December 15, 2010

• Holiday Pie

  

  I spent a few minutes in the experimental kitchen last night, just long enough to run some apples through the food processor, throw a few ingredients together, and slide the pan above into the oven.  I didn’t take notes at the time, but exact measures aren’t important anyway.  I know I can adequately reconstruct the recipe or a reasonable facsimile.

  You could use an ordinary pie shell, either from scratch, mix, or frozen.  Do they still sell those nifty pie crust sticks my mother used to use, and I used to eat raw, right out of the wrapper?  I wouldn’t know, because I cruise right past that part of the supermarket since I’ve been on the gluten-free diet.  Here’s what I use:

  Quick and Easy Gluten-Free Pie Crust

  Into an 8- or 9-inch metal or glass pie pan, measure:

  1/2 cup sorghum flour
  1/2 cup garbanzo fava flour
  1/4 tsp. salt

  Whisk together in a cup or small bowl, with a fork or tiny wire whisk: (around here, forks are usually easier to find, and anywhere, anytime, a fork is easier to wash):

  1/3 cup vegetable oil (my preference is grapeseed oil)
  1 1/2 Tbsp (4 1/2 tsp.) cold milk

  Pour milk/oil emulsion over the flour mixture in the pan, and mix thoroughly with a fork. 

  It should come out moist and crumbly.  Under pressure, it should stick together and adhere to the sides of the pan.  Press the mixture evenly into the pan on sides and bottom.  I start that process with the fork to distribute and firm the mixture, and finish with the back of a spoon to smooth and compress it.

  This quick and easy pie crust recipe works equally well substituting 1 cup ordinary wheat flour for the sorghum and bean flours, but then it’s not gluten-free, of course.
  

  ---

  Apple Raisin Custard Filling

  Preheat oven to 325°F (160°C).

  Quarter, core and slice thinly:

  2-3 apples (Any variety will do.  What I had was Delicious.  I would have preferred McIntosh, Fuji, Cameo, or something suitably flavorful, but I used what I had on hand.)

  Stir together with

  1/2 cup (more or less) raisins
  cinnamon to taste
  1 Tbsp. (more or less) molasses
  other optional spices:  ginger, cloves, allspice, to taste
  2-3 Tbsp honey (Unless you really want to lick honey off a spoon, don’t bother measuring, just drizzle some honey in, to taste.)

  Set aside fruit/spice/honey/molasses mixture to marinate and blend flavors while you prepare custard:

  In a separate mixing bowl, slightly beat

  3-5 eggs

  Add and combine:

  2-3 cups milk (I used reconstituted instant non-fat, but you can use full-strength or diluted canned condensed milk, or fresh full-fat or skim milk from cows, goats, sheep, mares, pigs, cats: any mammal should do.  I suppose that soy or oat milk would work, but I haven’t tried making custard with them.  Anyone out there have experience with that?   *I wonder:  does anyone milk pigs?  Would anyone want to?  Likewise, cats?  Hmmmm.*
  1/4 tsp. salt
  honey, from about 1 Tbsp., up to 1/4 cup, to taste (and glucose tolerance), or other sweetener

  (Note:  variable measures of custard ingredients are intended to accommodate a larger or smaller pie pan.  I used the lesser amount and ended up wishing I’d used the larger because my pan could have held much more filling.  If you’re using 2 cups milk, then 3 large or 4 medium eggs are appropriate.)

  Spread fruit mixture in pie shell, then pour custard gently over it.  Bake at 325°F (160°C), about 35-45 minutes, until custard is firm in center (“firm” means no longer liquid).  Cool before cutting.

  If using a standard wheat-based pastry crust, baking procedure and time are different.  Start in a preheated 450°F (230°C) oven, reduce heat to 325°F (160°C) immediately when you put the pie in the oven, and bake about half an hour, or a bit more, until done.

  • 2:21 pm
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