Blackbird Pie Food

BLACKBIRD PIE......OR CHICKEN, LEEK AND POTATO PIE!

Steps:

• Pre-heat oven to 200C/400°F.
• Grease and line a pie dish with baking paper.
• Mix together your mashed potato, leeks, chicken, ham, crème fraiche & seasonings to taste. Set to one side.
• Roll out your pastry and line the base of the pie dish - allow the edges to extend over the edge of the pie dish.
• Put you filling into the pastry pie case - and sit your blackbird or pie funnel in the middle, pushing it down slightly so it is not too high.
• Turn back the pastry edges and make a raised crust all the way around. Dampen the piecrust with some of the beaten egg & milk mixture.
• Roll out your pastry for the lid - ease it over the top gently breaking OR cutting a hole for the blackbird to poke through!
• Turn back the edges of the pastry lid and neatly crimp the top together with the bottom - using a fork to help you if necessary.
• Brush the beaten egg and milk glaze over the top and bake in the pre-heated oven for about 45 minutes.
• Take out and allow to cool very slightly before serving with fresh vegetables & gravy. This is also wonderful cold as picnic food.

SWEET CHERRY STREUSEL PIE

Steps:

• Use a bench scraper to cut butter into ½-inch cubes. (If butter begins to "sweat," dust with flour.) In a large, flat-bottomed bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt. Add the butter cubes and toss to coat with the flour mixture. Use a pastry blender to cut the butter into the flour; do not smash or smear the butter. Scrape butter off the pastry blender during the mixing process and continue mixing. (If butter is softening too fast, put the bowl in the refrigerator until butter firms up, 2-5 minutes.) Continue cutting, working quickly, until butter is broken down and looks like a coarse crumble with only a few larger pieces.
• Combine vinegar with water and ice; you'll use 10-12 tablespoons of this liquid in the pie dough. Begin by sprinkling 4 tablespoons of liquid over the flour mixture; use a bench scraper or your hands to incorporate until the mixture begins to come together. Sprinkle in 4 more tablespoons of liquid and continue the mixing process. Squeeze a fistful of dough: if it holds, like wet sand, it's ready. If it falls apart, add 1-2 more tablespoons of liquid at a time, squeezing the dough to check if it holds. Bring all the dough together, sprinkling dry bits with more small drops of liquid as necessary; dough will look shaggy. Knead in the bowl just until incorporated.
• Turn dough onto a work surface and use a bench scraper to divide dough into two equal pieces. Shape into flat disks and wrap in plastic; refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, preferably overnight. Dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days and frozen up to 1 month, tightly wrapped.
• Generously grease pie dish with softened butter. Dust a work surface and a rolling pin with flour. Place one chilled pie disk on the work surface and lightly dust it with flour. (Reserve the other disk for another use.) Roll dough by starting at the center and lightly pressing down with the rolling pin to flatten slightly. Rotate the dough and repeat, pressing down so it's evenly flattened all around, about ⅛-inch thick. Then roll outward to make a circle, rotating the dough a quarter-turn at a time to keep it even. (If dough is softening too fast, chill in the refrigerator until firm, 2-5 minutes.) Roll the dough until it's about 2-3 inches larger than the pie dish, all the way around. Use a pizza wheel to trim away the rough edges. (Save the scraps to make crust cookies!)
• Overturn pie dish onto the center of the dough circle, then remove and place it right side up on your work surface. Use the light indentation created by the rim as a guide for gently positioning dough into the center of the dish. (If dough is softening too fast, put it back into the refrigerator until it firms up, 2-5 minutes.) Fit crust gently into dish, being careful not to stretch the dough. Begin crimping the edge by using your fingers to roll the dough firmly so it rests on top of the rim. Crimp by using your index finger and thumb on one hand to squeeze a letter "C" into the dough rim. (Lightly flour your fingers if the dough is sticking.) Repeat, crimping the entire pie and making sure the final fluted crust sits directly on top of the pan's rim. Pie is ready to be filled and baked.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Wearing gloves, use a cherry pitter to pit the cherries, with a large bowl to catch the pits. Set cherries aside.
• Streusel: In a mixing bowl, add flour, sugar, and salt. Combine using a pastry blender. Then cut in butter until the cubes are smashed and coated with dry ingredients. Wipe butter off of pastry blender and continue mixing with your fingers, rubbing the butter into the dry ingredients until texture is similar to wet sand. Refrigerate for 20 minutes. (You can store streusel in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to one month.)
• Filling: Peel the apple, then shred on the large holes of a box grater. Discard the peel and core. In a large mixing bowl, combine potato starch, brown sugar, cinnamon, cardamom, salt, and bitters. Squeeze lemon juice into the cherries, then add to sugar-spice mixture along with the shredded apple. Toss until well mixed, crushing some of the cherries with your hands.
• Assembly: Pour filling into the refrigerated pie shell, packing down the cherries and adding all the remaining juices. Evenly distribute the streusel on top.
• Pie will bake for a total of 1 hour. Place the pie on a rimmed baking sheet on the lowest rack of the oven. Bake until crust is set and beginning to brown, 20-25 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 375 degrees F, move the pie to the center oven rack, and continue to bake until the pastry is a deep golden brown and the juices are bubbling, 30-35 minutes longer. (If crust is browning but the filling isn't bubbling, cover with aluminum foil and bake until the filling bubbles.) Allow pie to cool completely on a wire rack before cutting into it, 2-3 hours. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

BLACKBIRD PIE

Steps:

• Use the pre-made pie crust to line a 9-in pie pan.
• Place blueberries and peaches in a bowl and toss with lemon juice. Add sugar, tapioca and the 1/2 tsp cinnamon and mix lightly.
• Place above mixture into pie crust and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar as desired.
• Bake 35-40 minutes in a 425° oven.

BRIGID'S BLACKBERRY PIE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Line a 9 inch deep dish pie pan with one of the crusts.
• Place the blackberries in a large bowl. Stir together the sugar, flour, and salt. Sprinkle over the berries, and toss to coat. Pour into the pie crust. Dot with butter. Place the other pie crust over the top, and secure to the bottom crust by pressing with a fork, or fluting with your fingers. Cut a design in the top crust with a sharp knife to vent steam.
• Bake for 1 hour in the preheated oven, or until the top crust is browned. Let cool to almost room temperature before serving to allow the filling to set.