Chicken Cherry Pie 🍒

This pie is an adaptation from a medieval text Platina Book 6.  Another Crust with Tame Creatures is a strangely delicious recipe which features both canned sour cherries, chicken and herbs in a quiche like structure.

Chicken Cherry Pie
Makes 2 pies

1 roast Chicken or 3 chicken breast cooked
2  9" pie crusts
1 cup or so or drained cherries
8 eggs
2 tbsp wine vinegar
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
4 tsp finely chopped mint
Salt and pepper

Line the bottom of the pie crust with cherries, chicken and herbs.

In a pot, combine eggs, vinegar, broth, salt and pepper cook over low until thickened.  Once thickened, poor over other ingredients. 

Bake 400° for 15 min and then 350° for 25 minutes. Bake until the egg mixture is set.

Blue Pie

My dearest husband brought home a giant box of blueberries the other day since we had a bunch of people including a bunch of kids, and what kids doesn't like blueberries (ladybug doesn't bit she gets that from my husband) so with no plans to use the berries they started to be very ripe.  In an attempt to used the berries I decided that pie was the best and tastiest way to used them.

I have never had a great time with pastry, it is an art and skill I have yet to master, although that would also assume I'm trying my hand at making it, but I'm not.  So I picked up a couple boxes of pre-made pie crusts and off I went.

Awesome Blueberry Lemon Pie.

4 cups blueberries, rinsed and dry-ish
3/4 cup sugar
3 tbsp corn starch
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/3 of a nutmeg, finely grated
Zest of 1 lemon
1 tbsp butter, cut into small pieces
2 ready made pie crusts

-Pre heat oven the 425. Having the rack in the lower half to the oven
-In a mixing bowl mix together blueberries, sugar, corn starch, cinnamon, nutmeg, and lemon zest.
-Pour into prepared crust, top with butter.
-Wet the edges of the bottom crust and place the top crust on. Crimp the edges with a fork
-Place pie on a cookie sheet lined with parchment.
- Bake 40-50 minutes until the blueberries are bubbly.  If the crust starts to bring brown to much cover loosely with foil.
-Let cool and enjoy.

The Pumpkin Play Continues

Mmmm pumpkin,  I know the last few posts have been about pumpkin but tis' the season.

I have one main belief with pumpkin pie, it must contain Mace.  I remember a time when mace wasn't available in Canada. It was thought to be hallucinogenic and when they banned mace spray they also made it impossible to find the spice mace.  I did give up on mace for a year or two when I couldn't find it, it was hard to have pumpkin pie without it.  Now it is back so I make my pie with mace :)

Pumpkin Pie

2 cups Pumpkin Puree (or 1 can - 398ml)

3/4 tsp Salt

1 tsp Cinnamon

1/2 tsp Mace

3/4 tsp ground Ginger

2 dashes Clove

3/4 cup Brown Sugar

2 Eggs

1/2 cup Evaporated Milk or Cream

3/4 cup Scalded Milk

-Preheat oven to 425.

-Scalded milk and let cool slightly.

-In a bowl mix all ingredients until combined and pour into prepared pie crust. (NB. This recipe makes more then will fit in a store bought crust. So either have some extra tart shells available, or make your own crust and place it in a pie plate that is slightly larger then a store bought.)

-Bake at 425 for 15 minutes.

-Bake at 350 for 55-60 minutes

Serve hot or chilled with whipped cream or ice cream.

Thawed pureed pumpkin, this was vintage since it was dated back to 2009.  I thought it was time to use it and it was still good.   Since I freeze pumpkin puree in ziplocs the rectangular pan worked well for thawing it quickly.

Pumpkin and brown sugar, mixed together and ready to go.

I have added the evaporated milk, scalded milk and spices to the pumpkin and sugar mix.  All I need to do is putting into a prepared crust.

I put this one in a pre-made crust but since this recipe makes more then will fit in a pre made crust, I also had to make some pastry dough to fill some small tart shells.

It was lovely since the kids and I shared 1/4 of the pie and the rest went down to the people playing D&D in the basement.

Here is the one of the little tarts that I made with the left over filling with the homemade pastry.

Pastry Dough

Recipe from Simply Recipes

2 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour

1 cup Butter (very cold and cup into 1/2" pieces)

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Sugar

6-8 tbsp Ice Cold Water

In a food processor add flour, salt and sugar.  Pulse a bit to combine. 

Add butter and pulse 6-8 times, until the mixture resembles coarse meal, with pea size pieces of butter.  Add ice water 1 tbsp at a time, pulsing until mixture begins to clump together.  If you pinch some of the crumbly dough it holds together, it's ready.  If it doesn't hold together, add  a little more water and pulse again.

Remove dough from food processor and place on a clean counter.  Gently shape into 2 flattened disks.  Knead just until the disc forms, do not over knead.  Wrap in plastic wrap and stash in the fridge for at least and hour and up to 2 days.

Remove chilled disc and let sit at room temp for 5-10 minutes to soften the dough enough to roll it.  Roll out on a flour surface.  Carefully place in a 9" pie plate and gently press the dough into the and snip off the sides with 1/2"to 1" over hand.   If I am doing a single crust pie I like to fold it over and crimp it.

Add pie filling.

Then roll out the second disc, same as the first and gently place it on the top, pinch the dough together and trip excess dough.  Fold the top piece over the bottom crust and flute edges using your thumb and forefinger. Score the top of the pie to vent steam.