Galette-Style Plum Pie (Whole Wheat + Vegan)

Project Pie: I'll be baking 24 pies before Pi Day 2016 to get over my fear of baking pies. And to eat delicious things. You can join me by posting about your pies in the comments or tagging your twitter, instagram, or facebook posts with #projectpie. Make something scrumptious and gooey!

I’m supposed to be getting better at this, right? Pie #13 is supposed to roll out more easily, taste more amazing, smell more inviting than Pie #1?

Ah, the infernal “supposed to.”

How many times has it stopped me (you?) in my (your?) tracks? 

This isn’t working the way it’s supposed to, I’ve said. I must be doing it wrong. I must not be the right person for this. This must not be the right time, the right place, the right reason, the right anything.

What would it look like if I could let go of “supposed to”?

If, when this crust was miserably difficult to roll out and stuck to the butcher-block countertop, I had thought, “How funny! Look at what’s happening this time!” and laughed and chalked it up to experience?

In yoga and meditation, teachers always talk about curiosity versus judgment. The idea is to notice what is happening in your body or your mind without placing any value judgments on it. For instance, I might say, I’m not that good at meditating. I always have such a hard time staying focused on what I’m doing. Or, instead, I could say I often have a lot of thoughts while meditating. I wonder why?

One sets me up for a feeling of failure. The other opens the door to more exploration, to trying again.

If I were not committed to making 24 pies, I would likely quit after the last few. I’m having a terrible time with the crusts. They stick. They fall apart. They’re not supposed to.

Or…

I’ve been using a lot of different crust recipes lately, trying things out. Some of them are challenging! When I used a totally new recipe while on vacation in an unfamiliar kitchen and with a wine bottle as a rolling pin, the crust was extra challenging. How interesting. I wonder how it would have been if I’d been making it at home. Or in the food processor?

Anne over at Modern Mrs. Darcy wrote recently about a spirit of experimentation as a way to work through perfectionism.

“When I try an experiment, success is getting an outcome. Any outcome. The goal is to get results, not a win.”

I loved that. I’ve been experimenting with it myself. I often fall back into the “supposed to” of perfectionism (how interesting!), so this conversation about letting go of how I think something should go and noticing how it is going has become a mainstay in my internal dialogue.

This pie was no exception.

The results of my experiment?

Crust: Challenging to roll out; delicious flavor; nice crumble
Filling: Challenging to peel plums; yummy combo of sweet and tart; pleasing texture
Katie: Frustrated with dough and plums; practiced deep breathing; ate whole piece of pie

Success!

Galette-Style Plum Pie
Adapted from First Prize Pies

Crust

2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup Earth Balance, frozen and cut into ½ inch pieces
1/4-1/2 cup ice water

1. Mix the flour and salt together in a large bowl. 
2. Add the frozen Earth Balance chunks to the flour mixture. Cut it into the dry ingredients by chopping vigorously with a pastry blender or cutting it with two knives. Work quickly so the butter does not melt. Make sure you are getting all the flour off the bottom of the bowl. Stop when the mixture has some pea-sized pieces and is mostly a consistency of dry, coarse crumbs, like cornmeal. 
3. Drizzle the ice water over the top, starting with ¼ cup. Using the blade side of a rubber spatula, cut into the mixture until it is evenly moistened and small balls begin to form. If balls of dough stick together, you're done. If they don't, drizzle 1-2 more tablespoons of water at a time over the top, cutting with the rubber spatula each time and then testing to see if the dough sticks together. 
4. Press the dough together until it forms a ball. It should be rough, not smooth. Press into a flat, round disk. Wrap tightly in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. You can refrigerate for up to several days. 

Filling

2-3 pounds ripe plums, pitted, peeled, and sliced
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup coconut palm sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil and prepare a bowl of ice water.
2. With a small knife, make a shallow X in the bottom of each plum.
3. Place the plums in the boiling water for 45-60 seconds or until the skin of the plums begins to pucker and pull away from the X.
4. Remove the plums from the boiling water and place them immediately into the bowl of ice water.
5. When the plums have cooled, peel the skin off with your fingers and slice the plums, removing the pits.
6. In a mixing bowl, mix together the sliced plums, honey, and vanilla.
7. In a separate small bowl, mix together the last three filling ingredients.

Putting it Together

1. Remove the crust dough from the freezer and roll out into a large round disc, about ¼ inch thick and 5-6 inches wider than your pie plate.
2. Place the crust into the pie plate.
3. Mix together the dry cornstarch mix and the plum mixture.
4. Pour the mixture into the crust, and loosely fold over the edges of the pie crust.
5. Place the pie plate on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees, turning once.
6. After 20 minutes, reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake for 35 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the plums are juicy.
7. Allow the pie to cool for at least one hour before serving. 

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Project Pie: Tomato Pie

Project Pie: I'll be baking 24 pies before Pi Day 2016 to get over my fear of baking pies. And to eat delicious things. You can join me by posting about your pies in the comments or tagging your twitter, instagram, or facebook posts with #projectpie. Make something scrumptious and gooey!

I was in 9th grade, with braces and acne and unfortunate bangs, and I couldn't believe this 10th grade boy liked me. Wanted to play songs for me on his guitar over the phone while I fell asleep. Sent me flowers and wrote me love notes and waited for me outside classes. Liked me liked me. 

He was on the tennis team, a funny quirk in his otherwise alternative grunge persona, I always thought. We headed out to some neighborhood courts so he could teach me how to play. And so we could have our first fight. 

Sporty was a word no one would ever have used to describe me. I played the flute and the piano, got good grades, and sang in the church choir. In the hand-eye coordination department, I fell into the zero to none category. 

Walking out onto that tennis court, I could feel my middle school gym class anxiety rising up. For reasons I could not understand, this boy thought I was special and, though I blushed at the mere thought, sexy. I was not about to show him just how uncoordinated and ridiculous I could be. 

So instead of trying to hit the ball, I planted my feet on the ground and swung my arm out half-heartedly, watching as the green fuzzy sphere flew past me. Again and again, I wouldn't run for it. My boyfriend became more and more frustrated and eventually refused to send anything over the net. We'd try serving instead. When he told me it helped to grunt as I hit the ball, I knew things wouldn't go any better. There was no way I'd be making any un-ladylike sounds in front of him. Absolutely not. 

About 30 minutes after we'd arrived, he stormed off the court and we made the trip back to my house in silence.

I feel sad for both of them. The boy who couldn't understand why on earth his girlfriend would agree to go learn to play tennis and then appear to become catatonic on the court. And the girl who would rather stand motionless and get into a fight than try something difficult and risk failing. 

And what does this have to do with tomato pie?

Oh yes. The pie. 

I thought of that moment out on the tennis court as I picked up my pie crust and watched it tear into three and then four large pieces on its way into the pie pan. My shoulders slumped, and I looked at the dough and thought for a moment that I wouldn't be able to put this pie up on the blog. 

And then I remembered that I'm not fourteen years old, that I have two decades on that girl, that one of the blessings of getting older is worrying less about looking silly, about failing. 

So I slapped that pie crust into the pan and squished all the torn edges together and made myself a pie. 

And then the blasted thing happened all over again when I pulled it out of the oven and realized I totally overlooked the part about how you're supposed to remove the tomato seeds so the whole thing isn't a SOPPING MESS. Whoops. 

Folks, I swung hard at that ball, and it just sailed right. on. by. 

But thankfully I've gained a few other things in the last 20 years - a little stick-to-it-iveness and a deep hatred of wasting food. I'll be damned if I was going to let a little slushiness stand in the way of eating those beautiful tomatoes and a healthy serving of cheddar cheese. No ma'am. 

I spooned out liquid that was pooling around the crust, put that sucker back in the oven, spooned out liquid, back in the oven, spooned out liquid... You get the point. 

And it turned out quite pretty and, I'll be honest, awfully tasty in spite of the soggy crust and tomato juices leaking all over my plate. 

I wish I had taken photos of the messy parts, but I was so focused on remedying the situation that I completely forgot to document. You'll have to take my word for it. 

This whole project pie thing feels like a do-over for all those times I chose standing still over trying. And there were so many. There still are. But in this one tiny spot, on these Sundays in my kitchen, I'm going for it. I'm risking failure. I'm practicing swinging and missing and swinging again.

I wonder what's next. 

p.s. I'm not writing out my own recipe for this one because things didn't go as planned, but here's where you can go to make your own: I used this olive oil crust - not sure what went wrong. I used whole wheat pastry flour, and it's very tasty even though it didn't hold together. And I used this tomato tart recipe, but I used a mix of sour cream (1/4 cup) and shredded parmesan cheese (1/4 cup) in place of the gruyere, and cheddar cheese in place of the camembert. And I used heirloom tomatoes from our farm share - don't forget to take out the seeds!

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Project Pie: Strawberry Rhubarb Crumb Pie (Whole Wheat + Vegan)

Project Pie: I'll be baking 24 pies before Pi Day 2016 to get over my fear of baking pies. And to eat delicious things. You can join me by posting about your pies in the comments or tagging your twitter, instagram, or facebook posts with #projectpie. Make something scrumptious and gooey!

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie sounds like the perfect dessert for a Southern luncheon on a summer afternoon, but I didn't have a slice until I was an adult living in New England. I'm not sure I'd ever even heard of rhubarb before a few years ago. 

The notion that this reddish, greenish stalk that looks a lot like celery can, when mixed with sugar, turn into a deliciously sweet confection is a bit magical to me. And when I decided to bake 24 pies, there was absolutely no question that a strawberry rhubarb would be in the mix. 

We haven't grown rhubarb in the garden because apparently it takes over everything, but I do think it would be a good problem to have - Ugh. I have sooo. much. rhubarb. I guess I'll have to make ANOTHER batch of rhubarb jam.  Damn.

You see what I'm saying? 

Instead, I hunted rhubarb this year like a hungry animal, asking everyone I saw with a rhubarb-based treat where they'd gotten theirs. Person after person told me it was from their garden, and it was all gone. I despaired that perhaps there would be no strawberry rhubarb pie for me. 

And then a couple weeks ago my wife called from the co-op and told me there was rhubarb - should she get some? Oh, I despaired. I was leaving for BlogHer in New York that week and wouldn't have time to bake a pie. But would it last while I was gone? Buying rhubarb and having it go bad in my refrigerator would be deeply depressing. I took a gamble and told her not to buy any, hoping there would still be rhubarb at the store when I returned. 

And glory of glories, there was. 

I even have a little left over. Ugh. So much rhubarb. I guess I'll have to make a little rhubarb compote this week. 

Darn.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crumb Pie (Whole Wheat)
Adapted from Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Crust

1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons cold Earth Balance (or other non-dairy butter)
1/4 cup shortening, room temperature
1/4 cup ice water

1. Quickly mix the flour and salt together in a large bowl. 
2. Break the shortening into large chunks and cut your butter (from the freezer) into small pieces. Add the butter and shortening to the flour mixture. Cut it into the dry ingredients by chopping vigorously with a pastry blender or cutting it with two knives. Work quickly so the butter does not melt. Make sure you are getting all the flour off the bottom of the bowl. Stop when the mixture has some pea-sized pieces and is mostly a consistency of dry, coarse crumbs, like cornmeal. 
3. Drizzle the ice water over the top. Using the blade side of a rubber spatula, cut into the mixture until it is evenly moistened and small balls begin to form. If balls of dough stick together, you're done. If they don't, drizzle 1-2 more tablespoons of water over the top. 
4. Press the dough together until it forms a ball. It should be rough, not smooth. Press into a flat, round disk. Wrap tightly in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. You can refrigerate for up to several days. 

Filling

3-4 cups rhubarb, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
3-4 cups strawberries, halved
3/4 cup coconut palm sugar (or sub cane sugar)
3 tablespoons whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons Earth Balance (or sub butter), cut into small chunks

1. Mix together the sugar and flour and set aside. 
2. Mix together the rhubarb, strawberries, lemon juice, and Earth Balance and set aside.

Crumb Topping

1/2 cup whole wheat flour (or whole wheat pastry flour)
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons coconut palm sugar (or sub brown sugar)
1/4 cup Earth Balance (or sub butter), melted

1. Mix flour, sugar, and Earth Balance together until crumbly. 

Putting it Together:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 
2. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface, beginning in the center and rolling out from all directions. Roll the dough about 3-4 inches wider than your pie pan.
3. Transfer the dough into your pie pan by rolling it loosely around your rolling pin and then unrolling it into the pie pan. Press the dough over the bottom and into the corners of your pan. Trim the edges of the dough, leaving a 3/4 inch overhang, and then tuck that overhang underneath itself.  
4. Sprinkle the crust with about 1 tablespoon of the sugar and flour mixture.
5. Mix the remaining sugar and flour mixture with the strawberry rhubarb mixture and pour into the pie crust. 
6. Top with the crumble mixture, and place the pie pan on a large baking sheet and into the oven. Bake for 30 minutes.
7. Let cool for 10-15 minutes on a rack. Slice and enjoy.

 p.s. Remember my strawberry basil pie? Yum. 

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24-Hour Refrigerator Pickled Sugar Snap Peas

The sugar snap peas in our garden are growing like weeds, which is saying something because the weeds are a little bit out of control over here. 

I was feeling so excited and proud of myself for deciding to plant an entire bed of that candy-like vegetable. 

Until I ate one. 

They're not good! I mean, they're edible. But the shell is tough, almost like they're shelling peas instead of sugar snaps. But I checked the package of seeds, and they are most definitely Sugar Daddy Snap Peas, meant to be eaten whole. 

We're getting peas from our farm share right now as well, and the difference is extreme. When I bite into a farm share sugar snap, it's crisp and juicy. When I bite into one of ours? Well, first off, they feel hard and almost hollow, and then when I take a bite, it's like that first time I ate edamame - when I thought you ate the whole thing and had to suffer through chewing that fibrous shell. Oh, and they're definitely ready to be picked - it's not an issue of picking too soon.

The only thing I can imagine is that the Burpee seeds (from their organic line) we got this year (as opposed to the High Mowing seeds last year) were just not very good. 

Insert huge sad face.  

I was - still am - feeling super disappointed about it, but I had come across Natalie Freeman's recipe for refrigerator pickled sugar snap peas some time before and been intrigued. I thought I'd try it out and see if it made the peas more edible. 

So this weekend, I picked a whole heap of them, made the brine from salt, vinegar, and honey, poured it over the trimmed peas and a little garlic and red pepper flakes, and put them in the refrigerator to do their thing.

I almost couldn't wait the 24 hours. But when I took them out the next day...

Success! 

They're delicious! I want to pickle everything! Refrigerator pickling is so fast and easy, and I'm going to have a lifelong devotion to Natalie for showing me that I can use honey in place of refined sugar with great results. 

It didn't 100% fix the peas - there is still a little toughness in them. But they'll continue to soften in the brine, and this way they're at least easier to chew! And they have a great flavor. 

I'll definitely be making more batches as I pick the rest, and I'm going to start thinking about what else I can pickle. 

Check out Natalie's recipe, and let me know if you try it!

p.s. Try this simple tomato and hearts of palm salad this week.

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Whole Wheat Zucchini Potato Pie

Project Pie: I'll be baking 24 pies before Pi Day 2016 to get over my fear of baking pies. And to eat delicious things. You can join me by posting about your pies in the comments or tagging your twitter, instagram, or facebook posts with #projectpie. Make something scrumptious and gooey!

This recipe needs a disclaimer. Once you take a bite of this pie, you will not want to stop. And you will not want to eat anything else. Only this pie, with its flaky crust and its soft, perfectly seasoned filling. Forever and ever, amen. 

You've been warned. 

Thank heavens for the potatoes we've been getting from our farm share, stored over the winter and giving a little substance to those first few weeks when it's largely greens. And now the zucchini is rolling in, and there is absolutely no better use for the two of them - the buttery potatoes and the summery zucchini - than in this pie. 

I'll be honest and tell you that I fought hard with this crust. There was some swearing. I used the Joy of Cooking recipe from my blueberry pie but adapted it for our standard dietary needs - aka, Earth Balance instead of butter and whole wheat pastry flour instead of all purpose. I didn't change the water content, which resulted in a sticky dough that gave me all sorts of problems when I was rolling it out. Lesson learned.

I said a prayer and shoved it in the oven. 

And boy, did I sing praises when I took that first bite. Wow. The crust pulled through and the flavors of the vegetables and the garlic and the sour cream melded together perfectly.  And let's talk about sour cream for a moment. If you'll remember, my wife is intensely lactose intolerant. Sour cream has only graced our kitchen in rare moments when I really wanted it for something specific only I would be eating - until recently when we discovered that our favorite lactose-free yogurt provider was also making sour cream. A huge thank you to Green Valley Organics for bringing sour cream into our lives and making this deliciousness possible. 

I fear I'm going on too much about this one, but I can't hide the way I feel. This pie is my soul mate. 

Whole Wheat Zucchini Potato Pie
Adapted from The New York Times

Crust:

2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons cold Earth Balance (or other non-dairy butter)
1/2 cup shortening, room temperature
1/2 cup ice water

1. Quickly mix the flour, sugar, and salt together in a large bowl. 
2. Break the shortening into large chunks and cut your butter (from the freezer) into small pieces. Add the butter and shortening to the flour mixture. Cut it into the dry ingredients by chopping vigorously with a pastry blender or cutting it with two knives. Work quickly so the butter does not melt. Make sure you are getting all the flour off the bottom of the bowl. Stop when the mixture has some pea-sized pieces and is mostly a consistency of dry, coarse crumbs, like cornmeal. 
3. Drizzle the ice water over the top. Using the blade side of a rubber spatula, cut into the mixture until it is evenly moistened and small balls begin to form. If balls of dough stick together, you're done. If they don't, drizzle 1-2 more tablespoons of water over the top. 
4. Press the dough together until it forms a ball. It should be rough, not smooth. Divide the dough in half and press each into a flat, round disk. Wrap tightly in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. You can refrigerate for up to several days. 

Zucchini and Potato Filling:

1 pound yellow-fleshed potatoes
1 large zucchini
1 1/4 cups sour cream
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
pinch of nutmeg

1. Thinly slice the potatoes and zucchini into discs. (I used a mandolin slicer.)
2. Place into a bowl with the rest of the ingredients and mix gently and thoroughly until all the potato and zucchini slices are covered. 

Putting it Together:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. 
2. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface, beginning in the center and rolling out from all directions. Roll the dough about 3-4 inches wider than your pie pan.
3. Transfer the dough into your pie pan by rolling it loosely around your rolling pin and then unrolling it into the pie pan. Press the dough over the bottom and into the corners of your pan. Trim the edges of the dough, leaving a 3/4 inch overhang, and then tuck that overhang underneath itself.  
4. Put the bottom crust into the refrigerator (preferably for at least 30 minutes). Roll out the top crust in the same way, though a little smaller. Pour your filling into the bottom crust (you can layer all the slices nicely and neatly, but I just poured the filling in distributed everything evenly) and top with the top crust. Cut steam vents in the middle. Crimp the rim with a fork or make a decorative edge. 
5. Place the pie pan on a large baking sheet and place in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes.
6. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake 50-60 minutes more until the top is golden. 
7. Let cool for 5-10 minutes on a rack, then slice and enjoy.

p.s. These cornmeal and rye whole grain waffles are my waffle soul mate.

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Project Pie: Traditional Blueberry Pie

Project Pie: I'll be baking 24 pies before Pi Day 2016 to get over my fear of baking pies. And to eat delicious things. You can join me by posting about your pies in the comments or tagging your twitter, instagram, or facebook posts with #projectpie. Make something scrumptious and gooey!

I wasn't really into cooking until I started experimenting with all sorts of wacky ingredients for my wife - the challenge is what hooked me. And while we eat a lot more "regular" things these days, I still don't have that knowledge base about many recipes - especially baking. I've made dozens of biscuits, but never with real butter and all purpose flour. The same goes for cookies. And pies. 

Since I began Project Pie, I've been keenly aware of my lack of knowledge. What is your pie crust supposed to look like? Feel like? Is it supposed to stretch? If it's crumbly, why? If it's tough, why? I've eaten pie before, so I know what a good flaky crust tastes like, but I had no idea why it got that way. And I had no idea what I might do to make my whole wheat, dairy-free versions mimic some of the most delicious (and coveted) aspects of a traditional pie crust. 

So when my wife was away a few weekends ago, I decided to bake a traditional pie. Real butter, all purpose flour, white sugar. No food processor.

I wanted to really understand pie crust. I wanted the "touch."

I pulled out my big Joy of Cooking and started to read - six pages on the creation of a pie crust. I learned things. About the science behind the flakiness. 

“When the larger chunks of fat melt during baking, they leave gaps in the dough that fill up with steam and expand, separating the pastry into myriad flaky ledges. Inexperienced pie makers tend to overwork the flour and fat mixture into a soft, greasy paste, resulting in pastry that is mealy and dense, like shortbread, rather than crisp and flaky.”

— The Joy of Cooking

And I learned that adding more water and working the dough more causes the formation of gluten, which is what will make your dough hard or chewy and more like bread than pastry. 

I took all the instructions and followed them to the letter, something I almost never do with a recipe. 

I froze the butter but left the shortening at room temperature. 

I cut it in by hand quickly with a pastry cutter, leaving some large pea-sized chunks,  and then mixed in the ice water with my rubber spatula until the dough began to form small balls. 

When I stopped mixing, I couldn't imagine the dough would be able to hold together. But I followed the instructions. I smashed all the little pieces of dough into a ball, separated that into two, wrapped them in plastic wrap and stuck them in the refrigerator to chill. 

When I rolled it out, the dough didn't fall apart. I could see the chunks of butter and shortening. I cut the crust with a 3/4 inch ease around the pie pan and tucked the edges under just like the book said.

Everything exactly as I was instructed.

Turns out The Joy of Cooking knows what it's talking about. When I cut into that pie, the crust cracked beautiful, flakes of perfection sticking up as the knife went in. 

There was much rejoicing. (Followed by face-stuffing.)

Whether this knowledge will help me create a tender and flaky whole wheat + vegan pie crust remains to be seen, but I have to hope it will. For now, I'm basking in the success of that exquisite pie and hoping I don't hurt my arm from all the patting myself on the back. 

Traditional Blueberry Pie
From The Joy of Cooking

Crust:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
1/2 cup shortening, room temperature
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon ice water
egg or milk + sugar for glaze

1. Quickly mix the flour, sugar, and salt together in a large bowl. 
2. Break the shortening into large chunks and cut your butter (from the freezer) into small pieces. Add the butter and shortening to the flour mixture. Cut it into the dry ingredients by chopping vigorously with a pastry blender or cutting it with two knives. Work quickly so the butter does not melt. Make sure you are getting all the flour off the bottom of the bowl. Stop when the mixture has some pea-sized pieces and is mostly a consistency of dry, coarse crumbs, like cornmeal. 
3. Drizzle the ice water over the top. Using the blade side of a rubber spatula, cut into the mixture until it is evenly moistened and small balls begin to form. If balls of dough stick together, you're done. If they don't, drizzle 1-2 more tablespoons of water over the top. (I added 1 1/2 more tablespoons, but this will depend on the particulars of your flour, kitchen air, etc.)
4. Press the dough together until it forms a ball. It should be rough, not smooth. Divide the dough in half and press each into a flat, round disk. Wrap tightly in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. You can refrigerate for up to several days. 

Blueberry Filling:
5 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
3/4 cup sugar
3 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/8 teaspoon salt
1-2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1. Combine the first 6 ingredients and let stand for 15 minutes.
2. When you pour the mixture into the bottom curst, dot it with the butter. 

Putting it together:
1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. 
2. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface, beginning in the center and rolling out from all directions. Roll the dough about 3-4 inches wider than your pie pan.
3. Transfer the dough into your pie pan by rolling it loosely around your rolling pin and then unrolling it into the pie pan. Press the dough over the bottom and into the corners of your pan. Trim the edges of the dough, leaving a 3/4 inch overhang, and then tuck that overhang underneath itself.  (If you're able to eat eggs, do an egg wash over the bottom crust to seal it from the pie filling.)
4. Put the bottom crust into the refrigerator (preferably for at least 30 minutes). Roll out the top crust in the same way, though a little smaller. Pour your filling into the bottom crust and top with the top crust. Cut steam vents in the middle. Crimp the rim with a fork or make a decorative edge. 
5. Place the pie pan on a large baking sheet and place in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes.
6. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake 25-30 minutes or until bubbles juice through the vent. 
7. Let cool completely on a rack (this step is important so that all the juices don't just flow out when you cut the first piece).

p.s. Cherry Chocolate (Green) Smoothie

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Strawberry Basil Pie (Vegan)

Project Pie: I'll be baking 24 pies before Pi Day 2016 to get over my fear of baking pies. And to eat delicious things. You can join me by posting about your pies in the comments or tagging your twitter, instagram, or facebook posts with #projectpie. Make something gooey and delicious!

I should have waited until later in the summer to make this pie, when strawberries are in season and I'll be able to pick pints of them when I pick up my farm share. But what can I say? I'm impatient. I got this pie cookbook at a cute little kitchen store in Saratoga Springs. I was immediately drawn in by the stunning photos and a few of the recipes that looked not only fabulous but also adaptable to our particular dietary needs. 

The book is separated into sections based on season and then further into months. When I told my wife I was going to be making the strawberry basil pie, she asked if I shouldn't wait a little longer, until strawberries are really in season here.

But it's one of the pies for June! I exclaimed. And it's June!

With the cold lingering these last few weeks and me spending most of my time in long sleeves, I'm looking for summer wherever I can get it. And this strawberry basil pie tastes pretty much like summer on a plate. Even warm, its subtle flavors are refreshing and light. If you're a little skeptical of the salad-like ingredients, don't be. The basil, balsamic vinegar, and pepper just provide hints of a more sophisticated flavor and keep the pie from being overly sweet.

And this crust. Yum. 

It's the best one I've made so far, significantly more like pastry dough than my regular go-to pie crust.

I also think the spelled-out method for creating the dough in the food processor was helpful for me to understand exactly when to stop processing. I might try her method with my go-to and see if that results in a flakier crust. 

Vegan Strawberry Basil Pie 
Adapted from First Prize Pies

Cornmeal Crust

1 cup Earth Balance, cut into 1/2-inch pieces and chilled
1/2 cup almond milk (or other non-dairy milk)
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
2 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour, chilled
3/4 cup cornmeal, chilled
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1. Stir together the milk and vinegar and place in the refrigerator until ready to use. 
2. Fit the food processor with a metal blade and add the dry ingredients, pulsing once to blend. 
3. Take your milk mixture and Earth Balance out of the refrigerator. Pour the Earth Balance into the food processor and turn it on. 
4. After a couple seconds, begin slowly pouring the milk mixture through the feed tube of the food processor. Once the mixture has been added, turn off the processor. 
5. Pour the dough onto plastic wrap, bind it tightly, and refrigerate for at least an hour. (Note: The dough should come together if pressed but will not have formed a ball on its own in the food processor.)

Filling

8 cups fresh or frozen strawberries, hulled and halved
10 large basil leaves, sliced very thinly
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
zest of 1 lemon
2/3 cup agave nectar
1/4 cup arrowroot powder (or sub cornstarch)
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
Almond milk wash, for glaze
Coconut palm sugar, for garnish

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the first 5 ingredients. If you are using frozen strawberries, thaw and drain them prior to mixing. 
3. In a separate bowl, mix together the arrowroot, pepper, and salt. Add this to the strawberry mixture right before adding the filling to the crust.

Putting it together

1. Remove the crust dough from the refrigerator and split in half. Place one half back into the refrigerator and roll the other half into a circle on parchment paper. Transfer it to a 9-inch pie plate and trim the overhang. 
2. Place the pie plate in the refrigerator and take out the other half of the dough. Roll this second half into a circle and cut into six strips. 
3. Pour the strawberry mixture (with the arrowroot mixture added in) into the pie pan and form a lattice on the top. Trim the edges and use a fork to crimp.  Brush the top with almond milk and sprinkle with sugar. 
4. Place the pie on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, turning once halfway through. 
5. Lower the temperature to 375 degrees and bake for 30 minutes more, or until the crust is golden and the strawberry juices have thickened. Cool on a rack at least an hour before serving. 

Note: Earth Balance and nondairy milk are subbed one-for-one for butter and milk in this recipe - feel free to use dairy ingredients if you can. 

p.s. I'm 8 pies in on my 24 pie challenge. Here's what I've made so far:

Vegetarian Taco Pie with Cornbread Topping

Vegan Maple Pecan Pie

Chicken Pot Pie with Herb Crust

Very Berry Mousse Pie

Passover Chocolate Mousse Pie

Whole Wheat Maple Apple Pie

Vegan Shepherd's Pie

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Project Pie: Vegetarian Taco Pie with Cornbread Topping

Project Pie: I'll be baking 24 pies before Pi Day 2016 to get over my fear of baking pies. And to eat delicious things. You can join me by posting about your pies in the comments or tagging your twitter, instagram, or facebook posts with #projectpie. Make something gooey and delicious!

If I could only eat one type of food for the rest of my life, it would be Tex-Mex. I should probably be embarrassed by that, but I'm not. I love cheese and salsa and cilantro, refried beans, guacamole, tortillas. Margaritas. Tamales, enchiladas, quesadillas, burritos, tacos. Nachos. All of it. I can't think of a dish in a Tex-Mex restaurant that I don't like. 

Now I've made myself hungry. 

It made sense that one of my pies would hail from that land of delicious fusion. I drew from one of our favorite recipes for the flavor profile and then added in a few extras, making a definite Tex-Mex win. And it's healthy. Sure, it has some cheese and that cornbread topping, but the bulk of this pie is sweet potato and black beans. So you can pat yourself on the back for getting in some good-for-you veggies while you're chowing down. 

(I apologize for the dark photos. I worked late in the garden, and when this came out of the oven, we were both so hungry and it smelled so good. We needed to eat it asap!)

Vegetarian Taco Pie with Cornbread Topping

Favorite cornbread (this is the one I use)
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 1/2 cup canned black beans, drained
1 cup corn, fresh or frozen
2 cups spinach, roughly chopped
2 red peppers, roasted
3 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
3 cloves garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder (or regular)
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 8 oz can sliced black olives, drained
1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. 
2. Put the diced sweet potatoes into a pot and cover with water. Place on a burner at high heat, cover, and bring to a boil. Let boil for 10-15 minutes or until sweet potatoes are soft. 
3. While the sweet potatoes are cooking, prepare your favorite cornbread recipe and set aside. (Note: I had already-roasted red peppers in the freezer. You could use roasted red peppers from a jar, but if you're using fresh, now would be a good time to throw them into the oven.)
4. Once the sweet potatoes are soft, drain the water. Mix in the next 10 ingredients.
5. Pour the sweet potato and black bean mixture into a pie plate. You will have extra left over if you are not using a deep dish pie plate. 
6. Smooth the mixture, and spread the sliced black olives on top. Then sprinkle the shredded cheese on top of the olives. 
7. Finally, top with the cornbread mixture, spreading gently to cover the whole surface. 
8. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. (It might have the taco mixture on it, but make sure there is no uncooked cornbread batter.)
9. Serve with sour cream, salsa, and a few avocado slices. 


p.s. Happy Memorial Day! And thank you to all those who have served (and to their spouses and children for sharing them).


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Cheese + Chive Fried Grits

I made these with stoneground yellow grits from Sylvan Falls Mill in Georgia (courtesy of my step-mom).

I'm a grits girl. Always have been. Always will be.

And in a kind of surprising coincidence, my wife is too. Though she had not or could not eat many of my favorite Southern or Cajun foods (being Jewish and from the North), she had grown up eating grits because one of her best childhood friends had a mother from South Carolina who made them. And she actually introduced me to stoneground yellow grits, which have a nuttier flavor than the traditional white grits I grew up eating and are now what we keep around the house.

We have a new favorite brunch spot in downtown Burlington, and we almost always get a side of grits. The first time we ordered them, we were surprised when the server brought two triangular patties to our table rather than a bowl of grits. I've had fried polenta, which is essentially the same thing, but these tasted like the delicious cheese grits I've always loved - just fried.

And we all know the only way to make a perfect food better is to fry it.

I think The Swingin' Pinwheel deep fries theirs (though not battered), but that's a lot of work and also mostly unnecessary. We just pan fried ours in a little oil, and they were heavenly. A little crunch on the outside and cheesy, creamy goodness on the inside. Yes please.

Cheese + Chive Fried Grits 

1 cup yellow grits
3 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons chopped chives

1. Pour grits, salt, and water into a pot and bring to a boil.
2. Once the water is boiling, turn the heat down, cover, and simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently to avoid sticking.
3. While the grits are cooking, line a 9x9 pan with two pieces of parchment paper - one going in each direction.
4. Once the grits are creamy and have soaked up all the water, stir in the cheese and the chopped chives. (If you don't want to fry your grits, you could enjoy them just like this.)
5. Pour the grits into the pan and place in the refrigerator for at least an hour (overnight is fine).
6. Once the grits have chilled, cut them into triangles and pan fry them over medium high heat with a little oil. You don't need much - maybe a tablespoon. Canola or grapeseed oil works best because of the temperature.
7. Let the triangles fry on each side for about 3-4 minutes. Once both sides are nice and brown, put the fried grits onto a paper towel and then serve.

A note about the grits to water ratio: if you look up how to make grits online, most recipes will tell you to use a 4:1 ratio of water to grits. I always use a 3:1 ratio because they cook faster, and I like that the grits retain a little of their structure for a denser, nuttier dish.

These can be a breakfast food, but they don't have to be. I served ours with salad for dinner.


p.s. Boiled peanuts. 


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Project Pie: Vegan Maple Pecan Pie with No Refined Sugar

Project Pie: I'll be baking 24 pies before Pi Day 2016 to get over my fear of baking pies. And to eat delicious things. You can join me by posting about your pies in the comments or tagging your twitter, instagram, or facebook posts with #projectpie. Make something gooey and delicious!

Pecan pie was pretty standard holiday fair in my childhood home. There might be some discussion about whether we added on an apple pie or pumpkin pie (which I didn't like as a kid), but there was no question that twice a year - Thanksgiving and Christmas - my mom would make that sweet, gooey dessert.

One Thanksgiving in high school, I was tasked with putting together the pie - not a difficult job since we used a prepared pie crust and the filling essentially involves mixing a bunch of things together. But it looked funny when I put it into the oven, not quite brown enough. I figured maybe it caramelized in the heat and got that dark rich hue from cooking. Unfortunately, after an hour at 350, it looked even worse, like a puffed up pecan cake inside a pie shell.

"But I did everything the directions said!" I told my mom. She picked up the recipe and scanned it. I looked over her shoulder.

"Oh," I said quietly.

 I looked at her sheepishly. "I put in two cups of flour instead of two tablespoons."

She burst out laughing. "Well that'll do it."

I think we ate it anyway. Perhaps I'd invented some new confectionary delight, and we didn't even realize it.

That was the only time I ever made pecan pie, in part because we had it less as I got older, and in part because I've never made it in my own home.

When I started Project Pie, one of the first pies my wife asked about was pecan. And I told her there was no way I could make a pecan pie that could meet our dietary restrictions. It was all eggs (me) and corn syrup (her). But the idea stuck in my head, and a week ago, I googled "pecan pie without corn syrup" and "maple pecan pie" and "pecan pie flax egg" just to see if anything like that was in the realm of possibility. Turns out, it is. I combined a bunch of different recipes and added in some of my own substitutions, and folks, I am redeemed.

When you bite into a piece of gooey, pecan-y goodness, you can't deny that Southerners know what they're doing. It even works when you change everything up and prepare it with ingredients that would make my grandmother shudder!

Vegan Maple Pecan Pie
Adapted from Epicurious 

One crust (of your choice - this is my go-to*)
2 tablespoons chia seeds, ground
6 tablespoons warm water
1 cup maple syrup
3/4 coconut palm sugar
1 tablespoon flour (I used whole wheat)
3 tablespoons earth balance (or other vegan margarine), melted
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 1/2 cup pecan halves for topping (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350, and prepare crust.
2. Mix together ground chia seeds (fresh ground are best, but you can find them pre-ground in some health food stores) and the warm water. Place in the refrigerator for 5-10 minutes.
3. Combine the maple syrup, coconut sugar, flour, earth balance, and vanilla in a bowl. Once the chia seeds and water have reached an egg-y consistency, pour them into the maple syrup mixture.
4. Pour the chopped pecans into your pie crust, and top with the maple syrup mixture.
5. Arrange the pecan halves on top and place in the oven on a baking sheet (to catch drips) and bake for 55 minutes. Remove from oven and place on a pie rack to cool.

p.s. Making recipes from my childhood that my wife can eat is my favorite. 

* I prepared my crust this time by hand instead of in the food processor with this recipe - just to see how that would go. I didn't like it nearly as well - it was dry and crumbly. I did have to roll it out twice because I got it stuck the first time, so perhaps that's what went wrong?

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The Best Roasted Potatoes

Potatoes were not the primary carb in my house growing up, at least not in their whole potato form. We had mashed potatoes (from a box - gasp!) and sometimes potato salad in the summer, but our mainstay starchy deliciousness was rice, a holdover from my parent's Louisiana upbringing where everything is served on top of it (gumbo, etouffee) or mixed with it (jambalaya, red beans and rice).

As a kid, I actually avoided things that tasted too much like potato. Steak fries? Absolutely not. I wanted skinny, crunchy, well-browned strips that may have been a potato in a former life but were by that point simply delicious vessels for grease, salt, and mustard (never been a ketchup fan). And whole baked potatoes, which I loved, were in my favorite foods index simply because I slathered them in butter, sour cream, gooey cheese, and bacon. Without those "toppings," I wasn't all that interested.

So it took me a while to get into roasted potatoes. The first time I ordered hash browns alongside my omelet and found myself looking at diced potatoes instead of the familiar shredded Waffle House-style pile, I contemplated sending the plate back. What were these? Roasted potatoes? Masquerading as hash browns?

But as my brunch tooth grew (and grew and grew), I started to warm to these perfectly spiced, crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside roasted potatoes. Those were the keys. They had to be spiced well - salted, maybe with a little spice, or an italian kick. They had to be crunchy on the outside. Soggy roasted potatoes are just a nonstarter. But crunchy all the way through won't work either. It's a delicate balance.

And this recipe from Emeril's Farm to Fork is that balance. They are perfect. Every. Time.

I've used russet potatoes, fingerling potatoes, sweet potatoes, those little round red potatoes. I've cut them in large chunks for dinner and diced them for breakfast. They are fabulous without fail.

I have made them so many times that I don't even use the recipe anymore, though the cookbook falls open to that exact page. Because I love thyme so much, I've added in a lot more than the original recipe, and I think that's part of what makes them my absolute favorite.

These are a teensy bit of extra work, but they are entirely worth it.

Roasted Potatoes
Very slightly adapted from Farm to Fork

2 pounds potatoes
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon coarse sea salt (I use whatever I have)
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 bay leaves
6 sprigs thyme
2 heaping tablespoons fresh thyme
3 sprigs rosemary
2 tablespoons butter (I use earth balance)

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Slice the potatoes into whatever size you want them - I usually quarter a fingerling potato. Remember to adjust your cooking time if you go very small or very big.
3. In a medium bowl add the olive oil, salt, paprika, pepper, bay leaves, thyme, and rosemary. Add the potatoes and toss thoroughly, making sure all the potatoes are covered.
4. Place the sprigs on a rimmed baking sheet and pour the potatoes on top. Set the bowl aside.
5. Roast the potatoes for 20 minutes.
6. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and pour the potatoes and herbs into the bowl you set aside earlier. Add the butter (or earth balance) and toss well until melted.
7. Carefully return the potatoes to the hot baking sheet. Roast for another 15-20 minutes or until fork-tender. Discard the herb sprigs and serve.


p.s. My wife wanted me to start this post with AAAAAAAHHHH!!! THESE POTATOES ARE AMAZING!! AAAAAAAAH!!!!


p.s.s. My mama's peach cobbler, vegan-style.


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Project Pie: Very Berry Mousse Pie

Project Pie: I'll be baking 24 pies before Pi Day 2016 to get over my fear of baking pies. And to eat delicious things. You can join me by posting about your pies in the comments or tagging your twitter, instagram, or facebook posts with #projectpie. Make something gooey and delicious!

Saturday afternoon, in the middle of making this pie, I stopped, took myself into my bedroom, and put myself to bed. I gave myself 5 minutes. A time-out to think about my own behavior. 

We had people coming for a not-yet-cooked dinner, the kitchen looked like we'd been bombed, I broke the shell of my pie crust, the coconut cream layer was too thick and wouldn't spread properly, the pie crust was out of proportion to the amount of filling, the sun was going down so I wouldn't be able to get natural light photographs, and I'd done almost nothing on my page-long to-do list. Naturally, I did what any reasonable person would do in this circumstance. I yelled at my wife, slapped a spatula down on the counter (spattering coconut cream everywhere), and had a full-on temper tantrum. 

Unaffected by Navah's attempts at logical problem-solving, I huffed around the kitchen, slamming cabinet doors and muttering under my breath. And then some mildly sane voice, which I suspect was my therapist telepathically sending me messages from her vacation in Turkey, suggested that I walk away for a few minutes. 

So I did.

And I learned what I assume every parent knows. Time-outs are not so much about punishment as they are about resetting. When you're in the middle of the temper tantrum, there's nothing but the temper tantrum. Everything is horrible and unfixable and must be blamed on someone. 

In the five minutes that I lay on my bed, these things happened: 

1. My breathing slowed down. 

2. The thoughts in my brain slowed down. 

3. I realized that the sun would could up again tomorrow, and I could take a picture then. 

4. I had the epiphany that a fruit compote on top of the coconut cream layer would be delicious and would (1) cover up the messiness of the coconut cream layer and (2) increase the height of the filling so it didn't look so stupid in my deep dish pie pan. 

5. I thought, "I love my wife. I'd like to apologize to her and give her a hug."

6. I said a little prayer of thanks that it took less than five minutes for some space in my brain to open up and allow rational, non-panicky thoughts. 

I sat on the edge of the couch and told Navah I was sorry, and we talked about why making a pie had sent me over the edge. "If this doesn't turn out," I told her, "I won't have any recipes for my blog this week. And I'll get behind on Project Pie." 

"Couldn't you write about the failure?" she asked.

I looked at her askance. 

"Wasn't the whole Project Pie thing supposed to be about facing your fear and allowing yourself to mess up?" she asked. 

Oh, how quickly the attitude of play and experimentation gets thrown out the window. 

With just three successful pies under my belt, that old familiar expectation of perfection had plunged me into the worst version of myself. Failure was no longer an option. Especially not with an audience.

And as it turns out, it wasn't a failure. Giving myself the time to step away and let the Perfection Monster slink back into its tidy little corner allowed new ideas to bubble to the surface. The fruit compote saved the day. After Navah and I tried a little of the pie without it, we decided the "fixed" pie was better than it would have been had I not had a few mess-ups in the first place. 

It's a constant practice, this acceptance of imperfection. 

It's better with pie. 


Very Berry Mousse Pie 
Adapted from Spunky Coconut 

Prepare and bake this pie crust (or your favorite) for 10 minutes at 325 degrees. 

Very Berry Mousse

Add to your blender or food processor:

3/4 cup canned coconut milk
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 heaping cup frozen mixed berries
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon gelatin, dissolved in boiling water (add last)

Puree and pour into the cooled crust. Place in the refrigerator to set for at least 30 minutes. 

Coconut Cream Whipped Topping

Add to your blender or food processor:

2 cups coconut cream
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon agave nectar
3/4 tablespoon gelatin, dissolved in boiling water (add last) 

Puree and pour onto the very berry mousse layer. Refrigerator for 30-45 minutes to allow to set up fully. 

Fruit Compote

4 cups frozen mixed berries
1 tablespoon chia seeds
1/2 tablespoon agave nectar

Bring ingredients to boiling over medium-high heat. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and stir frequently until a jam consistency. Spread onto the cooled coconut cream whipped topping layer. 



p.s. Another coconut cream favorite - four-ingredient vegan chocolate frosting.


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Vegan Caprese Skewers

You would think that, as a sometimes food blogger, potlucks would be my jam. I'd show up with something amazingly delicious, and everyone would ooh and ah as they took seconds and asked for the recipe.

But you'd be wrong.

I do have a friend who shows up to every potluck with an incredible dish - usually some sort of scrumptious dessert - that took hours to make and meets everyone's dietary restrictions, of which there are usually a significant handful. My salivary glands start working overtime as soon as she walks in the door, and I'm never disappointed.

I, on the other hand, usually show up late carrying a grocery bag with a loaf of bread and a container of herbed goat cheese. Seriously, that's my go-to buy-it-on-the-way potluck presentation.

I love to cook, but I am super temperamental about it. And, as it happens, a potluck invitation almost never coincides with my urge to make something delicious. Instead, I remember the night before and have a conversation with my wife where she suggests multiple things I could make; I reject them all as too time-consuming, too difficult, not tasty enough; we end up stopping at the store on the way there; and I apologize profusely to the host for failing to prepare something special for the occasion.

So what's the problem? It's not that people don't love bread and goat cheese. They do. It's always gone by the time I leave.

It's just that I do actually enjoy sharing yummy food with friends. But I have potluck anxiety - like the test anxiety that afflicted me in my 7th grade algebra class.

Because I think of myself as someone who makes yummy food, a potluck (which, let's face it, is basically a competition to see who can bring the most delicious thing) fills me with dread and an overwhelming case of procrastination.

As such, I've essentially opted out of the high stakes potluck game by bringing store-bought food. 

Like I said before, though - I actually do enjoy preparing food and sharing it with friends. I just need to start small to overcome my potluck anxiety. These vegan caprese skewers are super simple, and yet they pack a flavorful enough punch and look cute enough that I'm happy to carry them into a friend's house, even if I know I won't be getting any medals for most amazing dish.

You have to start where you are. 

Vegan Caprese Skewers

1 container grape tomatoes
1 jar (or can) hearts of palm 
1 bunch basil 
cocktail skewers or toothpicks
balsamic vinegar (optional)

1. Slice the hearts of palm into 1/2 inch thick circles, and remove basil leaves from the stalk. 
2. Fold a basil leaf in half or thirds and slide onto a toothpick, followed by a circle of hearts of palm, and a grape tomato. Continue with the rest of your skewers.
3. If you want a little more flavor, drizzle with balsamic vinegar right before serving. 

Just to blow your mind: You can also make these for yourself, no potluck necessary. I made them and put them in the refrigerator, giving us a healthy and delicious snack for the week (that we ate in 36 hours). 


p.s. Pistachio and coconut stuffed dates - another quick recipe that is deliciously potluck-worthy.


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Project Pie: Passover Chocolate Mousse Pie

Project Pie: I'll be baking 24 pies before Pi Day 2016 to get over my fear of baking pies. And to eat delicious things. You can join me by posting about your pies in the comments or tagging your twitter, instagram, or facebook posts with #projectpie. Make something gooey and delicious!

This chocolate velvet pie is my wife's favorite dessert. It comes with those special feelings that holiday baked goods always have, and it gets bonus points for being adaptable. My mother-in-law served it the first time I spent Passover with Navah's family, and I've made it almost every year since then for Navah's birthday - even with all the various eating restrictions we've worked with over time.

Unfortunately, the making of it has involved a lot of cursing (from me). I can never get the chocolate to melt well and fold into the eggs without getting fudgy, and then it breaks up into little bits throughout the mousse. Navah says it's delicious and she loves it anyway, but it drives me crazy every time.

Once I started the Project Pie challenge, I realized it was time - once and for all - to get this pie right. So I asked my mother-in-law if we could make it together this Passover.

She took out this stained piece of paper with the recipe on it and told me that Navah's aunt (her sister-in-law) found the recipe in a Seventeen magazine when she was sixteen years old, and they've used it ever since, adapting it slightly to meet their Passover needs (aka non-dairy so that it can be served with the meat meal). Navah's mom learned to make it in her mother-in-law's kitchen about 40 years before she taught me to make it in hers. 

We made it with non-dairy whipping cream and kosher for passover semi-sweet baking chocolate, and it turned out perfectly. I'm going to have to try it at home again with the ingredients I generally use - coconut cream and sunspire grain-sweetened chocolate chips - to see if precisely following my mother-in-law's method will turn out a smoother pie. 

Of course, you can make this with regular whipping cream if dairy isn't an issue.

Passover Chocolate Mousse Pie (non-dairy)

7 ounces semi-sweet baking chocolate
3 tablespoons hot water
7 eggs, separated
2/3 cup sugar, separated
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup non-dairy whipping cream
pinch of salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff peaks form. Gently fold in 1/3 cup of sugar and set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks with the other 1/3 cup sugar until lemon yellow.
4. Melt the chocolate and water over the stove or in the microwave. Watch closely and stop the heat (either on the stove or in the microwave) before the chocolate has completely melted. Stir to complete the melting process.
5. Mix the melted chocolate into the egg yolks.
6. Gently fold the chocolate mixture into the egg whites that you set aside earlier.
7. Pour half of the mix into a greased pie plate and bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. This chocolate crust should rise a bit but will sink while you let it cool (for at least 1 hour).
8. Once the crust is cool, whip one cup of the cream, reserving 1/4 cup for garnish.
9. Add the remaining 3/4 cup whipped cream to the remaining chocolate mixture and pour into the pie crust.
10. Place in the refrigerator for 2 hours - overnight.
11. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream.


p.s. As the snow melts and Spring comes to Vermont in earnest, this is something I'll be worrying about again soon.


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Boiled Peanuts (or How to Be a Southerner)

My college roommate got married last May down in that part of northern Florida that is essentially synonymous with southern Georgia. 95 degrees without a cloud in the sky, the air hugged us tightly as soon as we walked outside. We spent a day and a half fanning ourselves while we cut stunning gladiolas from her mother's front yard for the centerpieces, swatting away mosquitos under the Spanish moss, and wiping the sweat (excuse me, the

glisten

) and melting sunscreen from our brows as we carried tablecloths and homemade strawberry cake into the garden center where she would say "I do" to her long-time boyfriend under the oak trees.

We woke happy and hungover the day after the wedding, rummaged through the refrigerator in our bathing suits, and dumped leftover corn on the cob and barbecue sandwiches and beer into a cooler. We shoved ourselves into a couple cars with the bride and groom (now husband and wife) and headed south for a few hours at the beach, a little friend-accompanied pre-honeymoon.

Before we turned left onto the long straight road aimed toward the Gulf, we stopped at a little wooden hut where an older gentleman sold us boiled peanuts for five dollars. We breathed in the smell of the salty brine and with soggy napkins crumpled in our fingers, we passed the hot bag around the car.

The beige sand stretched along for miles, and we sat on the edges of a sheet under the pop-up canopy drinking and snacking and telling stories. When it got too hot, we waded into the calm water and tried not to step on the horseshoe crabs zipping around underneath us. The sun started to dip below the horizon, and we rolled up the sheet and walked barefoot back to the cars.

We drove back in the dark, tired and sandy and satiated.

Boiled Peanuts 

From

EJ

, with much gratitude

Raw peanuts in their shells (not roasted)

Salt

1. Dump about 2 pounds of peanuts in their shells into a stock pot and cover with water plus an inch or two more.

2. Bring to a boil.

3. Add 1/2 cup salt and turn down to a simmer.

4. Simmer covered for 1 1/2 - 2 hours and then check to see if the peanuts are soft. (I actually had to cook mine for about 4-5 hours. I think I didn't add enough water in the beginning - I added more - and perhaps had them on too low of a simmer).

5. Once the peanuts are soft, turn off the heat and let them sit in the salty water for at least a half hour.

6. Drain the peanuts in a colander and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. They can be reheated in the microwave or eaten cold.

Shout out again to EJ

, who made this walk down memory lane possible by sending me the peanuts and the recipe. Thank you thank you thank you!

p.s.

You can go home again

.

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Project Pie: Whole Wheat Maple Apple Pie

Project Pie: I'll be baking 24 pies before Pi Day 2016 to get over my fear of baking pies. And to eat delicious things. You can join me by posting about your pies in the comments or tagging your twitter, instagram, or facebook posts with #projectpie. Make something gooey and delicious!

After I announced my pie-baking intentions last week, I got a super nice email from Elizabeth sharing a pie crust recipe that she promised was "crazy easy." It was so kind of her to send the email ("I figure if you find a recipe that works, share the hell out of it, because sometimes finding good yummy recipes is not always easy."), and it pushed me from thinking about baking another pie to actually baking another pie this weekend. 

And she was right. Crazy easy pie crust - even with whole wheat. 

I went with an apple pie for #2. And here's the thing about apples: I am super picky about apples for eating straight. An apple must be crisp, juicy, and sweet. Not tough or grainy or mealy or tasteless or soft or bitter. I simply won't eat it. And this time of year can be a little rough on that front. My favorites are Honey Crisp and Pink Lady, but those are difficult to come by. What I see a lot of are big bags of apples that I don't really love to eat - Macintosh, Macoun, Empire. Generally not good for eating (in my opinion), especially when they've been stored since the Fall, but they are excellent for cooking. 

Those bagged apples were just begging me to make an apple pie. 

And thank goodness because apple pie is freaking delicious. I forgot a little bit until my taste buds reminded me. 

Of course everything we make in this house is a little bit wacky, so our apple pie has a 100% whole wheat pie crust (delicious) and is sweetened with maple syrup and coconut palm sugar (also delicious) and no refined sugars. But I would happily feed it to guests with no food restrictions. It's that's good. 

Navah proclaimed it the best thing I've ever baked. 

Maple Apple Pie (whole wheat, without refined sugar)

100% Whole Wheat Crust

from Elizabeth Patel

2.5 cups flour (I used white whole wheat)

2 sticks (or 1 cup) butter or margarine (I used earth balance)

2 ounces cold water

2 ounces vodka

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. 

2. Cut your butter into chunks (best if they're not all uniform in size) and put in the freezer for at least 10 minutes.

3. Add the flour and butter to your food processor and pulse 8-10 times, or until the mixture looks a little crumbly. Stop before it starts to look like cornmeal. You want some different sized buttery chunks. 

4. Pour in the water and vodka and pulse again 8-10 times until the dough starts to come together. Stop before it forms a big ball. 

5. Take the dough out of the food processor. It should all stick together at this point. Separate the dough into two equal chunks. Using a rolling pin, roll out 1 chunk of dough on a lightly floured surface until it is about an inch wider than your pie plate all the way around. 

6. Pick the crust up by rolling it onto your rolling pin and place it into your pie plate. Cut off any excess around the edges and put the crust into the refrigerator to chill while you make the apple filling. 

7. Wrap the other chunk of dough in saran wrap and put into the refrigerator. 

Maple Apple Filling

5-6 apples (I used Macintosh)

1 tablespoon butter or margarine (again, I used earth balance)

2 tablespoons whole wheat flour (I used white whole wheat)

1/2 cup coconut palm sugar

2 tablespoons maple syrup

1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1. Peel and cut up the apples - I used a simple corer/slicer and then cut each slice two more times lengthwise. 

2. Put the apples into a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 5-6 minutes. 

3. Drain the liquid from the apples and then add in the rest of the ingredients and mix until incorporated. 

Putting the pie together

1. Pour the apple mixture into your chilled pie crust. 

2. Roll out your second chunk of dough until it's about 1/8 inch thick and use cookie cutters to cut out shapes. 

3. Place the shapes onto the pie crust in a pattern that suits your fancy. 

4. Bake the pie at 375 degrees for 1 hour. If the edges start to brown or burn, use tin foil to cover them and continue cooking. 

5. Serve warm. 

As you can see from the pictures, I'm not perfect at pie crust making - the edges of my crust don't go over the edge of the pie plate. I underestimated how much crust (and how many apples) I would need to fill up the deep dish pie pan. But the idea here was to bake more pies and to stop feeling intimidated, not to be perfect. Remember the rules?

1. Make some pies.

2. Don't cry if they're not perfect.

Anyone else out there baking a pie this week? What kind? I need ideas for pie #3!

p.s. This vegan apple crisp is another great way to use those bagged apples.

Project Pie: Vegan Shepherd's Pie

While having lunch with a friend a few weeks ago, the conversation turned to dessert, as always happens with the best conversations. And my friend and I both agreed that the most marvelous desserts are those that end with the word pie. Cherry pie. Apple pie. Key lime pie. Chocolate mousse pie. Pecan pie.

Before I go full Forrest Gump on this, I think we can all just agree that pie is delicious.

Even if you are someone who would choose a seven layer cake over a blueberry pie, there's no one out there who would claim to not like pie, right? Actually, don't answer that question. I don't want to know.

So I've had pie on the mind, and then all the sudden, it was Pi Day, and my social media/phone addiction became intimately linked with a desire for anything baked in a deep round dish. Every time I pulled up a feed, there was another picture of a pie.

You would think this is the part of the story where I share about how I rushed into the kitchen and prepared some fruity goodness with a flaky crust, but here's the thing: I'm afraid of making pie.

The crust intimidates me. The possibility of a lot of effort and a terrible outcome seems significant. Especially when you throw in the fact that I'm often working with some odd assortment of alternative ingredients. It has to be whole wheat or egg-less or vegan or made without refined sugars. Or (E) all of the above. And the panic sets in. What if it sticks to the pan? What if the crust crumbles and falls apart? What if the filling is too liquid and pours all over the pan when I cut the first piece?

To avoid anxiety attacks, I've avoided pies.

But lately I've gotten kind of tired of avoiding things that intimidate me. I'm not jumping out of planes or anything, but I think anxiety is a pretty lame reason for me not to be eating more pie. I mean, if I were anxious that the pie was going to kill me or something, that would be different. But worried that I won't get it perfectly right?

Not a good reason to limit my intake of homemade goodness.

Hence the introduction of Project Pie.

From now until the next Pi Day, I will make 24 pies. I figure two pies a month is something my hands (and my belly) can handle. Feel free to join in if you're needing a little more pie in your life.

The rules are:
1. Make some pies.
2. Don't cry if they're not perfect.

And since I'm in favor of baby steps on the path to pie baking euphoria, I started with something simple - this vegan shepherd's pie from Minimalist Baker. No pesky crust to worry about. Just lentils and veggies topped with mashed potatoes. What could go wrong with that? Absolutely nothing. It was delicious.

And now that I've got Pie #1 under my belt, I'm looking forward to testing the waters a little with something more courageous next time.

Stay tuned.


p.s. Make these pistachio and coconut stuffed dates dipped in chocolate. Enjoy them for me.

Easy Chocolate Bark: 5 Flavors

Peppermint chocolate bark was one of my favorite holiday treats growing up. It still is - the perfect thing to make when you want to have something delicious that feels like the holidays but you don't have much time. It's one of those easy desserts that looks a little fancy. The whole production takes less than ten minutes.

More recently, I've discovered the joy of chocolate bark all year round. If it's possible to be easier than my childhood holiday bark with peppermint and white chocolate (melt chocolate, mix with peppermint, spread in pan), it is (melt chocolate, spread in pan, sprinkle with goodies).  If you have the right ingredients at home, you can make it in the 8 minutes before guests arrive once you remember that you forgot to pick up something sweet to finish off the meal. Or in the few minutes before bed on a Sunday night so you'll have a treat throughout the week.

The "right" ingredients are some chocolate and whatever fun goodies you can find to throw on top. You might have everything you need in your pantry right now.

I've started you off with five options for easy chocolate bark here, but the possibilities are endless.

Peppermint chocolate bark

chocolate + crushed peppermint candies

Pretzel chocolate bark

chocolate + pretzels

Fruit and nut chocolate bark

chocolate + diced apricots, raisins, and sliced almonds

Lavender chocolate bark

chocolate + dried lavender

Berry chocolate bark 

chocolate + warmed berry jam, drizzled on top and swirled with a toothpick

You could use the chocolate bark that comes in big chunks, but I like to be decadent and use chocolate chips. We're partial to Sunspire grain sweetened dark chocolate chips. They have the perfect rich flavor that I'm looking for from dark chocolate, and they help us reduce our refined sugar intake while we're shoving delicious goodies into our mouths. It's a win win.

If I haven't made it clear yet, the method for this is simple. I'm not even going to call it a recipe.

Here are the steps:

Chocolate Bark

1. In a microwave-safe bowl, microwave 2 cups chocolate chips at 15-30 second intervals, stirring in between, until melted. (You could also use a double-boiler on the stove, but I go the quickest route)
2. While it's melting, lightly grease a cookie sheet and then place a piece of parchment paper onto the cookie sheet to cover it.
3. Pour the melted chocolate onto the cookie sheet, and spread it into a thin layer.
4. Sprinkle goodies on top.
5. Place in refrigerator for about an hour. Break up the pieces once hard.
6. Store chocolate bark in a sealed container in the refrigerator.

Other yummies to sprinkle on top:
cinnamon and chili powder
dried cherries and cranberries
sea salt and swirls of caramel
pistachios and pomegranate
marshmallows and peanuts

You can really go wild with the options. Think of your favorite ice cream flavor, and then throw on toppings that would be in that ice cream. Deconstruct your favorite candy bar - what makes it delicious? Put those things on top of your chocolate bark.

And while you think about that, I'll be over here trying to keep from cleaning out the whole stash before breakfast.

p.s. This post on candy-coated pretzel sticks proves I have a distinct chocolate candy making style: easy. 

Chocolate Raspberry Chia Parfait

What is it about layered desserts that sets my mouth watering? I've always loved the process of dipping down into a parfait to get a little bit of each delicious element on a single spoonful. There's a bit of a challenge built into every layered dish - can you eat this is just the right ratio that every bite has a little bit of every thing until the very end?

Just me?

This chocolate raspberry chia parfait was the most delectable challenge.

If you're not familiar with chia seeds, they look like...well, like teeny tiny little seeds. But when they mix with liquid, they puff up and become a little gelatinous - a bit like a smaller version of tapioca. And I love tapioca. They're also crazy good for you with all their fiber and calcium.

So when you eat this parfait, you can pat yourself on the back for making excellent, healthy food choices.

Chocolate Raspberry Chia Parfait

Chocolate Chia Pudding Layer:
2 cups almond milk
3 tablespoons chia seeds
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Quickly blend all ingredients together in your blender and then pour into a bowl with a lid. (If you don't have a blender, you can stir them all together - the cocoa powder will be a little difficult to incorporate.)
2. Place in the refrigerator overnight or for at least 2 hours.
3. For the raspberry chia jam layer and the whipped coconut cream, follow this recipe (just the jam) and this recipe from Oh She Glows.
4. Once the chocolate pudding layer is set, place a few tablespoons of the pudding into a pretty glass, then a couple tablespoons of the raspberry chia jam, then a few more tablespoons of the pudding, and then top with a dollop of whipped coconut cream and a raspberry.
5. Serve and enjoy!

p.s. Want more chocolate? I've been thinking about these almond butter and jam chocolates a lot lately...


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Wonderbag: Potato Cheddar Soup

On Christmas morning as Navah and I tore wrapping paper off a big box, my sister rushed to tell us that we weren't going to understand what she had gotten us but that she'd explain it. When we got enough paper off that we could see what was in the box, Navah and I both burst out laughing. My sister looked confused until we explained that we absolutely knew what was in the box because we had come *this close* to getting it for her.

It was The Wonderbag.

Even though my sister and I obviously operate on similar wavelengths, I'm guessing you may not know what the Wonderbag is.

It's this fabulous combination of amazing and the simplest thing ever. It is a non-electric portable slow cooker. Once food has been brought up to a boil on the stove, the Wonderbag continues to cook the food without the use of electricity or fuel for up to 8 hours. It does this by insulating the food inside its pot with a specially-designed, foam-filled, fabric "bag."

The Wonderbag was created in South Africa in 2008 by a woman doing humanitarian aid work and trying to come up with a way to help families during long, repeated electricity outages. The Wonderbag was a perfect solution for reducing the effects of indoor pollution from wood fires and allowing women and children to spend less time collecting firewood and more time outside the home doing things like going to school. 

Okay, but why do I have a Wonderbag? I'm not dealing with numerous electricity outages or with indoor wood fires. I even have an electric slow cooker at home that I use quite frequently. 

Well, aside from the fact that I received my Wonderbag as a gift, here are three reasons that I'm really glad I have it: 

1. The Wonderbag is completely portable. Once I get my pot of food into the bag, I can take it anywhere. That means if I have a potluck after work, I can prep everything in the morning, put the food (inside the Wonderbag) in my car, and then it can cook during the day without my having to go home again to get my cooked dish. Or I can run errands while it cooks it the backseat. The portability provides me more flexibility.

2. The Wonderbag doesn't use electricity. It's a small thing, but as we work on reducing our energy usage and take all those little steps like turning off lights, the Wonderbag is a super sustainable way to make a big pot of something delicious for dinner. Also, while I've never been one to worry about leaving my crock pot on during the day while I'm away from home, I know a lot of other people who won't do it. And to be honest, their worrying kind of makes me worry. Not a problem with the Wonderbag.

3. Someone else got a Wonderbag too. For every Wonderbag purchased, the company donates one to a family in Africa. From Wonderbag's website: "Their lives were completely changed. Within three months, the children only needed to gather firewood once a week, and they were all in school. They had money for shoes. It was a catalyst out of poverty for them." (Sarah Collins, Founder) I get something awesome, and so does someone else? Sign me up.

So, what do I make in the Wonderbag? I can make tons of things, including most anything that I'd make in a traditional slow cooker (and benefit from the same lack of evaporation that I get with a crock pot as opposed to cooking on the stove). I simply have to change my method a little bit to incorporate bringing the food to a boil on the stove and letting it cook for 5-10 minutes before I put it into the Wonderbag. It's not quite as easy as throwing a bunch of stuff into the crock pot and walking away, but it's pretty close.

And just to put this out there: There is something about the Wonderbag that feels like a party trick. It's just straight up fun to loosen the drawstring 4 hours after you put a pot of boiling vegetables in there and remove the lid to find a piping hot soup. It feels like magic.

Potato Cheddar Soup in the Wonderbag
Adapted from All Recipes

1/4 cup butter or non-dairy butter substitute (I used earth balance)
1 onion, chopped (whatever kind you have)
1/4 cup flour (I used whole wheat)
2 cups vegetable broth
2 large carrots, diced
4 stalks celery, diced
4 cloves garlic, diced
about 4 pounds of potatoes, diced (I used a mix of red and purple potatoes)
1 cup milk or on-dairy milk substitute (I used unsweetened plain almond milk)
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
salt and pepper, to taste

1. Chop up the onion and cook in the butter or earth balance on medium-low heat until translucent in a pot that will fit in your Wonderbag. (Tip: Food cooks better in the Wonderbag if there is less headspace in the pot. Try to use a pot that is not too big for the amount of food you're making. I used a 5 quart pot for this.)
2. While the onions are cooking, chop up the rest of the vegetables. (Tip: Huge chunks cook more slowly. Cut the vegetables up a bit smaller than you would if you were cooking the soup on the stove.)
3. Once the onions are translucent, stir in the flour until it's completely incorporated into the onions and then add the vegetable broth, milk, bay leaf, garlic, salt and pepper, and vegetables. Turn the heat up to high and let the mixture come to a boil, stirring occasionally.
4. After the soup has boiled for 5-10 minutes, remove the pot from the stove and place it into the open Wonderbag. Cinch up the drawstring tightly and leave the pot for about 4 hours.
5. When you return, remove the bay leaves and stir in the shredded cheese.
6. Using an immersion blender, blend about half of the soup so that the soup is creamy but also has chunks of vegetables. If you don't have an immersion blender, transfer about half of the soup to blender in batches and then return to the pot.
7. Garnish with a little cheese and some herbs and enjoy!


p.s. I fell in love with Rwanda a few years ago and marveled then at how much work goes into getting basic necessities. 


I did not receive any compensation from Wonderbag for this post. I just love it!