A Strawberry Pie

Strawberries are coming out the wazoo in Louisiana. This pie is a delightful way to enjoy them.

Part 1: Crust

I followed Martha Stewart's Press-In Shortbread Pie Crust recipe to a T. This is super easy. If you are intimidated by the idea of making a traditional roll out pie crust you can do this! No rolling or measuring of thickness is involved. Martha wouldn't lead you astray.

Once baked allow the crust to cool and moved on to the filling.

Wash and trim about 2 pints of strawberries and dice them up.

In a large bowl combine 10 oz softened cream cheese, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp vanilla, a dash of nutmeg and half of your strawberries.

Time to make whipped cream. I do this in my magic bullet. 1 cup heavy whipping cream plus 1/4 cup powdered sugar. Whirl it around for 30 seconds and like magic whipped cream pops out.

Fold the whipped cream into your cream mixture along with the rest of the berries. Pink worm, pink ice cream. This must be a silly dream.

Pour your mixture into your cooled pie shell and beautify. A little garnish really AMPLIFIES the class.

Chill a few hours or overnight before cutting in.

Food Related Randomness

Hello chard fans!
Three slices of food related news today. First, the most exciting: Magnum bars have officially landed in the United States! For those of you who have not experienced these AMAZING treats, previously they were only sold in Europe and Mexico (I think I ate them at least everyday I was traveling in those locations) and they are to die for. Recently, I was tipped off by Lord of the Chard's fellow contributor, Leanne, that Magnum bars had surfaced at a store in CA. That was all the info I needed to start my search. Excitingly, I spotted them at my favorite Safeway. Four different flavors, and believe me, the Longoria house will be trying them all.



Secondly, spring has finally sprung here. Yesterday the clouds parted and it was sunny all day. Daniel and I worked on readying the raised garden beds for planting season. I found out that I can plant peas now, so I purchased seeds yesterday. I will need to wait till the beginning of May to plant most everything else. Anyone have suggestions of something weird or interesting I should plant?

Lastly, I have a confession. I love reading old weird cookbooks. From 1970's meat and jello salads to Amish barn raising recipes, I love them all. My mom found a cookbook in an antique store titled An Encyclopedia of Country Living: Old Fashioned Recipe Book. Published in 1981, this book helps the "city" dweller transform and simplify their lives. Topics include: drying and smoking meats, soap making, tanning leather, making your own cosmetics and the frequency of bathing in the winter (once a week). It is hilarious, but also has some wonderful recipes and gardening tips. Plus, as Elle and I grew up enjoying homemade yogurt and eating canned everything, I love a good "back to basic" recipe. So I thought that I would share a recipe that everyone could adapt for their particular city, when you live off the land, you eat what you hunt:
Mouse Pie
1 c. macaroni
1 medium can of tomatoes
1 onion, chopped
5 fat field mice (E-you could use fat city rats)
Salt and Pepper
1 c. cracker crumbs
I will skip the instructions but basically you toss the mice in with the macaroni and bake until the mice are "well-done". The funniest part: the recipe was contributed from a Yakima farmer. I think that I might avoid this one.

Chocolate Cream Pie

Fair warning: this is not a healthy-fied recipe.
I let Daniel pick out what dessert he wanted this year. He said he wanted a chocolate pie. I searched through my "fancy" cookbook section and found this recipe in The Gourmet Cookbook by Williams and Sonoma. It is described as a "adult and utterly pleasing" chocolate pie.

Chocolate Cream Pie
For Crust:
1 1/3 C. chocolate wafer crumbs
5 T. unsalted butter
1/4 C. sugar
Filling:
2/3 C. sugar
1/4 C. cornstarch
1/2 t. salt
4 large egg yolks
3 C. whole milk
5 oz. quality bittersweet chocolate
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate
2 T. unsalted butter, softened
1 t. vanilla extract

Make the crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch pie plate. Stir together crumbs, butter and sugar in a bowl with a fork until well combined. Press mixture evenly onto bottom and up sides of the pie plate. Bake crust until crisp, about 15 minutes. Cool completely on a rack.
Make the filling: Whisk together sugar, cornstarch, salt, and yolks in a heavy sauce pan until well combined.
Add milk in a slow stream, whisking constantly. Bring to boil over moderate heat, whisking, then reduce heat and simmer, whisking, for 1 minute (filling will turn very thick fast).
Melt chocolates in a small bowl, and stir until smooth. Whisk chocolate, butter and vanilla into filling. Cover surface of filling with a piece of buttered wax paper and cool completely, about 2 hours. Spoon filling into crust and smooth top. Refrigerate, covered, for at least 6 hours.

Some comments about making this:
It took a veerrryyyy long time. I do not have enough patience to whisk for 20 minutes straight.
I realized that I am not very good a separating eggs. I am going to make scrambled egg whites (with the addition of a broken yolk) tomorrow morning with the leftovers.
I am excited about trying it, for all the work, it better be yummy!