Pie!

 There's just no other title for this post. No further explanation needed. Get ready for some pie recipes, folks.

Five Minute Blueberry Pie

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 cup water
4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries, thawed
1 (9-inch) graham cracker crust
Whipped cream, for serving

Directions:

In a saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch. Stir in water until smooth. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir for 2 minutes. Add blueberries. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour into crust. Chill. Garnish with whipped cream, if desired.

Source: Originally found on Allrecipes.com, submitted by Milda Anderson. However, the recipe is no longer on their site. It is now on the Taste of Home website. You can find it here.

Notes: This was just so good! It is hard to serve up...and it looks more like a crumble when served, but who cares? This is fantastic.

Gabrielle's Honey Pie

Makes one 9-inch pie

Ingredients:

Crust:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for surface
1 tablespoon sugar
Coarse salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and frozen
3/4 cup cold rendered leaf lard or regular lard (5 ounces), cut into small pieces
1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water

Filling:

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons honey (preferably organic wildflower)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Coarse salt

Directions:

Make the crust:

Pulse flour, sugar, and 1 teaspoon salt in a food processor until combined. Add butter and lard, and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal with some larger pieces remaining, about 10 seconds. Drizzle 1/4 cup water evenly over mixture. Pulse until mixture just begins to come together (dough shold not be wet or sticky). If dough is too dry, add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and pulse.

Shape dough into 2 disks, and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 1 disk until firm, about 1 hour (Freeze remaining disk for another use).

Meanwhile, make the filling:

Warm honey in a saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat, and stir in butter.

Whisk together eggs, vanilla, nutmeg, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Stir into honey mixture. Refrigerate until cooled, up to 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with 1 rack in the middle position and 1 rack in the bottom third of oven. Roll out dough to a 13-inch round on a lightly floured surface. Line a 9-inch pie plate with dough. Trim overhang to 1 inch; crimp. Prick bottom all over with fork. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Line crust with parchment, and fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake, covered for 15 minutes. Uncover, and bake 10 minutes more. Remove dried beans and parchment. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

Stir filling, and pour into cooled crust. Bake on bottom rack until center is set, and crust is golden, 30 to 35 minutes.

Source: Martha Stewart Living, November 2010. You can find it here.

Bob's Pineapple Pie

Ingredients:

1/4 cup cornstarch
2 (20 ounce) cans crushed pineapple, drained with juice reserved
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 egg yolks
Pastry for a (10 inch) double crust pie

Directions:

Dissolve the cornstarch in 1/4 cup of the reserved pineapple juice. Combine the drained pineapple, sugar, salt, egg yolks, cornstarch mixture, and 1 cup of the reserved pineapple juice in a large saucepan. Cook and stir over medium heat just until the mixture has thickened slightly and turned shiny. Do not boil. Remove from heat, and cool 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Line a 10-inch pie plate with half of the pastry. Pour the cooled pineapple mixture into the crust. Top with second crust, and seal and crimp the edge. Use a fork to poke holes in the top crust in a few places.

Bake in preheated oven until the crust is golden brown, about 35 to 40 minutes. Cool before serving.

Source: Allrecipes.com, submitted by pvf. You can find it here.

Eggnog Pie

Ingredients:

2 cups eggnog
1 cup milk
1 package (4.6 ounces) cook-and-serve vanilla pudding mix
1 tablespoon rum or 1/2 teaspoon rum extract
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 pastry shell (9 inches), baked
Whipped topping and additional ground nutmeg, optional

Directions:

In a large saucepan, cook the eggnog, milk, and pudding mix over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Remove from the heat and cool slightly. Stir in rum and nutmeg. Pour pudding mixture into crust. Chill until set. Garnish with whipped topping and sprinkle with nutmeg, if desired.

Yield: 8 servings.

Nutrition information: 1 slice equals 287 calories, 13 g fat, 46 mg cholesterol, 274 mg sodium, 38 mg carbohydrate, trace fiber, 4 g protein.

Source: Taste of Home recipe. You can find it here.

Notes: This was a new recipe for eggnog pie that we tried (different than the one we posted a few years ago). Holy cow, this is so good. It is so creamy...wonderful texture, so delicious. Yum. I could go for a piece right now! Too bad eggnog won't be for sale for another four months!

Milk Pie aka Galatoboureko

Ingredients:

4 cups whole milk
1/2 cup fine semolina
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup unsalted butter
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (16 ounce) package phyllo dough, thawed
2/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
3 cups water
2 cups sugar
1/2 large lemon

Directions:

In a 4 to 6 quart heavy pot, bring the milk to a boil, and reduce heat to low. Sprinkle in the semolina, whisking constantly. Add the sugar, and simmer for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat, whisk in 2/3 cup of the butter, and add eggs, one at a time, stirring well after each addition. Blend in the vanilla. The mixture will be thick, but pourable, like a soft polenta.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Line bottom with 8 sheets of phyllo, layering them one at a time, and brushing each sheet with butter. The sheets will be larger than the baking pan. Be certain that the bottom is covered by pressing the dough into the corners, and allow the excess to run up the sides of the pan. Phyllo sheets not in use should always be covered with a damp towl.

Pour the milk filling over the sheets. Cover with remaining 12 sheets of phyllo, repeating the layering process, and brushing each sheet with butter.

With a very sharp knife, trim the dough around the edges of the pan, and score the top diagonally in two directions to make diamond-shaped slits on the surface. Sprinkle the top with a little water, and bake 45 minutes to 1 hour. Check after 45 minutes. Pie is done when top is light brown and the filling is set.

As soon as the pie is in the ove, begin to make the syrup. Combine water and sugar in a 4 quart saucepan. Squeeze the halved lemon in the sugared water, and drop the juiced half in the liquid. Simmer on low heat for about 45 minutes. Discard the lemon. Very carefully, because syrup can boile vigorously, pour the hot syrup over the pie as soon as it is removed from the oven.

Let the pie cool completely, and then serve by cutting along the diagonal scores made prior to baking.

Source: Allrecipes.com, submitted by Kenmore featured chef, Cat Cora. You can find it here.

Notes: This is one of my favorite Greek desserts. At the Greek Festival held in Salt Lake City, Utah, they add almond flavoring to their galatoboureko (also spelled galaktoboureko). It is soooo good!

Warm Apple-Buttermilk Custard Pie

Ingredients:

Crust:

1/2 (15 ounce) package refrigerated pie dough (such as Pillsbury)
Cooking spray

Streusel:

1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 1/2 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces

Filling:

5 cups sliced peeled Granny Smith apple (about 2 pounds)
1 cup granulated sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoons salt
3 large eggs
1 3/4 cups fat-free buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

To prepare crust, roll dough into a 14-inch circle; fit into a 9-inch deepdish pie plate coated with cooking spray. Fold edges under; flute. Place pie plate in refrigerator until ready to use.

To prepare streusel, lightly spoon 1/3 cup flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine 1/3 cup flour, brown sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon in a medium bowl; cut in butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Place stresuel in refrigerator.

To prepare the filling, heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium heat. Add sliced apple, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon; cook 10 minutes or until the apple is tender, stirring mixture occasionally. Spoon the mixture into prepared crust.

Combine remaining 3/4 cup granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, salt, and eggs, stirring with a whisk. Stir in buttermilk and vanilla. Pour over apple mixture. Bake at 325 degrees F. for 30 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees F (do not remove pie from oven); sprinkle streusel over pie. Bake at 300 degrees F for 40 minutes or until set. Let stand 1 hour before serving.

Yield 10 servings.

Nutrition information: 317 calories, 10.1 g fat, 5 g protein, 52.6 g carbohydrate, 1.3 g fiber, 76 mg cholesterol, 0.8 mg iron, 230 mg sodium, 73 mg calcium.

Source: Cooking Light, March 2003. You can find it here.