Rhubarb-Apple Lattice Pie

Shredded apples (peel and all) not only add fruity notes to the filling, but contain pectin which helps thicken it. The result is an easy to slice but not gloopy pie ready for your next backyard bbq!

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It's been a hot minute since I dabbled in pastry  quite frankly, I don't have the patience to coax together a perfectly flaky crust any more, and the people who would enjoy such a treat are few and far between now. However, I did have the opportunity to pay a few visits to a friend with a distinct love for rhubarb pie this year - and how could I not indulge that possibility? 

Luckily, the backyard rhubarb was - and is - prolific this year. We have (at last count) 4 rhubarb plants in the garden, each exploding into a mess of foliage every year. I'm the only one who actually uses the rhubarb, oddly enough, and what better way to celebrate this often ignored ingredient than in my annual pie?

That said, rhubarb-only pie has a set of things that need to be addressed for it to be fit for the dessert table. The first (and most obvious) is that fresh rhubarb is tart - great in, say, chutney, but not alone in a dessert. The next is the fact that rhubarb is essentially sour celery. It's stringy because of the cellulose fibres that give it structure, and it's filled with water. Ignore those elements and you wind up with dental floss soup in a pie crust. Appetizing, right?

 The approach I took in order to combat all three considerations while keeping the rhubarb front and centre was multi-fold. The easiest one was the tartness, obviously - but to add some complexity to the sweetness I used a mix of plain granulated and dark brown sugars. The brown sugar gave me the inspiration to tackle the liquid issue as well. In addition to using tapioca starch (my go-to thickener for pie, since it's freezer-stable) I decided to shred apples, peel and all, into the rhubarb mixture. The apple's pectin, combined with the sugar and the heat of the oven, also aided in the thickening of the filling. The stringiness of the rhubarb turned out to be a non-issue, since the pieces were chopped fairly small but the cellulose was also somewhat softened by the overnight sit in the sugar.

This is not a quick pie to make, since you need to let the filling stand for 12 hours (which also lets you chill your pie dough appropriately), it bakes for an hour, then has to set for another 8 hours before serving. I 100% promise it is worth it though - and if you're feeling energetic enough to make enough pie dough these freeze well both unbaked and baked. Don't want to fuss with a lattice (you can see my amazing weave work above haha)? No problem - just pop a full crust lid on top and poke 5-6 slits in the top for ventilation.

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Simple Rhubarb Pie

 The simplicity of a rhubarb pie is the epitome of late spring and early summer.

Happy blog-day to me! It is crazy to think this little hobby project of mine has been around for 14 years - and in that amount of time I've gone through more rounds of school than I can count, began and ended a career as a Home Economics teacher and definitely improved my cooking, baking and photography skills. Thanks to those of you who have come along for the ride, and to those of you that are just dropping in! 

Now, in the spirit of my off-and-on tradition of presenting a Canada Day / blog anniversary pie, I bring you a quintessentially local one, made with only rhubarb from my backyard. Normally, you'll see rhubarb blends in pies - strawberry, blueberry, and my favourite: cherry. But my mentor and colleague specifically asked for a rhubarb pie this year, as as I was leaving my position at the school I made it my mission to present her with one as my going-away gift. 

Now, for the uninitiated, rhubarb is a stalky vegetable that (at least around here) grows like weeds, is tart and slightly two-faced as the leaves are toxic. It is incredibly versatile, making it's way into sweet and savoury applications throughout the year. To stand alone in pie, though, it needed a decent dose of sugar - making it unlike our standard apple pies where its fruit + pastry without anything else. However, the key is to add only enough sugar to take away the tannic sourness without completely obscuring the flavour! Because this was a special occasion pie, I upped the ante with a sprinkle of coarse sugar on the lattice as well.

You absolutely need to bake this pie on a tray though - the rhubarb has a lot of moisture and it will bubble over! Once it's cooled and chilled though, it slices beautifully and is the perfect foil for a scoop of ice cream.

 

Nut-Free Baklava

Yes, nut free baklava is possible! The filling for this decadent flaky pastry is a mix of nut free granola, sunflower seeds and buckwheat kernels pulsed with raw honey and spices, while the syrup is honey and sugar with a splash of rose and orange flower water. Rolled, rather than stacked phyllo ensures the filling stays put and slicing is easier too!

Baklava is a definite crowd pleaser - I honestly don't know a single person who truly abhors the sweet, sticky, flaky pastry once they've tried it! Since my grade 7/8 class at work was putting on Mamma Mia! as their school play, they asked if I could make the dessert option for their refreshment table. Of course, I agreed, and the subject of baklava came up. However, there was a big, glaring "BUT" in this plan. As per school policy, there could be no nuts involved.

Not to toot my own horn (okay, kinda to toot my own horn), this challenge didn't faze me at all. While the previous Home Economics teacher had mentioned that there was "no way" the dessert could be made without nuts, I have had previous experience in doing just that. I took the same principles and adapted them to a more traditional baklava application (involving the syrup component). To save on mess and make for a somewhat neater presentation, I rolled the sheets of filled phyllo instead of stacking them, which both ensured an even distribution of filling and an easier cutting job. The rolls also absorbed the syrup a little more thoroughly, creating bites of pastry that were sweet without being wet-wipe sticky.

Now, I will not say this is a "quick" dessert. I made it the morning before it needed to go into the school so it had a full 24 hours to absorb the syrup, but all told it took about 1 1/2 hours to put together from start to finish. Do make the syrup first - it needs to cool to room temperature and this way it stays out of the way! Any leftover filling and phyllo can be made into "muffin tin" baklava snails (my mom loved those as her "treat" and they also gave my fiance a chance to taste the dessert for the first time), and the filling can also be frozen and used as a mix-in for bread or cake filling. Make no mistake, the next time I get a chance, this is going to be back on the dessert table.

Apple Rhubarb Crumble Pie

Apple Rhubarb Crumble Pie is sweet, tart and the perfect way to use up your garden's bounty.

I don't know about you, but my freezer is always full of frozen produce. We have the standard peas and cauliflower, but I also have hoards of cherries, peaches, mixed berries and rhubarb at my disposal should jam, pies or crisps need to be made. Of course, having a rhubarb plant in the backyard means I have to get creative and use up the rhubarb that's there before the next season starts! Without any (decently priced) strawberries, the standard jam or pie was out of the question. However, I came across a new rhubarb pie that is perfect for the cooler weather and super simple to make!

While this pie is already easy (hello, no top crust!) you can make it even easier with a press-in pie crust or even a storebought shell... I won't tell, promise! There are two keys to making this recipe sing - the honey / sugar syrup bath surrounding the rhubarb and apples, and the lightly spiced streusel with added apple flavour with the addition of apple juice. One caveat - you need to tent this one with foil. There is so much starch and sugar that the crumble will burn, and that's no fun! Letting the whole pie cool (as hard as it is) also lets all the pectins and starches do their work to set the filling, meaning beautiful slices. Whether you have a special occasion coming up (yes, even Valentines, or anti-Valentines Day!) or just want a delicious dessert for a weekend dinner, you can't go wrong with this.

Plus, in the Spring when rhubarb begins to grow again, this pie works just as well! Just toss the rhubarb with the sugar and let stand for an hour before proceeding.

Egyptian Fruit Tartlets

These Egyptian Fruit Tartlets are a variation on my favourite fig newton recipe, and are perfectly sized for a two bite treat!

Well, I'm more or less back to everything after this busy, busy Summer! Apologies to those of you who enjoy my writing but I needed to take the break to deal with both school and personal commitments. At any rate, I will do my best to at least get one post a week out, and what better way to start than with these delicious tartlets?

These tartlets are different from the standard pastry shell variety in a couple of ways. First, the casing is more of a shortbread style of dough, relatively soft and pliable. Second, the fruit is in a paste form, rather than fresh or "pie filling" format. The filling has to be my favourite part of the whole treat, since it is almost identical to the filling I use for date squares. My inspiration for these tarts came from the Middle Eastern pastry maamoul, and since I needed to make a dessert for one of the school plays that kept to the Arabian / Egyptian / etc theme it seemed to fit the bill nicely. To keep the filling from being super sweet, and since a few of the kids hate dates (I can't believe it, they are nature's candy!), I added some dried figs which lent a delicate texture and floral note. Those of you who have been following me know I love figs, and especially fig newtons, so I could definitely polish the spread off with a spoon.


I mentioned it earlier but the dough is very soft, even after chilling. I didn't want to add too much flour at the onset and had nothing but a paste on my hands, but I gradually added flour until I got a shortbread dough texture. for me, 27 oz worked well, plus the flour I dusted with when rolling. You may also need to tamp down the middle of the shells after baking to keep the depression intact. It's all worth it - I promise! While the recipe makes a fair amount of tartlets, it does scale well, and you can freeze leftovers as well without issue.

Vegan Churros

These crisp-chewy churros are baked - not fried - and coated head to toe in cinnamon sugar. Even better? They're vegan and nut free!

 

Happy Cinco de Mayo! While I've never been to Mexico (it's on the bucket list) I do appreciate "real" Mexican food when I can get it. The one exception that I will always make is guacamole - don't hate me, but I can't stand avocado in any form (except perhaps as a cookie or brownie). Mole, arroz negro, cajeta or fideos though- those are fair game, especially when paired with the gorgeous fresh fruit that is so abundant there. One of my all time favourite treats is the churro, and growing up there was a Mexican bakery near the mall that made them in a few different styles. The "basic" sticks, simply coated in cinnamon-sugar, were perfect for on-the-go munching and were never greasy or prone to weighing you down. For more immediate enjoyment, they served the sticks filled with either jam, dulce de leche or Nutella - if that isn't Heaven on a plate, I don't know what is. They had dipping sticks too for the rich, thick hot chocolate, all alongside some of the best, freshest tasting smoothies I ever had. 

Fast forward 20 years and I'm now making them with my Home Ec classes. Churros are, in their very essence, an extruded sweet-ish choux paste, and while they are usually fried to delicious golden perfection, I have a deep-seated fear of deep frying and opted to try a baked version. One of the cardinal rules about choux dough is that it is so temperamental in poor weather, and our egg-and-dairy originals fell flat and doughy by the time I got them into the oven. Not having any extra eggs on hand, I quickly scoured the 'Net for a way to approximate the recipe without the key ingredient (ludicrous, I know, but it was 8PM and I didn't feel like going to the store). Finally, armed with a few well-reviewed recipes, I concocted a slightly modified version of Nature's Emporium's. I didn't need to keep things gluten free, so regular flour fit the bill just fine, and I added a touch of nutmeg for that doughnutty flavour.

Out of the oven and rolled in that classic cinnamon sugar, these tasted amazing, and the dough smelled a heck of a lot better than the standard choux paste I'm used to (I can't stand the smell of eggs). These held up to storage a bit better than their pastry cousins as well, keeping crisp for at least a day. I would suggest, should storage be your aim, refrigerating or freezing these "naked", then reheating and sugar-coating them as needed. Of course, a caramel or chocolate dunk is purely optional, although delicious!

Flaky Suet Pastry (and Apple Butter Apple Pie)

Suet sounds awful and archaic, but it makes super-flaky, melt in your mouth pastry perfect for any type of pie!

As someone who doesn't eat meat (except seafood and fish), it's surprising to most people (including myself) that I'm no stranger to cooking with animal fat. I take great pride in rendering my own tallow and schmaltz from mostly local animals after the meat is used for dinner. The fat makes some amazing savoury dishes to be sure, but also lends that "old fashioned" flavour to the sweet kitchen. I don't normally go out of my way to purchase these fats pre-rendered, but when I was given a bag of suet from someone who didn't realize it was animal fat (I know...) I started searching up ways to use it. I found a lot of traditional Christmas puddings - which nobody here likes - but I started thinking pastry. After all, suet is essentially the beef form of lard - and the shredded, frozen kind I had in my possession was also covered in flour so the pieces remained distinct. Distinct fat particles = flaky pastry. Lightbulb flash.

Having used lard before in pie crusts (and loving the tender, flaky result), it wasn't a far leap to make. However, I didn't have any recipes using suet per se, and certainly none using it in this fine, flour-coated format. Thankfully, the UK and Australia seem to utilize this ingredient more than we do in Canada, and I finally found a recipe that promised a puffy, flaky and tender crust. Originally, the recipe was intended for savoury pot pies, and I can see why, as the dough is somewhat more elastic than straight butter dough and if rolled decently thick it would make a suitable barrier against gravy. However, this elasticity worried me a bit - pastry is not supposed to act like bread dough, it's supposed to be delicate and finicky, right? Well I discovered that in this case, a touch of elasticity in the dough did not hamper the tenderness or flakiness of the baked product at all, and made rolling out bases and top crusts so much easier. If animal products are on your dietary "do" list, I strongly suggest trying suet for custard or berry pies with a lot of liquid.

For me, the best part was actually price. While I got my bag of suet (enough for three single crust pies) for free, I found it at my local grocery for $1. After Thanksgiving, they were marked down to 69 cents. If you bake a lot of pies during the holidays, stocking up on this stuff makes sense - keep it in the freezer up to 6 months no problem!

Rhubarb Pie with Vanilla, Strawberries and Lemon Balm

The standard strawberry rhubarb formula gets twisted with this version, which uses 100% fruit strawberry jam for convenience without loss of fresh fruit flavour. The filling gets added notes of vanilla, cinnamon and lemon balm for a true bakery wonder!

I never used to think I'd be a strawberry-rhubarb kind of gal. Truth be told, in the middle of Summer I'd still pick a perfectly gooey cherry pie over anything, but I have to say, a homemade pastry with local strawberries and rhubarb would be a mighty close second!

I'm almost 100% sure my love for the sweet-tart combination comes from my Summer weekends spent with my Grandma. I would watch (and try to help) as she plucked rhubarb, dill and cucumbers from her community garden, and help (and eat) when we went strawberry picking (or choosing, depending on the energy levels that day). I never got to see her make the jam, pickles and pies, but sure as anything, come Summer's end we'd have a pie and a few extra jars in our fridge! Aside from her holiday mashed potatoes, I honestly can't think of anything else she made that was super-spectacular (sorry, Grandma). Somehow, though, she managed to get the balance of sour and sweet just right, and I was a convert.

Obviously, I have more than my fair share of strawberry-rhubarb concoctions - not the least of them being pies! This time around I decided to utilize a part-jar of strawberry jam I had made early in the Summer and do a riff on this one from last year, making a different crust (that smells like doughnuts when it bakes!). In the filling, I added layers of flavour for a truly unique pie experience: cinnamon and vanilla (just a dash of each) added a real richness and extra sweet feel to the mixture, while a dash of minced fresh lemon balm from the garden brought a slightly herbal, citrusy brightness. The homemade jam was pretty plain-jane and made with local honey, so all I tasted was fruitiness on that end, mingling with the tangy backyard rhubarb.

While it's certainly not traditional - Grandma would never make pie like this! - it is absolutely fantastic, and a perfect cap to a backyard BBQ or a leisurely meal at the cottage, boat or trailer. Don't forget the ice cream!

Ruby Pears in a Golden Cage

A Medieval style dessert! A touch of turmeric tints the pastry while a raspberry jam and honey glaze colours the pears with a decadent blush. Just wait until you discover the hidden heart of strawberry granola!

Happy Canada Day! Today, we Canadians celebrate the country's sesquicentennial - 150 year anniversary - and the festivities have been going on literally all year. Spending the last school year teaching Canadian Civics, I was given the rare opportunity to re-live my discovery of just what makes the country tick, challenging my students to figure out why they loved this country and helping them understand why we do some of the things we do. I love seeing how a nation that is so divided on certain things - language representation, Indigenous peoples and even who to cheer for every Saturday night in Winter - can all take today to simply party their butts off knowing that we live in the BEST COUNTRY ON EARTH.

Of course, today also marks another birthday - this blog's! Today marks this blog's 10-year anniversary, and I honestly can't believe it's been so long! I know posting has been slowly dwindling as I've become embroiled in my new career (and will likely stay slow now that I'm both working and back in school) but it's been a joy to write every post I do, connect with great brands and most of all, meet (either personally or virtually) awesome people with the same passion for cooking, baking, canning and food that I do. Groups and events like Sunday Supper, Bread Bakers and the Creative Cookie Exchange have made me feel like I'm a part of something, and I cherish the ability to take part.

In true What Smells So Good? style, I'm marking my blogday with a pastry. This recipe was the one I developed for our school's year-end play, starting by making a plated dessert of a stuffed, glazed pear wrapped in turmeric-laced dough. This mimicked some of the Medieval style desserts I had read about, which utilized fruit as a main component, and saffron was commonly added to regal dishes. As we were serving a "feast at the castle", turmeric worked admirably and gave the dough a lovely hue. For the night of the play, I streamlined things a bit (I had to make 90!) so they turned into "pop-tarts" with a diced filling and a latticed topper. Either way, the result is delicious - and surprisingly light on the palate, making it ideal for Summer sweet tables.

Pâte à Choux

Pâte à choux - making it, at least - entered my life back when I was fifteen and in the Culinary program at my highschool. Unbeknownst to me, I had been eating it in various delicious forms since I had teeth - French crullers (still a favourite), churros, and cheese puffs. Ironically, I quite detest the best known use for the dough - eclairs and cream puffs. The few I've had over the years have always been bland and either dry or soggy, and I'm not a fan of either plain whipped cream or industrial "whipped filling".  Likewise, the ones we made by the hundred in class were rather anaemic-looking and, well, mass produced in appearance as well, with the same disgusting filling. More than that, the stench of the cooking "roll in fat" (which, at my best guess, is some sort of margarine-shortening hybrid) and steaming dough while we added egg after egg was awful - it truly did smell of (gym) shoes, earning it the name "shoe paste" amongst us Grade 10s. After three years of churning out the mixture (along with chocolate chip cookies for 180, with 10 kilos of flour and 4 kilos of chocolate chips per batch), I graduated with the mentality that cream puff dough was anything but worth my time and nasal receptors, and swore off making pâte à choux. 

Eventually, in baking school, I was introduced to the "real" stuff - using nothing more than butter, flour, water and eggs. The quality of each ingredient - from European high-fat butter to filtered water and the freshest flour and eggs - was impressed on us as paramount to achieving a successfully crisp, rich-tasting and airy shell post-baking, and while we did learn a "large quantity" method on a stand mixer, we were encouraged to make individual batches for 12-24 by hand, with a wooden spoon and old-fashioned elbow grease. Rather than smelling of a gym locker room, the batter smelled of a cross between Challah and brioche dough - pleasantly eggy and buttery, with a hint of sweetness in batches intended for profiteroles and a slight air of pepper and salt in those turning into cheese-topped poppers. When our instructor demonstrated how to make pastry swans - which looked impossibly difficult - I was taken aback by the simplicity once again. 

When it came time for me to plan my own lessons for Home Ec, I knew I had to somehow incorporate this ridiculously simple, elegant recipe. We also did it the "old school" way - pot, burner, wooden spoon and arm strength - and while a small amount of complaining occurred over beating the fairly stiff "roux", they enjoyed piping the puffs onto the sheets and imagining what we were going to do with them in the future. I've planned a lesson on Crème Diplomat next week, after trying out both it and a standard chocolate pastry cream (used in the swans) over the holidays and finding the diplomat version more impressive (looks are everything to pre-teens). However, this sweet recipe for choux can also be filled with ice cream, whipped cream, whatever! 

Prefer savoury? Drop the sugar to 1 tbsp, use ½ tsp salt, a pinch of pepper (white or black) and either fold in or sprinkle over some cheese and smoked paprika. Like I said before, the quality of ingredients here matters - don't skimp and use margarine or shortening. They will work and puff the dough, but I won't be blamed for the offensive smell and absent taste. Don't be afraid to make the whole batch of these, either, even if you're only serving a few right away. The baked puffs freeze like a dream!

Drop - Dead Simple Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

While I usually pride myself on being a "preserving queen", and I'm obviously a huge fan of baking, whenever I get homemade gifts from the families I teach it's always special - not to mention delicious! This past June I was the lucky recipient of a big jar of strawberry preserves, which were just lightly sweetened and full of true berry flavour. Since I'm not huge on eating bread myself (gluten issues and lack of decent GF bread around here just make things a pain), I was stirring the occasional spoonful into oats but knew I wouldn't make it through the jar before it turned. Then, while I was making my Peppery Strawbarb Blossom Jam, it hit me - use it along with some of the rhubarb glut in the garden to make pie!

The resulting pastry's filling was perfect in flavour and consistency, invoking the feeling of being out in the strawberry fields outside the city. The mixture was viscous enough so that I didn't have to mess around with cooking a pie filling, and avoiding the chore of hulling and chopping a gazillion tiny Ontario strawberries was taken off my hands, making the pie as fast and easy to make as whipping up a relatively basic pie crust and popping everything in the oven. For an extra boost of flavour, texture and nutrition, I opted for a partial spelt flour dough adapted from DIY Vegan , which stayed incredibly tender and flaky while weaving easily into a lattice topping. 

I normally would have taken photos of a slice, but it's long gone... but I'm sure that the next time I have the opportunity to make a strawberry-rhubarb pie, I will take the opportunity to source out some chunky, all fruit preserves to "sweeten" the deal!

A Study in Apple Pie

Happy Canada Day everyone! I can't believe I've been writing this little blog for 9 years now - with a little blurb, a love of food, and a bored brain full of ideas. I've been through quite a few changes over the years, and the blog has seen the subtle shifts as I've grown, developed, and learned to "adult" as opposed to "student" or "invalid". I joined up with The Recipe Redux and The Sunday Supper crews, which keep me mostly on track with blogging (thanks!), and while I'm not the most regular of posters, I still try my best to share the joys (and the occasional frustrations) the kitchen brings me.

These days, I am gloriously happy (most days!) teaching Home Economics in the school I grew up in, taking care of my cat, Dish, and cooking and baking as much as I possibly can. Who knows what the next year will bring? Hopefully, you'll all stick around to find out.

So for this special day, I decided to do a little R&D for that aforementioned Home Ec class - a study in apple pie, if you will. Apple pie is American, you say?? Well, the USA may be known as the "owner" of apple pie, but I've grown up with enough apple picking, pie making, and pie-eating to know that we have equal stake. Extra if you add a slice of old Cheddar cheese on the side. Now, our "mom standard" around here is very, very plain-Jane: as in no sweetener, butter, and half the time not even cinnamon (we get distracted when we bake!). No, our Fall Harvest pies are just crust (made with shortening, but not the Crisco recipe anymore since it doesn't behave the same with their new formula) and Northern Spies piled up as high as we can go. They are still some of the best pies I ever remember eating, and as a kid I would not touch a storebought one becaue it was "too sweet".

But when have I ever followed the rules? Looking back at this blog, every apple pie recipe I've shared has had some sort of adornment. I've learned that (especially cooking for kids), most people are so used to the sweetened crusts and fillings of pie from bakeries or grocery stores that ours is "flat" to their tastebuds. That said, when one of my students started bringing in to-die-for tarts she called "apple tarts with caramel", and wrote me a request that we make them in class this coming year, I had to try and figure out what actually went into them. Thankfully, her mom pointed me in the direction of the recipe she used - the infamous Apple Pie by Grandma Ople recipe from Allrecipes. Looking at the recipe, I can see why it's so popular - how can you go wrong with butter and sugar and a lattice crust? I was hoping for something a little more streamlined, though (I only have an hour for lessons), so I decided to try a few other options too and see what still gave the "caramel" feel with less effort (yes, I said effort. I'm managing up to 15 Grade Ones this year!).

So, armed with my trusty muffin tin and strips of parchment for easy removal, I tried three different options (using my mom's crust recipe, but with added instant oatmeal for texture). The first one (on the right of the photo) was filled with my variation of the Caramelized Apples recipe on rouxbe.com, using salted butter (it's all we use at home), a pinch of cinnamon and a half teaspoon of honey (love my local honey!!). Next (in the middle) came the "original", a scaled-down Ople pie, using salted butter, oat flour instead of all purpose simply because it was on hand, and with more water (it was clumping too much with the amount as written). Lastly, I wanted to make Bright Eyed Baker's fantastic DIY Caramel Sauce (which has worked for me before) and drizzle that on top of the apples, but when I added the milk it split and curdled, and I wound up tossing the batch. Instead, I opted to try a mock "condensed milk", adding a pinch of cinnamon and only reducing the sugar and milk for a few minutes, until syrupy. Those are on the far left.

Overall, looking at the options, I kind of like the first ones best. First, the recipe cooks the apples, meaning they'll shrink less in the oven (read: more apples per bite!), second, cooking the apples in the butter / sugar mixture allows them to really soak up the butterscotchy flavour of the brown sugar, and they release their juices too. After filling the shells with the strained apples, I drizzled each with a little of that sauce left in the bottom of the pot (which I let reduce a little as I sorted the apples), and the rest makes an awesome syrup for anything appley! (For adults, I'd even add a half-shot of butterscotch schnapps to the filling mixtures... but you do you!). Regardless of the one you like, it's always important to let the pies cool completely before digging in so the juices can set. Reheat them in a low oven afterwards!

Looking at all three, what would your pick be?

Jamaican “No-Beef” Patties #SundaySupper

Are you a sweet or a savoury pie person? If you ask me, more often than not you'll hear me wax poetic about the virtues of a perfectly balanced cherry pie, my mom's sugarless apple pastry, mincemeat tarts for my dad or even memories of my grandma's shoofly mini-pies. Obviously, I'm primed for dessert-pie territory. That said, after thinking about this week's #SundaySupper theme of "Pies - Sweet and Savoury", I realized I enjoy more savoury ones than I thought - many incarnations of cottage and tamale pie (a loose interpretation, granted), deep dish pizzas, Tourtière and Spanakopita.

I had even forgotten about one of the mainstays of my childhood excursions to the corner store after school - Jamaican Beef Patties! Perfectly packaged for on-the-go eating, flaky, spicy and just filling enough for lunch or an after school snack (if you were like me and most of my friends, who had a lunch period at 11:20AM and didn't eat dinner till 8), they were easily spied in the warming cases by their brilliant yellow pastry, the "hot" ones dotted with a single red spot you had to search for before biting into. Making them never occurred to me as a project, though, since I've always been the only one who enjoyed that level of heat, and now with my GI issues severely limiting the amount of fat I can ingest (and excluding meat entirely), any pastry concoction is basically out the window.

I love his filling over a bed of rice!

Right before Christmas last year, though, one of my students was asking me how to make them - her dad's birthday was coming up and she wanted to surprise him with patties and a birthday cake. Now, given that she was only 6, any kind of cooking in the kitchen would have to be supervised intensively, and though I planned to do an afternoon with her life on both ends got in the way. I had promised to make some, though - and in the spirit of using what I had on hand decided to make these almost 100% meat free by using the super-economical TVP I had in the pantry as a base, "fleshing" it out with broth, vegan Worcestershire and veggies and encasing it in a tallow-based pastry dough I had gleaned from an old cookbook of my mom's and spiked with curry powder and turmeric. The home-rendered tallow gave the crust the ultimate flake and just the right amount of "umami" without smelling or tasting like untrimmed steak. That said, I know now many people go about rendering beef fat for kicks at home (actually, I'm pretty sure that's just me...) but I would recommend finding quality suet or leaf lard from a butcher as a substitute, or if you wanted to make the whole recipe vegan swapping in either Earth Balance sticks or coconut oil.

Even without the pastry (which I obviously couldn't eat), the filling itself was divine - in fact better than the patties of my childhood. It's heavily dosed with allspice, thyme and Jamaican curry powder, is 100% vegan and is perfect over rice, stuffing a baked potato or mixing with roasted cauliflower. For the full monty though, nothing beats a true blue (or yellow) patty!

 

Sweet As Pie

• Apple Browned Butter Tart by The Chef Next Door
• Banana Cream Pie from Recipes Food and Cooking
• Blood Orange Pie from The TipToe Fairy
• Brown Sugar Pie from Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
• Cherry Chocolate Brownie Pie from Sew You Think You Can Cook
• Chocolate Macadamia Nut Tart from Desserts Required
• Chocolate Pudding Pie from The Bitter Side of Sweet
• Coconut Cream Pie from Family Foodie
• Easy Lemon Pie from Basic N Delicious
• Fresh Lemon Hand Pies from From Gate to Plate
• German Sweet Chocolate Cream Pie from Meal Planning Magic
• Gluten-Free Chocolate Cherry Pie from NinjaBaker
• Gluten Free Mini Irish Cream Chocolate Mousse Pies from Cupcakes & Kale Chips
• Grapefruit Pie from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Homemade Oatmeal Creme Pies from Pies and Plots
• Irish Cream Coffee Mud Pie from The Crumby Cupcake
• Leaf Topped Apple Pie from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Magic Cookie Bar Pie from Moore or Less Cooking
• Mixed Berry Hand Pies from My Imperfect Kitchen
• No Bake Blueberry Cheesecake Pie from Feeding Big and More
• No Bake Blueberry Mini Filo-Pies from Hardly A Goddess
• No-Bake Mixed Berry Cream Cheese Tart from Magnolia Days
• Orange Meringue Pie from Cindy's Recipes and Writings
• Paifala (Samoan Pineapple Half Moon Pies) from Tara’s Multicultural Table
• Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pie from Sweet Mornings
• Perfect Manhattan Pie from The Texan New Yorker
• Pineapple Meringue Pie from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Quick Swiss Apple Pie from Confessions of a Cooking Diva
• Raspberry Cheesecake Pudding Pie from Flour On My Face
• Strawberry Mascarpone Tart from Taste And See

 

Mealtime Pie

• Beef & Red Wine Pie from Wholistic Woman
• Cauliflower Cheese Pie with Grated Potato Crust from Food Lust People Love
• Chard and Parsnip Galette from Caroline’s Cooking
• Chicken Tamale Pie from Rants from my Crazy Kitchen
• Cornish Pasties from Palatable Pastime
• Homity Pie (British Potato Leek Pie) from Curious Cuisiniere
• Italian Cheesy Artichoke and Asparagus Phyllo Pie from La Bella Vita Cucina
• Italian Hand Pies from Brunch-n-Bites
• Irish Shepherd's Pie from The Freshman Cook
• Jamaican “No-Beef” Patties from What Smells So Good?
• Mini Swiss Quiches from Family Around The Table
• Mushroom Swiss Quiche from Renee’s Kitchen Adventures
• Pizza Rustica from Monica’s Table
• Salmon Pot Pie from Bobbi’s Kozy Kitchen
• Savory and Spicy Mincemeat Pie from eating in instead
• Shepherd’s Pie Hand Pies from Our Good Life
• Skillet Shepherd’s Pie from Life Tastes Good
• Spaghetti Pie from Grumpy’s Honeybunch
• Spicy Korean Cottage Pie from kimchi MOM
• Taco Hand Pies from Kitchen Gidget
• Weeknight Chicken Pot Pie from Books n' Cooks

• Plus: Baked Puerto Rican Meat Pies and More Pie Recipes from Sunday Supper! Movement

Join the #SundaySupper conversation on Twitter on Sunday! We tweet throughout the day and share recipes from all over the world. Our weekly chat starts at 7 pm ET. Follow the #SundaySupper hashtag and remember to include it in your tweets to join in the chat.

To get more great Sunday Supper Recipes, visit our website or check out our Pinterest board. Would you like to join the Sunday Supper Movement? It’s easy. You can sign up by clicking here: Sunday Supper Movement.

Mini Tourtières

Our family has a few holiday traditions - a big brunch with Mom's infamous Holiday Brioche and Challah taking centre stage, dancing with the turkey and of course as many batches of shortbreads as humanly possible before school starts again in January. Over the years we've added the Italian Feast of the Seven Fishes on Christmas Eve to the docket, too. My own "traditions" during the season involve making granola and biscotti to go into the gift boxes I give in lieu of purchased gifts, and this year I added a new one - homemade freezer meals for both my grandmother and a friend to enjoy in the New Year.

I've always associated meat tarts like Scotch pie and French-Canadian tourtière with spending weekends at my grandma's house - it seemed like that was our go-to dinner at least one night, usually paired with carrots, peas or a salad. It has been ages since I've broken into the flaky shell of one to enjoy the flavourful, spiced meat filling - not only because of my own food restrictions but simply because making them is a process not fit for a fast weeknight dinner. Since it is Christmastime, though, and tourtière is one of the traditional francophonie holiday meals, I decided I'd make some (smaller sized) pastries for grandma to enjoy.

Ironically, these pot pies actually contain no meat at all! With the economic crunch yet again putting strain on the food budgets everywhere, even the cheapest ground meats are getting ridiculously expensive. Our family as a whole has been eating less animal protein and more vegetarian options like lentils, beans and eggs - and in things like chili, bolognese sauce and shepherds pie, we're stretching the meat with TVP. Some foodies will turn their noses up at this, but when soaked in a flavourful liquid (or simply added to the stew or sauce) it's almost indistinguishable - and the same case goes for these tourtières. Not only is the basic recipe spiced well originally, but by combining "unbeef" broth, tamari, vegan Worcestershire sauce and red wine with the vegetable crumbles the umami flavour really shines through and the texture is dead-on. All that was left is to add were the traditional herbs and spices, grated potatoes and onion - and for a festive twist, a shot of cognac too!

Finally, I thickened the works with some kinako from our Asian market, since we were sorely lacking crackers in any form for the traditional binder.

Whether you're looking to save a little money this season or are simply trying to reduce the meat you eat, these little 2-serving pies are a great option. Make a batch on the weekend and freeze for later - just pull one out to thaw overnight and bake, covered, at 350F for 20 minutes.

Triple Berry Pie Pockets (#RecipeRedux)

Pie seems to be one of the quintessential Summer desserts. It's odd, really, since there is usually a fair bit of indoor prep work, oven time and occasionally stovetop use involved - not to mention the fact that for almost all pastry recipes the ingredients need to stay cold! Then there's the whole irony that we're serving up (admittedly divine) fat- and sugar-laden pastry in the height of swimsuit season... but who am I to mess with tradition, especially when it comes to finding one more way of enjoying the all-too-short fruit season?

The #RecipeRedux team agrees, and this month we're celebrating all things pie, with a healthier twist! My contribution is a variation on both pie and pop tart - individual pocket-pies made with an oil-based, half-spelt pastry dough and packed with a combination of blueberries, goji berries and No-Cook Berry Chia Jam. To keep the filling from running out after that first bite, I used a touch of graham cracker crumbs which not only thickened the mixture but added great texture and flavour too.   

Strawberry Meringue Tartlets #SundaySupper

One of my favourite things about teaching cooking to a gang of (relatively) young children is that they are enthralled by the aspect of "danger" in a dish, even if nothing truly ominous is present. All it takes is for me to mention that I am "letting them" do something (like using knives) that they wouldn't normally get to at home, or remind them that there's a heating element on (even though it's a fairly safe induction model) to grab their attention, and in the end I know I've managed to give them an enhanced respect for the nuances of the kitchen. I think I may have topped myself the other week, though, when I broke out not only (pasteurized) "raw" egg whites but the real flame for these strawberry-stuffed, meringue-topped tartlets. 

While making this recipe was the perfect way to embrace the first crop of affordable strawberries, the filling is so simple and variable that you can use any fresh or frozen (and thawed) berry you like. For example, if I was making these for myself, those strawberries (and the accompanying jam) would be transformed into cherries and sour cherry jam, or perhaps cherries and lemon curd. The cocoa-kissed graham cracker crust has extra body and flavour from shredded coconut and ground flaxseed, which help it stand up to the fruit long enough for a fork to get in there! The pièce de résistance is definitely that pillow of meringue, just kissed by enough flame to turn golden and marshmallowy. It's a perfect Spring-Summer celebration dessert, whether you're partying for the long weekend or simply longer daylight hours!

This week's #SundaySupper is celebrating the US Memorial Day long weekend with recipes highlighting the colors of the US flag: red, white, and blue. Whether you're American or not, you're sure to find something delicious to kick off your Summer!

Food Using One Color  

Red Food

• Baby Back Ribs with Roasted Strawberry Barbecue Sauce by Crazy Foodie Stunts
• Baked Tomato Breakfast Cups by Bobbi's Kozy Kitchen
• Red Velvet Milk Shake by Nosh My Way
• Strawberry Meringue Tartlets by What Smells So Good?
• Strawberry Oat Crumble by The Wimpy Vegetarian

 
White Food

• Alabama BBQ Sauce by Sew You Think You Can Cook

 
Blue Food

• Blueberry Breakfast Cookies by Pies and Plots
• Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream by Cosmopolitan Cornbread
• Blue Velvet Cupcakes by Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks

 
Food Using Two Colors  

Red and White Food

• Pickled Shrimp with Pico de Gallo by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Sausage Rougail (Rougail Saucisse) by The Petit Gourmet

 
Blue and White Food

• Blueberry Feta Cucumber Salad by Cindy's Recipes and Writings
• Blueberry Pierogi by Curious Cuisiniere

 
Red, White and Blue Food

• Berry Berry Celebrations by Momma's Meals
• Berry Filled Firecracker Cupcakes by The Crumby Cupcake
• Berry Patriotic Chia Seed Pudding by Tasting Page
• Easy Chocolate Covered Marshmallows by Palatable Pastime
• Eton Mess by Caroline's Cooking
• Greek Yogurt Parfait Bar by Family Foodie
• Grilled Shrimp, Tomato and Bleu Cheese Flatbread by Our Good Life
• Individual Loaded Red, White, and Blue Salads by The Weekend Gourmet
• Patriotic Cocktail by Serena Bakes Simply From Scratch
• Patriotic Panna Cotta by The Freshman Cook
• Red White And Blue Coleslaw by Nik Snacks
• Red, White, and Blue Parfaits by Life Tastes Good
• Red, White and Blue Cherry Pie by Savory Experiments
• Red, White, and Blue Potato Salad by A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures
• Red, White and Blue Sangria by Food Lust People Love
• Red White and Blue Sundae by Desserts Required
• St. Honore Cake by Jane's Adventures in Dinner
• Strawberry, Blueberry & Raspberry Cheesecake Crumble by Food Done Light
• Tomato Blue Cheese Crostini by Magnolia Days
• Triple Berry Coconut Chia Pudding Parfaits by Cupcakes & Kale Chips
• Vanilla Pound Cake with Fresh Berries by Peanut Butter and Peppers
• Watermelon, Feta & Beet Appetizer by Take A Bite Out of Boca

Join the #SundaySupper conversation on twitter on Sunday! We tweet throughout the day and share recipes from all over the world. Our weekly chat starts at 7:00 pm ET. Follow the #SundaySupper hashtag and remember to include it in your tweets to join in the chat. To get more great Sunday Supper Recipes, visit our website or check out our Pinterest board.

Would you like to join the Sunday Supper Movement? It’s easy. You can sign up by clicking here: Sunday Supper Movement.

Pumpkin Apple Tart (It's Pi(e) Day!)

Happy Pi(e) Day, everyone! Now, I have never been a fan of math, but pastry? I can get behind that!

Because this year marks a truly epic Pi phenomenon (today is 3.1415!), I wanted to share an epically delicious tart with you that both the adults and kids I served it to adored. Coincidentally, the recipe also looks long enough to have it's own 3-hour movie - but luckily each component can be made in advance without an issue, and any leftovers of the finished pie can be frozen too. I actually made a double batch of the filling in preparation for a Home Ec pastry lesson, which almost didn't make it to this tart because my kids were in love with it!

Now, I know neither apples nor pumpkin are overly "in season" right now - so you have two options if the idea of this combination of a buckwheat sablé-style crust, sweet and spicy custard filling and just tender roasted apple with a sprinkle of raw sugar turns your crank:

1. Wait until September / October and try again
2. Buy a bag of local "storage" apples and either a buttercup or kabocha squash and get baking!

In fact, you will likely get better results with one of the two "alternate" squashes I mentioned than with a run-of-the-mill pie pumpkin - neither is as watery and both (to me) taste a bit sweeter and well rounded. When I make apple-pumpkin butter in the Fall after apple picking (same recipe as below, minus the starches and eggs), I usually pick up one of those instead!

Now, since the whole recipe takes a bit of time to complete, it's great that you can also effectively make both components at once. After the filling goes into the oven, make, chill and roll out the crust, fitting it into the tart pan and re-refrigerating - up to 3 days, if wrapped! Then, while the filling cools, crank that already-hot oven up and blind bake the base, which gives you time to clean up, make the custard and slice the apple. After that, it's all assembly, baby... and waiting one last hour and a half for it to bake and cool enough so you don't scald your mouth.

A lot of work? Yes. But if you have anyone to impress (even if it's just yourself), it's a winner.

Gluten / Soy / Nut / Dairy Free Pie Crust #RecipeRedux

I apologize for the horribly long title, but for something as all inclusively allergy-friendly as this pie crust had to be, nothing else would do!

You see, a friend of mine has a son with Celiac disease. This is hard enough for a family to deal with on it's own, but he's also allergic to soy, milk and tree nuts as well as avoiding any pork products. As you can imagine, holiday treats can be a bit of a Russian roulette, if not an outright forced Scrooge-fest. Over the years, I've done brownies and cookies for their gift basket, but I knew one thing they missed sharing as a family was a good old fashioned apple pie.

I have such fond memories of helping my mom make and eat apple pies over the years - from picking bags and bags of Northern Spies to peeling them, spicing them just right with cinnamon (no sugar or anything else!), rolling out and crimping the pie crust and finally digging in with a fork - that it is unthinkable that anyone should have to go without the experience of enjoying a real, homemade apple pie at least once in their lives. A little scouting on the web and cobbling of recipes later, I had it - a rollable, flaky pastry safe for the whole family and perfect for a no-frills apple pie, as well as any other sweet or savoury treat you need!

This month the #RecipeRedux group is sharing food memories - many of us are especially thankful for food memories we have shared with friends or relatives throughout our lives, whether it was a special meal eaten as a child or a cooking tradition passed down the generations. Please enjoy the shares below and make sure to say hi!

Baked Banana Spring Rolls #12WksXmasTreats

If your family is anything like mine, you always have a surplus of steadily blackening bananas on your counter. We mean well, for sure, but we always buy so much fruit (between our weekly shopping trips and my stepdad's Costco habit) that we just can't eat it all in time.

Thankfully, we are also a family who loves bananas in pretty much any form - and with the number of people we have visiting over the holidays it just seemed natural to take some of the "far gone" bananas and make a few nibbles for the ravenous crew that would freeze well and bake up in a flash. I was inspired by one of my Home Ec units on dumplings, where we made the previous hit Pan-Fried Vegetable Wontons. While shopping for those ingredients, I came across a pack of frozen spring roll wrappers and was instantly convinced I needed to try something sweet with those!

I settled on a sesame-kissed banana filling for these "cigars", adding Muscovado sugar for a hint of molasses and the right balance of rich flavour when combined with the wafer thin, crisp spring roll wraps. I'm loath to deep fry anything, more so out of fear than health (but hey, healthy treats over the holidays are key too!), so I opted to bake them - effectively keeping the whole recipe 99% fat free! While I served a couple with just a whisper of cinnamon sugar dusted on top, I have some chocolate-dipped plans for the rest - who could resist?

Shared with 12 Weeks of Christmas Treats at Meal Planning Magic

Sweet Berry Cheesecake Wontons

恭禧發財!

 

In case you can't read that above (I sure can't!) I'm wishing you all Gong Hey Fat Choy - happy Chinese New Year!

When we made the Pan-Fried Vegetable Wontons in my class a few weeks ago, I knew that the kids would love the experience but really get into it if there was some sort of dessert involved. Since I was already onto the wonton theme, I figured why not sweet ones? I had a ton of homemade Richer Ricotta in the fridge at home begging to be used, and when I saw it I immediately thought "cheesecake". Of course, ricotta is tangy on its own, not cheesecakey, but I also had some Xyla-sweetened Mountain Berry Jam  in the fridge that we just didn't enjoy on its own as a Toast Topper but didn't have the heart to toss that I could play with. I mixed up the two with a dab of honey, some vanilla and tightened the works with cornstarch before (ziploc-bag) piping the filling onto the wrappers. A quick pan-fry yielded crispy, lightly sweet and creamy dumplings that the kids absolutely devoured - even without the powdered sugar (which I forgot at home). The adults who had a sample or two (or three!) didn't complain either :-).