It’s time for our annual call: Please pledge a pie
… or two. Each year, Jenny’s Kitchen readers provide all of the
pies for the Lord’s Table’s annual Thanksgiving dinner.
It’s time for our annual call: Please pledge a pie … or two. Each year, Jenny’s Kitchen readers provide all of the pies for the Lord’s Table’s annual Thanksgiving dinner. The dinner is attended by people from all walks of life: families with children, homeless people, lonely people and some who have hit a bad run of luck or have lost their jobs.
Years ago, store-bought pumpkin pies were purchased from local grocery stores. For the past five years, however, there has been a healthy mix of homemade apple, juicy peach, homemade pumpkin and berry pies, all provided by generous readers. The variety has been astounding and I am always amazed at how much effort readers will put into baking a pie for someone they don’t know. Pies come from retirees, school teachers, entire classes, youth groups, Girl Scout troops and my nice neighbors and friends.
Due to this incredible generosity, my kitchen, dining room and living room were filled with 102 pies last year. We had to make three trips in SUVs to deliver them all – in the rain. This year, we will move the collection site to the Lord’s Table, in the gym of St. Mary School at 11 First Street.
Pies will be accepted from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Nov. 26.
In the meantime, however, I would like to get a count of how many readers will be bringing pies. As always, I am very grateful for whatever you can do. If you just can’t find time to bake a pie, I would love to receive store bought. If you are able to bake one at home, it will be so appreciated by the many guests at the Lord’s Table Thanksgiving Dinner.
Please e-mail your pledges to jd****@****ic.com or give me a call at (408) 842-9028. Give me your name and the number of pies you can bring.
Thank you in advance for your kindness!
• This is a pie week, so here are some recipes for you to try. You can either use store bought crusts or try the basic recipe at the end of the column. Test these pies on your family and then make them for Pledge-a-Pie. I’ll bet no one will complain about being a taste-tester.
Lemon Custard Pie
Filling
6 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup fresh lemon juice
4 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons grated lemon peel
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup half and half
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Whipped cream (optional)
Lemon slices (optional)
Fresh mint (optional)
For Filling:
Combine first 5 ingredients in heavy large saucepan and whisk to blend. Add butter. Whisk over medium heat until filling thickens and leaves path on back of spoon when finger is drawn across, about 13 minutes (do not boil).
Mix in half and half and vanilla. Whisk until filling is very thick and smooth and just begins to bubble, about 6 minutes. Transfer to bowl. Cool 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cover; chill until very cold, about 4 hours. (Can be made 3 days ahead. Keep chilled.)
For Crusts:
You will need two discs of pie dough.
Preheat oven to 375°F. Roll out 1 dough disk on lightly floured surface to 12-to 13-inch round. Transfer dough to 9-inch glass pie plate. Trim overhang to 1/2 inch; reserve dough scraps. Fold edge of dough under and crimp decoratively. Repeat rolling with second dough disk; put into another 9-inch glass pie plate. Freeze until firm, about 10 minutes.
Line crusts with foil; fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake crusts until sides are set, about 20 minutes. Remove foil and beans. Continue to bake until crusts are pale golden, piercing with toothpick if crusts bubble, about 12 minutes. Cool crusts completely on racks. Maintain oven temperature.
Roll out dough scraps on floured surface to 1/8-inch thickness. Transfer to baking sheet. Bake until golden, about 10 minutes. Cool. Maintain oven temperature. Crumble pastry into small pieces; wrap and reserve at room temperature.
Spoon half of filling into each crust. Bake until filling is set in center, about 18 minutes. Cool pies. Chill until cold, about 2 hours. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and keep chilled.) Sprinkle crumbled pastry over pies. Garnish pies with whipped cream, lemon slices and mint, if desired.
Makes 2 pies.
Grandma’s Priceless Pumpkin Pie
Filling
3 cups solid pack pumpkin (about 1 1/2 16-ounce cans)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
1 1/4 cups milk
6 tablespoons all purpose flour
3 large eggs
3 tablespoons dark molasses
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground allspice
3/4 teaspoon salt
For Crust:
You will need two discs of dough.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line crusts with foil; fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake crusts until sides begin to set, about 15 minutes. Remove foil and beans. Bake crusts until pale golden, piercing with toothpick if crusts bubble, about 15 minutes. Cool completely on racks. Maintain oven temperature.
For filling:
Whisk all ingredients in large bowl to blend. Pour half of pumpkin filling (about 3 3/4 cups) into each prepared pie crust.
Bake pies until filling is set in center, about 1 hour. Cool pies on racks.
Makes two 9-inch pies.
• Making your own: If you want to bake your own pie crust, try this recipe. It’s by Sheila Lukins, acclaimed “Silver Palate” cookbook author. She really knows how to make a crust and offers this advice: “Both the use of butter and shortening make for a flaky pie crust. It is best to refrigerate the dough overnight if possible for ease in rolling it out between two sheets of lightly floured wax paper.”
Sheila’s Basic Pie Crust
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon-size
pieces
1/2 cup cold shortening
1/4 to 1/2 cup ice cold water
Combine the flour and salt in a large bowl. Add the butter and mix together with your fingertips or a pastry cutter until the mixture is very coarse – the size of peas. Then add the shortening, and continue blending with fingertips. The mixture should still be very coarse.
Add 4 tablespoons of the water and toss the mixture together. If the dough does not hold together when gathered in your hand, add a bit more water. Do not overwork the dough. Divide the dough in half and form it into thick disks. Wrap each disk in plastic and chill for at least 1 hour or overnight.
Remove one disk of dough from the refrigerator. Unwrap it and roll it out on a lightly floured work surface or between two sheets of wax paper to form a circle about 1/8-inch thick and 2 inches larger than the pie plate. Work quickly, as the dough can become sticky. Use a spatula to help lift the dough, and fold it loosely in half and into quarters. Gently transfer it to the pie plate, centering the corner of the dough in the center of the pie plate. Open up the dough and press it lightly into the plate to fit. If the dough should tear, just press it gently together. Trim the dough, leaving a 1-inch overhang. If making a single-crust pie, turn the edge under and flute it decoratively.
Repeat the rolling process for a top crust or for another bottom crust. The circle of a top crust should be 9 inches for an 8-inch pie and 10 inches for a 9-inch pie.
Follow the individual pie recipes for filling and baking.
Makes enough for an 8- or 9-inch double-crust pie, or 2 single-crust pies.
Tip of the Week:
When resting between bites, place the knife and fork, handles to the right, on the plate. Never rest them on the table. When you’re finished, place the utensils side by side, across the middle of the plate, handles right, to secure their removal.
Notes from Jenny’s Kitchen
• Want to eat a great steak dinner and help Gilroy’s youth at the same time? Casino Night will be hosted by the Rotary Club this weekend, Nov. 8, at the Portuguese Hall in Gilroy. Tickets are $50 and include gaming and music in addition to the dinner. All proceeds benefit youth projects. Tickets: Rosanna at 848-0300 or Vilma at 842-0200.
• Consumers may have noticed the price of vanilla skyrocketing. The price for a small, 4-ounce bottle of pure vanilla has climbed from an average of $5 per bottle a few years ago to $10-$20 today. The food industry is blaming the increases in bad growing seasons in the top vanilla-producing country, Madagascar. Crops have been damaged in recent years by storms. Personally, I love Mexican vanilla. If you’re planning a trip there, bring home one of the big bottles and your baking costs won’t be affected.
~ Jenny Midtgaard
• End notes: “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” ~ Mohandas Gandhi
Happy cooking!
