Southern Summer Series: Just A Few Miles South: #9 Blackberry Crumble Pie! {And American Pie #4}

Somewhere in the world a woman wakes up. She's middle-aged, right on the cusp of 50. Everything hurts. Her body, her mind, her whole world. Her youngest just graduated high school and is going out into the world. Her husband travels for work during the week. She wakes up alone. After years of child-rearing, and chaos, the house is quiet. The home and everything in it is old, bought when the kids were young, back when raising kids felt like it would last a lifetime. Even the dog, begged and pleaded for by kids and their precious little voices, was in fact old and frail. The woman's mom, her best friend, had passed years ago. The other grandparents hanging on, but ailing. Sometimes the woman had her own health struggles and felt like her body was betraying her.

The world was in a state the woman didn't recognize anymore. There were screens everywhere and a lot of talk about AI. She had become the age where she started to struggle with technology, turning her debit card every which way at the checkout, struggling to keep up with her iphone, bumbling about on her new Macbook. Once upon a time she watched a black and white TV, played kickball and foursquare with friends, ran wild in the streets, and drank from the garden hose. Back then the world felt safe and sound. The world was full of promise. Nowadays, it doesn't feel that way at all.

She doesn't recognize this new life. This new chapter. It feels like everything was coming to a close. An ending. The phase were you lose things. She worries over her kids flying the nest, she worries over losing her Dad. She worries about losing her own health. Losing the dog. Losing, losing, losing.

The woman sits alone in the empty house that feels way too big now. She tries to find the answers to big questions like, "why didn't anyone tell her the best time of her life was when she was in her 30's and the kids were little, both her parents were alive, and she had perfect health?" She wonders how this new phase of her life with grown children, aging parents, and an aching body can possibly beat those younger years when EVERYONE she loves was together. And, again, she turns on the TV, she inevitably goes on social media, and SHE DOES NOT RECOGNIZE THIS WORLD she lives in. She is nostalgic about the good 'ol days. She would happily drink water from the garden hose again.

She is old enough to know there is no point in dwelling. She knows there is nothing that can be done. She has to move forward. She tries to stay busy. She reads books. She goes for long car rides in the country. She visits family and friends. She tries her best to take in all the good times because she knows they're fleeting. She cherishes time with friends and family.

She does kitchen therapy. She takes a drive out into the country and buys blackberries from the farm, the same farm she used to take her kids to. She watches the other mothers with her kids picking blackberries. She hears the little boy say, " this is the best day ever" as he eats blackberries with the juice running down his chin. She remembers when her boy was little and said the same. She wants to tell the mom to cherish those days, but she doesn't wanna be one of those people, so she says nothing. She drives home with her blackberries listening to her new audiobook. It's quiet and peaceful, but it used to be loud with both kids in the backseat. She misses the noise, but she turns up the audiobook. She's trying.

When she gets home she washes the berries and starts making the pie crust. She has plenty of berries because no little hands have been gobbling them up. She kneads the dough and rolls it out. Her hands are busy, but her heart is hurting. The house is too quiet. The house and the dog groan with age. Years ago she made the same pie and the kids were loud, the kitchen was new, the dog was playing and barking. Laughter filled the air.

She bakes the pie and starts to work on the crumble topping. Again, her hands are busy working the butter, oats, and sugar. She thinks about how there were three policemen shot for no reason in her old hometown. On their lunch break, towards the back of a dead end road, they stopped to eat their lunch and a man with an assault rifle attacked them. She worries about the state of the world. The world her aging parents have to see. The one her kids have to live in, hopefully for many years. The world she doesn't recognize. The old dog chokes in her sleep and the woman snaps out of her deep thoughts. She looks up at the kitchen ceiling and sees the water damage from the tub upstairs. The light over the kitchen island makes a loud tink sound and the light goes out. The house creaks. The house is old.

Where did all years go? It feels as if they all went by ALL OF A SUDDEN, when her youngest crossed the stage on graduation. Everything changed then. 

The woman puts the pie in the oven and she remembers her husband and youngest will be home soon. Her daughter is coming over for dinner. She is thankful for that, but one of the policemen has just died. She can enjoy a Blackberry Crumble Pie with her family tonight, but somewhere in her hometown a family cannot. It reminds her of all the suffering in the world. The women flashes to her biggest suffering of all, back when her mom was dying. She remembers when her mom whispered to her "Life is for the living, baby. Promise me you will live life to the fullest when I go." The woman remembers her promise. She pulls the most beautiful pie out of the oven and she whispers, "I'm trying my best, mom." 

The house is full of laughter and noise when the woman serves the pie. Everyone is raving about how delicious it is and how the crumble topping really makes it. Someone loves it with vanilla ice cream and someone else loves it all on its own and for a short time all is as it once was and the woman is so grateful. 

She remembers her hero, the one she called Gramps. She remembers something he used to say all the time back when she was a teenager. He'd tell her over and over "The key to life is learning how to adjust." Her teenage brain didn't understand it. She used to think it was so funny. But over the years she thinks of him often, wishing he was around to give advice, and she'd remember. She'd hear his big voice boom saying "the key to life is learning how to adjust" and she'd laugh. She was old enough to get it. She thinks of this now and she says to herself,  "I have to learn how to adjust to this new normal. It will take time, but I have to keep trying."

And she cuts herself a slice of pie.

Every summer I like to chose a cookbook or a special focus and do a summer cooking series. Some of the summer series that I've done in the past are: popsicles; ice creams; cookies; salads; and healthy recipes. One series I've always wanted to do is a series of southern summer recipes. So, this summer I chose a local cookbook from James Beard Nominee, Ouita Michel. Each week I will be cooking recipes from Ouita's Just A Few Miles South Cookbook. *THIS BLACKBERRY CRUMBLE PIE IS #9 IN THE SOUTHERN SUMMER SERIES FROM JUST A FEW MILES SOUTH.

Blackberry Crumble Pie

Adapted from Just A Few Miles South

by Ouita Michel

Makes 1 9" pie

Crust

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon iodized salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) cold butter, cut into small pieces

1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar

2-1/2 - 4 tablespoons cold whole milk

Filling

1-3/4 pounds (about 6 cups) fresh blackberries, washed and drained

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 cup cornstarch

Crumble

2/3 cup old-fashioned oats

1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

pinch iodized salt

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) frozen unsalted butter

For The Crust: Add flour and salt to a food processor and pulse several times to combine. Add butter and pulse until it is broken into very small pieces and the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add vinegar and then slowly pour in milk, pulsing until the dough comes together. Remove from the processor and knead on a floured surface several times. Pat into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before using. Roll out the pie crust, fit it into a 9" pie pan, and flute the edges. Chill until ready to fill.

For The Filling: In a large bowl, mix blackberries and lemon juice. In a small bowl, mix brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and cornstarch. Pour the sugar mixture over blackberries and mix well. Place the prepared crust on a parchment lined baking sheet. Mound the berry mixture in the crust and bake 30 minutes.

For the Crumble Topping: While the pie is baking, pulse oats in a food processor into a large crumb. Pour into a small bowl and combine with brown sugar, flour, and salt. Grate frozen butter into the oats mixture and toss together by hand. After the pie has baked 30 minutes, pull it from the oven and top evenly with the crumble. Reduce heat to 350F, return the pie to the oven, and continue baking another 30-35 minutes, checking often, until the berry filling bubbles through the topping and the crumble is crisp, golden brown, and cooked through.

Cool pie to room temperature, allowing the filling to set, before serving. Serve a slice as is, or with whipped cream and/or a scoop of vanilla ice cream. 

Southern Summer Series: Just A Few Miles South

 

 

Southern Summer Series: Just A Few Miles South #5: Buttermilk Chess Pie! {and American Pie #3}

Every summer I like to chose a cookbook or a special focus and do a summer cooking series. Some of the summer series that I've done in the past are: popsicles; ice creams; cookies; salads; and healthy recipes. One series I've always wanted to do is a series of southern summer recipes. So, this summer I chose a local cookbook from James Beard Nominee, Ouita Michel. Each week I will be cooking recipes from Ouita's Just A Few Miles South Cookbook. 

This week we have a dessert! A traditional southern pie, Buttermilk Chess Pie. Chess pie is a custard dessert pie made with eggs, sugar, butter and flour in a pastry crust. It is usually flavored with lemon juice and vanilla and is sometimes thickened with cornmeal. 

There are a few theories about how the pie got it's name. One is that it refers to a "chest" where pies were stored before refrigeration. Another theory is that it comes from a Southern accent of mishearing "just pie" or "jes' pie." There is another theory that it might be a variation of cheese pie, but there's no cheese in the recipe so I think the name takes roots in the southern accent itself.

This Buttermilk Chess Pie is not thickened with cornmeal. In fact, it has very few ingredients. Once you blind bake the pie crust things come together very quickly. A quick mix of eggs, melted butter, sugar, flour, salt, buttermilk, vanilla, lemon juice, and nutmeg and you're ready to pour it in the pie shell and bake.

 I've had versions of Chess Pie several times, but this is my first time making it. It is sweet and creamy like custard with subtle hints of vanilla and lemon. It's a subtle pie, but one that is delicious and that you can likely make with pantry ingredients. You can serve it like is, or dollop a little whipped cream on top with some berries on the side. 

Buttermilk Chess Pie

Adapted from Just A Few Miles South

by Ouita Michel

Makes 1 (9-inch) pie

1 recipe Midway Bakery All-Butter Pie Crust, blind baked*

3 large eggs

1 stick butter, melted and cooled

1-1/2 cups sugar

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg (optional)

 

Midway Bakery All-Butter Pie Crust: 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1 stick butter (cut into small pieces), 1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar, 2-1/2 to 4 tablespoons cold whole milk. Add flour and salt to a food processor and pulse several times to combine. Add butter and pulse until it is broken into very small pieces and the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add vinegar and then slowly pour in milk, pusling until the dough comes together. Remove from the processor and knead on a floured surface several times. Pat into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least 30 minutes before using. 

To blind bake a pie crust, roll out the dough, line a pie pan with it, flute the edges, and prick the bottom all over with a fork. Freeze the crust in the pan for as least 30 minutes. While the crust is freezing, preheat the oven to 375F. Remove the crust from the freezer and line it with parchment paper, allowing about 2 inches to hang over the sides to serve as handles for lifting. Make sure to fit the parchment snugly into the angle where the bottom meets the sides. Fill the pan to the top with uncooked dry beans or rice or ceramic pie weights. Bake 25 minutes. Using the parchment handles, remove the weights from the pie, reduce the temperature to 325F, and continue baking 15 minutes, until the crust has dried out and is light golden brown. Allow it to cool to room temperature before continuing with the recipe. The rice or beans can be reused as pie weights many times. 

For the Buttermilk Chess Filling: Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, beat eggs until light and fluffy. Add butter, sugar, flour, and salt. Then add buttermilk, vanilla, lemon juice, and nutmeg, if desired. Mix to combine.  Pour into the cooled pie shell. Bake 40 minutes, or until the center is firm and set when lightly touched. Cool on a wire rack before serving.   

 

 

Chef Paul Prudhomme's Fried Cajun Meat Pies {American Pies #2} Perfect For Fat Tuesday!

 

We went to New Orleans back in 2023 and it was one of our favorite vacations ever. Our hotel was in the Garden District, right next to a Brothers Food Mart. One morning while I was taking forever to get ready; my husband walked over and bought some meat pies. He brought them back to the room and we fell in love with them. After that morning, we had meat pies from the corner store every day.

When we came back home I vowed to learn how to make them. I found a recipe for Natchitoches Meat Pies where I made my own dough and filling and that recipe directed me to bake them. They were really good and we loved them, but then I bought Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen and found his recipe for Fried Cajun Meat Pies. In addition to the Cajun Meat Pies, Prudhomme has a host of other fillings, which we might explore here later all as they all sound promising.

But for now, I will bring you the most delicious recipe to come out of my kitchen in a while, Paul Prudhomme's Cajun Meat Pies. 

We're going to start this conversation off by talking about the dough. The dough felt somewhat unusual to me, but who the heck am I to question Paul Prudhomme? So, here we go: butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, cold milk and flour. Now you might be wondering why am I adding sugar and vanilla to the dough if I'm making a savory cajun meat filling. TRUST THE PROCESS! The sweetness of the dough compliments the savory filling SO WELL!

Once you get the dough prepared and it's chilling in the fridge, you need to get your Hot Cajun Meat Filling going and woo-wee....this stuff smells intoxicating and you just know it's going to be incredibly flavorful! A rich and rather unctuous combination of butter, onions, celery, ground pork, garlic, salt, cayenne, paprika, black pepper, sweet basil leaves, thyme leaves, ground beef, shredded potato, and beef stock cooked down for about 30-40 minutes to the most RIDICULOUSLY delicious smelling combination ever. It's just mouth watering. You just will not believe how flavorful and delicious it is.

If you take a look at the filling above it is swimming in buttery juices. We need to let the filling set in the fridge for awhile so the fat can combine with the filling (we don't want our meat pies to be dry). If you could make the filling the day in advance it would be even more flavorful the next day.

Then we want to get out our dough, cut it into sections, shape it into circles, fill the dough, fold it over and seal it with a fork. This is where I had a little trouble. I found that the first few pies I fried opened up and didn't seal properly with just the fork seal. So, I sealed them with a fork and then pinched the dough together, using my fingers and tried to create a bit of a lip before frying in the oil. This worked wonderfully and I would suggest the same for you!

 

In the picture below, my husband is holding a meat pie so you can see how delicious the insides look! The dough is slightly sweet and compliments the rich, savory, downright unctuous filling. The filling is PERFECTLY seasoned and every single bite is heaven. My 18 year old son was taking pies to everyone he knew and giving me hugs because he said it was one of the most delicious things I've ever made. We raved about these and will be making them when time allows as often as we can.

Cajun Meat Pies

Adapted from Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen

by Paul Prudhomme

Makes 8 pies

 

For The Dough

3 tablespoons butter, slightly softened

3 tablespoons sugar

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

5 tablespoons cold milk

About 2-1/2 to 3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour, in all

About 4 cups filling (recipe follows)

Vegetable oil, for frying

For The Hot Meat Filling

1/2 pound butter (2 sticks)

1-1/4 cups finely chopped onion

1-1/4 cups finely chopped celery

3/4 pound ground pork

1-1/4 tablespoons minced garlic

2-1/2 teaspoons salt

2-1/2 teaspoons ground red pepper (cayenne pepper)

2-1/2 teaspoons sweet paprika

2 teaspoons black pepper

2 teaspoons dried sweet basil leaves

1-1/2 teaspoons dried thyme leaves

1/4 pound ground beef

2 cups coarsely grated red potatoes

1-1/4 cups beef stock

2/3 cup water

 

To Make The Dough: Place the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer; with dough paddle, blend on high until creamy. The blend in the following just until each is incorporated into the mixture: sugar, eggs (one at a time), vanilla and milk. Add 2-1/2 cups flour and mix on low speed until the flour won't fly out of the bowl when the speed is increased, about 5 to 10 seconds; then beat on high speed just until blended, about 5 seconds. Overbeating will produce a tough dough (NOTE- if your mixer doesn't have a dough paddle, knead in the last remnants of flour by hand). The dough should readily form a ball and hardly stick to the sides of the bowl; add more flour if necessary to achieve this consistency. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to roll out (dough can keep several days). Make the filling of your choice and set aside (directions for filling below).

 

To Make The Filling:  Melt the butter in a large skillet (it may seem like a lot of butter, but just go ahead with it! Add the onions and celery. Saute over high heat until the vegetables wilt, about 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the pork, garlic and seasonings and cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the beef. Lower the heat and simmer until meat is well browned, about 8 minutes, stirring frequently and scraping pan bottom as needed. Turn heat to high and continue cooking until meat is crisp, about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Then add the potatoes and stock; reduce heat to medium-low and continue cooking for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the water and cook about 2 minutes more, stirring often and scraping pan bottom well. Cool in refrigerator at least 10 minutes before using. Makes about 5 cups or enough for 10 pies.

To Finish The Pies: Flour a cutting board with about 2 tablespoons of the remaining flour. Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces (you'll have enough scraps to make 2 more pies). Sprinkle a little flour over each piece of dough and form it into a ball. Roll out each portion with a floured rolling pin to a circle slightly larger than 7 inches in diameter, about 1/8" thick. If the dough has been refrigerated several hours, it will tend to shrink after it's rolled. If this happens, roll it out as thinly as possible and wait 1 to 2 minutes before proceeding to the next step. Place a 7" salad plate upside down on the dough and cut the dough around it. Use a long knife if needed to loosen the dough from the cutting board. Lightly rub the top of each circle with flour and fold in half. Re-flour the board and rolling pin as needed. 

If you made the filling several hours ahead of time, reheat it enough to redistribute the solidified fat. Unfold each piece of dough and put 1/2 cup of filling to one side of the dough. Spread the filling over half the dough to within 1'2 inch of the edge. Fold the circle in half over the filling; seal the edges by pressing firmly with a fork, making 1/2" decorative border. (Note: After forking the edges to seal, I liked to pinch the dough and make a lip in order to keep the dough sealed when frying). Trim the border neatly with a sharp knife to 1/4 inch.

 

In a deep pan or deep fryer, heat at least 2 inches of oil to 350F. Fry the pies until they are a rich brown color, about 1-1/2 to 2 minutes, holding them down under the surface of the oil with a fry basket or large metal spoon. Do not crowd. Drain on paper towels. Serve immediately.

Find Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen on Amazon!