The new recipe I tried for Marlborough Pie was the only unqualified success. I like the apple/lemon/custard pie anyway, and I like this even better.
Paula Deen's recipe for Chocolate Pecan Pie worked out quite well. We unfortunately confirmed that we no longer digest pecans all that well and sent the remainders with the two sons who were here. I think I erred in not using top-quality pecans for this. Some things you make, store brand is fine; other things, only the pricier version will do. This is one of the latter.
I have found the King Arthur Flour recipes for just about anything to be reliable, and this was true of Tourtiere, the meat pie (usually pork, but beef or duck are sometimes added) that the Quebecois have at Christmas. We liked it, but soon tired of it. Putting cinnamon and nutmeg on meat (sage and thyme are also prominent) shows up in lots of colonial recipes, but I only like it as a change-of-pace, not a week's worth - because all the cowardly people at the feast didn't want it. As with any very distinctive taste, I suspect that those who grew up with it and associate it with a holiday will always like it and get teary-eyed about it. Scandinavians eat lutefisk, which is "dried whitefish made from aged stockfish, or dried and salted cod, pickled in lye. It is gelatinous in texture after being rehydrated for days prior to eating" because "it wouldn't be Christmas without it." That doesn't mean it's actually good food. (I did also make Swedish Rye Bread and give it out, which is actual food, but I'm not giving out my grandmother's recipe. You'll have to settle for this.)
The apple-cheddar pie was a good apple pie under which one could barely detect the cheddar, even though it was sharp. I don't think I will bother again because of my plans for...
The pumpkin mince pie. Readers may recall that I asked for suggestions on how to cut the standard (Nonesuch) variety's intensity. I always like the first piece and then don't want more than a half-a-slice for the next two days, and then no more. As with the pork pie, no one else was helping us much with this. I chose pumpkin to solve that problem, but it was only a mild improvement. My wife thought that it diminished both types of pie to put them together, even though the spices are very similar. I think she is right. My plan for next year is to use the store-boughten mince as a flavoring for the apple pie rather than rely on it as the basis for its own dish. Maybe 75-25 apple to mince. I'll freeze the rest or find someone who wants it, but really, it's cheap and if I have to compost it it's not tragic.
6 comments:
I'd never heard of the Marlborough Pie before, but it sounds delicious. That recipe is now in my "Try This" file.
Pecans -- I haven't made a pecan pie for several years because I moved away from my "dealer". After being used to getting a big bucket of cracked pecans within a week of harvest, no packaged, store-bought ones will do. Spoiled? Oh yes. I also wouldn't adulterate a pecan pie with chocolate even if Paula Deen says it's OK. Opinionated? Definitely.
As for meat pies, the Tourtiere sounds a little bland. Needs red pepper, or at least a jalapeno! It's all about regional tastes, I suppose. Is there a culture that doesn't have some version of a meat pie? I think I might classify meatloaf as a meat pie with various crusts crumbled into it.
My daughters traveled for New Year's, so I'm quarantined from them for a while. Barring unforeseen circumstances, I'm planning on treating them to some basic Southern comfort food in 10 days or so. I can't decide whether to go with pinto beans/fried potatoes/cornbread or potato soup/Polish sausage/cornbread.. or chicken and dumplings. If I'm feeling extra energetic, I might even do chicken fried steak.
I'm a bit bummed that I fall into the next to last group (last being everyone that didn't get it before) to be vaccinated here. Until then (late summer is optimistic bet) I'll continue to do everything I can to avoid exposure and reduce the viral load if I am exposed.
I wish you a happy and healthy 2021!
I have the King Arthur Flour cookbook, which is generally excellent. I'm disappointed that they've elected this year to change their logo, though, from the Galahad figure to... a kind of stylized crown with no obvious Christian imagery. Of course that's the way of the world, and their bread recipes aren't any worse for it -- maybe. Yeast is a kind of miracle, and perhaps miracles don't work as well without the proper blessing.
I also wouldn't adulterate a pecan pie with chocolate even if Paula Deen says it's OK. Opinionated? Definitely.
HEB sells a maple-flavored pecan pie during the holidays. I rather like it. Their chocolate-flavored pecan pie, no thanks.
As for meat pies, the Tourtiere sounds a little bland. Needs red pepper, or at least a jalapeno! It's all about regional tastes, I suppose.
I used to make a Middle Eastern meat turnover (bread dough, not pie dough) with lamb, but haven't done so for years because lamb is so expensive. Come to think of it, any meat would have sufficed. I can't find the recipe-wrote it down in some cookbook. It had hot peppers added to a similar mixture as the Tourtiere. Meat and hot peppers and fruit is so good.
The Southwestern affinity for hot peppers-not just for restaurants but in home cooking of all ethnic backgrounds- is, from my experience, definitely not as widely shared elsewhere.
My plan for next year is to use the store-boughten mince as a flavoring for the apple pie rather than rely on it as the basis for its own dish. Maybe 75-25 apple to mince.
I sometimes modify my grandmother's apple cobbler recipe by substituting third or so of the apples with cranberry sauce.(Cranberry sauce homemade with ginger and an orange, and sometimes some apple.)
Here are three YouTube videos on Marlborough Pie (2) and Tourtiere from a Canadian cook in Toronto. All are brief, entertaining, and professionally presented.
(A failure.) https://youtu.be/Vmb6E06l5_k
(A success.) https://youtu.be/vTIsPhs3JPU
(Looks great, love to taste.) https://youtu.be/lScDAaZ21-A
Dan Kurt
Thank you all.
Donna: yes, tropical West Africa made grain into mush to eat with stew, but did not (until importation of wheat and foreign recipes) make pies. I doubt there'd have been enough gluten in the grains. I don't know Ethiopian cuisine well but I've not heard of them there either--at least traditionally. You can find Nigerian empanada recipes easily enough, but I don't think that's the old cuisine.
Of course, if they like them, they can make them part of the new cuisine, and the new tradition--sort of like curry is the new English dish.
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