Once you have the cherries in your hot little hands, this recipe is easy as…well, you know.

Sour Cherry Pie

Crust:

2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup shortening
5-6 tablespoons ice cold water

Throw the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Toss in the shortening too and then mash it up with a fork until it’s in little pieces. Don’t mix it TOO well, since the little pieces of shortening in the crust is what makes it flaky. Add cold water about a tablespoon at a time until the dough is sticky enough to hold together. Do most of your mixing with the fork but make sure you test it by squishing it together with your hands or you’ll end up adding too much water. Separate the dough into to balls. Roll it out one ball, press into a 9 inch pie plate and crimp the edges. Roll out the second ball and cut into 8-10 1/4 inch wide strips.

Filling

3 1/2 – 4 cups canned tart cherries (approx. 1 quart)
1 cup sugar
1 tsp almond extract
1 tablespoon corn starch

Drain the cherries but save 1 cup of the juice. Combine juice, sugar, extract and corn starch in a small sauce pan and heat until sugar is dissolved and mixture thickens. Pour cherries into the prepared crust and then pour the juice mixture over it. Use the strips of crust to make a lattice top, weaving them over and under. Pinch the edges together all the way around.

Bake at 400 degrees for 50 minutes or until filling it bubbly and the crust is lightly browned.

I SUPPOSE you could also use store bought crust to make this even easier, if you hated deliciousness. And America.

Eat and enjoy!

Galette: n, a general term used in the French cuisine to designate various types of flat, round or free form crusty cakes. But it’s not really a cake. It’s like an unemployed pie that’s stopped brushing its hair in the morning. A tart that’s had four tequila shots and is getting sloppy. A pastry getting a liberal arts degree in underwater basket-weaving and whose mother keeps asking what it really wants to DO with its life.

It’s easy-going, is what I’m saying. And easy to make – no lattice tops or fancy crimped edges here.

Up until about a month ago I had no idea what a galette even was. And then damn Martha Stewart went and mentioned them on TV and ever since I’ve been stalking recipes like it was my job. But it’s been a zillion plus degrees and baking is hard with two babies trying to crawl into the oven so this weekend was my first chance to attempt one.

But because I’m an overachiever, we had a galettefest on Sunday and I made (and invented recipes for!) both a savory galette and a sweet galette. One from scratch, one the easy way. One was husband approved (I’ll let you guess which one) but both were delicious.

Farmer’s Market Galette

Ingredients:

1 ready-made pizza crust
2 ½ cups ricotta
1 medium squash
1 small eggplant
½ onion (red or white)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tablespoon tarragon, chopped
2 Tablespoon dill, chopped
2 Tablespoon parsley, chopped
3 Tablespoon milk
1 egg
1/2 cup Parmesan or Romano cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet or pizza stone with cooking spray & roll out pizza crust. Spread 2 cups of the ricotta over the crust (like pizza sauce) leaving about 2 inches around all the edges. Thinly slice the squash, eggplant and onion (a mandolin makes this extra easy, but a knife works too) and put it in a medium sized bowl. Toss in the garlic and herbs and stir to combine.

Spread the veggie mixture out evenly over the ricotta and fold the 2 inch edge up over the filling. Beat the milk, egg and last 1/2 cup of ricotta in a small bowl and drizzle it over the veggies, starting near the edge (too much liquid in the middle will make your crust soggy)(trust me on this). Top the galette with the Parmesan and pop it in the oven for 25-35 minutes until the crust is browned and the middle is firm. Let it cool a little before shoving it into your face parts.

(Notes: This would be even MORE DELICIOUS with goat cheese, but E is anti-goat cheese so I made it with ricotta. He still didn’t eat it, so next time it’s goat cheese all the way. If you’ve never had fresh tarragon before, smell it/taste it before tossing it into your galette. I love it but it’s got a very distinctive flavor. Feel free to use whatever herbs you have sitting around. Same with the veggies: anything you love and can slice would be great.)

 Berry Almond Galette

Crust

3 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 cup butter
1 tsp almond extract
1/2 cup water

Filling

1 pint blueberries
1 cup raspberries
1 cup blackberries
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
½ cup sugar
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp almond extract

Topping

½ cup almonds
¼ cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoon butter

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

For the crust, combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Cut the butter into small pieces and use a fork to press it into the flour mixture until it looks like coarse crumbs (or use a food processor, but you won’t get the awesome arm workout). Add the almond extract then the water a little at a time until you can press the dough together to make a ball. Try to touch it as little as possible. Cover with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for a few minutes.

Toss all the filling ingredients into a bowl and stir to combine. Let it sit while you make the topping.

Combine almonds, brown sugar and butter in a food processor. Process until almonds are finely ground and topping looks all crumbly.

Get your chilled dough from the fridge. On a well-floured surface using a well flowered rolling pin, roll out the dough into a big circle. Roll it up around your rolling pin, transfer it to a cookie sheet and spread it out again. Pour the filling into the middle of the circle and fold up at least 2-3 inches of the edge all the way around and press the pieces together so none of the filling leaks out (or you’ll have to scrub it off the bottom of your oven after it’s burnt on)(trust me on this).

Bake for 20-25 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle almond-sugar mixture over the berries. Return to the oven for another 10 minutes until golden brown. Let it cool for at least 20 minutes or you’ll burn yourself. Top with whipped cream or ice cream for extra bonus yum.

(Notes: I had too much dough when I folded up the edges so I tore some of it off to make sure I had enough berries showing to top with the almonds. Pretty much ANY fruit combination would be delicious in this recipe. ANYTHING.)

I’m adding the recipes to the Tasty Kitchen site tonight, so you can save them to your recipe box over there (if you’re a member) and find other amazing galette recipes for your summer produce.

Oh hey, so have you notice my new design includes those super cute social media icon buttons (designed by the super awesome Sarah – seriously talented & very affordable for all your bloggy needs) on the left hand side? The one for “recipes” is a link to my Tasty Kitchen profile, where I store all the recipes I’ve submitted plus the many many many What’s for Dinner recipes I’ve found using TK. Unfortunately, you have to have a membership to see my recipe box but FORTUNATELY, it’s free and easy to do and I can’t imagine why you WOULDN’T want one.

Almost all my recipes this week are from my two summer cookbooks: The Big Book of Backyard Cooking by Betty Rosbottom and Grilling by Louise Pickford. We bought a new grill when we finished the patio and I am THRILLED to be doing all my cooking outside. I did a little Googling and tried to link to online versions of the recipes whenever possible so you can add these to your own meal plan if you want.

1. BLT Pasta Salad – The Big Book of Backyard Cooking
2. Turkey, Apple and Cheddar Clubs – The Big Book of Backyard Cooking
3. Bratwursts on Toasted Rolls with Caramelized Onions and Creamy Horseradish Sauce – The Big Book of Backyard Cooking (Actually, the only part of that recipe I followed was how to caramelize onions. I put some herb mayo on my brats and E just ate his plain.)
4. Extra Special Tabbouleh with Avocado and Feta – The Big Book of Backyard Cooking (OMG tabbouleh is my new favoritest favorite ever. Super easy, healthy and delicious. Just TRY IT you’ll LIKE IT.)
5. Turkey Burgers with Honey Mustard, White Cheddar, and Crisp Apple Slices and Parmesan Black Pepper Coleslaw – The Big Book of Backyard Cooking
6. Lamb Chops with Roquefort, Figs, and Rosemary – The Big Book of Backyard Cooking (Cooking lamb on the grill was hard. So was finding figs and Roquefort cheese so mine is dates and feta. Still delicious, if a liiiittle undercooked) and also Grilled Rosemary Flatbread – Grilling

7. Chili-Rubbed Sirloins with Guacamole Salsa plus grilled corn on the cob – The Big Book of Backyard Cooking (link is to an old CBS article but the recipe is in there, I promise)
8. Bacon-Wrapped Filet Steaks Topped with Roasted Garlic Butter plus roasted mini-sweet peppers – The Big Book of Backyard Cooking
9. Jerk Chicken and Veggies – Here’s my recipe: pour Lawry’s 20 minute marinate over chicken and veggies. Wait 10 minutes before you decide you’re too hungry to wait. Grill chicken and veggies. Eat.
10. Lemon Crunch Pie – Yeah, I invented that. Recipe is here on the blog & also on Tasty Kitchen.

Before you get too impressed and say “OMG Suzanne, how do you make all this food!?” let me tell you this was 2 full weeks of food – so there were pizza and burgers and even a popcorn for dinner night in between – and that it wasn’t that long ago that my entire meal plan was just ground beef. If I can teach myself to make new food AND get my husband to EAT that food then you can too.

So this one time, I was at the grocery store with my husband and he tried to buy a gross, pre-made pie in a box from the bakery section. I was like, “DUDE, I BAKE.” and he was all “But can you make a LEMON CRUNCH PIE?” and I was all “You’ve heard of GOOGLE right?” But then I was like “Oh no, none of these recipes on the internet look like the pie from the store! I’ll have to make it up as I go!” and he was like “Oh geez, that sounds hard. Do you think you can really do it? and I was all “Watch me, bitches.”

So I invented a Lemon Crunch Pie. The end.

Lemon Crunch Pie

Crust:

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening
4-5 tablespoons ice cold water

Throw the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Toss in the shortening too and then mash it up with a fork until it’s in little pieces. Don’t mix it TOO well, since the little pieces of shortening in the crust is what makes it flaky. Add cold water about a tablespoon at a time until the dough is sticky enough to hold together. Do most of your mixing with the fork but make sure you test it by squishing it together with your hands or you’ll end up adding too much water. Roll it out, press into a 9 inch pie plate and crimp the edges.

Bake the crust at 400 for 7 minutes.

(If you MUST, I will allow for store bought pie dough but only if you recite the Pledge of Allegiance while rolling it out to prove you’re not a communist.)

Filling:

Juice and zest of 2 lemons
1 1/4 c. sugar
3 Tbsp. cornstarch
3 well-beaten egg yolks
1 1/4 c. boiling water
3 egg whites

Separate egg yolks from whites. Zest and juice the lemons. Pour 1 ¼ cup water into a medium sized sauce pan. When it comes to a boil, mix in juice, sugar, cornstarch, and well-beaten egg yolks. Stir until well blended and cook until thick – this happens pretty quickly so be sure to keep stirring. Remove from heat. Beat egg whites with an electric mixer until stiff. Fold the lemon mixture into the whites.

Pour into baked crust.

Topping:

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 crushed graham crackers
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons chilled butter

Toss it all in a food processor and mix for a few seconds, until it’s crumbly but not too fine. Spread out over filling, bake at 350 degrees for 17-20 minutes, or until topping is slightly brown & all the butter has melted.

Refrigerate for a couple hours and serve cold.

Not the prettiest pie I’ve ever made, but really really delicious.

I linked up my recipe to Mique’s Pity Party at 30 Handmade Days

I’m going crazy cleaning and finishing all the decorations for Baby Evan’s 1st birthday next weekend so I’m a little lacking in the creative department right now. Although I have no aspirations to be the ACTUAL Pioneer Woman, this is my attempt at a PW style recipe post, hence the eighty bazillion pictures. Please to enjoy.

Like I’ve said before (just this week actually) I am not a very good cook. I am, however, a more than decent baker. In fact, I once won first prize at the Ledyard Town Fair for my two crust apple pie and went on to do fairly well in the state-wide competition. Considering I was the only entrant under the age of 50 I’m just pleased I wasn’t last. It helped that I lived in an honest to God apple orchard at the time. Being able to bake with fruit that was still growing just minutes before I peeled it definitely gave me the motivation to really perfect my pie.

Since a regular old two-crust is old news, I’m always on the look out for new apple pie recipes. I recently heard about buttermilk pies and was intrigued. I’ve never been exactly sure what buttermilk is (sour milk? unfinished yogurt?) or what it’s for (biscuits? pancakes?) but when I found this recipe that claimed it turned into CUSTARD I knew I had to try it. CUSTARD is one of the top three things I absolutely cannot resist in a dessert, along with meringue and lemon curd. Oh and graham cracker crusts. Or key limes. And marzipan. Ok, I just REALLY like dessert. But this pie is special. Really special. From the pastry crust to the sugar topping it is delicious and sweet and tart and creamy and SO GOOD I almost divorced my husband when he tried to eat the last piece without sharing.

I highly recommend this pie. Or you could just invite yourself over for dinner and I’ll make it for you.

Apple-Buttermilk Custard Pie
Adapted from Cooking Light (and when I say adapted, I mean I made it a lot less “light”)

Crust*
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening
4-5 tablespoons ice cold water

Throw the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Toss in the shortening too and then mash it up with a fork until it’s in little pieces. Don’t mix it TOO well, since the little pieces of shortening in the crust is what makes it flaky. Add cold water about a tablespoon at a time until the dough is sticky enough to hold together. Do most of your mixing with the fork but make sure you test it by squishing it together with your hands or you’ll end up adding too much water.

Sometimes I just make pie crust and eat it without baking a pie. I know it's weird.

Streusel Topping:
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons chilled butter

Filling:
5 cups sliced peeled apples**
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup granulates sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 3/4 cups buttermilk***
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Roll out the dough large enough to fit in a 9-inch deep dish**** pie plate. Try not to handle the crust any more than you have to, the less touching you do the better it ends up.

I got this Roulpat mat just this week and it made my pie crust sooooo much easier to roll out. I didn't have to add any extra flour to keep it from sticking so the crust was super flaky.

Fold over the edges and pinch them to make a fluted edge.

I once bought a fancy fluted edge maker. It was crappy. Just use your fingers.

To prepare the streusel, lightly spoon 1/3 cup flour into a measuring cup. Combine the flour, brown sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon in a medium bowl. Cut in butter with a fork (or pastry blender, if you’re fancy) until mixture is all mealy. Put it in the fridge.

Try to resist eating all the sugar-butter right out of the bowl.

Preheat over to 325 degrees.

To prepare the filling, heat a large skillet to medium heat and throw in the butter. Add sliced apple, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg. Cook for about 10 minutes, or until apples are tender.

My apples are sliced into little rings like that because I use an apple peeler-corer-slicer that attaches to my countertop. It's an absolute necessity if you plan to make more than one apple pie a year.

Pour into prepared crust.

Mmmmmm....appley goodness.

Combine 3/4 cup granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, salt and eggs, stir with a whisk. Add buttermilk and vanilla, and stir a little more.

I had to steal this whisk from the baby. He LOVES whisks. Is that weird?

Pour over apple mixture.

Yikes, that's a full pie!

Bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes. Reduce over temperature to 300 degrees (do not remove pie) and sprinkle streusel topping over filling.

Try to sprinkle it around evenly, but it doesn't really matter since all the butter melts anyways.

Bake at 300 degrees for 40 minutes or until pie is set. Let stand 1 hour before serving.*****

All puffed up right out of the oven. DON'T EAT IT YET.

*The original recipe suggests using a store-bought crust, which I personally consider just plain un-American. Only communists use store-bought crust. Communists who kick puppies and burn flags and hate freedom and don’t want to find a cure for cancer OR save the whales. But really, my recipe for pie crust is the easiest thing in the world and impossible to do wrong. At least try it before using the crap from a box.

My pie crust/pie recipes - as you can see they've been well loved

**Granny Smith is the most popular pie apple but unfortunately they don’t grow here in New England. When apples are in season I prefer Cortlands or Mutsus. Just try to avoid Macintosh in pies since they cook down really quickly and you end up with mush.

***The “light” version calls for fat-free buttermilk but my grocery store didn’t have fat free (OH DARN) so I used low-fat. I’ve had trouble finding buttermilk at all at some grocery stores so just use whatever you can get.

****My pie plate is NOT “deep” so I just built up the edge of the crust. It still came really really close to overflowing. I recommend using an actual deep-dish plate.

*****NO REALLY, LET IT SIT. If you don’t the custard is all runny and soupy. I KNOW it looks delicious and I KNOW you just baked a whole pie all by yourself and you deserve to eat a huge chunk right now but it will be even better in an hour. For the record, my recipe says “Yields 10 servings”, but I think they’re talking about doll-servings. It yields 8 actual person sized servings, but you’ll probably eat two pieces at a time, so at least try to save some to share later.

OK, NOW you can eat it. Better hurry though, looks like someone else already started.