I Never Did Talk About the Pies

So for Thankgiving I asked for the pie responsibilities I like to do the pies. They're kind of my thing. I made a big, apple pie in my deep dish pie pan and a couple of pumpkin pies. I always have extra pie crust dough (I use Barefoot Contessa's Perfect Pie Crust recipe) and extra pumpkin pie filling (I like the recipe on the back of the Libby's can o'pumpkin) so I make a much-coveted mini pie. Nothing tastes better than your own personal pie, at least if you're 11, or 41.

Buttermilk Panna Cotta

When I saw this blog post for Buttermilk Panna Cotta at Alexandra's Kitchen, I knew I would give it a try. She explains it's a great way to use up buttermilk sitting in your fridge. And I happen to always have buttermilk in my fridge. I'll buy it for biscuits and pancakes and other miscellany. But I never seem to use it all before it is past date. She also calls it the simplest dessert ever. It is easy to put together but you still have to wait for it to set and that requires some advance thought so it isn't an impromptu dessert. Plus you do have to be one of those mildly crazy people who would have powdered gelatin on hand. I happen to be one of them. I can't remember why I would have purchased it. I figure at one point, I planned to make panna cotta and never did. I have many misfit ingredients from recipes that I never actually got around to making. It's a shortcoming but it can work in my favor too. Like pulling a rabbit from a hat, I'll can sometimes come up with just the item I need from the depths of my cupboards.

A peach compote seemed like it would compliment a buttermilk panna cotta nicely. And I had some frozen peaches in my freezer. Why? I can't say. But I put them on the stove with some sugar and spice, cooked them down and let them cool. Anyway, the panna cotta is good. But to be honest, I don't really love the tang of buttermilk here. I would prefer a panna cotta made with voluptuous cream if I'm going to bother with this dessert. But if your looking to use up some buttermilk and you have a taste for dessert, this is your ticket.

Happy Birthday, Julia

Although Julia Child has moved on to that big kitchen in the sky, there is still good reason to remember her birthday. I thank Julia for making me appreciate the art of cooking and what could be learned about other cultures through food. As a child, I loved to watch her television show, often preferring to see her carve a chicken or make bouillabaise over watching Saturday morning cartoons. Julia using a cleaver to chop the heads off fish was way more interesting than watching "Captain Caveman." So in honor of Julia's birthday today, I plan to cook one of her recipes for dinner or dessert. What am I making? I'm about to go to my cookbooks and determine that. My blogger friend, Lisa at Champagne Taste, has put together a lovely tribute to Ms. Julia, please have a look. Bon Appetit!

I ended up making Blueberry Nectarine Pie from Baking with Julia. This is great baking book that is completely out of my league. Beside this pie, I pretty much just look at the pictures. But the pie turned out nicely this time, better than a recent effort on vacation where I tossed in some blackberries (seeds = bad). I added 1 T more cornstarch for thicker juices and properly measured the fruit instead of just winging it, as I am known to do.

Closure

I'm aware of the excessive amount of pie photos on this web blog. But I just think there are few things prettier. So on that note, here's a picture of a piece of pie from this recent post on Cherry Pie. I was so pleased with the shot when I finally uploaded it from my camera, that I felt it worthy of a follow-up post. So, although this pie has been long ago consumed, here's a little remembrance of its brief life as a pie. It was a good pie.

Strawberry season

I have the hardest time at the farmers market. Everything looks so good that I sometimes tend to, ahem, buy too much. Berries can especially be a challenge because you really only have a small window of opportunity to use them at their peak. This week at the market, the strawberries were luscious. About the size of the tip of a thumb and smaller, they were sweet and red all the way through. Their perfume wafted from the stand as I approached. I just couldn't resist buying a couple quarts.

When we've eaten all the fresh berries we can, some sort of baked fruit thing is our favorite way to finish off the rest. This strawberry crisp is from Fine Cooking issue 72. It was an unusual recipe (to me, at least) in that the crisp topping is made from buttered bread crumbs. The author likened the finished flavor to "buttered toast with strawberry preserves." The topping turned out delicately crisp which was OK but not fantastic. It did taste a little like toast. I much prefer a classic crunchier crisp topping like the one from Fine Cooking issue 43, so I'll probably not make this again.

Tarts and Turnovers

Thumbing through Fine Cooking issue no. 79, I found an article on berry desserts that I had passed over and forgotten. The article incudes a butter dough recipe that you can use to make a few different desserts. One suggestion is a fruit tart using the dough for the shell and a mix of lemon curd folded into whipped cream for the filling. The tart is finished with fresh berries. You could use this dough to make eight little lovely tarts.


Another possibility with the dough is it to use it to make hand pies or what FC editors dubbed "Rustic Raspberry Turnovers." If you use the dough for this recipe, it will give you 12 turnovers, maybe more with scraps rerolled.



I, feeling especially frisky one recent afternoon, decided to try both recipes by making just two tarts and using the rest of the dough to make turnovers. This Buttery Shortbread Pastry Dough is delicious and worked really well for both recipes. The little turnovers are made from circles, 4 inches in diameter. You can only fit 3 or 4 sugared raspberries in them (5-6 blueberries, I made some of both.) The crust is like a flaky cookie, and the bright tart berries play off its buttery sweetness. These were great for a few days, just sitting on the counter. Dear husband took them to work for a snack.

As for the fruit tarts, the lemon curd/whipped cream was a revelation. I loved it with the berries and it was so easy using jarred lemon curd. You could easily have the tart shells and the lemon whipped cream made in advance and assemble these tarts right before you need them. Also I think children would enjoy assembling them, spooning in the cream and decorating with berries. And the shells are sturdy enough that you wouldn't need to worry about them breaking.

Buttery Shortbread Pastry Dough

yields enough for 1 single pie crust, 8 mini tarts, or 12 turnovers

9 oz. (2 cups) all-purpose flour
7 oz. (14 T) chilled, unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 T granulated sugar
1 T chilled heavy cream
2 t fresh lemon juice
1 t table salt

In a food processor, combine the flour, butter, egg, sugar, cream, lemon juice, and salt and pulse until the dough starts gathering together in big clumps. Turn the dough out onto a counter and gather it together. Shape the dough as needed