Just whatever jumps off the pages of our Apopka community cookbooks sounding great is this week’s selection process for Kitchen Kapers.
There are no specific food categories this time, nor any special calendar occasions to be celebrated, nor a central theme,-just whatever recipes really catch our attention and sound too good not to try.
That was the starting-out idea for this week’s Kitchen Kapers column.
Pies! That’s how that idea worked out. Pies caught our attention this week, because that’s to where the very first cookbook picked up opened, to all that cookbook’s many pages of pies. Still more pies fill pages in all the other books in our local community cookbook collection from over so many past years.
Enjoy the variety of possibilities the baking of pies can provide!
REVEREND JON STASNEY’S BLACKBERRY PIE
Recipe from Habitat for Humanity’s Home Sweet Habitat
3 cups whole wheat flour
1-1/2 cups oat bran flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup canola or safflower oil
13 tablespoons cold water
5 tablespoons oat or wheat flour
4 cups (heaping) blackberries
1/2 to 1 cup honey
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
Sift whole wheat flour, 1-1/2 cups oat bran flour and the half teaspoon of salt into a bowl. Mix well. Stir in mixture of canola oil and cold water until mixture forms a ball. Divide into two portions. Roll each portion between sheets of waxed paper to fit a nine-inch pie plate. Arrange half of the pastry in greased pie plate. Trim edges, allowing some overlap. Sprinkle five tablespoons oat flour over blackberries in a bowl. Pour honey over mixture and mix well. Spoon the mixture into a pastry-lined pie late. Dot the top with butter. Top with remaining pastry and trim edges, allowing generous overlap. Fold top pastry edge under edge of bottom pastry. Flute edges and cut vents.
Bake at 400 degrees for 40-50 minutes or until brown. Let cool before serving. Whole wheat flour may be substituted for oat bran flour.
BLUEBERRY AND CREAM
CHEESE PIE
Recipe from Habitat for Humanity’s Home Sweet Habitat
1/4 cup finely chopped pecans
1 unbaked (9-inch) pie shell
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 envelope whipped topping mix
1/2 cup low-fat milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (21-ounce) can blueberry pie filling
Press pecans into side and bottom of pie shell. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until light brown. Let stand until cool. Beat cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar in mixer bowl until light and fluffy. Spread over bottom of pie shell. Prepare whipped topping according to package directions, using half a cup of low-fat milk and half a teaspoon of vanilla, beating until stiff peaks form. Spread over cream cheese mixture. Chill. Top each slice with a spoonful of pie filling.
SUGAR-FREE APPLE PIE
Recipe from Habitat for Humanity’s Home Sweet Habitat Cookbook
1 (20-ounce) can unsweetened sliced apples
1 recipe (2-crust) pie pastry
1/2 cup aspertame
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
Drain apples, reserving juice. Combine reserved juice with enough water to measure one-fourth cup. Spread the apples in pastry-lined eight-inch pie plate. Pour juice over the apples in pie plate. Sprinkle with mixture of aspartame, cornstarch, cinnamon and nutmeg. Dot with butter. Top with remaining pastry. Seal edge and cut vents.
Bake at 425 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until brown.
BEST-IN-TOWN-CHERRY-PIE
Recipe from Habitat for Humanity’s Home Sweet Habitat Cookbook
2 (21-ounce) cans cherry pie filling
1 recipe (2-crust) pie pastry
1 egg white, lightly beaten
1/2 cup sugar
Spoon the pie filling into pastry-lined pie plate. Top with remaining pastry. Seal edge and cut large “C” in top of pastry. Brush with egg white. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake pie at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.
FRENCH SILK CHOCOLATE PIE
Recipe from Home Sweet Habitat Cookbook
1/2 cup melted margarine
1 cup flour
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup margarine, softened
1-1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 (one-ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate, melted
4 eggs
Combine one-half cup of margarine, the flour and walnuts in a bowl, mixing well. Pat this mixture over the side and bottom of a nine-inch pie plate. Bake at 325 degrees for 15 minutes. Let stand until cool. Cream one cup margarine and the sugar in mixer bowl until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and chocolate. Mix well. Add eggs one at a time, beating for five minutes after each addition. Spoon mixture into pie shell. Chill until serving time.
LUCILLE G. STARBIRD’S
PEANUT BUTTER CREAM PIE
Recipe from Apopka’s First
Presbyterian Church’s Treasures and Pleasures Cookbook
Basic pie dough for a nine-inch pie shell
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
3 egg yolks
1/4 stick butter, softened
1 cup chunky peanut butter (room temperature)
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons chopped peanuts
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line pan with rolled out dough. Prick all over with fork, then press a piece of heavy duty foil snugly into pie shell. Bake for six minutes. Remove foil and bake for about 10-15 minutes more or until light brown, dry and crisp.
Combine sugar, cornstarch and salt in heavy saucepan. Stir together until mixed thoroughly.
Keep stirring or whisking as you add milk, by droplets at first, then in a thin stream. Then whisk in the egg yolks.
Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture boils. Reduce heat and continue to cook and stir for another three minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the butter and peanut butter. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the filling and let it cool for about 15 minutes. Remove plastic. Stir filling well and pour into pie shell just before you are ready to serve.
Whip the heavy cream and place a dollop on each piece of pie along with a few chopped peanuts.
JOHANNA VANCASTERN’S
ZUCCHINI PIE
Recipe from Favorite Recipes of Sweetwater Oaks
2 medium zucchini, cut into pieces
3/4 cup Bisquick
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon oregano
Pepper (amount to your taste)
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup oil
4 eggs, beaten
Mix all ingredients and put in greased pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.
