From starters to turkey to side dishes both traditional and not-so-much, hopefully I’ve provided enough suggestions to make your Thanksgiving delicious as possible. Only one thing left now... dessert!
And so now, I have a confession. I am buying pies for our Thanksgiving dinner this year. Boom.
Now that it’s out there, pick your jaw up off the floor and shove your eyes back in their sockets. Get that swooning lady over there onto a couch before she hurts herself. It’s true. Even though, among all types of cooking one can do, baking is my favorite… even though I spent a full week off work last year doing nothing but making cookies for Christmas… even though I have been on a pie crust quest for the past six months... even though Thanksgiving is mere days away and having pumpkin pie is second only to turkey in importance on the menu… despite all of these things, I called Mission Pie the other day and ordered two pies for pickup on Wednesday.
Know why? Because I know how to choose my battles! Contrary to what Martha Stewart’s staff wants you to believe, it’s not strictly necessary to prepare every course yourself. Given the fact that we all have jobs to attend to aside from preparing a Thanksgiving feast to beat the band, I think we can allow ourselves a little time-saving here and there. I mean… it’s not like even most from-scratch bakers are roasting and pureeing their own pumpkins, right?
Besides, we are blessed here in San Francisco to have so many options for delicious, fresh, locally produced, and environmentally friendly (believe it or not) pie sources, it’s almost a shame NOT to buy them. Far from having to resort to the pie case at Eat’n Park (Da ‘burgh… represent!), Shoney’s, Marie Callender’s, or ::shudder:: the frozen aisle at Safeway, we could order homemade delectables from Sweet Inspiration, DeLessio, or the fabulous Mission Beach Café (whose pastry chef I swear is descended from Olympus or something)… and those are just the places in our neighborhood! One of the tricks of keeping entertaining fun is to use your resources – in other words, don’t bite off more than you can chew! Literally.
Mission Pie is a local business with a really important purpose beyond serving up fantastic, home-made pastries. Students from a local high school spend time at a nearby farm, Pie Ranch, raising many of the very ingredients they will later turn into pies and sell in this new Mission District classic. I’ve ordered one pumpkin and one pear-ginger… and at $18 bucks they are not just a great thing to do, they are a bargain!
Now… if you’ve got time I don’t have this year, or if you signed up to bring dessert for the celebration you’re attending feel free to take along these two amazing beauties that Harold and I prepared a few years back when he, Jenny, C’pher, and I headed south to San Jose to spend Thanksgiving with his parents. They are both amazing, re-heat well, and are an oh-so-seasonal finish to the meal.
Regardless of whether you make your own meal, or hire it all out...when you’re sipping your calvados, or your last glass of champers, or your second cup of good decaf, I hope you feel thankful. With food this good, it really is a sweet happy life! Happy Thanksgiving!
BUTTER AND LARD CRUST
When we made the pies for his parents’ Thanksgiving a few years ago, Harold did us both a favor and made the crusts for both pie, and this is the recipe he used. Each time I see the huge blocks of lard (also labeled here in bi-lingual California as ‘ manteca ’), I think of how excellent these crusts were, but in the end I resist. Since my pie-crust quest is long from over, perhaps I’ll re-visit this recipe. If C’pher ever lets me buy some lard, that is.
- 3 cups sifted AP flour, chilled
- ¼ cup sugar (except for savory pie crusts)
- A pinch of salt
- 8 Tbsp (1/4 lb./ 1 stick) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 8 pieces
- 1/3 cup lard, chilled and cut into small pieces
- 6-8 Tbsp iced water
Combine the flour, sugar (if using), and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. With the top off, sprinkle the butter and lard over the dry ingredients. Re-cover and pulse a few times until small clumps form. Begin to add the iced water through the feed tube, 1 Tbsp at a time, pulsing quickly until the dough begins to form into a ball.
Turn the dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap. As you wrap the dough in the plastic, form it into a disc. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Once chilled, take the dough from the refrigerator and cut it into 2 pieces, one slightly larger than the other. Re-wrap the smaller piece and return it to the refrigerator. Roll out the bigger piece on a lightly floured surface until it’s slightly larger than the pie pan.
Drape one end of the dough over the rolling pin and gently lift it up, then slip the pan underneath the dough and lower it into the pan. Press the dough gently – and quickly – against the sides of the pan. Leave about an inch of dough hanging over the sides of the pan and cut any excess away. Refrigerate the crust for at least 30 minutes before either filling or pre-baking.
If you are making a pie with a top crust, after you have filled the pie, take the smaller disc from the refrigerator and roll it out on a lightly floured surface until it’s a little bigger than the pie. Drape one end of the dough over the rolling pin, lift it gently, then drape it over the top of the filling. Press the edges together and crimp to seal. Brush on an egg wash and/or top with sugar, if using. Slash a few vents across the top of the crust to allow steam to escape, and bake the pie according to the recipe’s directions.
A COMMON APPLE PIE (with CHEESE)
Don’t let the pedestrian name of this recipe fool you... particularly with a very sharp Vermont cheddar either melted atop it before serving (run an oven safe plate with pie topped with cheese under the broiler) or under the crust, as this recipe calls for, the results are anything but common. Just consider this your standard apple pie... the standard by which all others will be measured.
You’ll notice some inexact and even non-existent measurements... that’s because you’re meant to taste the filling as you mix it, allowing for your own preferences of taste, as well as the sweet/tart balance of the apples you use. The author of Pie Every Day, Pat Willard, knows what she is talking about!
- One double 9-inch Butter and Lard Crust, unbaked
- 8 or 9 large apples of several different cooking varieties (‘Delicious’ apples will NOT do), peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
- Juice of 1 lemon
- Sugar
- Ground cinnamon
- Pinch of both ground mace and ground nutmeg
- Unsalted butter
- Sharp cheddar cheese
- One large egg white beaten with a little water, for brushing
Pre-heat oven to 450° F. Prepare the pastry; line a 9 inch pie pan with half the pastry and refrigerate, along with the unrolled half, while you make the filling.
Taste a few slices of the apples to gauge how much sugar you’ll need to make them sweet. In a large bowl, mix the apple slices with the lemon juice. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon to taste, then add mace and nutmeg.
Pour the apple mixture into the prepared pastry shell. Mound toward the center and dot with butter. Arrange slices of any good, sharp cheddar cheese over the apples (Alternatively, sprinkle grated cheese in the bottom of the crust before adding the apples and butter).
Roll out the remaining pastry and carefully lay it over the apples. Seal the edges and decorate top with extra dough cut into decorative shapes. Brush the egg wash over the surface of the pastry, and cut vent holes.
Place the pie on a baking sheet (to catch any spillover) and bake in the middle of the oven for 10 minutes. Turn the oven down to 350° F and continue to cook until the top crust is golden brown, about another hour. If the edges start to brown too much, cover with a ribbon of foil.
ROSY APPLE PIE
Unlike the other versions of this pie you’ll see, this one has no cinnamon candies or red-fleshed apples. It gets its bright rosy glow from the addition of frozen raspberries, which turn out to be a delightful compliment, especially to sweet apples. The juices make a pink sauce looks amazing... especially when served with ice cream! Tapioca turns out to be a miracle thickener in pies... less gummy than flour, less grainy than corn starch and less expensive than arrowroot. Who knew?
- One double 9-inch Butter and Lard Crust, unbaked
- 6 or 7 large cooking apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
- 1 (10 oz.) package frozen raspberries
- 1-2 Tbsp apple cider (optional)
- 1 cup sugar
- 2½ Tbsp quick-cooking tapioca
- 1Tbsp unsalted butter
Pre-heat oven to 425° F. Prepare the pastry; line a 9 inch pie pan with half of the pastry and refrigerate, along with the unrolled half, while you make the filling.
In a medium saucepan, bring the apples and raspberries to a boil. If the apples aren’t juicy enough, add the cider. Remove from the heat, add the sugar, tapioca, and butter and stir to blend and melt the butter. Cool, stirring occasionally.
Roll out the remaining pastry and carefully lay it over the apples. Seal the edges and decorate top with extra dough cut into decorative shapes. Brush the egg wash over the surface of the pastry, and cut vent holes.
Place the pie on a baking sheet (to catch any spillover) and bake in the center of the oven for 40-45 minutes until the crust is golden brown.
(Source: Pie Every Day by Pat Willard)
[this is good] Your menu has been making us hungry all week! Thanks for sharing the recipes! Hope your Thanksgiving is a great one!
Posted by: Sean & Stefan | 11/21/2007 at 11:24 AM
Glad to hear it, S&S... in my experience, there's really only one cure for hunger. I won't tell you what it is, but celery and low-fat cottage cheese do not play a large part. Happy Eating!
Posted by: Kyle Minor | 11/21/2007 at 11:58 AM