Food Friday - Pie in the Sky

"Pie in the Sky" is probably not the most honest title for this week's post.  It is actually pie in my belly.  This is one of my favorite pies so as soon as I got the photos taken I felt obliged to eat the model.

In our family, my oldest daughter and her dad (my ex-husband) have had an ongoing battle waging over who makes the best pumpkin pie.  His is the more traditional type, and hers is vegan.  They are both really good.  I am always amazed that the vegan pie is as good as it is.  In all honesty, I bet you wouldn't know that it was vegan unless you were told.  Because I am the non-competitive member of the family, I never joined in the pie battle.  I took a completely different route and always make a pie for the non-pumpkin pie eat that comes to dinner every now and then.

This recipe comes from The Pantry Restaurant in McKinney, Texas, a locally owned family business.  Their recipes are longtime family recipes that have been passed down through generations. Fortunately, they also published a cookbook with the recipe for this pie!

INGREDIENTS

2 eggs
1/2 Cup melted butter
1 Cup granulated sugar
1/2 Cup flour
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 Cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 Cup pecan pieces
1 10 inch pie shell

Mix eggs, butter, sugar, flour, and vanilla together.  Stir in chocolate chips and pecans.  Pour into the 10-inch pie shell.  Bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes to an hour.  Serve topped with whipped cream or, if you are feeling really decadent, vanilla ice cream.

I usually melt the butter in a four-cup measuring cup and then mix all the ingredients in.  This makes it easy to pour the filling into the pie crust and it is easy clean up.  Only the measuring cup and a stirring spoon!  I also do not make my own crust for this one.  The pie itself is so rich that the taste of the crust is lost, so save the trouble of a homemade crust for that apple or peach pie!

On a side note, this is another in our "brown food series."   Again I say that brown food is really hard to photograph in an appealing way!


by Tracey G.

This recipe intrigued me, the fact that it's a colonial-era pie caught my attention. Add in the fact I love cranberries in just about any form and I'd never eaten them in the form of a pie, and I was really interested! The yummy ingredient list and the easy-factor sealed the deal for me.I think then next time I have some I'm going to heat it up and put a scoop of vanilla ice cream with it - yum!

I must thank Taste Of Home once again for the recipe and this venue for me having the reason to make this recipe! :-D 

Now, instead of making my own pastry for the pie, I just bought and used the refrigerated crust, made it super simple! But I've included the pastry recipe that came with the pie recipe :-)

And this was my first lattice topped pie - and it was so much easier than I thought it would be! I'd always said, nope, not doing that, that looks way too difficult, lol. Well, it's not and it sure looks pretty when you're done and it's baked! :-D

Cranberry Walnut Pie

courtesy of Taste of Home Magazine

Makes 8 Servings

1 pkg (12 oz) fresh or frozen cranberries, thawed

1 1/2 c packed brown sugar

1 c chopped walnuts

1/4 c butter, melted

4 1/2 tsp flour

2 tsp grated orange peel

Dash salt

Pastry for double crust pie (9-in.)

1) Preheat oven to 375° F. Place cranberries in a food processor; cover and process until finely chopped. Transfer to a large bowl; stir in brown sugar, walnuts, melted butter, flour, orange peel and salt.

2) On a lightly floured surface, roll one half of the pastry dough to 1/8-in. thick circle; transfer to a 9-in. pie plate. Trim pastry to 1/2-in. beyond rim of plate. Add filling.

3) Roll remaining dough to a 1/8-in. thick circle; cut into 1/2-in wide strips. Arrange over filling in a lattice pattern. Trim and seal strips to edge of bottom pastry; flute edge. Cover edges loosely with foil.

4) Bake 30 minutes. Remove foil; bake 20-25 minutes longer or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool on wire rack.

Pastry for 9-in double-crust pie:

2 /12 c flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup cold butter, cubed

1/3 - 2/3 c ice water

Combine the flour and the salt; cut in the butter until crumbly. Gradually add 1/3 to 2/3 cup ice water, tossing with a fork until dough holds together. Divide in half, shape into disks; wrap in plastic and refrigerate 1 hour.