Year of the Pie - Pie # 18 Sugar Cream/Hoosier Pie

Pie # 18
Sugar Cream Pie
a.k.a Hoosier Pie

Mmmmm sugar cream pie sounds good doesn't it?
My sister (a Hoosier) mentioned sugar cream pie and I looked in my handy dandy Betty Crocker Cookbook and found nothing on it. Wikipedia has this to say about it. Scroll down to the Hoosier Pie section.
Here is another link for it. The Wikipedia article states that Sugar Cream Pie is considered an "Indiana Legendary Local Cuisine" along with Persimmon Pudding, which I am making for Thanksgiving and the above-mentioned sister will taste it.

Anyway, my Aunt Martha(a Hoosier) graciously shared with me (a Hoosier) a recipe for Sugar Cream Pie that my Aunt Myla(a Hoosier transplanted to Florida) gave to her in 1963. For cryin' out loud, with all of these Hooisers involved, it has gotta be delicious. Note: Bobby Knight was born in OHIO, therefore, making him NOT a Hooiser. P.L.T.

Crust:
1 C. flour
1/4 t. salt
1/3 C. + 1 T. shortening
2-3 T. cold water
Mix the flour/salt together, cut in the shortening really well with a pastry blender and then sprinkle in 1 T. of water at a time as you mix with a fork til it miraculously wants to cling together, then you can form it into a ball. Flatten the dough into a disk before you roll (on the clock, 12,6,3,9,2,8,10,4, etc.).

(I am getting better at the crust, because I only had a little ball of dough left.)
Place in pie plate.

Filling:
1½ C. sugar
2 heaping T. flour
2 C. whipping cream
4 pats of oleo (translates to 2 T. butter in my world)
pinch of salt
8" inch pie crust

Mix together, pour into an unbaked pie crust. Bake at 400° for 5 minutes. Turn oven down to 325°. Stir carefully, bake 35-40 minutes. Note: After my pie baked 40 minutes I called my Aunt Martha with a pie dilemma-it was still a little squishy. She told me to bake it ten minutes more and then it will finish setting up as it cools.
Now, that is Myla's recipe.
I have read other recipes that state you should stir the ingredients carefully with your finger to prevent the crust from breaking. That is YOUR call. Note: I used a bamboo spoon and stirred gently.

This pie also falls into the category of a 'desperation' pie. This means that it was made with ingredients that were always on hand on the farm. Sometimes, the chickens didn't lay, so therefore, this recipe calls for no eggs.

Oh, looky, isn't it cute?
The filling was for an 8 inch pie and my plate is a 9 inch....it still turned out o.k.
I hope you try this pie. It is quite easy.
We three give this pie

Until Next Time

Year of the Pie - Pie #17 Cherry Pie

Pie # 17
Cherry Pie

For our cherry pie we used the Betty Crocker crust recipe. For a 9-inch pie crust do the following.

Right or wrong, I use Crisco. Every now and then, lard.

1/3 C. + 1 T. shortening or 1/3 C. lard
1 C. Flour
1/2 t. salt
2 to 3 T. ice water

Cut the shortening into the flour/salt mixture with a pastry blender til small pieces form, then sprinkle in 1 T. of water at a time til the dough can be formed into a ball-cleaning the sides of the bowl.
Form into a disk and then roll out, using flour to keep it from sticking to the counter and rolling pin. Roll out like this: Roll from the 'middle of the disk' out. Start in the middle and roll to twelve o'clock, then start in the middle and roll til six o'clock, then three o'clock, nine o'clock, then go to two o'clock, eight o'clock, etc. After you have rolled (or rocked) your way around the clock, start over if necessary to get the desired size of crust.
Then transfer it to the pie plate.

Mix the filling as follows:
6 C. red tart cherries, pitted (we used frozen that my mom prepared)
1 1/3 C. sugar
1/2 C. flour
2 T. butter, diced
1/4 tsp. almond extract
(I researched several recipes and only one did NOT call for almond extract-so if you don't have any...you might can get away with it-don't know)

Mix the cherries with the flour/sugar mixture and then sprinkle on the almond extract give it a nice stir.
Dot the top of the pie with the diced butter.

Margaret chose a lattice top crust for this pie. We just used the single crust recipe, rolled it out and then she used a pastry tool to cut the lattice. She chose a design that did not require weaving. It is pretty.

Use a pie shield for the edges of the pie til the last few minutes of baking.
Bake 425° 35-45 minutes.

This pie was a pleasure to make. The lattice was easy. Maggie has not tasted this pie yet, but my husband and I gave it
Also, after tasting the pie, my husband said...."You have gotten the crust thing down". That's a good thing.

Does anyone have recipes that use Almond Extract? I have almost a full bottle and I don't want it to go to waste.

Until Next Time

Year of the Pie - Pie #16 Cottage Pie

Pie # 16
Cottage Pie
a.k.a Shepherd's Pie

Wikipedia tells us that Shepherd's Pie was originally known as Cottage Pie. It is a meat pie with a 'crust' of mashed potatoes. But then somehow it got associated with shepherds/sheep, etc. The meat used in England is generally mutton or lamb (sheep meat).
Well, here in Indiana, we used ground Angus meat.
I was on my morning walk the other day and I was wondering how to use up some extra mashed potatoes. I vaguely remember something about mashed potatoes in a pie. I looked up shepherd's pie at Allrecipes.com and it gave me about a trillion different variations of it. I combined a few of the ingredients from different posts and came up with this version.

1 pound ground beef fried up with a chopped onion and drained
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 T. Worcestershire sauce
1 15 ounce can of corn, drained
Mix the above together and spread into a pie plate. (by using a pie plate it help justify a Year of the Pie post )

Shred 1 C. of sharp cheddar cheese and layer it on top of the mixture, then top with 2 C. mashed potatoes.

Bake at 350° for about 35-45 minutes or until taters are toasty brown.

We three rated it . (husband,me, Maggie -hers wasn't a thumbs up or down-so I gave it a 'it could be eaten if need be' face)

Until Next Time.

Year of the Pie - Pie #15 Persimmon Pie

My husband was visiting his son in southern Indiana a month or so ago and I asked him to bring back some persimmons. He gave his son's wife some money to pick some up when she went on an errand and she came back with frozen persimmon pulp packaged up in two-two cup freezer bags. I think she got them from her mother. It was very sweet of her, because not only did she bring back some pulp (which means I didn't have to do anything to use it) she gave him back his money. I don't know of any persimmons growing around here, so we were fortunate to have these.

The recipe came out of a southern Indiana cook book, so I figured we couldn't go wrong. Maggie made this entire pie, I just read the recipe.

Right Click to Get the Recipe for the Crust

Add to 1 C. persimmon pulp, 1 C. sugar, 3/4 tsp cinnamon, a dash of salt and nutmeg, and 2 beaten egg YOLKS. Mix thoroughly and then stir in 1 C. milk. Whip 2 egg WHITES until they are stiff and fold into the persimmon batter.
Pour the batter into the unbaked pie crust, do not cover with a top crust. Bake 450° for 10 minutes
Then reduce heat to 350° and bake another 45 minutes or until firm.
A knife stuck in the center of the pie should come out clean.

It puffed up big in the oven and then shrunk after it cooled.

This pie is going to church this evening, but there is no law saying that we couldn't have a few pieces beforehand. We cut it into 12 pieces so there is still plenty to share.
Maggie gave this a pie a she thought the taste was harsh.
My husband and I gave it .
They say persimmon 'anything' is always a good Fall dish. It does taste fall-ish. We have enough pulp left to have Persimmon Pudding on Thanksgiving. We also put together some Persimmon Bread today as well. It is tasty too.

Until Next Time