Pie #49: House Specialty Pie (Strawberry Rhubarb Crunch Pie)

This week's pie was selected based on a suggestion by the other Marvin in my life.  Perry's dad (Marvin) thought that it was time to make some rhubarb crunch.  His description intrigued me, so after making 3 crusts, trying out 2 other sizes of Kathy-made crusts, taking a time-out to accompany Grandpa King to a graduation party, getting instruction from Marv and extra suggestions from Kathy, and begging a little bit of help from Perry...we had to wait for the pie to cool before we could eat it.  The pie was beautiful and smelled SO wonderful!  I'm not a terribly patient person, however I can't remember the last time I was in such a hurry to eat a pie!  It was definitely worth the wait; the combination of rhubarb and strawberry was delightful.  Sometimes the rhubarb flavor stuck out, other times it was the strawberry flavor.  The crunchy top was just plain perfect!



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Strawberry Rhubarb Crunch Pie
adapted from "Rhubarb Crunch", Marvin Leatherman, West Clinton Mennonite Cookbook


Ingredients:
1 pie crust
1/2 c. flour
3/8 c. oatmeal
1/2 c. brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 c. butter
1/2 t. cinnamon
2 c. rhubarb, diced
2 c. strawberries, diced
1 c. sugar
2 T. cornstarch
1/2 - 3/4 c. water
1 tsp. vanilla

Pie Algorithm:
1. Mix flour, oatmeal, brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon until crumbly.  Set aside for later.

2. Mix rhubarb and berries, spoon into unbaked pie shell.

3. Combine sugar, cornstarch, water, and vanilla and cook until thick and clear.  Pour over fruit, and top with crumb mixture.  Bake at 350F for 1 hour.

Note: Marv is the only one that makes this dessert at the Leatherman's house.  He has taken it to "morning coffee" at the restaurant to share and received high marks for it.

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If interested in making Marv's actual recipe, double the crumb mixture as listed above.  Instead of using the pie crust, grease a 9-inch backing pan and then press the extra crumb mixture into the bottom of the pan.  The rest of the recipe follows as directed above.

Thanks to Perry for the pictures.

Pie #48: Marvin's Gardens (Rhubarb Pie)

While chopping the rhubarb for this recipe, its aroma brought my childhood flooding back to me .  Back then we ate many cakey rhubarb desserts, always with lots of vanilla ice cream.  I don't remember loving the dessert, but I do remember eating lots of it.  (What can I say, it was sweet!) :) I was afraid I wouldn't really like this pie, but this year has brought many good surprises, so of course I had to try a slice.  It was delightful!  The combinations of egg and cream allowed for a cream pie, with a slight custard consistency.   I would definitely eat it again!


We shared this pie with Grandma and Marvin, who has been out recently planting flats and flats of flowers (complete with Miracle Grow in order to avoid puny petunias!)  He complimented Bret and Wanda's newest flower garden...and thought their place was turning into Marvin's Gardens, thus the name of the pie.





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Rhubarb Pie
Auntie Marsha Dowdy

Ingredients:
1 pie crust
2 eggs
1 1/4 c. sugar
2/3 c. cream
1 T. flour, heaping
1/2 c. water
2 c. Rubarb, cleaned and chopped into small pieces

Pie Algorithm:
1. Beat eggs, sugar, cream, and flour.  Add water and beat again.

2. Put rhubarb in unbaked pie shell and pour filling over rhubarb.

3. Bake at 325F until set.

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Pie #47: Chocolate Cloud Pie (Chocolate Mousse Pie)

This week the pie-making was all about efficiency as there were too many things to do and not enough time to do everything.  So, I found myself asking questions like:

What pie would take a short time to make?
What pie would be good in a store-purchased cookie crust?
What pie would require minimal dishes to be washed?

I arrived on Chocolate Mousse Pie, and took the recipe from the back of the DREAM WHIP Whipped Topping box.

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Chocolate Mousse Pie

Ingredients:
2 envelopes DREAM WHIP Whipped Topping Mix
2 3/4 c. cold milk, divided
1 t. vanilla
1/2 t. almond extract (optional)
2 pkg. (4-serving size each) JELL-O Instant Pudding & Pie Filling, chocolate
1 Oreo pie crust
red raspberries

Pie Algorithm:
1. Beat whipped topping mixes, 1 cup of the milk and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer on high speed 6 minutes or until topping thickens and forms peaks.

2. Add remaining 1 3/4 cups milk, pudding mixes, and almond extract; beat on low speed.  Beat on high speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.  Spoon into pastry shell.

3. Refrigerate at least 4 hours.  Garnish with raspberries.  Store leftover pie (if any!) in refrigerator.  Makes 8 servings.

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I LOVE chocolate mousse, and thought the almond flavoring was a nice addition.  Perry also really seemed to like the pie.  As he enjoyed some last night he exclaimed, "It's like licking a chocolate pillow, or a chocolate cloud!"  I haven't seen him this excited about pie in a while.  That means this pie gets high ratings for being easy to make and delicious!

Pie #46: Few Words Pie (Peanut Pie)

This week contained of a lot of statistical writing for me; writing about non-active inputs, writing about posterior distributions of calibration inputs, and writing about BLUP predictors for meniscal stresses seen during walking.  While I'm happy to have added to my thesis and additional papers, all this writing has left me with few words for the blog.  Therefore, without further ado, I present this week's pie.

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photo credit: Lane Allen Stopher

Peanut Pie
United States of Pie
Adrienne Kane

Ingredients:
a single 9-inch pie crust
3 large eggs
1/2 c. dark brown sugar
1 c. dark corn syrup
4 T. unsalted butter, melted
1 t. kosher salt
1 t. vanilla extract
1 c. coarsely chopped, lightly salted peanuts

Pie Algorithm:
1. Preheat oven to 375F.

2. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer set on high speed, beat the eggs until they're frothy, about 2 minutes.  Add the brown sugar, corn syrup, melted butter, salt, and vanilla, and beat on medium speed for another 2 minutes or so, until thoroughly blended.  Fold in the peanuts.

3. Pour the filling in the chilled shell.  Bake the pie for 45-50 minutes, until the top is lightly browned and the center is almost set.  Remove the pie from the oven, and let it cool to room temperature before enjoying.

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I enjoyed this twist on pecan pie.  The dark brown sugar and corn syrup were a nice touch, and the peanuts added a good flavor.  One tester that thought the pie was a bit salty (I used full-salt nuts).  I didn't mind the salt at all, and rather enjoyed the salty sweet combination!   I'll have to keep this in mind for future consumption!

Pie # 45: Review Pie (Fresh Mango Pie)

Much of my thesis writing of late has required me to dig through old research notes to find details and results from weeks and years past.  Through this I have learned that a retrospective view of your work can be just as valuable as a prospective view as sometimes rediscovering old work can lead to answers for current or future problems!  

This statement also paid off in the pie project this week.  I was reviewing the pies from peach season last summer, and realized that one of them might be delicious with mango instead.  I was right on - the pie was delicious!  In case you missed my friend Marlene's recipe in late August, here it is again (this time as the mango version).

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Fresh Mango Pie

Ingredients:

1 baked pie shell (10 inch)

1 c. sugar

3 T. cornstarch

1/8 t. salt

3 T. light corn syrup

1 c. water

3 T. lemon gelatin (dry)

fresh mango (4 cups, cut in small cubes)

1/2 T. lemon juice

Pie Algorithm:

1. Combine sugar, cornstarch, salt, and syrup in saucepan.  Add water, stir and cook on medium high until mixture thickens (about 5 minutes).  Add gelatin and blend.  Cool.

2. Mix mango with lemon juice and put in cooled, baked pie shell.  Spoon gelatin mixture over mangoes.

3. Chill thoroughly.  Serve with whipped cream.

 

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Last time I made the pie I noted that the lemon flavor over-powered the peaches.  This time however, I thought it was perfect.  The lemon and mango flavors blended smoothly, and the pie was a refreshing end to a delightful meal with my Piecemaker friends!