Pietopia Kick-off Party

Pies are seemingly taking over the world. Or Portland. Or maybe it’s just my life. But I must confess that I am loving every minute of it. If something is going to take up a ton of time, it might as well be something edible, delectable, and fun. Tuesday night I had an official Pietopia kick-off party in appreciation of all those who helped contribute. My designers Justin Bland, Mia Nolting, Jason Traeger, and Christopher Huizar all did amazing interpretations of the winners stories, I am so proud of them all.

So we ate, what else, but pies that night. I cooked up three vegetarian pot pies, a peach and creme fraiche pie, and a fresh plum pate brisee tart. Needless to say, we were all happy. It was like Thanksgiving in the sense that we stuffed ourselves to the point where half of us had to take a long walk afterwards and then Jason passed out on the living room floor.

Tomorrow is the big event and I absolutely can not wait! I feel like a kid on Christmas morning running downstairs to see, what else than, if Santa had taken a bite of the cookies I had left him the night before. The whole idea behind Pietopia and how it has manifested into this great expose of pies, the community, and the taste of life is truly amazing. I am amazed! It is an incredible occurrence when you have an idea and through nothing but absolute belief, it becomes something. Something in the sense that a whole community can partake in through out its whole process: call to entries, jurying, artistry, and tasting.

Speaking of tasting, here are the recipes for the pies I made for the kick-off. Enjoy!

Vegetarian Pot Pie

6 cups assorted vegetables (this is what I used, but you can get creative)
1-2 tblsp of olive oil
1 ear of corn, boiled for five minutes and kernels sliced off the husk
2 potatoes
large handful of fresh green beans, ends taken off and sliced
3 fresh carrots
1 leek
1 zucchini
2 tblsp parsley, minced
1 scallion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, chopped
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups vegetable stock (you can use all vegetable stock or all milk as a variation)
1/4 cup flour
sea salt and cracked pepper to taste
2 deep dish pie crusts

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Start water to boil for ear of corn. Chop up scallion, garlic, and potato and put in a pan on medium heat with olive oil. Stir occasionally, not letting the potatoes get too brown, if brown at all. While they are cooking, chop up carrots, leek, and zucchini. Add ear of corn to boiling water. Add rest of vegetables to the pan of potatoes and sauté until tender but still keeping a little crunch. Al dente vegetables shall we say?

Lightly add the flour while stirring until all is incorporated.

Add the milk and vegetable stock, stirring constantly until it thickens.

Place the vegetables into one of the pie crusts, using the second crust as the top. Pinch around the edges to seal and cut an X in the top for ventilation. Bake for 20-30 minutes until filling is bubbling and crust is golden brown.

Peach and Creme Fraiche Pie (thank you Martha!)

THE PATE SUCREE CRUST
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons ice water, plus more if needed

THE STREUSEL
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup cold (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

THE FILLING
1 1/2 pounds ripe (4 to 5 medium) yellow peaches, pitted and quartered
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
Pinch of sal
5 tablespoons creme fraiche

1. Make the pate sucree: Pulse flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor to combine. Add butter; process until mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 seconds. add egg yolk, and pulse. With machine running, add ice water in a slow, steady stream through feed tube until dough just holds together. Turn out dough onto a work surface; shape into a disk. Wrap in plastic, and refrigerate at least 1 hour (up to 2 days).
2. Make the streusel: Sift together sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Using your hands or a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside.
3. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to about 1/8 inch thick. Fit into a 9 1/2- or 10-inch pie plate (about 1 1/2 inches deep). Trim edge to 1 inch; fold under, and crimp as desired. Pierce bottom of dough all over with a fork. Transfer to freezer for 30 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cover edge of crust with foil. Line crust with parchment paper, and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake, covered, 10 minutes. Remove weights and parchment (keep foil on edge). Bake until pale golden brown, 5 to 8 minutes more. Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly; remove foil; reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees.
5. Make the filling: Put peaches into a medium bowl, and sprinkle with sugar and salt; gently toss to coat. let stand 15 minutes. Spread 2 tablespoons creme fraiche onto bottom of crust; sprinkle with one-third of the streusel. Arrange peaches on top; spread or dot with remaining 3 tablespoons creme fraiche. Sprinkle with remaining streusel.
6. Bake pie until creme fraiche is bubbling and streusel is golden brown, about 50 minutes. Cover edge of crust with foil if it’s browning too quickly. Let cool on a wire rack 15 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Fresh Plumb Galette
(adapted from Deborah Madison)

FOR THE PASTRY
1 3/4 cups unbleached flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1/4 pound) plus 2 tablespoons chilled, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons chilled vegetable shorting (I prefer Earth Balance)
4 to 5 tablespoons ice water

FOR THE FILLING
1 1/2 pounds local plumbs
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

2 tablespoons whole milk for brushing

To make the pastry dough, sift together the flour and salt into a bowl. Add the butter and shortening and, using a pastry blender, two sharp knives, or your fingers, work the fat into the flour until the mixture has the consistency of course cornmeal.

Add the ice water 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring and tossing with a fork until the dough forms a shaggy mass. Turn the mass out onto a floured work surface and knead the dough a few times with the heel of your hand until the clumps of dough come together. Shape into a disk, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour before rolling out.

To make the filling, while the dough rests, working over a large bowl, cut the plumbs into quarters, discarding the pits. Sprinkle with the sugar. Using the tip of a knife, scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the bowl. Stir to mix everything together.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place a pizza stone near the work surface where you will be rolling out the dough.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Hit the dough a few times with the rolling pin, giving it a quarter turn each time you strike it, to soften it slightly. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a 15 inch round. Wrap the dough over the rolling pin and carefully transfer the pastry round to the pizza stone, laying it out flat. Arrange the plumbs, cut side up, on the center of the round int and overlapping spiral 10 inches in diameter. Loosely gather the dough and arrange over the edge of the fruit. Make sure there are not holes in the pastry (pat away any cracks) or the juices will run out. Brush the dough with the milk.

Bake the galette until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling, about 1 hour. Carefully remove the pizza stone from the oven and allow the tart to rest on the stone for 30 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature with a pat of creme fraiche or dollop of real whipped cream.