The Holidays are approaching rapidly and it just seems like the year is about to "fly by". Isn't that what it always does when it's November? The next thing you know it's January and your cursing yourself for forgetting your scarf and your neck feels like it's about to break off. I mean, unless your a scrooge or from Alaska/Maine.

This week I decided to create a French/Canadian pie that has a lot of history behind it. When the French immigrants originally settled in the north-eastern portions of Quabec there was not an abundantcy of ingredients that they were able to use, mainly due to the very limited growing season. This pie is a Maple Syrup pie, although I converted it with Maple Sugar, it is a very sweet and heavy pie. The pie may seem a bit sweet, but that is exactly what it suppose to be like. I wouldn't recommend making this unless you love the taste of maple syrup.

Pie 8: Lemon and Coconut with a Vodka/Coconut Oil Crust

Pie 8: Lemon and Coconut with a Vodka/Coconut Oil Crust

I can't believe how fast the year is flying by. It seems like only yesterday I was on a one-way flight to NYC. Now, Chris and I are already looking for tickets to go back home for the holidays and thinking of what to buy our loved ones for the holidays. It's amazing how quickly your life can change over the course of a year.

This week I had an interesting challenge presenting to myself from one of Chris's coworkers. She is on a diet that doesn't allow her to eat dairy. Her challenge for me was to make a pie dough without using dairy, substituting it with coconut oil. To be honest, I was a little taken back by this challenge. First of all, I have never seen or heard of coconut oil my entire life. Secondly, because I have never used it I am unfamiliar with it's properties and how it handles as a fatty substance in pie crust. However, like a 18 year old boy signing up for the military I went in head first to see if I could figure out how to make the perfect crust. (**In accent***If I was going to do this, I was going to do it right or I wasn't going to do it, or maybe I would... who knows?)

No butter is difficult for me, especially because I know that butter makes everything taste better. I decided I would replace the butter with the coconut oil and add in vodka to make everything even out. You can't take away all the good things, and besides who doesn't love vodka! The crust turned out to be absolutely delicious, and I felt very superior accepting a challenge and coming up on top. The only thing I would recommend is that if you are expecting coconut oil to work the same way as butter, be prepared and flexible. Coconut oil is far more sticky and will require you to use more flour when you are rolling out the dough.

Lemon Coconut with a Vodka/Coconut Oil Crust:

A Vegan Hangover Crust: (makes 2 crusts)
2 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp sugar
1 1/4 cup coconut oil, cold
1/4 cup citron vodka (ice cold)
1/4 cup water (ice cold)

This is a dough has the capability to get messy quickly. Similar to how you'd make a butter or shortening crust, coconut oil works in a similar fashion. However, when your fingers come in contact with it, until butter, it instantly turns to oil. Use very cold utensils while working with this substance. In a medium bowl mix the flour, sugar and salt together with a whisk. With a pastry knife cut in the coconut oil. Unlike butter or shortening. Make sure you cut in the coconut oil very finely. Unlike butter, which should be the size of a pea, cut in the coconut oil so there are no chunks bigger than the size of quinoa. If you have chunks in your dough, it will leave solid holes in your crust. Once this is complete, with a rubber spatula, slowly add the water and vodka while you mix and fold the dough. Clump together and place in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 2 hours minimum.

Preheat oven to 350. When you roll out the dough, make sure you have a nicely floured surface. Roll out the dough a couple of times and then flip, adding more flour each time so that the dough doesn't stick to the counter. Place in pie shell and flute the edges. With a fork stab the bottom and sides of the pie crust. Place parchment paper in pie and fill with pie weights or beans. Place in oven for 15 minutes. Take out parchment paper/weights and let cool.

Pie Filling:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temp.
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
2/3 cup buttermilk
1 1/4 cup fresh coconut
2 tsp freshly grated lemon zest

Preheat oven to 400. In a medium bowl, cream the butter and the sugar together until light and fluffy. Add one egg at a time and blend until a pale yellow color resembles a satin texture. Add vanilla, lemon juice and buttermilk. With a spatula fold in the lemon zest and 1 cup of coconut. Pour into pie crust. Sprinkle remaining coconut onto top of the pie and place into the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, and then lower the oven temperature to 350 for an additional 40-45 minutes. While I was baking this coconut on top began to brown quickly. I'd recommend adding a little aluminum foil on the top half way through. Chill in refrigerator for 3 hours prior to serving.

ENJOY!

Pie 7: Cream Cheese Pumpkin with Pecan Streusel

Pie 7: Cream Cheese Pumpkin with Pecan Streusel

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. At one point, I was in the lobby of our apartment building and I decided to complement a little girl of her Halloween outfit by saying, "I like your dress Cinderella", only to be screamed at by the little brat, "I'm not Cinderella, I'm Bell!" Obviously she was just trying to fit the role of being a bratty princess.

As expected I dressed up as my famous Chef, Julia Child, and had a marvelous evening with friends. My partner, Chris, went as "Stick of Butter" to complement my outfit. At the end of the night (or 5 minutes after standing in heals singing karaoke into my rolling pin) I realized that I do not have what it takes to be a REAL lady... I'll stick to making pies.

Goodbye October and hellllllooooo November! This weeks pie is special. It's unbelievable one of the best pumpkin pie recipes I've ever had. I highly recommend using this if you want to impress people during your Thanksgiving dinner. It's relatively easy too! Since the last weeks pie was vegan, I wanted to make sure that this one had some richness to it and of course make Christian happy with some lard.

Tip for Perfection:
PREPARE! PREPARE! PREPARE! Always make sure that you prepare before you start to make your pie dough. Make sure you always have the right ingredients and more importantly make sure you read the recipe through thoroughly before you begin to bake. This is key!

Cream Cheese Pumpkin with Pecan Streusel

Flakey and Flavorful Pie Dough:
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup lard (or Crisco if you're health conscience)
5 Tbsp cold butter (chopped into small pieces)
1/4 cup water (cold)
1 large egg, lightly beaten

In a medium sized bowl combine the salt and flour. Cut in your butter and lard with a pastry knife or fork until it resembles small pea size chunks inside the flour. While constantly stiring slowly, add the liquid mixture and egg. Depending on your altitude you might not need to use all the water to get the right consistency. If your mixture is too dry, add more cold water. Cut the dough into two pieces and refrigerate for 2 hours. On a lightly floured surface roll out one of the dough balls. Add it to the pie shell and flute the edges. There are many different ways of fluting your pie. Here is a video of some of the different ways and techniques to help you with this process.

Click here for "Fluting techniques"

You can double the rest of the recipe if you're planning on making two pies, otherwise you can save the other pie dough for another time. You can freeze it for up to 3 months.

Cream Cheese Layer:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp Vanilla
1 egg

In a small bowl, cream the sugar and cream cheese together. Add vanilla and egg and mix well. Pour mixture into pie shell and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Pumpkin Layer:
1 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup evaporated milk
2 eggs
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat over to 350. Combine all ingredients into a medium sized mixing bowl. Blend together well with an electric mixer or whisk. After the cream mixture has been in the fridge for 30 minutes, pour pumpkin mixture over the top of cream mixture and place into the oven. Bake for 50 minutes. If the crust begins to brown too quickly, add aluminum foil around the crust.

Pecan Streusel:
2 Tbsp flour
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp butter, softened
1/2 cup pecans, crushed

While the pie is baking. Mix the flour and sugar together. Add the butter and cream together. Finely crush the pecans with a rolling pin (inside a Ziploc bag) or in a food processor and combine with the cream mixture. After the pie has baked for 50 minutes, take out of oven. Using your fingertips add the pecan Streusel on top of the pie evenly and bake for an additional 15 minutes. The pie is best served cold, in order to do so let the pie cool in the refrigerator for 3 hours before cutting into it.

Whipped Cream (recommended to make when consuming)
1 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp confectionery sugar

Whip together until soft peaks form. Throw a little (or a lot) on each slice.

Enjoy!

Pie 6: Vegan Cherry Pie

Pie 6: Don't judge a vegan by it's crust...

It is starting to becoming a tradition at the Hipp and Luzniak residence (notice who's name came first) to host a weekly dinner party. For those of you who follow my life like a blood hound, you are well aware that these parties are more centered around the show "Glee" then anything else. ("You sunk my battleship Rod, and you sunk it hard!") I however find it hard to believe that my friends are ONLY coming to see "Glee", I'm sure they come for one reason only... and that's to eat my pie.

This weeks theme is Vegan and to my surprise most of my friends are bringing wine, lots and lots of wine.... that's different? I guess it's to be suspected. Michael is a wine importer, Dawn has a refined palate, and Justin... well... Justin is just a lush. My friends are a big "melting pot", which makes it fun, and of course they take after me and are hilarious! It's great to have a bunch of people together to share conversation and judgments over a great show and food.

I decided to make a vegan cherry pie because I've been craving cherry pie lately and I think that a cherry pie won't lack very much flavor by substituting the butter for soy margarine and vegetable shortening. If you were to ask my father how to eat a cherry pie he'd say, "It must be warm and served with vanilla ice cream." Too bad he's 3000 miles away and won't be able to scarf it down with us.

Make sure that when you're selecting your cherries that you find ones that have sourness to them, sour is "trump" for cherry pie. The best place to find them is at farmers markets around September/October. If you can't find fresh cherries you can easily substitute canned pie cherries. If this is the case you'll probably need 2-3 cans.

Vegan Cherry Pie:

Easy Pie Dough Recipe:
2/3 cups plus 2 Tbsp chilled vegetable shortening
2 cup flour (all-purpose)
1 tsp salt
4-6 Tbsp ice water

Like my previous pie dough recipes the same techniques should be used on this recipe. Remember: always cold utensils and bowls. Cut in the shortening with the flour/salt, then add the water slowly, aproximately 1 Tbsp at a time as you are stirring with a wooden spoon. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour. Prepare the filling while it is being cooled.

Pie Filling:
3 Tbsp cornstarch
1 cup sugar
2 Tbsp vegan margarine (soft at room temperature)
1 cup cranberry juice
6 cups of cherries (pitted)
1 Tbsp lemon juice
(1 tsp red food dye: optional)

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. In a medium sized mixing bowl whisk the cornstarch and sugar together. Pour in the cranberry juice. Make sure your working quickly and constantly whisking so the cornstarch does not clump and harden. Add margarine and lemon juice and whisk. Add cherries and stir with a rubber spatula to evenly coat. Set aside while you finish preparing the dough.

Cut dough into two equal pieces, and roll each ball out on a lightly floured surface into two disks. Add 1 disk into the pie pan and cut the other into 8 equal strips for weaving the top crust (if desired).

Add the cherry mixture to pie filling. With the additional dough you can either place it directly on top and cut ventilation holes or like I recommend, the decorative braiding pattern. If you're doing a braiding pattern it's easiest to start by laying down all your vertical strips of dough. Then as you add each horizontal strip you can pull back every other vertical strip so that the end result looks like a knitted piece of dough. If you are having problems with this technique or have questions, feel free to email me.

Brush the dough with a little bit of water and then sprinkle with sugar, this will form a nice crunchy texture on the crust. If you're not trying to make it vegan I'd recommend using heavy cream or egg yolk instead of water. Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 and bake for another 40-50 minutes. If the crust is browning too quickly you may add aluminum foil to the edges to slow this process down. Let sit for atleast 90 minutes before cutting into.

ENJOY!!!

Pie 5: Espresso and Oreo Cream Pie

Pie 5: Easy, just how I like 'em!

What a great week! It seems like it's be months since I last posted on my blog, but obviously it was only a week ago! October, so far, has not let me down for being my favorite month of the year. I went up to Pumpkin Fest in Keene, New Hampshire this past weekend. The foliage, the food, the friends, and the festivities were great! While I was there it was a first for me, I made pumpkin french toast! YUMMMMMMMY! Being up north in the cold weather (it literally snowed) made me really miss New England during the holidays. However, as much as I missed it I was happy to return home and see my handsome man. With all the great weather, I am also happy to announce that I have found a job, which is going to challenge my ability to keep up with the commitment of the blog. Regardless of how dark the circles become under my eyes.... .... I won't let you ("my readers") down. "A Pie A Week" must go on!

Last week I received an email from a follower that requested a "simple and fast pie." She has kids and because of her busy workload she doesn't have a lot of time to spend in the kitchen. I pondered ideas of pies and I believe that this is the fastest recipe I have. The best part of this recipe is that all these ingredients can be found at any grocery store, and possibly even a gas station, making it very convenient and quick. Don't let it's simplicity fool you, if you're making this for kids, a husband, or even a grandma you can "bet your meatloaf" that their plates will be licked clean!

Did you know this about OREOs?
Several small baking companies merged in the 19 century to form the National Biscuit Company (now called NaBisCo) and when they created the cookie, they were unaware that they created such a masterpiece. Today, the OREO cookie is the most sold cookie in the world. It's not a wonder why it's called, "America's Favorite Cookie"! The name OREO comes from a very complex and difficult explanation. (Hold on to your lug-nuts because this is going to get confusing). The name is a combination of taking the "re" from the word "cream" and placing it between the two "o"s in "chocolate" - making "o-re-o." To me, this sounds like poppycock, but whatever... In Greek OREO means "mountain", making me very skeptical. Why would we name a cookie after a mountain? I'm sure there's a mountain shaped like an OREO out there somewhere. Maybe we need to go to Greece and check out their landscape.

Regardless if you dip them in milk, twist them to get to the cream, or eat them plain you've contributed to the 400 billion OREO cookies that have been sold since their introduction!


Espresso and Oreo Cream Pie:

OREO Pie Crust:
25 Oreo cookies (with the cream removed)
1 stick of butter (melted)

Place the OREOs in the food processor and process finely. (If you do not have a food processor you can place the OREOs in a plastic bag and smash it with a hammer, rolling pin, can of Spaghetti Ohs or your boyfriend's cell phone.) Set aside 1 Tbsp of OREO crumbs for dusting the top of the pie. Place the rest of the OREO crumbs into a medium sized bowl and stir constantly while slowly incorporating the butter.

Place crumbs and butter mixture into a pie pan and firmly press the crust with a metal spoon. Make sure the crust goes up the sides of the pie pan and that it is evenly spread over the entire pie pan. Place in freezer.

Oreo Espresso Pie Filling
12-18 OREOS (broken into pieces)
8 oz cream cheese
1/3 cup of sugar
1 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream
1 1/2 Tbsp instant espresso
(optional 1 tsp orange food coloring; obviously if you don't have orange you can mix yellow and red)

In a medium sized bowl, cream together the sugar and the cream cheese. If you'd like to make a Halloween themed pie you can add the tsp of orange food coloring. You can also get Halloween OREOs to make it even more festive). Stir in the OREO pieces and espresso. In a separate small bowl whip the heavy cream until peaks form and it's the texture of Cool Whip. With a rubber spatula to fold-in the whipped cream with the rest of the mixture. Place the filling into the OREO crust. Evenly spread out the filling. Sprinkle the extra OREO crumbs on top of the pie as well as a sprinkle of espresso. You can decorate the top of the pie with additional OREOS however you'd like. Place in freezer for at least 2 hours. Before serving let pie sit at room temperature for 10 minutes.

ENJOY!

Peach Cream Pie

Close

Peaches and Cream Pie

From Grace Baptist Church Cookbook - 1976

Who wouldn't like this yummy pie?

Photo courtesy of matt-pearson

PEACHES AND CREAM PIE

Ingredients

1 unbaked pie crust
7 or 8 freestone peach halves, fresh
2/3 cup sugar
4 Tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup cream

Method

Place peach halves in pie crust. Mix sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon and cream together and pour over the peaches.

Bake at 400 degrees F. for 35-40 minutes. May be served with ice cream or a little whipped cream.

Pie 4: Simple yet Complex Pecan

Pie 4: I like my pie like I like my men, Rich!

The ever so anticipated cold season is here. (If you can stand needles, get your shots!) For some, the flu season is easily avoided with proper dieting and sleep. However, some individuals live with teachers who bring home every airborne illness and disease known to man! Therefore, sometimes even with the proper precautions and flu shots it's just unavoidable. Thankfully this weeks pie has some beneficial ammo to help fight away those nasty cold flus.

Granted making a cold flu fighting pie might sounds like a great reason to make a pie, the main reason I decided on this pie this week was because of it's simplicity. October tends to be a busy month for most people, whether it's keeping up with the kid's football games, taking a trip to Paris, or being overwhelmed with the joy of landed a new job. The best part about this pie is that the simplicity of it doesn't mask the complexity of it's taste. Another great aspect is that you don't have to make the crust, and no one will ever know after you doctor it! The pie takes less then 30 minutes to whip up, and then all you have to do is wait for it to cook. This is truly "Time Well Spent."

My two friends, Tony and Warner Willbur Johnston III, were in London and Paris this week and before they left they decided to plan a dinner party at my house the night of their return. It's so nice coming home to food and great pie awaiting your arrival. Granted these two nuts are great friends who'd never take advantage, it was my pleasure to make Warner Willbur Johnston III his favorite pie. After the pie was finished baking and the smell of pecan lingered for hours, I knew that these two would clearly be "tickled pink."

Did you know the benefits of Pecans?

Pecans are known to have the highest levels of antioxidants then any other nut. Since antioxidants are the things that help fight off diseases, flu bugs, and aging it's important to consume them like candy. On top of their high antioxidant level, they also are packed with potassium, fiber, zinc, vitamin E and calcium. Sounds like to me that if you eat a handful of pecans a day you don't even need your multivitamin! However, I'm not a doctor so what do i know?

Simple yet Complex Pecan Pie:

Out of Time Pie Crust:
1 Pillsbury pie crust
1 tsp sugar
1 Tbsp heavy cream
1/2 tsp vanilla

Roll out a Pillsbury pie crust on a lightly floured surface. Place in pie pan and flute edges. In a small bowl whisk the sugar, heavy cream and vanilla together. With a basting brush, brush over the top of the crust. Transfer pie crust and pan in freezer for 30 minutes.

Pecan Filling:
1 cup sugar
3 Tbsp butter, melted in microwave
1/2 cup dark corn syrup
4 large eggs, beaten together
2 1/2 cups pecans
2 Tbsp of bourbon/Scotch (Crown Royal Recommended)

Preheat Oven to 375. In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar. Once blended add the corn syrup, eggs, pecan and bourbon. Stir well until combined. Pour the filling into the frozen pie shell. Place in oven for 10 minutes, then lower temp to 350 and cook for an additional 45 minutes. Allow the pie to cool for an hour before cutting into it.

The best way to enjoy this pie, according to my friend Dawn, is accompanied with homemade vanilla bean ice cream. If you don't have ice cream, freshly whipped cream or homemade caramel sauce drizzled over the top is just as great! (Caramel recipe on September 27, 2009 blog, "Caramel Sauce Layer.")

Cheers!