Buttermilk bonanza: maple-buttermilk pie

The last recipe of the buttermilk bonanza was a maple-buttermilk pie from 101 cookbooks, and I think we definitely saved the best for last. This pie received a lot of praise from mathematicians in two cities because I made it right before going to UIUC to visit one of Jon's collaborators. I've never made a buttermilk pie before, and it worked perfectly. It's a little tangy, but mostly sweet, rich from the buttermilk and egg yolks, slightly mapley and slightly lemony, and the part-rye flour crust added a little something too. I didn't use either of Heidi's recommended crust methods, just my usual: use pastry cutter to incoroporate fat into flour, add liquid (in this case beer) a little bit at a time until dough comes together, roll our, and transfer to pie dish. Her suggestions are probably puffier and better, but mine is easy and more than acceptable.

I really enjoyed the buttermilk bonanza. It gave me the impetus to try some nice new recipes and get a little more familiar with buttermilk. Plus, I pinned a bunch more buttermilk recipes that I can try the next time I find myself with 8 cups of buttermilk and no plan.

Buttermilk use: 2 cups

Buttermilk bonanza total: 8 cups, and we're out of buttermilk.

Unresolved raspberry-rhubarb pie

This past Saturday was the annual Houston Sacred Harp singing. (You can read about Sacred Harp at this website.) It was snowy all day Friday, so I spent most of the day inside cooking in preparation. (Part of the Sacred Harp tradition is serving dinner on the ground to guests who have come from out of town.) This is one of the dishes I contributed. Since I had a little crust left over after putting it in the bottom of the pan, I made a treble clef and some shape notes (explained on the Sacred Harp website) out of the extra and put it on the top. I think of rhubarb as a spring or summer pie, but I had a bag of frozen rhubarb and remnants of a couple bags of frozen raspberries in my freezer, so I didn't have to go out and buy anything to make this pie. And I got a bonus of extra room in my freezer. This pie recipe won third place and "most creative" in a Pi Day pie contest last March. I made it up because one bag of rhubarb isn't quite enough fruit for the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook rhubarb pie recipe, and I happened to have just enough raspberries in the freezer to round out the volume the first time I made it.

I call this pie unresolved because the notes I have on it, "fa, sol, la, mi" are the equivalent of "F, G, A, B" in C major, hence an unresolved leading tone. For the record, I did made two fa's, but only one would fit on the pie, and if I went down to the next line, I'd have to make another clef for it to make any sense. I didn't think about the fact that I could put the fa at the end and get "G, A, B, C" and a lovely resolution. And yes, I have spent quite a bit of time thinking about this. It's what I do.

Raspberry-rhubarb pie
1 pound frozen rhubarb (about 4 cups)
2 cups frozen raspberries
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 pie crust, made with either all-purpose or whole wheat pastry flour
splash of milk
tiny amount of sugar

Place fruit in a large bowl. Let stand for about 45 minutes, or until icy but not frozen. (During this time, you can make your pie crust if you haven't already.) Stir in sugar and flour.
Place pie crust in pie dish. Trim any overhanging edges and cut them into fun shapes if you want. Pour fruit mixture into pie crust. Arrange fun shapes on top. Brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar for extra beauty and crunch.
To prevent the edges from burning, place aluminum foil around the edges. Bake at 375 for about 50 minutes. (If using fresh fruit, only bake for 25 minutes.) Remove foil and bake for another 20-30 minutes, or until filling is bubbling at the edges and crust is golden. Cool on a wire rack.

Easy pie or quiche crust

As Jon said in his last post, we have been eating a lot of quiche lately. We used to buy frozen pie crusts, for them but I decided that it would be nice to try making my own. I've pretty much gotten the hang of it now, and I think it's easier to take ten minutes to whip this up than go to the store and buy one. Plus it's way cheaper. This is definitely not extravagant, flaky, to-die-for crust, but it is suitable for our needs, and it tastes better to me than what you can get in the freezer section. I have tried to make pie crusts with butter, and they always end up soggy or too soft. Shortening works well for me.

Pie crust (from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook)

1 1/4 cups all-purpose or whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup shortening
ice water

Combine flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. Using a pastry cutter or two knives held scissors-fashion, cut the shortening into the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Sprinkle 1-2 tbsp water over the flour mixture and stir together with a fork. Add more water until the mixture is completely moistened. Roll dough into a ball and roll it out on a floured surface. Or you can wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and keep it in the fridge until you need it.

Caramelized onion tart

This is kind of the opposite of the last post, at least in my food world. It's very rich and indulgent. Luckily, since it's so rich, you don't want to eat a lot of it. As you can see above, I just had a small piece of this tart with a big salad and a bunch of asparagus for a very nice meal. Jon and I managed to make it last two dinners and one lunch. If you know Jon, you know that is quite a feat.

Caramelized onion tart (from Jeanne Lemlin's Vegetarian Classics)
If you caramelize the onions the night before, this comes together very quickly.

1 sheet frozen puff pastry
1 tbsp olive oil
2 lb onions, thinly sliced (about 9 cups)
2 large eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
Dash cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup grated Swiss cheese (we used Ementaler)

Let the puff pastry thaw for at least 30 minutes on the counter or a few hours in the fridge. You want it to be cool but not frozen when you work with it.
While you're waiting on the puff pastry, prepare the onions. Heat the oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add the onions and partially cover the pot. Cook, stirring often, for about 40 minutes or until the onions are a deep caramel color and very soft. You'll want to turn down the heat as the onions begin to soften so they can cook slowly and get all nice and brown. Scrape the bottom of the pot often to prevent sticking. Marvel at how much their volume decreases. Let the onions cool.
Lightly butter a tart pan or pie dish. On a lightly floured surface roll the puff pastry into an 11-inch square (just a little thinner than its starting size.) Press into the buttered pie dish and tear off the bits than hang over unless you want puff pastry charcoal at the end.
Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Beat in the cream, cayenne, and salt. Stir in the cheese and onions. Spoon the mixture into the pie dish. It might look underfilled, but it will fill out as it bakes. Bake 30-35 minutes at 425, until the custard is set and the crust is a deep gold. Ours looked like this:
Cool on a wire rack for 15-20 minutes before serving.

Puff pastry spanakopita

The first time I had spanakopita was at a Greek restaurant outside of Waco, where I went to undergrad. It was love at first bite. Traditionally, it is a phyllo dough pie filled with spinach and feta. One of these days I will overcome my fear of phyllo dough enough to get some and make some real spanakopita. It won't actually be that difficult to work with, and I will feel very silly for my years of not using it. But until then, I feel like puff pastry dough is a good substitute. This is one of Jon's very favorite foods that I make, so I made it for his birthday feast. I actually prefer to make it with red Russian kale instead of spinach, but Jon prefers the spinach. Since it was his birthday, that's what I went with this time. Of course, the time I choose to take a picture of it is the time the kitchen is too hot so the puff pastry starts sticking to itself and doesn't look very attractive. Rest assured that usually this is gorgeous.

Puff pastry spanakopita:
2 tsp olive oil (not extra virgin)
1/2 large yellow onion, chopped
1 or 2 garlic cloves, minced
Dash of nutmeg
Dash of smoked paprika
1 bunch of spinach or red Russian kale, about 1 lb, washed and roughly chopped (for kale, remove the hard part of the ribs)
2 eggs
6 oz feta cheese, crumbled (I prefer the kind with black pepper)
1 box (2 sheets) frozen puff pastry, thawed

Heat the oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, for about five minutes. Add the nutmeg and paprika. Smell it. It's good. Throw in the spinach or kale and cover to let it steam/wilt. When it has wilted, add the eggs, one at a time, and scramble into the spinach mixture. Add the cheese, stir to combine, and remove from heat.
Lightly oil a large baking dish (mine is 9x13, but it doesn't have to be that large). Unfold one sheet of puff pastry and place it at the bottom of the dish. Spread the spinach mixture evenly on top. Unfold the other sheet and place on top. If you want to, you can crimp the sides. It's never worked out for me, and I don't care that sometimes the filling leaks out a bit. Bake in a 350 F oven until it's golden brown on top and doesn't have any underdone spots. Start checking around 20 minutes. It varies a lot based on how thawed the puff pastry was and how thick the filling is. I must confess that we often get impatient and eat it before it's all the way done. It's still good that way.