Thanksgiving : Back to Cobbler

Though Thanksgiving and pies are more or less synonymous, I think most of us wind up in a “pie rut” after a few years of preparing the holiday meal. To keep things simple, we prepare the same pies over and over, with no thought to varying the menu.

This year I’m making cobblers--a type of deep-dish pie baked in a shallow dish with only a top crust--as well as a few pies, among them a walnut (instead of pecan) pie and a meatless mince pie.

Mincemeat, a remnant of the medieval custom of cooking meat with fruits and spices, is one of our major imports from British baking. I always have been repelled by American and British recipes that suggest using chopped boiled tongue, beef brisket or venison, excellent foods in their own right, but not as ingredients in a dessert pie.

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It was not until I checked recipes for mincemeat in Isabella Beeton’s “Book of Household Management,” the bible of British cooking, that I found that meatless versions were common as early as 1861, the year in which Beeton’s cookbook was first published.

Her first of two recipes for mincemeat includes beef and suet (beef fat) among the typical ingredients of apples, raisins, spices and brandy, but strangely gives no instructions for cooking either the meat or the whole mixture.

The next recipe, “excellent mincemeat,” lists suet only, but calls for cooking the fruit separately and combining all the ingredients together before aging the mixture for several weeks, as in the version with meat.

The filling in the recipe below substitutes a small amount of butter for suet (Beeton used one pound of beef fat in a seven-pound batch) and has as robust a flavor or texture as any version that contains meat. The dough for both pies and the cobbler is a classic flaky pie dough, easily made in the food processor. It’s simple to create and always turns out flaky and delicate.

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Try either pie or the cobbler for your celebration this year for a change of pace.

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This is the best and easiest pie dough I have ever worked with. It is easy to prepare and to roll out. Though it is not much effort to mix by hand, I find that using a food processor to prepare the dough makes it almost an instant process.

The baking powder encourages the dough to puff slightly while baking so that it presses into a hot pan bottom and bakes through evenly, preventing an underdone bottom crust.

The amount of water added to the dough is always variable. When the flour and butter mixture is very finely rubbed together and a little warm, it will absorb less water; when it is dry and cool and a little under-mixed, it will absorb more. Too little water makes a flaky crust that will crack during rolling; too much water makes an elastic, bread-like crust that lacks flakiness.

FLAKY PIE DOUGH

1 1/4 cups bleached all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces

2 to 3 tablespoons cold water

To mix dough by hand, combine flour, salt and baking powder in medium mixing bowl. Stir well to mix. Add butter pieces and toss once or twice to coat.

Use hands or pastry blender to cut butter into dry ingredients in tiny pieces, continuously pinching and squeezing butter into dry ingredients. Be careful to keep mixture uniform by occasionally reaching down to bottom of bowl and mixing all ingredients evenly together.

Continue process until mixture resembles coarse-ground cornmeal and no large pieces of butter remain visible. Scatter 2 tablespoons water on mixture and stir gently with fork. Dough should begin holding together. If mixture still appears dry and crumbly, add remaining water, 1 teaspoon at time, until dough holds together easily.

To mix dough in food processor, combine flour, salt and baking powder in processor work bowl fitted with metal blade. Pulse 3 times at 1 second intervals to mix. Add butter to work bowl. Process, pulsing at 1 second intervals, until mixture is fine and powdery, resembles coarse-ground cornmeal and no large pieces of butter remain visible, about 15 pulses in all.

Scatter 2 tablespoons water on mixture and pulse 5 or 6 times. Dough should begin holding together. If mixture still appears dry and crumbly, add remaining water, 1 teaspoon at time, until dough holds together easily.

Scrape dough onto lightly floured surface and form into disk. If doubling recipe, form into 2 equal disks. Place dough between 2 pieces of plastic wrap and press into 6-inch disk. Refrigerate dough until firm, or until ready to use, at least 1 hour. Makes about 10 ounces of dough, enough for 1 cobbler or (1-crust) pie.

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This cobbler may be varied with other fruit in season. Try a combination of pears and apples for a change.

APPLE AND CRANBERRY COBBLER

Flaky Pie Dough

3 pounds tart apples, peeled, cored and cut into wedges, such as Granny Smith

1 (12-ounce) bag fresh cranberries, rinsed, drained and picked over

1 cup light brown sugar, packed

2 tablespoons flour

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Milk

Granulated sugar

Prepare and chill Flaky Pie Dough.

Meanwhile prepare filling by combining apple wedges and cranberries in large mixing bowl. Mix brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Toss with fruit in bowl. Spoon filling into 2- to 2 1/2-quart baking dish or gratin dish. Dot top of filling with butter.

For top crust roll dough on floured surface to approximate size of baking dish and place on filling, making sure dough touches sides of dish all around. Brush top with little milk and sprinkle with granulated sugar to taste. Cut several vent holes in crust.

Bake at 375 degrees until crust is well colored and filling is gently bubbling, about 40 minutes. Cool slightly. Serve warm or at room temperature. Makes 8 to 10 servings.

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You may prepare the mincemeat several weeks in advance and store tightly covered in the refrigerator--it will have a better flavor after aging. Two types of apples, Granny Smith for texture and McIntosh for flavor, make for a more interesting mincemeat.

MINCE PIE

Double Flaky Pie Dough

1 pound Granny Smith or other tart, firm apples, peeled, halved and cored

1 pound McIntosh apples, peeled, halved and cored

1 medium lemon

1 medium orange

1 1/4 cups golden raisins

1 cup currants or dark raisins

1/2 cup diced candied orange peel

3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

1/3 cup dark rum or brandy

2 tablespoons white vinegar

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1 egg, well beaten with dash salt for egg wash

2 teaspoons granulated sugar

Prepare and chill Flaky Pie Dough in 2 equal portions.

Meanwhile prepare filling by grating apples coarsely by hand or in food processor. Place grated apples in large non-reactive saucepan. Grate zest from lemon and orange. Then squeeze and strain juice and add to pan. Add raisins, candied orange peel, brown sugar, rum, vinegar, butter, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and ginger. Stir well to mix. Bring mixture to simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, and cook, stirring often, until mixture is reduced to thick, jam-like consistency, about 45 minutes. Cool mincemeat.

For bottom crust, lightly flour work surface and dough and roll 1 portion of dough to 12-inch disk. Fold in half and ease dough into 9-inch glass pie pan. Unfold dough and press firmly into pan. Trim away excess dough at edge of pan. Spread mincemeat evenly in crust.

For lattice top, lightly flour work surface and dough and roll second portion of dough to 9x12-inch rectangle. Cut into 12 (9x1-inch) strips. Brush strips with egg wash. Arrange 5 strips, equidistant from each other, on top of pie, allowing excess dough to hang over edge of pie. Place 5 more strips perpendicular to first strips. Trim away excess dough at edge and flute edge of pie. Brush with egg wash. Sprinkle with granulated sugar.

Bake pie at 400 degrees on bottom oven rack 15 minutes. Lower temperature to 350 degrees. Move pie to middle rack and bake pie until crust is deep golden and juices are just beginning to bubble up, 20 to 30 minutes longer. Cool pie on rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. Makes 8 servings.

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This variation on the classic pecan pie is a little less sweet than the original version.

WALNUT-RUM PIE

Flaky Pie Dough

1 cup light corn syrup

3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 large eggs

Dash salt

3 tablespoons dark rum

2 cups walnut pieces

Lightly flour work surface and dough and roll dough to 12-inch disk. Fold in half and ease dough into 9-inch glass pie pan. Unfold dough and press firmly into pan. Fold excess dough under at edge of pan and flute edges of pie crust.

Combine corn syrup and dark brown sugar in saucepan. Stir well to mix. Bring to boil over low heat. Remove from heat. Add butter and allow to melt.

Whisk eggs, salt and rum in large mixing bowl. Pour in hot syrup-butter mixture in steady stream, whisking constantly. Stir in walnuts. Pour mixture into pie shell.

Bake at 350 degrees on lowest oven rack until crust is well colored and filling is set, about 45 minutes. Cool on rack. Refrigerate leftovers. Makes 8 servings.

Note : For chocolate variation, add 4 ounces coarsely chopped semisweet chocolate along with butter and whisk smooth until melted before continuing.