Ruggles Pie

I made this pie for the one month birthday of my little son Ruggles. The pie, like my Ruggles, is my own invention! Home grown. I'm sure there are other cranberry-cherry-lime pies out there (are there? I don't know) but this one I made up for Ruggles. It is based off of a little "tart" I made for Bob when I was pregnant with Ruggles. I hardly ever cooked or baked when I was pregnant, I just didn't have any desire to do so. No nausea, no food aversions... just no cooking bug. But with the few pies I did make, I started to make little "tarts" out of the left over dough instead of pie crackers-- the reason being that most pies really are better on the second day, but no one wants to wait that long to eat one, but if you make a little tart you can sate the desire to eat pie without actually eating the pie itself. And on one particular day I had some cherries in the fridge and, having never baked anything with cherries before, decided to give them a whirl. I must have had limes too, and we always keep frozen cranberries around, so I threw them all together into the little tart and it turned out quite delicious! I vowed one day to try and make a whole pie that way, and Ruggles' celebration seemed to be the perfect occasion. And the pie turned out quite well! I was very pleased with the result, and may not even tinker too much with this formulation in the future. Now that it is Ruggles' pie, he will be obligated to have this as his birthday treat and nothing else for the rest of his life.

The crust I used is a "cornmeal crust" and the recipe comes from the Luscious Little Dessert Company. I don't think you have to use a cornmeal crust, other crusts would be equally delicous, but in honor of the original Ruggles pie as it was baked and consumed you can find the pie crust recipe as below:

http://vegetabletuesdays.blogspot.com/2013/10/cornmeal-pie-crust.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/31/dining/that-photogenic-blueberry-pie.html

But first, pictures of the pie to whet your appetite:

Ingredients (for the filling):

16 oz (approx 3 C.) fresh or frozen cranberries

16 oz (approx 3 C.) fresh or frozen pitted sweet cherries (not cherry pie filling!)

2/3 C. brown sugar

1/3 C. white sugar

1/2 C. flour

1 very heaping tsp. cinnamon

1/16 tsp. ginger

Zest of 2.5 limes (2-3, whatever)

Juice of 2 limes (just however many you are zesting, 3 would be ok too)

Directions:

1. Combine all the dry ingredients and the lime zest in a mixing bowl. 

2. In a separate large bowl, stir together the cherries and the cranberries. You don't need to thaw them first or cut them up, although if you are using fresh cherries you should de-pit them which may involved halving the cherries. 

3. Pour the dry mixture over the fruit and combine thoroughly. Add in the lime juice and stir again until the berries are evenly coated with the dry mixture and the lime juice. You can either let the fruit sit for a while or use it immediately. Because the cherries/cranberries aren't that juicy, you don't need to "pre-bleed" the fruit like I will for other fruit pies to reduce the liquid content.

4. Add the filling to a large pie dish with one half of a crust in the bottom. Cover the filling with the top crust. Cut slits in the top to vent out extra steam-- this pie won't bubble much so you don't need a lot of slits or to put a pan under your pie plate in the oven. If desired, brush the top of the pie with buttermilk, milk or cream and top with raw (demerara) sugar.

5. Bake at 400 F for 20-25 minutes and then reduce the temperature of the oven to 350 F and bake for an additional 30-35 minutes or follow the instructions for your crust recipe and bake until the crust is golden brown and the fruit has softened (approx one hour).

Serve hot or cold with whipped cream or vanilla icecream, although the pie is not too strongly flavored that this is necessary. Enjoy and picture the cute, cute baby as above. Cheers, Ruggles!

Green Mango Pie

This is an old recipe that I made two years ago (on our honeymoon, in fact!) and never blogged, so it is sitting in my recipe stash awaiting formal entry so I can move on and delete it from the list. Personally, I liked this pie. It's spiced very much like an apple pie, but it's different-- you know. It's mango. The Robber of course would rather have an apple pie, but in the two years since he has since learned just to go with the flow of things around here. 

From Pie Love You:

http://www.pieloveyou.blogspot.com/2010/03/green-mango-pie-16.html

Ingredients:

For the filling:

3-4 unripe, mostly green medium mangoes (about 5 C.), peeled and sliced

3/4 C. sugar, adjusted for sweetness of the mangoes

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp. kosher salt

Zest of 1 lime

1 T. of lime juice

For the double crust:

2 1/2 C. unbleached, all-purpose flour

1 tsp. kosher salt

1 1/2 T. sugar

2 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter

4-5 T. of ice water

Directions:

1. For the crust: Cube the butter and chill it along with the water until needed. Mix together all the dry ingredients and then add the chilled butter, cutting into the flour until pea-sized pieces are produced. Add the chilled water 1 T. at a time and mix with a fork until the dough is the right consistency. Gather the dough together and divide into two separate disks. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill at least 2 hours or overnight.

2. For the filling: In a smaller bowl, combine the dry filling ingredients. Slice mangoes and add to zest and lime juice in large bowl. Pour dry ingredients over mangoes and mix.

3. Put it together: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Roll out single dough to about 1/8″ thick and place in pie pan leaving the edges long. Scoop the filling in center of pie but do not pour in all the liquid. Roll out the second dough and place on top of the pie. Trim edges and crimp to design. Using a sharp knife, cut tiny vents in the top of the pie. Brush with egg whites and sprinkle sugar on top.

4. Bake it: Bake at 425 degrees for 25 minutes, rotating once at the halfway point. Reduce heat to 300 degrees and continue to bake 30 minutes more till golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before serving.

Curried Lentils With Sweet Potatoes And Swiss Chard

So the Robber makes these amazing lentils and I asked him where he got the recipe from and he sent me this link which I kept to try out... but truthfully the Robber's lentils aren't really much like these at all, and are actually better. Which is not to say these are not good. They are really good, and I was surprised how much I liked the Swiss chard. Who knew Swiss chard? Anyway. If you have a good peeler and can get around the annoyance of chopping sweet potatoes, and if you like pea soup, these are for you. Perfect for a cold Rochester day when I want something warm and healthy and feel good. Would be good with some pita.

Note: I didn't have garam masala and I think it would have made a difference in bringing this from good to great. Also, self, try using chicken broth next time instead of vegetable stock.

Adapted from the NYTimes by Smitten Kitchen: http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/11/curried-lentils-and-sweet-potatoes/

(Note again to self: the above link has a link to this blondie recipe you want to try...)

Ingredients:

2 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 1-inch piece fresh ginger root, peeled and grated
1 1/2 tsp. garam masala
1 1/2 tsp. curry powder
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded if desired, then minced (I omitted this)
4 to 5 C. vegetable broth as needed
2 lbs. orange-fleshed sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 4 cups)
1 1/2 C. dried lentils
1 bay leaf
1 lbs. Swiss chard, center ribs removed, leaves thinly sliced (I used 2)
1 tsp. kosher salt, more to taste
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1/3 C. chopped fresh cilantro
Finely grated zest of 1 lime
Juice of 1/2 lime
1/3 C. finely chopped tamari almonds, for garnish (optional)
1/4 C. chopped scallions, for garnish

Directions:

1. In large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and saute until translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic, ginger, garam masala, curry powder and jalapeno. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute.

2. Stir in 4 cups broth, sweet potatoes, lentils and bay leaf. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium, partially cover, and simmer for 25 minutes. (If lentils seem dry, add up to 1 cup stock, as needed.) Stir in chard and salt and pepper, and continue cooking until lentils are tender and chard is cooked, about 30 to 45 minutes total.

3. Just before serving, stir in cilantro, lime zest and juice. Spoon into a large, shallow serving dish. Garnish with almonds if desired and scallions.

Yield: 8 to 10 side-dish servings; 6 main-course servings.