Starting in the Basement

This weekend was all about pies!  I went to the farmer’s market in Brookline on Thursday and found raspberries and blueberries that looked really good, and also ended up tasting good.  All I could think about was pie.  Specifically a mixed berry pie with a thick oatmeal streusel topping.  My inspiration was a pie that a Thanksgiving guest brought from a Somerville bakery called Biscuit.  It was one of the best store bought pies I have had and I have been wanting to replicate it since.

It has been in the 90s in Boston for the past week so I knew pie making was going to be a little tougher.  So I cheated. I knew the butter was going to melt in the pie dough instantly and great a tough, nonflaky dough.  Out came the Crisco!  Shortening makes the dough flakier and easier to handle but I do feel it does not taste the same.  I ended up making two different recipes.  One had equal parts shortening to butter and the other had a couple tablespoons more butter than shortening.  As expected, the half and half dough tasted a little flat.  It was definitely edible and looked ok, but I will not be making it again.  The one with more butter was better but what I would really like to do is learn how to make all butter pie crust that is not impossible to work with!

Here are the recipes from the weekend:

Mixed Berry Pie with Oatmeal Streusel

One recipe for pate brisee (or store bought pie crust)

Filling

• 1/4 cup tapioca
• 1 cup sugar (I would lower this next time with fresh berries, it was a little too sweet)
• 5 cups mixed berries
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Topping

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup oatmeal
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

Roll out chilled dough and place in 9 inch pie pan.  Freeze crust for 30 minutes.  Set oven to 400 F.

Mix sugar, tapioca and lemon juice together in a large bowl.   Add the berries and mix.  Let sit 45 minutes at room temperature.

Mix brown sugar, oatmeal, salt and flour in a small bowl.  Add cubed butter and mix together with fingers until a coarse crumb is formed.  Store in refrigerator until ready to use.

Assemble pie.  Pile berries in pie crust and press topping onto the top of the berries.  The topping will be pretty thick.  Bake for 55 minutes or until filling is bubbly.  Cover with foil if the top is getting too brown.  Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Nectarine Raspberry Pie

Recipe for double crust pie crust or store bought crust

• 8 nectarines, peeled and cut into one inch pieces
• 1 cup raspberries
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter (I forgot the butter but I think it needed it)
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 425 F.  Roll out one round of pie dough and place in a 9 inch pie pan with overhang.  Combine all ingredients in a large bowl except butter.  Pour fruit into prepared crust, mounding in the middle.  Dot butter over filling.  Roll out second round of pie dough and place on top of fruit.  Pinch edges together and slice an x in the top to let out steam.  Whisk together egg and milk and brush on the top of crust.  Bake for 20 minutes at 425.  Lower temp to 350 for 30 to 40 minutes until top browns and filling is bubbling over. You may want to put a cookie sheet under the pie to catch drips.