-brainer. There are several things I love about this recipe. It incorporates two types of blueberry filling: a sort of blueberry jam (made by cooking the blueberries with some other ingredients and squishing them, which is kind of fun--almost like popping bubble wrap), and fresh blueberries with a glaze--it's kind of like eating both a blueberry pie and a fresh blueberry tart at the same time. The crust also includes ground almonds which adds more complexity to the texture and flavor. I did have to improvise a little, and crush the almonds by hand, then mix the crust with a pastry mixer since I don't have a food processor, but the effort was certainly worth it.


Blueberry-Almond Tart
Adapted from epicurious.com
Makes about 8 servings

For the filling:

1. Heat in a medium saucepan over medium heat, coarsely mashing the blueberries, until mixture begins to boil and thickens:
- 3/4 pound of blueberries
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 T. lemon juice

2. Whisk together the following, then add to the mixture from #1 slowly, and continue to cook for another couple of minutes until the mixture boils and thickens more:
- 2 large egg yolks
- 2 t. cornstarch

3. Add to the mixture:
- 3 T. unsalted butter
- 1 t. grated lemon peel

4. Remove from heat, cover and chill overnight.

For the crust (without food processor):

1. Lightly butter a 9 inch tart pan with a removable bottom.

2. Lightly toast 1/4 sliced almonds, then crush by hand using a mortar and pestel (or any other means available to finely crush the almonds).

3. Transfer to a medium bowl, and mix with the following using a pastry blender until a coarsely combined:
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 2 T. sugar
- 1/4 t. salt
- 1 stick unsalted butter, chilled (which has been cut into cubes, about 1 T. each)

4. Continue mixing in:
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1/4 t. almond extract

5. Form the mixture into a ball then flatten into a disk. Press dough into the bottom and sides of the tart pan, and freeze for about half an hour. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

6. Line the crust with foil, and bake for about 12 minutes. Remove the foil, then bake for another 18 minutes until crust is golden brown. Allow the crust to cool completely.

To assemble:

1. Spread filling into the crust.

2. Spread on top of the crust:
- 3/4 pounds of fresh blueberries

3. Heat and pour over the fresh blueberries:
- 1/2 cup red currant jelly (or other preferred flavor)

4. Garnish tart with more lightly toasted almond slices (optional).

5. Cover with foil and chill for about 2 hours.

6. To serve, push up the bottom of the tart pan to remove the sides and place on a serving platter.

Milkshake redux.

There are a couple of telltale signs that summer is coming--being invited to barbecues, blockbuster movie releases (e.g. Star Trek!), TV show season finales, and this sudden urge to buy clothes to keep (and look, of course) cool. I went to a barbecue yesterday to celebrate a birthday, I watched Star Trek last weekend when it opened, I'm wondering if Holly will return next season on The Office, and I just bought a summer dress on Friday (omitting a few prior recent purchases). I think summer is well under way and it's not even Memorial Day yet.

The temperature high for today was probably well above 90 degrees, and just thinking of firing up the oven was enough for me to feel sweat beads forming on my forehead and nose. Baking was not going to be in the cards for today.

Growing up, one of my favorite after school treats was a banana milkshake. I would walk home from the bus stop (being bused to school), and that walk which included going over hills (it probably wasn't even really hilly, though, as a kid, I sure remember thinking it was hilly) on sweltering days felt never-ending. The prospect of the sweet, refreshing milkshake often helped make the oh-so-long one mile trek just a little bearable. Being outside today felt pretty close to unbearable. I thought of those banana milkshakes that I used to have in my youth and thought today would be a good day to revive them.

There's nothing fancy to them, it doesn't even require ice cream. And I made some modifications to it such as using honey instead of sugar and adding blueberries, now that I'm an adult, but it still brings me back to those after-school afternoons.

Banana-Blueberry Milkshake
Serves one

- 1 cup milk
- 1 medium banana
- 1/3 cup blueberries
- 1/4 cup honey

Add all ingredients in a blender, give it a whirl, pour into a tall glass, and drink with a straw.

Hello.

I feel like it's been so long that I don't know how to write anymore. But it's only been two weeks, and it's good to back--I've missed you all. I'm settling in to my new place fairly well--thank you to all of you for your support in my move! The move went well, nothing broken and no injuries in the process, which is always a good thing. For a couple of days I felt lost because my internet and cable were not set up (it's amazing how dependent I am on the internet and TV) and I didn't know what to do with myself except, well, unpack, which I guess is productive--but not appealing given all the packing I had just done prior to the move. My internet is up and running now (hooray!) but my little TV is still sitting in a dark corner of my living room, unplugged, lifeless and lonely.

I think while I was busy with my move, Spring must have crept up on me. Because I am suddenly surrounded by blooming flowers and bright green trees. There are some cherry trees nearby, and they're full of cherry blossoms, which make me want to stroll among them and breathe in their sweet scent. As much as I loved the rainy cold weather, I think I am now ready for Spring to arrive, when I don't have to leave the house with four layers of clothing and when I can get out of work and still be able to see the sun.


So in honor of Spring's arrival, when all things are new again, and to celebrate being back here again with you (!), I thought I'd try out my new oven (which is actually a little risky because an oven can be unpredictable at first and it can take a few tries to see what works) and my new bundt cake pan (which a friend gave to me fairly recently and I've never made a bundt cake before!) to make a blueberry bundt cake--although I cheated and used frozen blueberries, but only because I was told to use them so they wouldn't sink!

Prior to making my first very own bundt cake, my memories of bundt cakes have been from potlucks or church social gatherings. (Bundt cakes also remind me of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", when the parents meet for the first time, and the Greek mother could not understand what a bundt cake was!) I've always liked how they looked, pretty just on its own and round with the soft ridges and the hole in the middle--kind of like a really fancy giant donut though not really. My friend who bought me the pan summed up bundt cakes in two (well, three) words: "moist and delicious" (and didn't I say I'd come back with something delicious?).



Blueberry Bundt Cake
Adapted from epicurious.com
Serves about 12

Preheat the ovent to 350F and grease and flour a 10-inch bundt pan.

1. Using a wire whisk, mix together in a bowl:
- 3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
- 1 T. baking powder
- 1 t. salt

2. In a separate bowl, cream together on low to medium until light and fluffy:
- 1-1/2 sticks (or 3/4 cup) unsalted butter
- 1-2/3 cups sugar

3. Once the butter and sugar have been creamed, add in, one at a time, until just mixed:
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 t. vanilla extract

4. Continue mixing on on low, adding the following and alternating between each, beginning and ending with the flour mixture:
- Flour mixture from #1
- 1 cup buttermilk

5. Fold in by hand:
- 2 cups frozen blueberries

6. Bake for about 60 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan, then allow to cool completely on a rack. Transfer the cake to a plate and dust with powdered sugar (which I forgot to do because I a little eager to try the cake!).