Violet Dowdas Green Grape Pie From Nannys Food

GRAPE & APPLE PIE

Steps:

• For crust:
• Pulse flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor. Add butter and shortening; pulse just until coarse meal forms. Add 1/3 cup ice water; pulse until dough forms clumps, adding more ice water by teaspoonfuls if dry. Gather dough into a ball; divide in half. Flatten into disks, wrap in plastic, and chill for at least 1 hour and up to 2 days.
• Roll out 1 dough disk on a lightly floured surface into an 11" round. Transfer to pie dish; press gently onto bottom and up sides of dish. Trim dough flush with edge of dish, leaving no overhang. Freeze until firm, about 10 minutes. Add scraps to remaining dough disk; roll out on parchment paper to a 12" round. Slide paper with dough onto a rimless baking sheet and chill in refrigerator.
• Preheat oven to 375°F. Line dough in pie dish with foil or parchment paper. Fill foil with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until edges are just beginning to turn golden, 25-30 minutes. Remove foil and pie weights. Return dish to oven; continue baking until crust is dark golden all over, about 20 minutes longer. Transfer pan to a wire rack; let crust cool completely.
• For filling:
• Mix apples, grapes, sugar, and flour in a large saucepan; stir to coat. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring often, until fruit is translucent and juices are thickened, 30-40 minutes. Let mixture cool to room temperature.
• Preheat oven to 375°F. Transfer fruit to crust. Remove remaining dough from refrigerator. Using a decorative cutter, make a pattern in center of dough, leaving a 2" plain border; reserve cutouts. Invert dough over fruit in crust; peel off parchment paper. Trim dough along edge of crust, leaving no overhang. Arrange reserved dough cutouts decoratively over top crust, pressing lightly to adhere. Place pie on a baking sheet.
• Bake pie until crust is golden brown and juices bubble, 50 minutes-1 hour. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. DO AHEAD: Can be made 8 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature. Serve with ice cream, if desired.

CONCORD GRAPE AND PEAR PIE

Steps:

• Make the pie dough:
• In the bowl of a food processor, pulse 2 1/2 cups flour, salt, and sugar. Add butter and shortening and pulse until coarse, pea-sized crumbs form, about 10 seconds. With the machine running, add 5 tablespoons ice water and process until the dough just holds together, about 30 seconds. Squeeze a small amount of dough between your fingers: If it is very crumbly, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time (2 tablespoons maximum). Do not over process.
• Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and push together into a rough ball. Knead a few times to combine. Divide the dough into two equally sized balls. Flatten dough balls into discs with smooth edges (no cracks), cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight.
• Make the filling:
• Meanwhile, stir together grapes and sugar in a large pot. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture comes to a boil. Continue to cook until grapes are broken down and juice has thickened, about 20 minutes more.
• Place a fine-mesh sieve over a large bowl and strain grape mixture into the bowl, pressing on the solids to release all the liquid. Discard solids in strainer. Return strained grape mixture to pot and add pears (reserve bowl). Cook until liquid releases and thickens but pears still retain their shape, 15 to 20 minutes more, depending on ripeness of pears. Gently stir in the cornstarch, lemon juice, and salt and pour grape-pear filling into the bowl and let cool while you roll out the dough.
• Roll out the dough:
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out one disc of dough into a 13-inch round. Roll the dough loosely around the rolling pin, and then unfurl it into the 9-inch pie pan. Gently lift and settle the dough into the pan. Trim the excess dough using scissors, leaving a 1-inch overhang. Tuck the edge of the dough under itself, and then crimp as desired. Chill at least 30 minutes.
• Roll out the other disc of dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/4-inch thickness. Use the cookie cutter to cut as many shapes as possible from the rolled-out dough as possible (re-rolling scraps if desired). Transfer shapes to a baking sheet and chill at least 30 minutes.
• Assemble pie:
• Preheat the oven to 375°F with one rack on the bottom rung and one rack in the center of oven. Place a rimmed baking sheet on the bottom rack to preheat.
• Pour filling into chilled pie shell (do not overfill). Brush the edge of the pie and the cut shapes on the baking sheet with the beaten egg and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Arrange the cut shapes on top of the filling, working in a spiral fashion and overlapping slightly, allowing some of the filling to peek through. Chill pie for 30 minutes.
• Bake pie on preheated rimmed baking sheet on bottom rack of oven. After 30 minutes, rotate baking sheet and move it to the center rack of oven. Bake until crust is golden brown and juices are bubbling, 25 to 35 minutes more (cover the crust edge with foil or a pie shield if it starts to brown too much). Transfer pie to a wire rack and cool completely before slicing, about 3 hours. Pie will keep up to 2 days, loosely covered with foil, at room temperature.

CONCORD GRAPE PIE

Steps:

• On a lightly floured work surface, roll 1 piece of pate brisee into a 15-inch round. With a dry pastry brush, sweep off the excess flour; fit dough into a 9-inch pie plate, pressing it into the edges. Trim to a 1-inch overhang all around. Crimp edge as desired. Cover with plastic wrap; chill pie shell until firm, about 30 minutes. Repeat process for rolling out dough. Using a 4-inch grape leaf cookie cutter, cut out 4 leaves from dough. Transfer to a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.
• Remove skins from grapes by pinching the ends of each grape, reserving both the pulp and skins separately, discarding any accumulated liquid.
• Place pulp in a saucepan; bring to a boil. Cook until the seeds separate from the pulp and the pulp breaks down, about 6 minutes. Strain mixture through a sieve into the bowl with the reserved skins; discard solids. Let cool to room temperature before placing in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Remove grape mixture from refrigerator. Stir in sugar and cornstarch. Pour into prepared pie shell. Beat egg with 1 tablespoon water. Brush edge of pie shell with egg mixture, reserving any remaining mixture. Transfer pie to oven; bake 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees, and continue baking until filling jiggles when shaken, about 30 minutes. Transfer pie to a wire cooling rack; let cool overnight.
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Remove reserved grape leaves from refrigerator and brush with remaining egg and water mixture. Bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire cooling rack; let cool.
• Before serving, place grape leaves on top of filling.

VIOLET DOWDA'S GREEN GRAPE PIE FROM NANNY'S RECIPES

Steps:

• To cook grapes: Gather before seeds harden and grapes are developed. A little larger size than gooseberries. Wash and pull off stems and measure. Use 2 cups of grapes, 1/4 cups water and 1 tsp baking soda. Boil, stir and mash as they cook. (In Texas we have the wild grapes-I have not tried this yet- I am going to try it w/store bought green grapes.).
• Combine the cooked grapes with all other ingredients, pour into a pie crust and top with remaining crust sealing edges. Make slits in the top crust for vents. Sprinkle w/a wee bit of cinnamon and sugar.
• You may have to use a crust guard or foil over the edges of the pie the first half of baking to prevent browning to fast.
• Mrs. Dowda notes that this is a fast seller at the church bazaars.
• Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes then reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake 25 min more or until browned.

NAPLES GRAPE PIE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
• For the crust: In large mixing bowl, mix the flour, salt, sugar, shortening, and butter. Sprinkle with the cold water. Form the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Cut the dough ball in half and roll out each half with a rolling pin to desired thinness. Cut 1 of the rolled out pieces into strips to use for the top layer. Reserve.
• For the filling: Pinch the grapes at the end opposite the stem to pop out the pulp. Reserve the skins. Place the pulp in a medium-sized saucepan and bring to a rolling boil. Remove from the heat and, while still hot, rub the pulp through a strainer to remove the seeds. Mix the strained pulp with the reserved skins in a larger mixing bowl. Add the sugar, flour, salt, lemon juice, butter, brown sugar, honey, and vanilla and mix well.
• For the topping: In a large mixing bowl, mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl until it forms a crumbly mixture.
• To assemble: Place the rolled dough into a pie plate so dough covers the edge of the plate. Sprinkle 1/3 of the topping over the bottom of the crust, add the filling, and cover another 1/3 of the topping. Crisscross the dough strips over the filling and brush with the beaten egg. Lastly sprinkle the remaining 1/3 of the topping over the top. Transfer to the oven and bake for about 40 minutes.

NANNY'S GRAPE SALAD

Steps:

• Place pecans in a skillet over medium-low heat; cook and stir until pecans are toasted and fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and pour into a heatproof bowl; stir to prevent nuts from overcooking.
• Beat sugar, cream cheese, and vanilla extract together with an electric mixer in a bowl until smooth. Fold in pecans and grapes. Stir gently until grapes are coated.

GRAPE PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• For filling, stir together grapes, brown sugar, flour, and grape juice; set aside.
• Line 9-inch pie plate with crust and crimp edges.
• Transfer filling into unbaked crust.
• Cover edge with foil; bake 25 minutes.
• Remove foil; bake 25-30 minutes more, or until filling is bubbly.
• Meanwhile, use a leaf cookie cutter to cut four leaves from the remaining pastry.
• Combine egg white and water.
• Brush leaf cut-outs with egg white mixture.
• Sprinkle with coarse sugar.
• Place cut-out on a cookie sheet and bake 7-8 minutes or until golden brown.
• Arrange leaf cut-outs on pie.

GREEN GRAPE PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C.) In a medium bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs, 1/4 cup sugar and melted butter until well blended. Reserve 1/4 cup of crumb mixture and set aside. Press remaining mixture into a 9 inch deep dish pie pan. Bake in preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. Allow to cool.
• In a saucepan, dissolve cornstarch and 2/3 cup sugar in 1/4 cup cold water. Stir in grapes and bring to boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice. Allow to cool. Spoon filling into the baked and cooled crust.
• In a small bowl, combine sour cream, 4 teaspoons sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Mix well and spread over pie. Sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture.