Six Pies in a Day

It's over, so we can laugh about it now. Six pies in a day doesn't seem like such a bad idea when you've got plenty of sleep under your belt. But when it's 11pm, and the rest of your family has already been asleep for an hour as the apple pie crusts are falling apart beneath your fingertips, the novelty wears off. I got it all done, perhaps against my better judgement, and the pies all came out well - though the bottom apple crusts were definitely ugly. Hobo patch jobs abounded. Luckily the tops came out fine, so I could keep up appearances.

I ended up making four pumpkin pies, and two apple. If I had to do it again, I'd probably make pecan pie instead of apple. Granted the apple allowed me to mix up the filling and freeze the pies a day ahead of time, but the one crust and one-pot filling of the pecan would have been far less labor intensive. Maybe next year. The apple recipe I used is the same one as usual, with two modifications. I used a combination of lemon juice and orange juice for the fruit juice ingredient, and I added 1 t. of Penzey's apple pie spice instead of measuring out each of the different spices. I think the Penzey's mix lacks clove though, and I did miss the clove. I jazzed up the pumpkin recipe with the addition of the Penzey's pumpkin pie spice mix as well. I added 1/2 t. for each pie. The cooking time for the pumpkin was also extended since I baked the four pies all at once. It probably took 45 - 55 minutes for each pie, depending on which rack they were on and what kind of a dish they were in. Oh, and I did have enough filling from three batches of the filling to fill a fourth pie.

If you are curious about what I got done ahead of time, here is the breakdown of the schedule:
Wednesday - cook fresh pie pumpkin, puree, and put in fridge
Thursday - peel and cut apples and prepare apple pie filling and put in fridge
Friday - roll out all crusts, pre-bake pumpkin pie crusts, fill and freeze apple pies
Saturday - prepare pumpkin filling, fill pumpkin pies, and bake all pies

Feedback on the pies was all positive, with more comments being about the pumpkin. My two favorites were: "Do you take orders?" and "It's the fresh cream that really makes it." I will definitely be making quite a few more of these throughout the fall and holiday season.

Current Pie Tally: 33

And Dad's Birthday Pie Was...

Rhubarb Strawberry! It was too hot and time was too precious to invest in making the fresh peach and rhubarb pie, so I ended up baking the one from the freezer. I cooked it at 425F for 25 min and then another hour at 350 this time. I think it came out much better than the last one reincarnated from the freezer depths. My husband said it set up particularly well, and I was satisfied with the doneness of the crust. Dad kept all of the leftovers and told my husband he married well, so I guess he thought it was OK too. The recipe is the same as the one from this post.

Despite the success of this one, I did have a price to pay when I returned home. All of the peaches I had bought for the possibility of the fresh pie had rotted by the time I returned home from the trip to see Dad. From rock hard to festering mess in one stinking day. What a disappointment. Oh well, the rhubarb is still keeping firm in the fridge at least.

Current Pie Tally: 25

Can't Ruin a Good Thing

Another Strawberry Rhubarb Pie from the freezer arsenal. Made the same as the last one of the same proportions. I think I could have cooked it a bit longer. The bottom crust could have been a bit firmer. But a success overall.

Current Pie Tally: 21

Chicken Pot Pie with Herb Crust

As Dimock writes in her book, pie in the freezer is money in the bank. I made this chicken pot pie yesterday to add to the stockpile of oven-ready foods to have after the baby is born. I altered this recipe from epicurious.com. Here is my recipe:

Herb Crust (top and bottom crust)
2 c. all-purpose flour
1/3 c. chopped fresh parsley
1 T. chopped fresh thyme
1 t. salt
1 t. sugar
10.5 T. unsalted butter, cut into pieces
4-6 T. ice water (I used 5 T.)

Blend the dry ingredients and herbs in a food processor until well-blended. Add butter and process until mixture looks like coarse meal. Add 3 T. of the ice water. Pulse. Add more water in 1/2 T. increments, pulsing after each addition, until the mixture just starts to clump together. Gather dough into 2 balls. Place one ball in the refrigerator. Roll out the other ball and place in pie dish.

Chicken and Vegetable Pot Pie
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 c. (or more) water
2 chicken boullion cubes

2 carrots, cut into 1/2" pieces
1 turnip, peeled and cut into 1/2" pieces
4-6 oz. greens (I used spinach and arugula), chopped

1.5 T. butter
1 medium leek (white and pale green parts only), sliced
1 shallot, minced
1 T. minced fresh thyme
1/8 c. all-purpose flour
1/8 c. dry white wine (I used a cheap Pinot Grigio)
1/8 c. whipping cream

Place chicken breasts in a large saucepan. Cover with water (I used 3 c.), add chicken boullion, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until chicken is just cooked through, about 20 minutes. Save broth in pot. Transfer chicken to plate or cutting board to cool.

Add carrots and turnips to chicken broth in pot. Simmer uncovered until vegetables are just tender, about 10 minutes. Transfer vegetables to prepared pie crust with a slotted spoon. Add greens to broth and cook until just wilted but still bright green, about 1 minute. Save broth. Transfer greens to colander with slotted spoon and drain well. Add greens to vegetables in prepared crust.

Cut chicken into bite-size pieces and add to mixture in prepared crust. In a small frying pan, melt 1.5 T. butter. Sautee the leeks, shallot, and thyme until tender, about 5 minutes. Add flour and stir 2 minutes. Decant reserved broth into frying pan, discarding any solids at the bottom. Stir in white wine. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Stir in cream and boil, stirring constantly, until sauce thickens to a gravy, about 8 minutes. Pour gravy over mixture in prepared crust. Stir/jostle to blend. Roll out top crust and place over mixture. Crimp and seal edges; cut a hole in the top crust for steam to escape. Wrap securely in plastic wrap and aluminum foil and freeze. To reheat, bake the pie straight from the freezer. I plan to bake mine at 400 F for 20 minutes, then 350 F for 30-40 minutes, until the crust is golden and it looks like the filling is bubbly.

Current Pie Tally: 17