Apricot Fried Pies Food

APRICOT AND PEACH FRIED PIES

Steps:

• To Make Crust: In a large bowl, mix together flour and salt. Cut in shortening until mixture is crumbly. Mix in milk and stir until dough forms a ball. Roll out dough and cut into 18 6-inch circles. Set aside.
• To Make Filling: In a large saucepan, combine apricots, peaches, and sugar. Add enough water to cover fruit. Cover pan and cook over low heat until fruit is falling apart. Remove lid and continue to cook until water is evaporated.
• Place oil or shortening in small high-sided skillet. Place over medium heat. Spoon equal amounts of filling into each pastry circle and fold in half. Seal pastry with a fork dipped in cold water.
• Fry a few pies at a time in hot oil, browning on both sides. Drain pies on paper towels.

OLD TIMEY APRICOT FRIED PIE

Steps:

• Make crust:
• Place flour, sugar, salt, vinegar, and egg yolk in the bowl of a food processor and pulse lightly 1 time. While pulsing, add butter gradually; dough should be the consistency of cornmeal. Do not over-mix or dough will become tough and hard to roll out. While pulsing, add ice water slowly until dough forms a ball (again being careful to not over-mix). Turn off processor as soon as dough forms a ball and refrigerate dough for about 30 minutes.
• Make filling:
• Combine apricots, jam, nectar, sugar, and pumpkin pie spice in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently, for 10 to 15 minutes. Add cornstarch slurry and continue simmering for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add almond and vanilla extracts. Let cool to room temperature; mixture should thicken to the consistency of a jam.
• Meanwhile, pour several inches of oil into a large, deep, heavy-bottomed pan or Dutch oven; oil should not come more than halfway up the sides of the pan. Heat oil to 360 degrees F.
• On a floured board, roll out dough to 1/8-inch or less thickness. Cut or stamp dough into 15 (6-inch) round circles, or as many that size as possible. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of filling into the center of each circle of dough and brush edges with egg wash. Fold in half and press edges together with a fork dipped in flour. Poke the top of the crust twice with fork.
• Carefully add pie pockets, in batches, to the hot oil and deep fry until golden brown, turning as needed. Remove from oil and drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and serve; be careful as filling is hot.

APRICOT FRIED PIES

Steps:

• Place apricots in a medium saucepan; add water to cover.
• Cover pan and cook over low heat 15 minutes or until tender.
• Mash appricots, and add sugar; set aside.
• Combine flour and salt; cut in shortening with pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal.
• Sprinkle cold water (1 Tablespoon at a time) evenly over surface; stir with a fork until dry ingredients are moistened.
• Shape into a ball and chill.
• Divide dough in half.
• Roll one portion to 1/8" thickness on a lightly foured surface; cut into 3 1/2-inch circles.
• Spoon aout 1 teaspoon apricot filling on half of each pastry circle, moisten edges and fry.

MAMA'S FRIED PIES

Steps:

• Cook fruit in water until tender. Drain and mix with sugar and margarine. Mash well. Refrigerate overnight if possible. Roll out homemade piecrust dough and cut into saucer-sized circles.
• Spoon fruit onto circles and fold over into crescent shapes, then close the edges completely with a fork. Fry until golden brown. Place fried pies on paper towels to absorb excess oil.
• Variations: For baked pies, place crescents on a lightly-greased baking sheet in a 400 degree oven until golden brown.
• For apple pies, use dried apples and add apple pie spice (or nutmeg and cinnamon) and vanilla to taste.
• For prune pies, use dry, pitted prunes and add vanilla to taste.
• Place the flour and a dash of salt in a mixing bowl. Add the shortening and cut it in with a pastry blender or use your hands, as I do. Add the water, a teaspoon at a time, kneading until the dough is smooth.

FRESH APRICOT PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°. In a large bowl, sprinkle apricots with lemon juice. Combine sugar, flour and nutmeg. Add to apricots, toss gently to coat., Line a 9-in. pie plate with bottom pastry; trim to 1 in. beyond edge of pie plate. Add filling. Roll out remaining pastry to make a lattice crust. Trim, seal and flute edges. Brush with milk and sprinkle with additional sugar. , Cover edges of pastry loosely with foil. Bake 45-55 minutes or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool on a wire rack.

GOLDEN APRICOT PIE

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, combine apricots and water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20-22 minutes. Remove from the heat; cool. , Place bottom pastry in a 9-in. pie plate. Drain apricots, reserving 3/4 cup liquid. Arrange apricots in pie shell. Combine the sugar, cornstarch, nutmeg and reserved apricot liquid., Pour over apricots; dot with butter. Top with a lattice crust. Bake at 400° for 50-55 minutes or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly.

JOEY GALLAGHER'S APRICOT HAND PIES

Steps:

• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. On a lightly floured surface, roll one disk of dough into a large round, about 1/8 inch thick. Using a 3-inch cookie cutter, cut out 12 rounds. Transfer rounds to prepared baking sheet; refrigerate until chilled, about 30 minutes.
• Repeat process with the remaining dough, using a 4-inch cookie cutter to make 12 more rounds; do not refrigerate. Remove chilled disks from refrigerator.
• Using paper towels, blot the poached apricots halves to eliminate excess liquid; place one in center of each chilled round. Brush cold water around edges of dough; cover each with an unchilled round. Gently press edges together to seal. Refrigerate about 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Remove tarts from refrigerator. Using a paring knife, slash the top of each tart in a crosshatch fashion. Brush with water, and generously sprinkle with sugar.
• Bake 15 minutes. Reduce oven heat to 350 degrees. Continue baking until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes more. Transfer pies to a wire rack to cool slightly before serving. Or let cool completely, and store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 4 days.

DRIED APRICOT PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C).
• Slice the dried apricots in half. Rinse them with water. Place them in a sauce pan with the water, bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes.
• Combine the cornstarch with the orange liqueur and about 1 tablespoon of the apricots' cooking liquid. Mix until smooth then stir into the cooked apricots. Add the white sugar and combine. Pour mixture into the unbaked pie shell and seal with the top crust. Brush milk over top crust for color, if desired.
• Bake at 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) for 1 hour.

FRIED FRUIT PIES

Steps:

• Mix together the flour and salt. Cut in the shortening with a pastry blender, fork, your hands, or whatever method works best for you, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
• Stir together the beaten egg with the water and sprinkle over flour mixture. Sprinkle in the vinegar, mixing lightly, until ingredients are well combined.
• Form the dough into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least one hour.
• In a nonreactive pan on very low heat, simmer the dried fruit in the water for 30 to 45 minutes, or until very tender. Add water if necessary to prevent scorching. Allow to cool; mash fruit slightly.
• Stir in the sugar and spices. This step of the preparation may be done in advance and refrigerated; however, warm up the fruit (microwave is fine) enough to take the chill off and make it workable before filling your pies.
• Remove the pastry from the refrigerator and cut it into four equal pieces. You can then cut each of the four pieces into three equal pieces, leaving you with 12 golf-ball-size dough balls.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll each ball into a 5- to 6-inch circle. Your circles don't have to be perfect, and ragged edges are okay.
• Put about 2 generous tablespoons of filling onto one side of the circle of dough. Seal the pie by wetting the inside edge of the dough with water (use your finger) and then fold over the dough, making the familiar half-moon shaped pie. Make sure the edges of the dough are even, and press and crimp to insure a good seal. You can use a fork to give you a bit of a decorative edge if you like. You can also correct the more ragged edges during this step because the dough is pliable. Just make sure the filling is sealed in and that any holes in the dough are crimped.
• Using a deep fryer set at 350, carefully lower the pies into the oil, one at a time. Cook until they turn a nice even golden brown in 3 or 4 minutes. You don't have to worry about cooking the filling -- it's already cooked. The frying process is merely cooking the dough.
• Drain on paper towels.