Berry Crumb Pie

Berries were on sale at Safeway this weekend, so I figured I'd make a pie...

Start with a store bought pie crust. I still haven't even tried to make a homemade pie crust, but these are so easy, it's hard to find the motivation to try. Pre-heat oven to 375.

Pie filling...
2 6oz pkgs of black raspberries
1 16oz pkg of strawberries ,tops removed and cut into bite size pieces
1/2 cup granulated sugar

In a large bowl combine the berries and granulated sugar. Stir to coat the berries with the sugar and set aside.

Place chilled pie crust into a pie plate and set it in the fridge until you're ready to assemble the pie.

Crumb Topping...

1/2 cup of butter, softened
1/2 cup of brown sugar, packed 
1 cup of sifted flour

Mix the topping ingredients together in a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer until crumbs start to form.

Put the filling into the pie shell and top with crumb topping. Bake for about 40 minutes. Allow pie to cool before cutting.

I'm better at putting a pie together than I am at cutting it and putting it on a plate. This looks like a total mess, but it's really quite yummy!

I think next time I will pre-bake the pie shell a little, then add the filling and crumb topping. This was really good, it was just really wet. Maybe if I bake the filling less it won't get so juicy. It's still a good pie! Enjoy!

Ugly Chicken Pot Pie

This got a little ugly while I was putting it all together so I figured I would add "ugly" to the title. It's been snowing here since Friday and I made this on Tuesday evening. I was really in the mood for some good, old fashioned, comfort food so I decided to make a chicken pot pie, mostly from scratch, without a recipe. It was so yummy, but next time I will have to put a little less inside the pie so it comes out a little prettier. I vow to put my successes and my failures on this blog, and while this was mostly a success, aesthetically, it was a failure. See?

 

I had too much filling to make the top and bottom crusts pinch together, so I had to just lay the top crust over the whole pie dish. I'll be more careful next time.

1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup diced potato (I always leaves the skins on for extra fiber)
1/2 cup chopped celery
5 cloves minced garlic
1 sprig fresh rosemary, chopped
1 stick butter
2 cups cooked chicken(I had roasted a chicken so I used some of that. I would probably use 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken, cubed and cooked)
1/3 cup flour
2 ready made pie crusts(This is the not home made part)
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups milk
Salt and pepper

Put carrots, peas, potato, celery, and chicken in a large sauce pan. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, drain into a colander and set the mixture aside. Melt butter in the pan and add garlic, onion, rosemary and salt and pepper to taste. Cook until softened (About 5 minutes). Remove from heat and sift in flour. Stir in chicken broth and milk. Place 1st pie crust into a deep pie pan. add chicken and veggie mixture. Slowly add liquid mixture. Stop adding liquid before you get to the top of the pie crust. (That's where mine got ugly!) Put top crust on and pinch together top and bottom crusts. Cut several slits for ventilation. Cook in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes, or until crust is golden brown. Let it stand for about 5 minutes before serving to allow sauce to thicken.

I know. It doesn't look so great, but it was really tasty! I never seem to put enough salt and pepper, but that seems to work out, because one person in my household never tastes anything before he adds a lot of salt and pepper. I hope next time it is prettier, but in the mean time, I enjoyed seconds for lunch today!

Apple Crumb Pie

I pretty much can't come to a holiday gathering without making this pie for the family. Luckily, it's really not very difficult!

1 9 inch store bought pie crust,chilled

1 cup sifted flour

1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

6 cups of apples, cored, skinned, diced or sliced

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Combine flour, brown sugar, salt and butter in a large bowl. Blend with a hand mixer until crumbly, then set aside. (Sometimes I add a little cinnamon to this mixture as well)

In another large bowl combine apples, granulated sugar and cinnamon. Mix gently to coat apples with sugar and cinnamon. Check your liquor cabinet. Is there something there that might be good in this mix too? I usually add about a tablespoon of Tuaca or Grand Marnier.

Pack apple mixture into chilled pie crust. Sprinkle crumb topping over apple mixture. Sprinkle the top with a little more cinnamon or sugar. Bake at 375 degrees for about 50 minutes.