Ingredients:
1 cup fresh cranberries
1/4 cup honey
1 TBSP butter
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
Combine and cook over medium until the mixture is syrupy, 4 minutes.
Super easy, tastes pretty good with the thyme (almost a savoriness to it, which might make it a good sandwich spread).
From Real Simple, but I've seen this basic recipe in Martha Stewart and in Food and Wine.
Makes enough for 2 single crust or 1 double crust pie
2.5 cups all purpose flour
1 TBSP sugar
1 tsp kosher salt (Martha does 1.5 tsp kosher)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into pieces
1/4-1/2 cup ice water
Directions:
1. Combine flour, sugar, an salt in a food processor and pulse to combine. Add butter and pulse until most of the butter is the size of peas, about 20 times.
2. Drizzle in 2 TBSP ice water and pulse to combine. (MY NOTE: I would drizzle in 1/4 cup of ice water)
3. Continue, adding 1 to 2 TBSP ice water at a time, until dough just comes together when squeezed in the palm of your hand (it should be pretty sandy).
4. Dump dough out onto the counter and divide into 2 piles. Transfer1 pile to a large sheet of plastic wrap. Use the plastic wrap to gather the dough together, using your knuckles to help press dough into a disk. Wrap tightly with plastic and repeat with remaining pile of dough. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 3 days (or up to one month in the freezer).
From Food and Wine November 2016.
Ingredients
PIECRUST
1 1/4
cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2
teaspoons sugar
1/2
teaspoon kosher salt
1 stick
unsalted butter, cubed and frozen
Ice
water
FILLING
2 cups
pecan halves (7 ounces)
1/2
pound Medjool dates, pitted and chopped (1 cup)
3
tablespoons brewed espresso or strong coffee
1 stick
unsalted butter
1 cup
packed light brown sugar
1 cup
Lyle’s Golden Syrup or light corn syrup
1 1/2
teaspoons instant espresso powder
1 1/2
teaspoons kosher salt
3 large
eggs
Whipped
cream, for serving
Make the piecrust In a food
processor, pulse the flour with the sugar and salt. Add the butter and pulse
until it is the size of small peas. Add 1/4 cup of ice water and pulse until
the dough is evenly moistened. Gradually add more water if needed. Turn out the
dough onto a work surface and knead 2 to 3 times, just until it comes together.
Form into a disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
Step 2
On a lightly floured work surface,
roll out the dough to a 12-inch round; transfer to a 9-inch pie plate. Fold the
edge of the dough under itself and crimp the edge. Freeze the piecrust for at
least 2 hours or overnight.
Step 3
Preheat the oven to 375°. Line the
piecrust with parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake
for about 25 minutes, or until lightly browned around the edge. Remove the
paper and weights and bake until the bottom is lightly browned, about 10
minutes. Let cool completely.
Step 4
Meanwhile, make the filling Reduce
the oven temperature to 350°. Spread the pecans on a rimmed baking sheet and
toast until fragrant, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool completely.
Step 5
In a small skillet, cook the dates
in the brewed espresso over moderate heat, stirring, until very soft, 3 to 5
minutes. Scrape the mixture into a small bowl and wipe out the skillet.
Step 6
Add the butter to the pan and cook
over moderate heat, swirling, until the milk solids turn a deep golden brown,
about 5 minutes. Let cool slightly.
Step 7
In a large bowl, whisk the brown
sugar with the golden syrup, espresso powder and salt. Whisk in the eggs, then
gradually whisk in the brown butter until the filling is smooth.
Step 8
Set the pie plate on a rimmed baking
sheet. Spread the espresso dates in the crust and scatter the pecans on top.
Pour the filling over the pecans. Bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, or
until the filling is set around the edge and slightly jiggly in the center.
Transfer the pie to a rack and let cool completely. Serve with whipped cream.
My notes:
1. This pie is delicious, took nearly all day to come together, and while we LOVED it, it would take a lot for me to make again!
2. I used G & T sonoma flour, but it overbrowned... would probably make with regular APP next time. Would also use a deep dish pie plate next time.
3. I froze the butter for 30 minutes before pulsing into the pie mixture. I used the weights for pecans, and used more than 3 TBSP strong coffee to cook the dates. Would dice not chop the dates next time-- smaller would be better in the final product, but this was delicious too. I used light corn syrup. Otherwise I followed the directions nearly exactly.
4. Left the dough in the fridge for nearly 1.5 hours, and then in the freezer for nearly 3 hours. I found the blind bake only took 20ish minutes total in our oven. Remember to put a tray under the pie plate during the blind bake because butter drips out.
5. Final bake only took about an hour in our oven. With our shallower pie plate, we had leftover filling, so I just did a separate dish with cashews (no crust) and poured the extra filling over it.
6. Don't forget to butter the pie plate! I did, and the pie was stuck to the bottom.
7. Super yummy.
Notes from round 2. Made again 12/27/22
1. The ratios are weird. I used the weight for the dates, seemed to be a lot more than 1 cup. I did 4tbsp water to 1 TBSP instant espresso powder in order to cook the dates. I also used 2 cups pecans, and didn’t put all of it in the pie— but next time I would. The filling is so much— it could easily make another small pie.
2. I didn’t have enough corn syrup, so I used like 1/2 cup corn syrup and then the rest was a kid of brown rice syrup and maple syrup, came out fine.
3. Be very stingy with the water when making the crust— I think I used a tad bit too much. But it came out okay— some parts were indeed nice and shatter-y.
4. Again, takes 2 days to make this. But Yummay.
