Hampton Style Blueberry Pie Recipe

This recipe for Hampton Style Blueberry Pie is based on the type of pies that you can buy at roadside stands all along the Eastern seaboard of the United States, and in particular in the Hamptons on New York’s Long Island.

It starts with a rich, slightly salty crust (see All-Purpose Pie Crust Recipe). It is then filled with 2 pints of fresh blueberries, cream cheese, and a hint of fresh, sweet basil. Top this with a thin lattice of crispy crust and you have the perfect Hampton Style Blueberry Pie. Serve it with a scoop of your favorite ice cream for a perfect Summer time dessert.

Ingredients:
pie crust

filling:
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp dry basil
4 tbsp all purpose flour
4 oz. cream cheese
1 egg
2 pints of blueberries

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Add filling to pie crust. Top with dough lattice.
   
3. Bake 1 hour. Let cool for at least 30 minutes then serve.
   

United States New York

All-Purpose Pie Crust Recipe

This is a simple recipe for an all-purpose pie crust. It involves making a dough with small pellets of butter and shortening surrounded by flour. When baked, the butter and shortening produce small amounts of steam that result in a perfectly, flaky crust. You can use this fundamental recipe to make almost any type of pie depending on what ingredients that are in season.

Ingredients:
1 tspn salt
2 tbsp sugar
5 oz. cold water
3 1/2 cups pastry (winter) flour
3 oz. butter
4 oz. shortening

Preparation:

1. In a small mixing bowl, dissolve sugar and salt in the cold water.
2. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the flour, butter, and shortening with your hands until small, pea sized pellets of butter form in the flour.
3. Make a hole in the middle of the flour and pour in the salt, sugar, and water mixture. Mix the dough until just incorporated.
4. Form the dough into a rectangle brick and lightly dust it with flour. Then wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
5. Remove from the refrigerator and allow to rise to room temperature for 30 minutes.
6. Cut the dough into 2 equal sized pieces. You can make 2 open faced pies or one pie with a bottom and top crust.
7. Using a rolling pin on a well floured surface, roll out the dough so that it is 1 inch greater than the pie pan.
8. Place the dough in the pie pan and trim off any excess from the edge of the pie.
9. Apply an egg wash (one egg and an equal part of water whisked together) to the edge of the pie. This will help the top layer of dough adhere to the bottom.
10. Pour in the pie filling and then place the top layer of dough on top of the filling.

United States [ print this recipe ]

Book Review: The Unofficial Harry Potter Sweet Shoppe Book

The Unofficial Harry Potter Sweet Shoppe Book, by Dinah Bucholz, features 35 easy to make recipes for candies and other sweets from the pages of the Harry Potter Anthology. Recipes for Crunchy Roaches, Triple Peppermint Humbugs, Sugar Mice, Chocolate Love Potions, Mincemeat Ice Cream and many others are included in this unusual cookbook. In addition, the book is accompanied by decorative glassine candy bags, candy molds, and broom-shaped lollipop sticks.


As a reviewer of this book, I think I should admit at this point that I have not read all of the Harry Potter Books (but I have seen all of the films). As such, I was completely lost as to which recipes to attempt for my review. I ended up choosing the Pumpkin Juice and the Double Strawberry Ice Cream since I planned to let my 2 ½ year old daughter be the “Guinea Pig”/taste tester for my creations. Her bed time is 7:30 so sugar content was an important factor in the selection process.

Anyway, the first recipe that we tried was the Pumpkin Juice. Unfortunately, pumpkins are not currently in season in my neighborhood, so I was forced to use canned pumpkin. The recipe was very simple and called for mixing the pumpkin pulp with apple juice, white grape juice, and pineapple juice. My daughter did not care for this new drink, not on the basis of taste, but because it had a different name than her standard Juicy Juice. I thought it was really good, however. The resulting mixture had a sweet, citrus flavor with a hint of richness from the pumpkin. I would definitely make this one again especially during the autumn months when pumpkins are in season.

The second recipe that we tried was the Double Strawberry Ice Cream. Although this recipe took a little longer to prepare (over 7 hours from start to finish), the steps were pretty simple. I used an ice cream attachment on my Kitchen Aid mixer to mix and freeze the cream. The end result was a fresh, creamy ice cream packed with strawberry flavor. The only thing about this recipe that could be improved was the texture. The ice cream was extremely hard when frozen and had to be thawed for about 15 minutes before serving. I'm not sure if this was a result of the recipe itself or my ice cream maker.

Overall, I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. This is a great book for any die-hard "Pott-Heads" or for any kids that show an interest in cooking. The recipes are simple but based on good, fundamental culinary foundations. The book and candy making accessories will lead to many fun filled hours in the kitchen and will most likely inspire further creative moments.

Related Posts/Recipes:
Double Strawberry Ice Cream Recipe
Pumpkin Juice Recipe

Pumpkin Juice Recipe

What could be worse than missing the train and having to fly your father's car to school? Eating sweets for hours and then realizing you have nothing with which to wash it down, although crashing into a murderous tree probably ranks up there as well. After finishing the bag of toffees Harry and Ron find in the car, Harry is so thirsty he starts fantasizing about the pumpkin juice he could buy if he were on the Hogwarts Express(see Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 5).

Ingredients:
1 small pumpkin (sugar pumpkin or pie pumpkin)
2 cups apple juice
1 cup white grape juice
1 cup pineapple juice

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Slice the pumpkin in half pole to pole and scoop out the seeds. Don't worry about the stringy fibers; they are hard to remove and won't affect the results. Place the pumpkin halves face down on a baking sheet and roast 45 minutes to 1 hour until soft. Remove from the oven.
2. When the pumpkin is cool enough to handle, scoop out the flesh and discard the skin. Place the cooked pumpkin in a large fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl and push the pumpkin through using a rubber spatula. Scrape and mash as you push; it will take several minutes. Discard the pulpy mass left in the sieve. Stir the sieved pumpkin in the bowl to evenly distribute the juices, and then measure out one cup.
3. Place the cup of sieved pumpkin in a pitcher along with the apple juice, grape juice, and pineapple juice. Stir vigorously until the pumpkin is completely dispersed. Chill the juice for 3 to 4 hours.
4. Before serving, stir the juice well, as the pumpkin will settle to the bottom. Fill crystal goblets with ice cubes and pour the juice over the ice.

Makes 5 cups

Although this recipe was tested using freshly roasted pumpkin, it would probably work if you use canned pumpkin instead to save the bother of making it from scratch.

Recipe courtesy of The Unofficial Harry Potter Sweet Shoppe Book by Dinah Bucholz.

Related Posts/Recipes:
Double Strawberry Ice Cream Recipe
The Unofficial Harry Potter Sweet Shoppe Book

England [ print this recipe for Pumpkin Juice ]

Double Strawberry Ice Cream Recipe

Do you sometimes wish you had a cook like Mrs. Weasley in your home? Imagine finishing off a weeknight supper with homemade strawberry ice cream. Harry enjoyed this dessert, the finish of a sumptuous meal, the night before going to see the fateful international Quidditch match (see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 5).

Ingredients:
1 pound of strawberries, chopped
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup strawberry jelly (not jam or preserves)
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
3 egg yolks

Preparation:

1. Mix the strawberries and sugar together and let it sit for 1 hour to allow the juices to be extracted. Drain well and reserve the juice. Set aside.
2. Combine the strawberry jelly, milk, and heavy whipping cream in a medium saucepan and cook over high heat, whisking constantly, until the jelly has melded and the mixture is smooth -- do not boil. Temper the egg yolks by whisking in 1 cup of the hot mixture; then return the yolk mixture to the saucepan while whisking constantly. Cook until the mixture thickens slightly; again, do not boil. Pour the mixture through a sieve.
3. Stir in the reserved juice. Lay a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming and cool to room temperature. In seperate containers, chill the custard mixture and chopped strawberries until completely cold, about 6 hours for the custard.
4. Freeze the custard mixture according to the manufacturer's instructions for your ice cream maker. Add the strawberries 2 minutes before the churning is over. Transfer to an airtight container and freeze until firm.

Makes about 6 cups.

Recipe courtesy of The Unofficial Harry Potter Sweet Shoppe Book by Dinah Bucholz.

Related Posts/Recipes:
Pumpkin Juice Recipe
The Unofficial Harry Potter Sweet Shoppe Book

England

Italian Bakery Style Pizza Recipe

Italian Bakery Pizza is a traditional favorite at Italian bakeries. Italian bakery pizza crust is thick and flavorful and similar to lightly crisp bread. The dough takes longer to prepare than Chicago style or Neapolitan style pizza but it is well worth the wait.

Ingredients:
dough:
1 package of active dry yeast
3/4 cup unbleached flour
1/2 cup warm water
2 tbsp olive oil
pinch of kosher salt
3 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1/4 cup warm water
1/2 cup beer

sauce:
1 14 1/2 oz. can diced tomatoes
2 tbsp olive oil
1 6 oz. can tomato paste
1 1/2 tspn dried oregano
2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
1 1/2 tspn sugar
1 tspn kosher salt
1 tspn minced garlic

Preparation:

1. In a mixing bowl, add 1/2 cup warm water and the yeast. Stir so that the yeast dissolves. Add the flour and stir well. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel. Let the bowl sit in a warm place for an hour.
2. Add 1/4 cup of warm water to the mixing bowl along with the beer, salt, vegetable oil, and 3 1/2 cups of flour. Mix well.
3. Turn the dough out onto a well floured surface. Knead the dough until it is soft and smooth - about 8 minutes. Put the dough in a lightly floured bowl and cover it again with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel. Let the bowl sit in a warm place for an hour and a half.
4. Dough should almost double in size. Punch the dough down and knead it for another 2 minutes on a well floured surface.
5. Lightly oil a baking pan with olive oil. Roll out the dough until it is about the size of the baking pan.
6. After you have pressed the dough evenly into the pan, let it sit in a warm place for another 40 minutes.
7. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
8. Top with sauce and your favorites toppings. For the pizza pictured above, I used thinly sliced mozzarella cheese and some Parmesan cheese.
9. Bake the pizza for 20 minutes or until the crust begins to turn golden brown.

Italy

Lentil Chili

This recipe for Lentil Chili is a fine chili that's a snap to make and full of flavor. It has it all: low calories, low fat, high fiber, garlic, cheese, sour cream - all the great things in life. If spicy foods give you heartburn, you should be fine if you leave out the chipotle pepper, as there's not much cumin or chili powder in each serving. If you like your chili spicy and don't have access to chipotle peppers, use cayenne, adding 1/8 tspn at a time to your preferred level of spiciness.

Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 large onion, diced
1 15oz. can no-salt-added crushed tomatoes
1 tbsp chili powder
2 tspn ground cumin
1 tspn dried oregano
1/2 chipotle in adobo (optional)
1/4 tspn salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 cup dried lentils
6 tbsp nonfat sour cream
6 ounces reduced-fat Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded

Preparation:

1. Place the olive oil in a large saucepan, over medium heat. Add the garlic and onion and cook, stirring frequently, until the onion has softened. Add the crushed tomatoes, chili powder, cumin, oregano, chipotle (if using), salt, and pepper to taste, and stir well.
2. Add 5 cups of water and the lentils and stir well. Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer until the lentils are cooked through but not mushy, 45 minutes to an hour.
3. Serve topped with 1 1/2 tbsp of sour cream and 1 1/2 oz. of Monterrey Jack cheese per serving.

Recipe courtesy of Just Tell Me What To Eat by Timothy S. Harlan, MD.

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Blackened Red Fish
Fettuccini with Broccoli and Shrimp