The French Country Table

 Face it.  We will read any French cookbook out there.  It is a sickness. An addiction.  We love it and that is that.  By now, the biggest differentiation between French cookbooks is the photographs. 

Ryland, Peters and Small, always a favorite publisher for cookbooks, publish the French Country Table.   They understand the value of photos, good recipes and basic bookbinding.  The thick muted paper has an old-fashioned feel and is the perfect vehicle for a country cookbook. 

Writer Laura Washburn has taken many of the familiar French dishes and given them a bit of twist.   There is a roasted chicken, but with guinea fowl.  There is a gratin with macaroni (yes, it is just a macaroni and cheese).  The clafoutis is rhubarb instead of cherries.

The pictures are lovely.  It is no wonder that Martin Brigdale has won numerous awards on three continents for his food photography.  The photos show the food at its best!  

 Your carrots should look like the above left carrots, especially if you procured them from one the vegetable vendors pictured!

Carrots with cream and herbs.

2 lbs. mini carrots, trimmed, of medium carrots

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

a sprig of thyme

2 tablespoons crème fraise or sour cream

several sprig of chervil, snipped

a small bunch of chives, snipped

fine sea salt

If using large carrots, cut them diagonally into 2-inch slices.  Put in a large saucepan (the carrots should fit in a single layer for even cooking.) Add the butter and set over low heat.  Cook for three minutes, until the butter has melted and coated the carrots.  Half fill the saucepan with water, then add a pinch of salt and the thyme.  Cover and cook for 10 – 20 minutes, until the water is almost completely evaporated.

Stir in the crème fraise and add salt to taste.  Sprinkle the chervil and chives over the top, mix well and serve.

If you have ever passed one of those sad bags of “baby” carrots in vegetable section, now you have a great idea of what to do with them.  Whip up these carrots in cream and you, too, can transport yourself to the French countryside.

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The Mistress Cook

In 1867 Mrs. Beeton wrote the following:

“Men are now so well served out of doors – at clubs, hotels and restaurants – that, to compete with the attraction of these places, a mistress must be thoroughly acquainted with the theory and practice of cookery, as well as all the other arts of making and keeping a comfortable home.”

Peter Gray’s “mistress” is the 1950’s mistress of the house and not of merely the bedroom.  Peter Gray was indeed a “mistress” of all trades.  He became enamored of the culinary when he was a boy spending time in Paris.  He would eventually become a professor of Biological Science at the University of Pittsburgh.   Along the way he was a printer, bookbinder, gem cutter, fisherman and photographer.

In The Mistress Cook, Gray brought together a thousand recipes from twelve countries over six centuries.  The recipes are at once simple and familiar as well as exotic and complex.    There is an extended chapter at the end of the book devoted to spices and spice mixes.  There is a chapter full of sauces and stocks devoted to major and minor sauces. 

It is a book written in the 1950’s, so there are no lists of exact ingredients.  There are two pages of instruction for puff pastry.  According to Gray, the best way to learn to make puff pastry is the to do it over and over.  One does not become tennis pro by reading about tennis.  Go ahead and buy puff pastry.

This book is an excellent overview of the history of cooking and cooking techniques.  It is indeed what Gray set out to do, provide a vast collection of recipes over continents and time periods.  One would be best served to find a recipe and search out a modern recipe.

Here is a recipe for a favorite Southern fare – collards.

Collards

I am told by an elderly Southern gentleman of my acquaintance, that this leather-leaved survivor of the past can be rendered edible by boiling it for a week with fat pork.

Seriously, collards only need about 8 hours to cook!

Here is another recipe featuring my favorite cauliflower with the regal name, Crème du Barry. 

Crème du Barry

Cook a small cauliflower in slated water until it can conveniently be divided into florets.  Mix the florets with an equal volume of grated potatoes and a quarter of their volume of grated onion.  Put this mixture in a pan, cover it liberally with milk, and simmer until the vegetables are sludged.  Put it through a sieve or food mill.

Don’t you just love a recipe that has “sludged” vegetables?   Though not that appetizing, sludged is the perfect description for what these vegetables will look like when simmered.  There is not a cookbook publisher out there who would let an author describe veggies as "sludged" and yet it is spot on.

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The Breakfast Book

Who knows what sends us down the path to obsession?   I do know that one of the first cookbooks I bought with my own money was Marion Cunningham's The Breakfast Book.  I have vivid memories of the book because it is one of those "go to" books that I consult often.  I cannot help thinking of that book today upon hearing the new that Cunningham died.  

Marion Cunningham  New York Times obituary

 The best tribute I have ever read of Marion Cunningham came from her friend, David Lebovitz.  In 2006 he easily summed up what made her special.


Readers of Cookbook Of The Day know of our abiding love the egg.  One of my favorite egg dishes came from The Breakfast Book.  It is Marion Cunningham's Featherbed Eggs.  I always referred to them as "feathered" eggs.   This may well be the greatest recipe that any cook can have in their cooking repertoire.  First, it is incredibility easy.  Any man, woman, or child can assemble it with little effort.  Secondly, it can be customized to make it your own by adding virtually anything under the sun.  My particular favorite is sausage!  Finally, it is a "make ahead" dish and perfect for company.  


When you have guests staying over and you are dreading being the breakfast short order cook, simply whip this up in the final minutes of dinner prep.  Now is the perfect time to add your own touches.  Sausage, as I said before, steamed cauliflower, apple slices, use your imagination.   Cover the pan and set it in the refrigerator.   While the coffee is brewing, set your dish in a cold oven and in less than an hour you will have a glorious breakfast with little fuss and big rewards.

Featherbed  Eggs

6 slices white bread
Salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar, Gouda, provolone or Montery Jack cheese, or a combination
1 1/2 cups milk
6 eggs

Butter the sides and bottom of a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Arrange the slices of bread in the dish, trimming the edges, if necessary. Sprinkle the bread with a little salt and pepper. Sprinkle the grated cheese evenly over the bread.

Combine the milk and eggs in a bowl and briskly stir until the mixture is all one color and completely blended. Pour the milk mixture over the bread and cheese. Cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours, or overnight.

Baking the Featherbed Eggs: Because the dish will be chilled when you are ready to bake it, start it in a cold oven and turn the thermostat to 350 degrees. Bake for 1 hour, or until the bread custard is puffy and lightly golden. Check at 45 minutes, in case your oven is a little hotter. 

My favorite picture of Marion Cunningham was taken in 1987.  She is seated across from another cooking legend, Edna Lewis.  Oh to have been a fly on the wall, or the garden chair.

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Cookbook Redux

SOME HOUSEKEEPING

From time to time we are asked for additional recipes from cookbooks and generally we are happy to oblige.  We welcome all questions, though we have trouble sometimes with how to respond efficiently to comments, so here is an attempt.

Someone asked for an additional recipe from Southwest Tastes.

Can you please post the bbq potato salad recipe out of that book?  There is only one potato salad recipe, but it does have barbecue sauce, so here it is from The Salt Lick in Driftwood, Texas. 

Potato Salad

5 large Idaho baking potatoes
Salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 large onion, peeled and diced
1/2 cup juice drained from dill pickles
1/3 cup barbecue sauce
1/3 cup vinaigrette salad dressing
1/2 to 1 cup mayonnaise, or to taste

    The day before serving, scrub the potatoes and boil them in salted water until tender but still slightly firm when pierced with a knife point;they should not be mushy.  Plunge them into ice water, and when cool enough to handle, peel them and cut them into 3/4 inch dice.
     Season the potatoes with salt, pepper, and celery seed.  Marinate the onions in the pickle juice for a few hours, or overnight in the refrigerator.  To serve, drain the juice and add the onion s to the potatoes.  Add the barbecue sauce and salad dressing, tossing to coat evenly.  Place back in the refrigerator at least one hour before serving, and just before serving, add the mayonnaise.  Adjust the seasoning and serve.

Enjoy! Send us photos of the finished recipe.



 A couple of people wanted to know how to reach us on e-mail:  lucindaville@gmail.com


Thanks to  Brocante Home for our housekeeping picture!

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EASY BUTTERSCOTCH CANDY BARS

This delicious recipe (posted by Ellen b. over at MGCC) was originally a cookie bar; but you know me, I can't leave a recipe alone, so I doubled the topping ingredients and the end result was almost like a candy bar. I served them at a BBQ, recently, and they were inhaled by kids and adults alike. They are SO easy to make, but a warning here... they are totally addicting!!

 

COOKIE BASE (original version)
1½ cups all purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup butter (room temperature)
¾ cup brown sugar

Mix the flour, salt and brown sugar, then cut the room temperature butter into the mixture. To do this, I used my stand mixer with a wire whisk on medium high and it gave me fine crumbs like this, which is perfect. Put the crumbs into a 9 x 13 baking dish that has been sprayed with vegetable spray.

Level the crumbs out with your fingers and then pat them down evenly. I used the bottom of a smooth  measuring cup to tamp down the crumbs, which produced a nice flat layer like this:

Bake in a preheated 350F oven for 15 minutes.

While the cookie base is baking, mix the following ingredients in a microwave safe bowl:

BUTTERSCOTCH TOPPING (my version)
12 ounces of butterscotch baking chips
½ cup light corn syrup (I use  Karo syrup)
4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons water
¼ teaspoon salt

Melt the above ingredients in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds (my microwave took about 75 seconds). When the mixture is completely smooth, add two cups of coarsely chopped (and toasted) pecans.

After the cookie base has baked for 15 minutes, remove from the oven and spread the butterscotch-pecan mixture over the top and put back in the oven for another 8 minutes.

Cool completely before slicing.

Store in lightly covered cookie jar.

Thank you for sharing the original recipe Ellen b.

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Not A Cookbook -- A DERECHO

We are fine...no life lost.   Here is the info by the numbers:

ONE

bad ass storm 

FOUR

days without water, phones, electricity

SIX

large trees down

ONE HUNDRED FOUR

degree temperature at its max

FOUR HUNDRED

pounds of food lost

 

What a mess!   We are still in recovery mode, but we will be back up to speed, soon.

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EASIEST BREAD STICKS EVER !!

If you have a stand mixer, these bread sticks practically make themselves!! Just throw everything in the stand mixer at once, and let it mix for 3 minutes, let it raise for an hour, shape them then let them raise again and bake... that's it!!

 

In the bowl of a stand mixer, put

2/3 cup warm milk
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons of yeast

Stir it up just a little (with a spoon), then add

1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons butter (room temperature)
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt

Put your paddle blade on, and mix for three minutes on medium low speed, it should look like this (the walls of the bowl should be clean)

Take the dough out of the bowl and spray the bowl with some vegetable spray and put the dough back in. Cover with plastic wrap and then a dish towel, and let it raise for an hour. It won't get huge because there is only 2 cups of flour, but it should be nice and puffy

Divide the dough into 8 pieces and roll them out to (about) the diameter of your thumb.  Place them on a parchment lined cookie sheet (or just a lightly greased sheet) a few inches apart and lightly spritz them with vegetable spray. Cover them with plastic wrap and gently lay a THIN kitchen towel over the plastic wrap.

Let them raise for about an hour, then remove the plastic wrap and bake them in a pre-heated 375 oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until they are golden brown, then remove them and brush them with butter. Some times I brush them with butter and then roll them in Parmesan....Mmmmmm. Serve hot!!

 

NOTE: I'm sure this recipe would work very well in a bread machine as well.

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SALAD DRESSING CLONE RECIPES

It is BBQ season, that is for sure and what goes better with grilled "anything", than a fresh green salad?!?  I've posted these salad dressings before, however, I've tweaked them again and this time I think they are perfect, well at least that is what picky-picky husband says.

Not only are they delicious, but they certainly save a lot of money and I  feel good knowing exactly what is in my salad dressing!!

HIDDEN VALLEY RANCH CLONE

1 cup mayonnaise (low cal OK)
1 cup buttermilk (don't substitute)
2 tablespoons chopped parsley (or 2 tsp. dried)
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (not garlic salt)
1/2 teaspoon onion powder (not onion salt)
2 large pinches dried thyme

Whisk together and chill overnight before using.

NOTE: Don't use this dressing right after you make it; it will NOT taste like ranch dressing. Something magical happens to it after it sits overnight...trust me!!

*****

We like Light House brand Thousand Island salad dressing (in the refrigerated veggie section) but the price has increased to nearly $4.50 for a small jar, which is crazy.  The following recipe  is VERY close to the original, I hope you like it... picky-picky husband loves it.

LIGHT HOUSE THOUSAND ISLAND  CLONE

3/4 cup mayonnaise (low cal is OK)
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
2 tablespoons finely minced celery
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Whisk everything together and refrigerate at least a couple of hours before using.

*****

This Catalina salad dressing is delicious, our grand kids love it. I can't believe how easy it is to make.

CATALINA SALAD DRESSING CLONE

1 cup vegetable oil (I used canola oil)

2/3 cup ketchup

1/2 cup vinegar (I used red wine vinegar)

1/2 teaspoon onion powder (not onion salt)

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard powder

1/2 teaspoon celery seed

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

big pinch of paprika (not the spicy kind)

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 cup sugar

Place all ingredients in a blender (I used an immersion blender) and mix on high speed (salad dressing will really thicken up as you process it).

NOTE: Catalina needs a good whisk before using (if it has been in the fridge for a few days).

NOTE: All three of these salad dressings last an easy 10 days (or more) in the fridge.

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BRIGHT CITRUS SALAD

In the heat of summer, this great salad is a nutritious combination of crunch (from the broccoli and sunflower seeds) and sweetness (from the oranges and raisins).  It gets its brightness from the lemon juice, green onions and red bell pepper and finally the addition of the black beans give you that wonderful "full feeling" that you do not get with some light meals. This is a GREAT side dish!! Measurements given here are approximate (except for the dressing). YOU decide how much of each ingredient you would like in your salad. The amounts given here are catered to MY taste buds. 


3 small heads of broccoli (broken into small pieces)
1 red bell pepper (diced finely)
1 cup raisins
2 oranges (peeled and sliced thickly)
15 ounce can of black beans (rinsed and drained)
1/2 cup  toasted sunflower seeds
1/2 cup sliced green onion tops

Dressing:
1/2 cup light mayonnaise
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon black pepper


Wash (and shake dry) the broccoli. Remove as much of the stalk and stems as you can so you can break the florets into bite size pieces. Add diced red bell pepper, raisins, oranges, black beans, sunflower seeds and green onions.

Mix dressing ingredients with a whisk and pour dressing over the salad. Toss gently and serve immediately. NOTE: You may not need or want all of the dressing.


NOTE: Peel the oranges, removing as much of the white as you can, then slice the orange into thick slices; cut the thick slices into four wedges.

NOTE: Let your imagination go wild with this salad, you can add just about anything that strikes your fancy.

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CROCKPOT PICNIC BEANS

I love beans of all kinds, baked beans, chili beans, bean soup, refried beans, you name it; so I've tried a lot of bean recipes.  As usual, I ended up taking the best part of several recipes and combining them to create this crockpot picnic bean recipe. Every BBQ needs a big pot of beans !!

 

These beans are slightly sweet and smokey, not to mention VERY flavorful and an inexpensive (and nutritious) way to feed a crowd. The trick is to start them the day ahead (with soaked beans), then let them cook in the crockpot all day (or overnight is even better). Your kitchen will smell heavenly.

3 cups DRY navy beans  (soaked overnight)
3/4 cup tomato puree
3/4 cut ketchup
2½ cups (bean) water   (see note)
1/4 cup molasses
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons DRY mustard powder
1 medium onion chopped
3 teaspoons salt
1/2 pound of bacon (fried and crumbled)

Rinse and sort the dry beans (sometimes, there are tiny rocks or pieces of dirt in the bag). Cover them with water (about 3" above the beans) and put them in the fridge for about 8 hours or overnight.  Drain and rinse them again.

Put the beans in a large kettle and cover with with enough water to measure  3-4 inches above the beans. Gently boil  for 1 to 2 hours (all beans cook at different rates, so just test for doneness after an hour ...just don't let them get mushy). If you want to skip this step, see alternative method below.

Drain  the beans, but reserve 2½ cups of the bean water. Put the drained beans, onion and crumbled bacon in the crockpot. 

Mix the 2½ cups of reserved bean water with the tomato puree, ketchup, molasses, sugar, dry mustard, and salt until smooth then pour over the beans, stirring very gently to distribute everything.

Cover and cook on low setting of your crockpot for about 8 hours. Don't be afraid to add a little water towards the end if it looks like it needs it (it won't effect the taste).

 

NOTE: If you don't want to mess with boiling the beans, you can soak them all day and then before you go to bed, put the beans in the crockpot, cover them with water (water only) and let them cook on low all night.   In the morning, drain the beans (saving 2½ cups of the bean water) and then  proceed with the rest of the recipe.

NOTE: Navy beans work the best for this recipe, but northern beans or any small white DRY bean will work, just don't use a dry lima bean...they get mushy too fast.

NOTE:  "Bean water" is simply the water that you boiled the beans in.

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CREAM CHEESE POUND CAKE

Don't let this unassuming photo deter you from this recipe. This is, by far, one of the best cakes we've had in a  very long time. It is everything you want in a pound cake... it is tender, it has a very fine crumb, it is sweet and rich. Whether you are slicing it up for the perfect strawberry shortcake or serving it with a big scoop of ice cream, this is the perfect cake ...even for the most picky guests!!

 

1½ cups butter at room temperature
8 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
3 cups granulated sugar
6 large eggs
3 cups cake flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract

In a LARGE bowl, with electric mixer, beat the room temperature butter for about a minute.  Add the room temperature cream cheese and beat for two more minutes (it should look light and fluffy). It is very important that both of these ingredients are at room temperature.

Gradually sprinkle in the sugar (while your mixer is running) 1/2 cup at a time; beat well.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each egg. Mix in extracts.

Measure out 3 cups of CAKE FLOUR and 1/8 tsp. salt, then sift it all.  Add slowly to butter mixture, on low speed, mixing well after each addition.

Generously grease AND FLOUR a 10" bundt pan (I used my angel food pan).  Bake in
preheated 300 degree oven for 1 hour 40 minutes, or till toothpick tests clean.

Fairly nondescript looking at this stage, don't let that sway you.  The genius of this recipe is in the taste. The combination of butter and cream cheese makes this cake to die for.

Let the cake cool, in the pan, for 15 minutes before you turn it out, then cover it with plastic wrap, directly on the surface of the hot cake, until it is completely cool. Frost as desired (we like a light maple frosting).

NOTE:  Yes, 300 degree oven is correct.

NOTE: Don't be tempted to grease your pan with vegetable spray. Make sure you grease and flour your pan well (tap out excess flour). This cake tends to want to stick a little, so if you are using an intricate bundt pan, make sure you grease and flour it well.

NOTE: Make sure you sift the cake flour. I know it is a pain, but cake flour tends to clump more than all purpose flour, so this step is important. You CAN make this cake with all purpose flour, but you won't get that very fine crumb that is so delicious.

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The Hemingway Cookbook

 

A week or so back, my cable inadvertently turned on HBO and I taped a few things before they cut the feed.   One was  Hemingway & Gellhorn.  I love Clive Owen, but I can't say that I have ever been a big fan of Nicole Kidman.  When the movie started, I was pleasantly surprised that I like Kidman as the elderly Gellhorn.   

Clive Owen played Hemingway in the irascible, horrible, pain-in-the-ass way that one expects he might have been, but frankly Clive Owen is no Hemingway.   Every time someone called him "Papa" it made me laugh.  Hemingway at his most filthy and uncouth still managed to get the girl, which I find interesting if not a bit odd.  Clive Owen covered in sewage would always get the girl.   On of the producers of this film was James Gandolfini.  Gandolfini would have been a great "Papa" so why do they always cast the pretty boy?   Kidman spent a lot of her time throwing her rucksack across her shoulder.  It seemed to make Kidman uncomfortable, as this was probably the first time on 30 years that she ever carried her own luggage.  I think Philip Kaufman is a great director and Henry & June is one of my favorite movies.  It is too bad that Kaufman didn't cast Hemingway and Gellhorn with the same quirkiness he used in Henry  & June.  It might have been greatly improved.

There is a good bit of food in Hemingway's writing and historian Craig Boreth compiled many of those recipes in The Hemingway Cookbook.   Long out of print and quite collectible, the book is getting a second shot this year when it is republished and launched again.

During one scene in the Hemingway & Gellhorn  the couple is in the famous El Floridita.  

Hemingway at El Floridita with his arm around Spencer Tracy and his back to wife number four, Mary.

There Hemingway makes his favorite drink, the Papa Doble.  This recipe is based upon the Daiquirí recipe from El Floridita that Hemingway drinks with A. E. Hotchner in his book Papa Hemingway.

Papa Doble or Hemingway Daiquirí

2 1/1 jiggers Bacardi or Havana Club rum

Juice of 2 limes

Juice of 1/2 grapefruit

6 drops of maraschino (cherry brandy)

Fill a blender one-quarter full of ice, preferably shaved or cracked. Add the rum, lime juice, grapefruit juice and maraschino.

Blend on high until the mixture turns cloudy and light-colored, "like the sea where the wave falls away from the bow of a ship when she is doing thirty knots."  (Islands in the Stream, p. 281).

Fill a blender one-quarter full of ice, preferably shaved or cracked. Add the rum, lime juice, grapefruit juice and maraschino.

Blend on high until the mixture turns cloudy and light-colored, "like the sea where the wave falls away from the bow of a ship when she is doing thirty knots."  (Islands in the Stream, p. 281).

Here is another example of Boreth pulling a recipe from fact and fiction.

"Aboard the Pilar, Ernest's beloved fishing boat, food took on epic
proportions. Even something as simple as a peanut butter and onion
sandwich, his lunchtime favorite, can be elevated to heroic status while at
sea:

     "Well, go down to the galley and see if that bottle of tea is cold and bring
it up. Antonio's butchering the fish, go make a sandwich will you, please?"
     "Sure. What kind of sandwich?"
     "Peanut butter and onion if there's plenty of onion."
     "Peanut butter and onion it is, sir."
     He handed a sandwich, wrapped in a paper towel segment, to Thomas Hudson and
said, "One of the highest points in the sandwich-maker's art. We call it
the Mount Everest Special. For Commanders only." (From Islands in the Stream, p. 390-1).

A.E. Hotchner, in his biography, Papa Hemingway, notes that this sandwich,
along with a glass of red wine, was Hemingway's favorite (Papa Hemingway, p. 194)."

Mount Everest special 

2 slices white bread
Peanut butter
2 thick slices onion

Spread one piece of bread thickly with peanut butter. Lay onion slices on
top. Cover with second slice of bread.

Clearly, there must have been something magical about Hemingway.  Name the last dirty guy, covered in fish scales and reeking of peanut butter and onions that you would take home to mama?

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Fancy Food Show - Not A Cookbook

Check out our notes on the Fancy Food Show over at Lucindaville.  We are too tuckered out to post it twice!  Literally five miles of food!

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CLASSIC CHERRY PIE

If you follow my blog regularly, you know that I enjoy combining recipes to get an end result that suits us. That's what I did with this cherry pie recipe.

The first cherry pie recipe I tried tasted OK, but there was a watery liquid in the bottom of the pie that seperated from the filling...not a good thing.

Next, I tried a recipe that used flour as a thickener, but it left a cloudy filling ... not what I wanted.

Next I tried tapioca to thicken the filling and it eliminated the cloudy fruit filling problem, but it was hard to guage just how much tapioca was enough and how much was too much; it also produced inconsistent results...not good.

So, as usual, I took a little bit of this recipe and added it to that recipe and then threw in a couple of my own ideas and came up with todays recipe. I served it on Father's Day and picky-picky husband actually said  "This is THE best cherry pie I've ever eaten!!"  After I picked myself up off of the floor (not literally, lol) , I knew I had a winner!!!

 

 

The filling is sweet and the crust is unbelievably flaky and delicious.  Some people freak out with a pie crust that uses shortening, however, not only does shortening produce a flakier crust, but it has HALF of the saturated fat of butter!! NOTE: I always us butter flavored Crisco in my crusts.

CHERRY PIE FILLING

(2) 14 ounce cans unsweetened tart pie cherries
1 1/2  cups granulated sugar     DIVIDED
4 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons corn starch
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon almond extract  (do not leave out)
2 teaspoons butter, room temperature

Drain the cherries but SAVE THE LIQUID.  Put one cup of the liquid into a heavy saucepan with the corn starch, salt and HALF OF THE SUGAR, mix well.

Bring this mixture to a boil, while stirring, and cook until it gets VERY THICK (only takes a minute or so once it starts to boil (keep stirring fast).

Remove from heat and stir in the butter, almond extract and the OTHER HALF of the sugar, mix well.  Gently fold in the drained cherries.  Let cool while you make the pie crust.

 

This is the all time best pie crust I have EVER made and I've made tons of them.  This dough handles beautifully (no need to chill the dough) and makes either 3 single crusts or a large 2 crust pie with some left over. Everyone I've served this crust to is wild about it.

PIE CRUST

4 cups all purpose flour
1 3/4  cups butter flavored Crisco shortening
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup ice cold water

Cut the shortening into the flour with a pastry cutter (or a couple of forks) until the shortening is about half the size of a green pea.

Mix the sugar, salt, egg, vanilla and ice water together, until well mixed, then add it all to the flour-shortening mixture. Work it with your hands until everything comes together in a big ball. Try to do this fairly quickly so that the heat of your hands doesn't melt the shortening. No need to chill this dough.

Roll out a bottom crust, on a floured counter,  to fit a 9" pie pan.  Put the cherry filling into the bottom crust and then brush the edges of the crust with a little egg white that has a few drops of water whisked into it (this will help "glue" the bottom crust to the top crust).

Roll out a top crust, on a floured counter, and lay it over the filled bottom crust.  Cut off the extra dough that hangs over the rim of the pie plate (see note). Pinch the top and bottom crust edges together (or use a fork). 

After you have pinched the two crusts together, brush the top pie crust with more of the egg white wash (the same that you used to "glue" the edges ) and then sprinkle the whole surface, lightly, with granulated sugar.

Cut several small vent holes in the top crust.  Bake in 375 preheated oven for 35 to 45 minutes or until the crust is golden brown (I usually leave it in for 45 minutes). COOL PIE COMPLETELY BEFORE CUTTING.

 

NOTE: When you are trimming the excess unbaked crust from around the rim of the pie pan, leave it just a little long so that you can tuck under the edge before you pinch the pie edge into a design.

NOTE: I bake all of my pies on a cookie sheet just in case they spill over.

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