Buffalo Chicken Fried Pies

In being the keeper of a pie blog, I've come to be a recipient of a lot of harebrained pie ideas. Last year around this time, Brent came to me with one. Buffalo. Chicken. Fried. Pies. His vision was for a self-contained Super Bowl snack that captured the flavor of chicken wings, complete with hot sauce, carrots,  celery, and blue cheese dressing, but was encapsulated in a pie crust and able to be held in the hand while watching the game (or Beyonce as the case may be).

I was skeptical but willing to give it a try. We were invited to a Super Bowl party by our friend Lars, who also happens to be an organic chicken farmer, and when we arrived on Sunday evening with a grocery bag full of ingredients and cooking oil, Lars had the chicken ready to go--already cooked and marinated in hot wing sauce. The result was obnoxiously good. The frying warmed all of the ingredients, melting the blue cheese while keeping the carrots and celery still crispy, as in a buffalo wing chaser.





I've apparently haven't really stopped thinking about them since, because this summer, I mentioned it to my friend, pocket food afficianado and video maven Mackenzie Smith, who I met at the LongHouse Scholars Program. She brought them up again a few weeks ago, and last week I traveled to Brooklyn to whip up a batch while Mack filmed me (and my sous chef Justin). She put together this very fun little video on the new favorite snack! Kick it off.

Buffalo Chicken FRIED Pies from Mackenzie Smith on Vimeo.

Buffalo Chicken Fried Pies

Ingredients
Nothing in the House pie crust 
5 bone-in chicken thighs
All-purpose flour
Salt & pepper to taste
Oil for browning
1/2 bottle of Frank's RedHot sauce, plus more for dipping if desired
2 carrots, finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
4 oz. blue cheese, crumbled
Blue cheese dressing, for dipping if desired

Directions
1. Prepare Nothing in the House pie crust as per the directions. Refrigerate while you prepare the chicken and other filling ingredients. 

2. Prepare the chicken. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a small baking dish, spread a thin layer of flour and season with salt and pepper. Coat chicken on all sides with the flour mixture. In a skillet, brown chicken with oil over medium heat. Transfer to a heavy baking dish and cover with hot sauce. Bake for 35-40 minutes until chicken is cooked through. Let cool completely before removing skin and shredding chicken with a fork. Set aside.

2. Once your filling is ready and pie dough has chilled for at least 1 hour, remove  from fridge and roll out onto a lightly dusted surface about 1/8 inch thick. Using a large biscuit cutter or top of a large mug or jar, cut circles out of the dough (you can make them as large or small as you like, just remember that the smaller the pie the less filling can fit inside). 

3. Mound chicken, vegetables, and blue cheese in the center of each circle--you'll want to aim for about 2 Tablespoons of filling total, but depending on how big your dough circles are you can use more or less. Remember it is better to under-stuff than over-stuff.

4. Moisten the edge of the pastry circle with your finger, then fold over the dough to form a half-moon shape. Press the edges together and flute with a fork to seal completely. Place the formed pies on a parchment paper covered baking dish and place in the freezer, at least 20 minutes and up to an hour.

5. Meanwhile, heat the oil (If you prefer to bake your pies, you can do so in an oven set at 375 degrees F for about 15-25 minutes). Pour at least 2 cups of canola oil (or 4 inches deep) into a deep and heavy saucepan. Insert a candy thermometer into the oil. Slowly heat on medium-low until the temperature reads 350 degrees F.

6. When the oil temperature reaches 350 degrees, gently lower one pie at a time into the heated oil and cook until golden brown (about 2 minutes per side).  Using a slotted spatula, transfer to a paper-towel lined plate. Repeat with the remaining pies.

7. Let pies cool slightly before serving, but they are best eaten when fresh and warm! Dip them in your favorite buffalo chicken wing sauce or blue cheese dressing and go team!

Big thanks to Mackenzie Smith for lending her many talents and vision to produce this video and photos. Mack is a Brooklyn-based multi-media producer and heritage cookbook editor and you can find more of her work here. Look out for a new food video project from her coming soon.

Photos and video by Mackenzie Smith

Related recipes:

Apple Fried Pies

Frito Pie

Spinach & Feta Fried Pies

Tomato, Bacon & Jalapeno Pie

Atlantic Beach Pie

After collaborating on an illustrated Peppermint Pattie Tart place setting for BYT's holiday table decor guide, Elizabeth and I decided to turn it into a series. Each month in 2014, we'll bring you a new installment of Hand Drawn Pies-- thematically illustrated place setting 'n' pie combination for your viewing and tasting enjoyment. 

Nothing like a polar vortex to make you long for salty beach air and warm and salty summer days. Though you may not be able to take a getaway (the plane may not even be able to takeoff with all this snow), this salty citrus pie can take you there for a moment in your mind.

Atlantic Beach Pie is a classic at seafood restaurants along the North Carolina coast. According to Bill Smith, who grew up in that area, if you ate sweets after a meal of seafood, you'd get sick. The only exception was a lemon-lime pie with a saltine crust and a meringue top.

This version, which replaces the meringue with whipped cream, comes from Smith, the chef at Crook's Corner in Chapel Hill. I'd read the article about the pie on NPR, but didn't drink the Kool-Aid until I'd tried the original, while on a visit back to my old Carolina grad school haunts. Now this pie has found it's rightful place in my repertoire-- not only is it a heavenly trio of tangy, salty, and sweet, it is also a cinch to make. The ease and lightness makes it perfect for any vacation, whether in the snowy West Virginia mountains or in the hot sand on Kure Beach, after seafood or not.

Atlantic Beach Pie

Adapted from Bill Smith of Crook's Corner via NPR

Ingredients
For the crust:
1 1/2 sleeves of saltine crackers
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3 tablespoons granulated sugar

For the filling:
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup lemon or lime juice or a mix of the two
Fresh whipped cream and coarse sea salt (I used Himalayan pink salt) for garnish

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Crush the crackers finely but not to dust, using a food processor or just your hands, and place them in a medium-sized bowl. Add the sugar, then knead in the butter until the crumbs come together like dough. Press into a 8 or 9-inch pie pan. Chill for 15 minutes, then bake for 18 minutes until the crust begins to color.

2. While the crust is cooling (it doesn't need to be cold), beat the egg yolks into the milk, then beat in the citrus juice. Make sure everything is completely combined. Pour into the shell and bake for 16 minutes until the filling has set. Let cool completely to room temperature and refrigerate at least 1 hour before slicing. Serve with fresh whipped cream and a sprinkling of sea salt.

Related recipes:
Florida Grapefruit-White Chocolate Pie
Key Lime Pie Popsicles
Lemon Chess Pie
Lemon-Ginger Meringue Tartlets
Lemon Meringue Pie
"Levon Helm's" Lemon Icebox Pie
Lime & Raspberry Italian Meringue Pie

Illustrations by Elizabeth Graeber

Cranberry Sage Pie

Braided edges, abstract lattices, and golden brown sugared tops, Four & Twenty Blackbirds pies are real visual stunners and the women who make them-- sisters Emily and Melissa Elsen-- are pioneers of beautiful and creative crust designs.

But equally as innovative are the recipes the two dream up, which spiral out from the classics into new flavor combinations like Maple Lime Custard, Rosemary Honey Shoefly, and the drink-turned-pie Buttered Rum Cream. They call the recipes in their new The Four & Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book "uncommon" and it's true-- while the book does offer an ample selection of old standbys, their puissance lies in their knack for creative innovation, both in visual design and flavor.

This talent makes sense considering their background-- Emily is an art school graduate and the two sisters grew up in a family restaurant run by their mother and aunts in a small town in the midwest. Their grandmother baked the pies.

The sisters started their own food business in 2009-- a pie-to-order start-up run out of their Brooklyn apartment-- and by 2010 they had opened the doors of their brick and mortar pie shop in Gowanus. Though their pie recipes have been featured in numerous magazines and sites, at the end of last year they put out their first (I'm thinking there might eventually be another?) cookbook to much acclaim.



Though I'd made a few of their recipes before (see their Salty Honey Pie and Rhubarb Pie) I was was excitedly waiting for their cookbook for months, knowing it would become a resource I'd return to again and again, to bake my way through the recipes and to provide creative inspiration for my own crust designs and flavor combinations.

I stared off with something fairly basic but really good--their Cranberry Sage Pie-- which I made for Christmas dinner this past year. Aside from my everlasting love for cranberries, it was the perfect pie for the occasion with it's holiday-appropriate red hue and sage which adds a savory note that mimicks some of the other flavors of the dinner. We ate ours (along with Pecan Pie and a Dark Chocolate Whiskey-Soaked Bundt Cake) around the fire after opening presents and while highly anticipating the posting of the Downton Abbey Season 4 Christmas Special by the generous Brits.

Cranberry Sage Pie
Adapted from The Four & Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book

Ingredients
Nothing in the House pie crust
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1 tablespoon fresh sage, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
4 tablespoons arrowroot (cornstarch also works)
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
4 cups whole cranberries, fresh or frozen
1 small baking apple (I used a Northern Spy)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Egg wash (1 large egg whisked with 1 teaspoon water and a pinch of salt)
Demerara sugar, for dusting

Directions
1. Prepare the Nothing-in-the-House pie crust as per the directions. Chill dough at least 1 hour. Once chilled, roll out 1/2 of pie crust and fit into a 9-inch greased and floured pie pan. You can choose to roll out the top-crust now and refrigerate it flat, or roll it out once you've prepared the filling. Either way, you should put both the remaining crust and the pie pan in the fridge while you prepare the filling. Reserve half-egg yolk for the egg wash.

2. In a heatproof bowl, pour boiling water over the dried cranberries to cover by about 1 inch. Allow them to plump while you prepare the rest of the filling.

3. In a food processor fitted with the blade attachment, combine the chopped sage, granulated and brown sugars, salt, arrowroot (or cornstarch), cinnamon, and allspice. Process until the sage is fully blended. Pour the sugar mixture into a large bowl and set aside.

4. Use the same food processor bowl to briefly process 2 cups of the whole cranberries until they are roughly chopped. Add them, along with the remaining 2 cups of whole cranberries, to the sugar mixture.

5. Peel the apple and shred on the large holes of a box grater. In a colander, drain the plumped dried cranberries of excess water, but do not press or squeeze them out. Add the shredded apple and the drained dried cranberries to the bowl with the rest of the filling and stir to combine. Stir in the vanilla extract and egg and mix well. Pour the filling into the refrigerated pie shell and top with the remaining rolled pastry, using a lattice design if desired. Flute and seal edges.

6. Chill the pie in the fridge for 10-15 minutes to set the pastry. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Brush the pastry with the egg wash to coat. Sprinkle with demerara sugar.

7. Place pie on the lowest rack of the oven on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the pastry is set and beginning to brown. Lower the oven temperature to 375 degrees F, move the pie to the center rack and continue to bake until the crust is a deep golden brown and the filling is bubbling, 35-45 minutes longer.

8. Let cool completely on a wire rack 2-3 hours. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature with a scoop of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, if desired.

Related recipes:
Cranberry Chess Pie
Cranberry Goat Cheese Tart with Almond Shortbread Crust
Cranberry-Lime Galette
Rhubarb Pie
Salty Honey Pie

For more on Four & Twenty Blackbirds, read my interview with Emily & Melissa here.

The Friday Pie Slice

Happy Friday! Please enjoy this first Friday Pie Slice of the NEW YEAR.

1st slice. I've been so inspired lately by the photographs and baked goods of Tara Jensen of Smoke Signals Baking in Marshall, North Carolina. Visit her website and view her beautiful tumblr/instagram feed.

2nd slice. My friend Shauna Lott just successfully completed a kickstarter drive to fund The Long I Pie Shop-- a mobile bakery with a social justice mission in Denver, Colorado. Can't wait to see all the goodness that comes out of this project. Check out my interview with Shauna and her recipe for Apple, Brie & Prosciutto Pie here.

3rd slice. One way I kept warm during THE POLAR VORTEX was by making a wintery mix of songs for cold and blizzardy weather, including Hardanger fiddle and other Scandinavian styles, songs, fingerstyle guitar, and a little psychedelia. You can download it here.

The tasty crumbs. Elizabeth Graeber did the above sketch of Kate Lebo & me at our reading and pie tasting at Trohv back in September. Elizabeth and I are working up a new collaboration this weekend--stay tuned!

Find past Friday Pie Slices here.

Convenience Store Treats & Gas Station Pie

The latest issue of DC's food zine The Runcible Spoon is on the cheap. Yes, it is relatively low in cost, but inside you'll also find odes to freegans, a tutorial on how to make a meal out of Whole Food samples, and a budget eating advice column. I contributed a few stories to the issue, one (pictured above) on selected regional convenience store treats of the Eastern United States, a cultural history of porridge through place and time with illustrations by Elizabeth Graeber (see it here), and a cheeky little guide (below) on how to use your creativity, gumption, and the ingredients at your disposable to make pie *inside* a gas station. The Runcible Spoon is always so much fun to write for and read, and this one was particularly so--pick up a copy online or find it at various local stores around D.C.

Related post:
Cracker Pie a.k.a. Mock Apple Pie
Lardass Returns in The Runcible Spoon Swimsuit Issue!

Pecan Pie with Brown Sugar

Pecan pie is generally considered an old Southern favorite, but it's not as old as I first imagined. A few clippings of recipes for "Texas Pecan Pie from the late 1800s exist, one being from the November 26th, 1898 Goshen Daily Democrat, the newspaper from the Indiana town just adjacent to the one where I grew up, and another from a February 1886 edition of Harper's Bazaar. These early varieties are thought to have been a variation of a German nusstorte, brought to Texas by German settlers, but most food historians agree that pecan pie is a 20th century American creation, combining a traditional sugar pie with popular nut confections like pralines.



While the dessert wasn't invented by Karo, it was certainly popularized by the company, as most recipes then and now call for the syrup by name. Though I certainly wont turn down a slice that's made with the stuff, I prefer pecan pie that calls for other sweeteners, be it molasses, sorghum, or brown sugar. One of my favorites is this Pecan Pie with Brown Sugar adapted from Nancie McDermott's Southern Pies. Heating the brown sugar with butter makes for a rich, toasted flavor that far surpasses any taste corn syrup is capable of producing. Once baked, the sweet buttery filling becomes a caramel that oozes out from under the nut layer. Serve it at room temperature or slightly cooled, with a scoop of bourbon whipped cream, or add a teaspoon of bourbon to the filling itself.  



Pecan Pie with Brown Sugar
Adapted from Nancie McDermott's Southern Pies

Ingredients
Nothing in the House pie crust recipe, halved
2 cups dark brown sugar, packed
3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter (if using unsalted, salt to taste)
3 large eggs
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon bourbon (optional)
1 1/2 cups (about 6 oz.) pecans, halved

Directions
1. Prepare half of Nothing in the House pie crust as per the directions, reserving the leftover egg for an egg wash. Chill dough at least one hour before rolling and fitting into a greased and floured 9-inch pie pan. Let chill for 15 more minutes in the fridge. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. In a medium saucepan, combine sugar and flour until well-mixed. Add the butter and place the pan over medium heat. Stirring constantly, cook until butter is melted and combined with the sugar mixture. Remove from heat and set aside.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, vanilla, and bourbon (if using) until well-combined. While gently stirring, slowly pour the warm sugar mixture into the milk mixture. Whisk until all ingredients are incorporated. Pour the filling into the chilled pie crust and scatter the pecans over top.

4. Place the pie on the bottom shelf of the oven. Bake 40-50 minutes until the edges puff and the center is fairly firm, wiggling only a little when you nudge it. Filling will be browned. Let pie cool for at least 30 minutes. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature with a scoop of bourbon whipped cream.

Related recipes:
Bittersweet Chocolate Pecan Pie
Black Walnut Pie
Hoosier Sugar Cream Pie
Peach-Pecan Pie

Big Spoon Roasters Peanut Cocoa Banana Cream Pie

Happy holidays! I've been to the Midwest for a week and back again, but the season's festivities are not over yet. Tomorrow a crew of friends and I are headed to a West Virginia cabin to x-country ski, hot tub, play music, make delicious food, and hold our annual micropong winter classic tournament! I'm packing my sweaters and tarot cards and fiddle and ski boots and praying for snow.

One celebration that's become a marker of winter for me is the annual party at my friend Bradley's house, "The Urban Homestead," in Brentwood, Maryland. There's always great food, a well-stocked bar, an outdoor bonfire, music jams, and a living room square dance. This year, Bradley and her housemate Pete bought the house (or the homestead) they'd been renting for years, so there was an additional reason to celebrate. I'd been battling a nasty cold, but pulled it together to make it to the party and bring along this Peanut Cocoa Banana Cream Pie to add to the dessert table.



You may recall the Pumpkin & Chai Spice Nut Butter Pie I made last month, using nut butter from Durham, North Carolina's Big Spoon Roasters. This recipe uses their Peanut Cocoa Butter as a base for the filling, and is topped with fresh bananas in a graham cracker crust. It's essentially the same recipe as this Peanut Butter Banana Cream Pie, but with an exceptional chocolate, honey, coconut oil, and sea salt infused peanut butter. If you really wanted to take it up another level, you could add this chocolate ganache, but I think it's already plenty rich. For further variations, try substituting a peanut, Oreo, or pretzel crust.

This Elvis pie spin-off was a fast mover at the Christmas party-- only a few graham cracker crumbs remained when I went to collect the pie dish at the end of the night. For more information on where to find Big Spoon Roasters fantastic handcrafted nut butters (all of which would be good in a pie), visit their website, where you can also place an order to have a jar or two delivered to your door.

Big Spoon Roasters Peanut Cocoa Banana Cream Pie

Adapted From Nancie McDermott's Southern Pies

Ingredients

For crust:

1 1/2 c. graham cracker crumbs

5 Tblsp. unsalted butter

1 Tblsp. sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

For filling:

12 oz. cream cheese, softened

3/4 c. confectioner's sugar

3/4 c. Big Spoon Roaster's Peanut Cocoa Butter

2 Tblsp. whole milk

2 c. heavy whipping cream

3 bananas, sliced into 1/4-1/2 in. slices

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Pour graham cracker crumbs in a bowl and add melted butter, sugar, and salt until well mixed.

2. Pat the buttery crumbs into a 9-inch pie pan, pressing mixture into the bottom and sides to form a pie crust. Place in oven and bake until crust is lightly browned, about 10-12 minutes. Place on a cooling rack and let cool to room temperature before adding the filling.

For filling:

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine cream cheese, confectioner's sugar, and peanut butter, beating until fluffy. Add the milk and the peanuts and mix well until incorporated.

2. In another bowl, using an electric mixer if desired, beat whipping cream until it becomes thick and holds medium-stiff peaks. Gently fold the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture until well combined.

3. Add a layer of sliced bananas (about 1 1/2 bananas) to the bottom of the pie crust and pour the filling on top. Add the remaining bananas on top of the filling, around the edge of the pie. Cover pie and refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.

Related recipes:

Banana Cream Pie with Peanut Crust and Salty Bourbon Caramel

Chocolate & Peanut Butter Pretzel Tart

Peanut Butter Banana Cream Pie with Chocolate Ganache

Pumpkin and Big Spoon Roasters' Chai Spice Nut Butter Pie

Christmas Pie Ideas

I came home a little earlier than usual for Christmas this year. So far I've had a sleepover with best friends in Chicago, visited favorite local haunts (and some new ones), and hosted a music party at our house with family friends. I've also done a bit of holiday baking, but we still haven't yet planned our Christmas menu. So if you're like us, here are a few ideas for Christmas pies from brunch, to appetizers, to dessert. If you can't quite find what suits your table here, check out this list of Thanksgiving pie ideas or visit the Recipe Index.

Chocolate & Nut
Bittersweet Chocolate Pecan Pie
Chocolate Orange Pie with Mascarpone Cream
Milk Chocolate & Salted Caramel Hazelnut Tart
Peppermint Pattie Tart, pictured top right

Fruit & Nut
Cranberry Chess Pie, pictured bottom left
Fig-Pistachio Tarte Tatin
Pear Tarte Tatin
Shaker Orange Tarts, pictured bottom right

Preserves & Icebox
Almond & Grapefruit-Ginger Marmalade Crostata
Bakewell Tart with Apple Rosemary Jelly
Meyer Lemon Honey Marmalade Linzer Torte
Speculoos Icebox Pie, pictured top left

Savory
Ham, Gruyère & Caramelized Onion Galette with Fried Egg
Quiche Lorraine
Red & Golden Beet & Goat Cheese Tart
Tri-color Potato, Caramelized Onion, Goat Cheese & Rosemary Galette

Whatever you bake,  from this list or not, I'd love to hear about it. Have a very Merry Christmas, all!

Nothing In The Dog House Presents Pie for Dogs!

Don't know what to get your dog for Christmas? Pick up a copy of Pie For Dogs, written by me, illustrated by Elizabeth Graeber, and tested by Chickpea (featured on the cover)! Inspired by the dog pie with bacon grease whipped cream that I made for Chickpea's birthday, Elizabeth and I made this little zine so wo/man's best friend can enjoy our nation's favorite dessert. It includes a recipe for a canine-friendly pie adapted from a King Arthur Flour dog treat recipe. You can find it for sale on Etsy and soon at Meeps & Treasury in D.C.



Related post: Birthday Pie for a Gal and Her Dog

Cranberry Chess Pie

I consider cranberries to be the ultimate winter fruit, the edible counterpart of the seasonally ubiquitous holly berry. Cranberries are harvested in the fall, and are part of the evergreen family, cousins to the other plant we welcome into our homes at this time of year.

I like them for their bright red festive color and especially for their tartness, which make them a dream to bake with and an ideal fruit for pairing with others--apples, pears, pomegranates, or summer berries you've stockpiled in the freezer.



Cranberry pie in all of its forms is one of my favorites, but this Cranberry Chess Pie from The Hoosier Mama Book of Pie may just top them all. It's sour and sweet, fruity and creamy, with a smooth buttery consistency peppered with flecks of tart berry. It's perfection. I usually only eat just a sliver of the pies I bake, but with this one I could not stop. In it I may just have found the answer to that ever-so-difficult "what's your favorite pie" question. Make it for Christmas, make if for Thanksgiving 2014, freeze some cranberries and make it all year.

Cranberry Chess Pie

Adapted from The Hoosier Mama Book of Pie

Ingredients
Nothing in the House pie crust, halved
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
Zest of 1 orange
3 large eggs
7 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon cornmeal
Pinch kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 Tablespoon vanilla paste (can substitute vanilla extract)
2 cups fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped

Directions
1. Prepare half of Nothing in the House pie crust as per the directions, reserving the leftover egg for an egg wash. Chill dough at least one hour before rolling and fitting into a greased and floured 9-inch pie pan. Let chill for 15 more minutes in the fridge. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine sugar and butter. Zest the orange into the bowl and cream together the ingredients until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, and salt. In a separate small bowl or pitcher, stir together the buttermilk and vanilla paste.

4. Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix just until combined. With the stand mixer set to low, add half of the buttermilk mixture and mix to combine. Add another 1/3 of the dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Add the rest of the buttermilk mixture, mixing to combine, and then the final third of the dry ingredients. Mix until combined.

5. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to incorporate any unmixed ingredients and gently fold in the cranberries. Pour the batter into the prepared pie shell, smoothing the filling with a rubber spatula.

6. Bake for 40-45 minutes, rotating 180 degrees half-way through. The pie is done when the top is golden brown and slightly puffed. Cool to room temperature. Serve pie at room temperature or slightly chilled.



Related recipes:
Cranberry-Lime Galette
Grapefruit Chess Pie
Lemon Chess Pie

Nothing in the House 2013 Gift Guide

simplebooklet.com

My friend Morgan put together an enviable (I'll take one of everything) holiday gift guide by a dream team of local DC contributors for the December edition of her Panda Head Newsletter (which I highly recommend you subscribe to!). I gladly contributed this little set of present ideas for the baker on your list. You'll notice some overlap from previous year's gift guides, but that just means those things are tried and true.

Herriott Grace Rolling Pin: My friend Diane gave me one of these rolling pins a few years ago and now it's the only one I use (and I've accumulated a few). It's the perfect weight and size, plus it's hand turned and one-of-a-kind-- an heirloom in the making. $70

Heavy Linen Towel from my friends at More & Co. in Portland, Maine: Everyone needs a good dishcloth or two. These are durable AND stylish. If you're a baker yourself, wrap some homemade treats in one and you've got a perfect host/ess gift. $15

Vanilla Bean Paste: The "pros'" vanilla extract. A lot of recipes call for this and I never seem to have it on hand. It gives an added boost of flava and you can use it wherever vanilla extract is called for. $13

Hatch Show Print Measurement Poster: This hangs above my sink and is the handiest piece of kitchen art there is! This particular poster is from Hatch Show Print, the historic letter press & country music poster shop in Nashville, Tennessee. $12

Vintage Pyrex: I'm always on the lookout for nice, old Pyrex kitchenware. They're a common find at thrift and antique stores - I love this set of nested primary color polka dot mixing bowls on Etsy. Prices vary.

A pair of great pie cookbooks-- The Hoosier Mama Pie Company Book of Pie and The Four and Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book -- came out this year, but for those literarily minded kitchen wizards, check out writer & baker Kate Lebo's new book A Commonplace Book of Pie - part-recipe, part-slim poetry volume, to feed both stomach and mind. Oh, and for a bit of shameless self promotion, Elizabeth Graeber's and my Pie. A Hand Drawn Almanac makes a lovely gift, especially when paired with another item from this list. $15-30

Stitch and Hammer Denim & Stripes Apron: I've been ogling this apron ever since I saw Shauna of The Long I Pie Shop donning it on her site. It is SO beautiful and utilitarian (the leather straps are removable so you can wash it!) and if I had one I would probably wear it everywhere and just pretend that I forgot to take it off, just because it is that nice. $92

Peppermint Pattie Tart Place Setting

A few weeks ago, BYT featured a holiday place setting guide with inspiring table arrangements by local favorites Mutiny DC, Holley Simmons, and Panda Head. Pie Almanac illustrator and good pal Elizabeth Graeber created this fun 'n' fanciful part-illustrated part-real dessert spread featuring her An Illustrated Guide To Cocktails and Nothing-in-the-House's Peppermint Pattie Tart!

You can find the recipe for the tart on the blog here as well as in my recent story for NPR's Kitchen Window, "Get Freshly Minted This Holiday Season," which also includes recipes for making your own mint extract and Mint Julep Hot Chocolate. 

Photo by Jeff Martin for BYT

Persimmon Pie

I first encountered persimmons while living in North Carolina. Wild trees grew all over the Piedmont, and I would stumble upon them on walks about town or step out of a classroom and find one just outside, dripping with orange fruit.

At first, I didn't really know what to do with this abundance, but my friend Alex is a big proponent of persimmon pudding (more like a bread or cake than pudding), and I experimented with putting them in pies, both by themselves and with other fruits like apples.

There are two varieties of Persimmons-- Asian and American. The Asian Fuyu is non-astringent, while the American variety and the Asian Hachiya persimmon are both astringent types (read more here). Despite their bright orange hue, the astringent versions are not necessarily ripe when plucked from a tree, and if you bite into it it's sour with a chalky, tannic flavor. They are generally ripe when they fall from the tree or have sat out and the fruit becomes very soft and the flesh slightly shriveled.



This Persimmon Pie recipe from Hoosier Mama is originally for American persimmons, though I couldn't find any in my neighborhood in D.C. and used Fuyu persimmons I bought at Whole Foods instead. Fuyu persimmons are slightly larger than American varieties, and are slightly sweeter, so I reduced the sugar in Paula's original recipe.

To extract the pulp, you'll probably need a food mill, which will allow you to separate the skin from the fruit and extract as much of the pulp as possible. The resulting pie bears a similar texture, color, and flavor to pumpkin pie, but tastes slightly more fruity or floral. Experiment with your spices if desired--it would also be good with a touch of cardamom or allspice.



Persimmon Pie
Adapted from The Hoosier Mama Book of Pie

Ingredients
Nothing-in-the-House pie crust, halved
1 cup strained persimmon pulp (American or Asian)
Zest of 1/2 orange
3 large eggs
1 cup heavy cream
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla paste (extract can be substituted)
1/2-2/3 cup granulated sugar (use more if you're using American or Hachiya persimmons)
2 Tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon mace
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions
1. Prepare half of the Nothing-in-the-House pie crust as per the directions, reserving the leftover egg for an egg wash. Chill dough at least 1 hour before rolling out and fitting into a greased and floured 9-inch pie pan. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F, meanwhile, return pie to fridge and let chill for 15 more minutes. Line pie crust with parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Blind bake for 15 minutes. Remove pie weights and bake for 5 minutes more until crust is light-golden brown and flaky.

2. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Using a spatula, press the persimmon pulp through a fine-mesh stainer, place in a medium bowl and sprinkle with orange zest. Whisk in the eggs, cream, butter, and vanilla paste (or extract), stirring well to combine after each addition. 

3. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together sugars, cinnamon, mace, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the persimmon mixture and whisk until combined.

4. Pour the filling into the blind baked pie shell and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour until the edge of the pie is slightly puffed and the center is dry to the touch (mine pictured baked just a *tad* too long).

5. Remove pie from oven and let cool to room temperature, then chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours or up to overnight before slicing. Serve slightly chilled or at room temp with a dollop of whipped cream. 


Related recipes:
Apple Persimmon Pie
Persimmon Pie for Marcie

Thank You & Pie: A Hand Drawn Almanac Holiday Sale

Thanksgiving is really the best time of year to be the keeper of a nerdy blog about pie. It's been so nice the past few days to have friends and readers from all over the country (and one in the UK!) send photos of their pie creations (I've posted a few here) or ask for advice about substitutions or cooking temps or burnt pears (you know who you are) or send exclamations of satisfaction. It's as if I get to share a little bit of your celebration with you, and I'm thankful for that.

I hope everyone had a lovely day yesterday with friends and family and delicious food, and now you're enjoying some pie for breakfast and a big cup of coffee at home and not out out in the shopping madness. If you do want to do a little at home shopping, though, Elizabeth Graeber is running a Holiday Sale in her shop, which includes our PIE. A Hand Drawn Almanac, and all of her many other beautiful illustrated goods! Get $5 off of every order of $30 or more, which means two Pie Almanacs will cost ya just $25. And if you're looking for more ways to shop local & handmade, check out the Handmade Holiday series on Witchin' in the Kitchen which profiles three women artisans whose work makes lovely gifts.

Illustrations by Elizabeth Graeber from PIE. A Hand Drawn Almanac