Vegan MoFo Day 11: Pie with the Countess

I decided to try a dessert recipe from Countess Constance Wachtmeister's Practical Vegetarian Cookery (1897). The Almond Peach Pie required no veganizing at all, as long as you use a vegan pastry crust.

Fill an unbaked pie crust with canned peaches. The Countess instructs us to use peach halves, but I failed to inform my able assistant who bought sliced peaches. In November, there is no shame in canned peaches. If you have used peach halves, you can fill their cavities with chopped almonds. Otherwise, just sprinkle the almonds over everything, as in the photo above. I used 4 cans (14.5 oz) of peaches, and 1 cup of almonds. Per the Countess, add just a wee bit of the syrup from the cans, and sprinkle everything with sugar (not much). I also used about 1/4 t of almond extract. Cover with a top crust, and bake. I baked mine for 15 minutes at 400 F, and then lowered the temp for 45 minutes at 350 F.

This makes a very juicy pie, best served cobbler style, without trying to get tidy slices. I think the runny filling complements the crunchy almonds, and I don't believe I would want them suspended in something thicker. However, if you do, you could add a couple of tablespoons of cornstarch/arrowroot/tapioca.

Dehydrator Fun

I haven't blogged in forever. I fail. Anyhow.... Susie and I agreed to update our neglected blogs, so here I go:

When my tax refund arrived, I headed right to EverydayDish, my favorite source for amazing cooking equipment. One of my purchases was an Excalibur food dehydrator, which I bought with a mind to use it for some raw food recipes. However, I am discovering that it makes a great incubator for soy yogurt, tempeh, salt rising bread starter, and other fermented projects that need a warm temperature below what the oven can offer.

My mother used to dehydrate lots of apples when I was a kid. (We had a bunch of trees.) Yesterday, I processed two big bags of apples in the dehydrator. Not only are they tasty on their own, but they can be used to make a delightfully unhealthy treat - fried pies. Around here, THE filling for fried pies is based on dried apples. This is my great-aunt's non-recipe:

Take 1 quart of dried apples, add just a little water, and cook in a saucepan till tender. You can add sugar, cinnamon, or whatever else you like. Mash the results until you have a fairly thick paste.

Make a double batch of your favorite pie crust. Take a ball of dough (golf ball size or bigger), and roll out into a flat circle. Cover one side with the apple mixture (leave space around the edges), then fold over and seal with a fork.

To cook: Heat vegetable shortening in a dutch oven - maybe an inch or so of melted fat. Fry the pies until brown on one side, then flip, and fry the other side. The second side goes a lot faster. If this is too terrifying, brush with melted margarine and bake at 400 until they look done.

Enjoy!

Vegan MoFo Day 13: The Complete Book of Pies

I wish I was able to do the Vegan MoFo Iron Chef Challenge that Katie is orchestrating, but life and travel keep getting in the way. (I just drove back to Tennessee.) Maybe next week. In the meanwhile...

I have been eyeing the Spiced Apple Pie recipe in Julie Hasson's The Complete Book of Pies. It's on the cover of the book. As I had all the ingredients, I decided to give it a go tonight. If you really need another reason to buy this book, here you have it. This apple pie manages to be traditional and homey at the same time that it is complex and interesting. (It's not even finished cooling, but I had to cut into it!) I was lazy and had no shortening in the freezer, so I made her Sweet Oil Crust - excellent texture, foolproof, and fast.

Julie's book is not vegan, but it has many, many vegan recipes, all of which are clearly marked. And I strongly suspect that, with a little creativity, even the recipes not marked vegan-friendly can be veganized.