Strawberries were in season when I made this pie, but even more important than my strawberry obsession, I had a need to make a pie crust so I could get a photo of it (more on that a little further down). Given that rhubarb wasn’t gracing the grocery store shelves just yet and I couldn’t make my absolute favorite pie, strawberry cream pie seemed like a natural alternate choice.
Not wanting to be too boring, I had a few ideas to dress things up a bit. For instance, I’d recently read of an odd flavor combo that I was eager to try: strawberries and thyme. So I decided to incorporate both thyme and almonds into the pie crust and I’m very glad I did. The flavor was fantastic–buttery, rich, almondy, and the thyme was very distinct. I was honestly surprised by how nicely the almond and thyme enhanced one another and made the crust a force to be reckoned with. And
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Posted by mike on April 14th, 2009 in Dessert, Fruit, Pie
I recently mentioned beef as one of the go-to pregnancy ingredients lately. Another one: bananas. Of course, this was during the winter when not much other fruit was in season, and I really overdid the oranges to the point where my wife didn’t want to see another orange, so maybe I’m to blame for that one. I could have worse habits! 
Anyways, in honor of this, I decided to focus today’s dessert on bananas. It also seemed strange that in all the desserts I’ve posted up until now, there’s not a single banana dessert. I know, blasphemy! So to fix this at once, I decided to make a classic British dessert: Banoffee (also spelled Banoffi or Banoffy).
If you’ve never had this before, you’re probably wondering what’s up with the name? Its simple really: bananas + toffee = banoffee. Knowing that, you should be drooling now. I was when I first saw it and knew I had to try it. Its really quite
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Posted by mike on March 19th, 2009 in Dessert, Fruit, Pie
Winter is the time for comfort food. Adding to the collection of some warm-you-from-the-inside American comfort food, today I thought I’d share a dish that we’ve all had in some form at one point or another (and if you haven’t, you need to): chicken pot pie.
There are many ways you could approach a pot pie, but the core of it is the same: a rich, broth full of chicken and vegetables packaged in a flaky pie crust. Some would make individual serving sized pot pies (e.g. in ramekins), others would fill a casserole dish with the broth and lay pastry on top, while I have done pie crust on the top and bottom (like any other pie). What can I say, I like pastry!
While my resulting pot pie was not a looker (in retrospect, individual servings in something like ramekins would have looked better), the flavor was just awesome, if not the best chicken pot pie i’ve ever had. This
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Posted by mike on February 3rd, 2009 in Chicken, Main course, Pie
This was another pie I wanted to revisit, as I’ve come a long way since I first started cooking, so given my southern Thanksgiving theme, I had the perfect opportunity. Based entirely on my anecdotal experience, sweet potato pie seems to be one of those things that doesn’t seem to have spread very far outside of the south, and I really can’t see why. Pumpkin pie is certainly popular, and sweet potato pie is similar in style, but it brings a unique, amazingly vibrant flavor. Combined with a sticky, pecan crust on top and a scoop of sweet (but lightly spicy) ginger ice cream, and you’ve got yourself one heavenly dessert.
Given the aforementioned similarity to pumpkin pie, the approach to this pie is in keeping with my recent experimenting with pumpkin pie. I made a fresh graham cracker crust, a seductively spiced, delicious, creme fraiche & cream mashed sweet potato mixture, and a maple syrup pecan topping. Unfortunately, I forgot
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Posted by mike on December 9th, 2008 in Dessert, Ice Cream/Sorbet, Pie
Apples and cranberries are a natural, delicious combination, and between crumbles and pie, I was inspired to enjoy the apple/cranberry combo in my dessert routine as well.
I knew I’d enjoy this and it was also a way for me to scratch my apple pie itch while making something new. You have the familiar comfort food flavor of apple pie, but also the tart of cranberries, the tang of sour cream, the crunch of a walnut topping, and the spice of the graham cracker crust–a great twist on a fall favorite. So if you’ve also got an apple pie itch to scratch, give this a try!
- Graham cracker crust
- 4 apples (I used 2 honey crisp and 2 gala)
- 1.5 cups cranberries
- 1/2 tsp lemon juice
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp flour
- 1 cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp cloves
- dash cardamom
- splash orange juice
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- Streusel
- 1 cup of walnuts
- 1/2 a stick of softened butter
- 4 Tbsp flour
- 4 Tbsp of dark brown sugar
Begin by preparing the graham cracker crust. Later, just
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Posted by mike on November 24th, 2008 in Dessert, Fruit, Pie
I’m not much for cooking repeats. Its not an option really if you’re trying to keep posting new and original things with some regularity on a web site and all. Given that, I’m even more averse to going so far as posting a repeat on here, but I just couldn’t help myself. I’ve come a long way in the kitchen in the past year, so I just wasn’t thrilled looking at my original pumpkin pie post. I knew I could do a whole lot better, so I sought to really make an awesome pumpkin pie. Something I’d eagerly repeat verbatim again next season. And here we are.
I chose to go with a graham cracker crust for this pie rather than the more traditional pate brisee. Given the spices inherent in pumpkin pie, a totally unspiced crust just seems like an almost bland supporting character in the pie, right? Plus, making a fresh graham cracker crust is more fun.
With that established, my wife
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Posted by mike on November 6th, 2008 in Dessert, Fruit, Pie
