Ask a chef

[Akrnaf2]

Fresh home made pasta with red wine and beef ragout.

Yep crack then soak in soy or food color..... pretty cool looking

Or a very strong tea over night.

 

[perchie.girl]

we are no carbing or I would be making pasta more often... Not homemade but I do make a good spaghetti sauce...

deb

 

[Akrnaf2]

A wonderful beef and red wine ragout with home made pasta.

Deb if there is food that make me quite the paleo is this kind!

 

[perchie.girl]

 

[Wishing4Wings]

i actually brought them to work today to try with a coworker

And... how were they? Did you like them? Toss your cookies?

 

[DwayneNLiz]

And... how were they? Did you like them? Toss your cookies?

ummm my daughter said they were spicy

 

[perchie.girl]

ummm my daughter said they were spicy

bwak Bwak.... Bagok

 

[DwayneNLiz]

bwak Bwak.... Bagok

 

[CanuckBock]

Heel low:

I posted this on my Pear-A-Dice thread but belongs here also, eh!

PAGE 1 OF 2​

OK...bumper crop this year of Saskatoons (Amelanchier alnifolia, Pacific serviceberry, western serviceberry, alder-leaf shadbush, dwarf shadbush, chuckley pear, or western juneberry,) so the Girl Dogs & I picked a bucket (before the baby Grosbeaks and Robins had them all!) full.

Picked Aug 7​

I have not made a pie in recent memory...I really truly DO need to go out and buy some proper pie plates. I did have several and to say how long it has been since I baked a pie is to admit the actual pie plates have disintegrated...so that means LONG time no bakey a pie. Shameful!

Yummy!​

So the pie I have made is a scream in your face (I still CAN if I make the time for it!) I made dang PIE!

We shall have gobby slices of it tonight, when Rick comes home...slathered in fresh sweetened whipped cream...oh how delightful and delish...my mouth is watering and well I could have a slice right now but dang, be good if I waited and we savoured this ourselves, together.

What makes me laugh is it took TWENTY YEARS for these Saskatoon plants I planted to knock our socks off...maybe a harvest like this again next year.

I have left enough unripe berries on the bushes we stopped by after dog run runs and there were a handful that had ripened up again...such fun the three dogs and two oldesters toddle off to smush our faces with purple berries. The simple (and yet not) pleasures in life...ha ha ha.


So let's get into the pie making process...dive right in, get purple!

You start with pie crust...this one freezes well but WELL...I made TWO pies so when I made the mess, I had one to put in the freezer for when No. 1 son comes to visit...I can pop this one out and we may eat pie to celebrate his visit (he lives on the Coast now...near where my parents live).

RECIPE for Flaky Pie Crust

- 5 cups flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. salt
- 3 tbsp. brown sugar
- 1 lb. lard
- 1 egg (cackling berry!) slightly beaten
- 1 tbsp. vinegar
- cold water to top to one cup mark

Put the egg, vinegar in 1 cup measuring cup and top with cold water to the one cup mark...easy peasy!

Keep mindful that the less you mess with the pastry when compiling it, the more tender and flakey it will be. Less mess = better pie pastry.

Dump flour in big bowl, add in dry ingredients & mix about...then plop room temperature lard into the middle of the mixture and use a pastry hand kneader (pastry blender tool) to break your lard into pieces (bottom right in below photo). Work less, better tenderness.

There is all you need to make flaky pie pastry​

Once the lard is in tiny bitty bits, make an impression (hole) in the middle and pour the one cup of liquid in. Mix as needed till you can form four balls. Two tops and two bottoms.

Voila...pie pastry​

Now on to the PIE part...

RECIPE for Saskatoon Pie

5 cups Saskatoons (that picked pail above makes THREE huge pies!)
2/3 cup white sugar
3 tbsp. corn starch
1 tbsp. lemon zest (or I used 1 tsp. lemon juice since I had no fresh lemons!)
2 tbsp. butter cut into small pats
1 tbsp. cream
1 tbsp. brown sugar

Pie ingredients - waiting on yah to GET TO IT!​

Snell snell...get making those pies, eh.

So you roll out the pastry for the bottom of the pie...I also got the top ready and done up. Laced top can be made since the Saskatoons are a pretty juicy berry and letting some of the moisture escape during cooking is GOOD idea.

Pie top in the works, yes a fancy one for the top!​

Nothing but the best treatment for the TREAT we've been waiting twenty years on.

Nice trimmed up pastry bottom for pie
(Poke a few fork holes all about's)
Pastry top sitting on a plate in reserve,
Awaiting to be laced on the top of pie
After berry mixture & butter goes in ​

Sing a Song of Sixpence

Sing a song of sixpence,
A pocket full of rye.
Four and twenty blackbirds,
Baked in a pie.
When the pie was opened
The birds began to sing;
Wasn't that a dainty dish,
To set before the king.
The king was in his counting house,
Counting out his money;
The queen was in the parlour,
Eating bread and honey.
The maid was in the garden,
Hanging out the clothes,
When down came a blackbird
And pecked off her nose.

They sent for the king's doctor,
who sewed it on again;
He sewed it on so neatly,
the seam was never seen.

'Nuff singing...back to making pie...sun goes down late but not THAT late??

There, dumped in berry mixture,
pats of butter strategically placed on top berries
Pasty lace ready to be assembled...no 'arse in this eh! ​

Room for two more photo files...

Careful now...no clumsy flubs allowed!​

Voila...done good eh?

Laced up so good Lacy would be PROUD! ​

So you lace it up (simple braid eh) and trim the edges...no more room for photos so next post is where we go next... to page 2 of 2...yeh...and hopefully I post it and don't wander off and EAT the pie...oh my! Pie on the brains...that would make good lunch...yes, no...oh heavens, BEHAVE!

​

Doggone & Chicken UP!

Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada

 

[CanuckBock]

Heel low:

PAGE 2 OF 2​

OK...to make the top even tastier...you brush it with cream
(calories are things you burn...BURN BABY ...never mind!)​

So you brush on the cream.

Sprinkle lacing with brown sugar​

You can turn on the oven to 425F...pre heat her up.

Ready to go in the oven​

Almost looks eatable BEFORE baking, eh.

You bake pie for 15 minutes at 425F, then reduce heat to 350F and bake for a further 50 to 60 minutes. Tis is why I baked it this morning...the house is cool and can withstand some oven heat.

And yes, the pie is ready for consumption!​

Just gotta whip up the cream and y'all can get over here NOW...I am feeling weak kneed and famished...dig in...EAT EAT EAT!

Now before I depart I did the second pie for the freezer...

Non-laced normal type pastry top​

Because it goes in the freezer, I just did a top that I figure will protect the contents from freezer burn best.

Put plastic wrap over the pie to be frozen and popped on the glass lid and then tin foiled it. That way it should be good like the day it was made, eh.

July 31, 2017 Berries of Plenty​

I still have enough berries in the fridge for one more something...

Perhaps just give the berries to the very berry dogs...Lacy & Emmy??​

Maybe build another pie, not sure as I have a tad bit of pastry left...maybe a big old tart for a big old fart. Har har...anyway...that be that!

Doggone & Chicken UP!

Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada