Tag Archives: baking

Savory Squash Pie

12 Monday Mar 2012

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Savory Squash Pie

As the countdown to Pi(e) Day continues, I’ve made a couple of savory pies for dinners. The first is an adaptation of this recipe that I substituted in several places with what I had on hand. Turned out great, and will be a general formula for future savory pies for sure!

Ingredients:

  • 1 9” pie crust
  • 2 acorn squash (or 1 butternut squash) , seeds removed and meat cut into chunks an inch or less
  • 1 onion, diced
  • .25 cups grape seed oil
  • .25 cups dry white wine
  • .25 tsp salt + more to taste
  • .25 tsp fresh ground black pepper + more to taste
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • 1 cup fresh whole wheat bread crumbs
  • .5 cups walnuts, chopped
  • .5 cups shredded Parmigiano Reggiano

Instructions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 400° and toss the squash chunks in half of the oil plus the salt and pepper. Roast the squash on a baking sheet for 20-30 minutes until golden. You can simultaneously prebake your pie crust for 10-15 minutes if you like.
  2. In the meantime, sauté the onion over medium heat in the other half of the oil. After 5 minutes, add the white wine and cook it down for another 5 minutes or so.
  3. If you’re making homemade bread crumbs, toast 2 to 3 pieces of bread until they are dry, break them into chunks and toss in a food processor. You can also add the walnuts and cheese as these three together will make the crumb mix.
  4. When everything is done, mix the roasted squash, sautéed onions, lightly beaten egg, and half of the bread crumb mix together in a big bowl.
  5. Scoop filling into the crust, sprinkle remaining bread crumb mix on top, and bake for 30-40 minutes until the crust is golden. Let sit for 10 minutes before slicing.

Make sure to also: wash those squash seeds, toss them in oil, salt and pepper and roast them on a baking sheet for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden brown. Yum!!

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Basic Homemade Pie Crust

07 Wednesday Mar 2012

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Basic Homemade Pie Crust

I’m not much of a baker, but with Pi Day in a week I’m occupied with…bad puns, evidently. But also pies!

And while I may still be refining my technique for perfectly flaky crusts, I do have the theory down. The way to a flaky crust is to allow pockets of air to form in the dough while it bakes. This happens when small pieces of butter melt and the 20% of butter that’s actually water forms steam.

So to get flakiness you need chunks of butter, not a dough where the butter is fully incorporated. And two things support this: how much you mix it (or how little, as the case may be) and maintaining a cold temperature so the butter stays hard.

This basic recipe will yield enough for one pie with a top and bottom crust, or two pies with open tops.

Basic Pie Crust Ingredients

Ingredients:

  • 2.5 cups flour
  • 1 cup butter, cubed and chilled
  • 1 tsp salt
  • .5 cups ice water

Instructions:

  1. Mix the flour and salt
  2. Slice in the butter – some people use knives or pastry blenders, some use food processors – the trick is to stop when you have tiny butter balls coated with flour
  3. Add the ice water (not the ice…) 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough holds together when you pinch it
  4. Shape the dough into 2 balls, wrap in plastic and let sit in your refrigerator for at least 2 hours and up to 2 days
  5. Sprinkle a clean surface with flour and use a rolling pin to flatten the dough into a 12” circle

Note: I used 1 cup whole wheat flour and 1.5 cups unbleached white flour – probably a better choice for the crust of savory pies than for sweet pies.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

17 Friday Feb 2012

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Could not be easier!

Combine:

  • 3-5 mashed up over-ripe bananas
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1.5 cups flour (half whole wheat if you want)
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 egg
  • .25 cups oil (I use grape seed, light olive works, etc.)
  • handful chocolate chips (and/or walnuts – yum!)

Bake in loaf pan at 350 degrees for up to an hour. I use these mini loaf pans so they finish faster. You should be able to insert a toothpick in the middle and have it come out clean.

For a lower fat version, you can substitute .25 cups apple sauce + a dash of oil for the full quarter cup of oil. Comes out very moist and delicious!