CHERRY-BLUEBERRY ALMOND CRUMB PIE

Perhaps if I lived in Michigan, where sour cherries are grown, I would be more enthused about cherry pie.  

But truthfully, I'm so in love with apple, pumpkin, coconut cream, key lime, lemon and berry pies, I just never think about cherry pie.  

Cherry pie can be served all year long, but it's especially nice at Christmas time.  This one accompanied us to Christmas dinner with our friends, where the host, Tom, (who hails from Pittsburgh, PA, not Michigan) says it's his favorite.  Cherry flavor dominates this pie, even though it contains a pint of blueberries.  

Since I'm really not much of a cherry fan, I found this hard to rate.  Tom loved the pie.  I liked it, but didn't love it, because I found it too sweet for my taste.  Mickey, Tom's wife, liked it and said it would be perfect with chocolate drizzled over it.  My intent was to serve it with chocolate ice cream, but I left the ice cream home.  If you like cherry pie, you might want to give this a try.  If you've never tried cherry pie, here's your chance.

Cherry-Blueberry Almond Crumb Pie

Rating:  8 out of 10

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INGREDIENTS:  

Crisco Single Pie Crust:

1-1/2 cups low-protein flour (such as White Lily all-purpose)

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1 tsp. sugar

1/2 cup Crisco shortening, placed in freezer 15 minutes

4-6 Tbsp. ice water

In small resealable sandwich baggie, combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar; place bag in freezer for 15 minutes.  Pour flour mixture into work bowl of food processor.  Pulse briefly to combine.  Add shortening, cut into 5-6 pieces.  Pulse several times, till mixture is like coarse sand.  Pour into medium-large bowl and drizzle water over the flour as you toss with a fork or with your hands.  Use as little water as possible.  (I used 5 Tbsp., but the amount will depend on the humidity and your altitude.)  The dough will be soft and pliable and easy to press into a flattish disc.  Wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or for at least 1/2 hour. This makes a sturdy but flaky, tender crust with nice flavor.

Almond Crumb Topping:

3/4 cup white whole wheat flour (or whole wheat, or all-purpose, if preferred)

1/3 cup almond meal or finely ground almonds

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/8 tsp. sea salt

6 Tbsp. butter, melted

1/4 cup sliced almonds

In medium bowl, whisk together flour, almond meal, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder and salt.  Stir in butter with fork and mix till moistened.  (You can also put the ingredients in the work bowl of a food processor and pulse till combined and mixture looks like wet sand.)  Set aside.

Cherry-Blueberry Pie Filling:

1 (14.5 oz.) can pitted Montmorency red tart cherries, drained, juice reserved

1 (15 oz.) can pitted dark sweet cherries, drained, juice reserved

1 pint fresh or frozen blueberries, rinsed, drained

1/4 tsp. almond extract

1 tsp. lemon juice

1/2 tsp. finely grated orange zest

3 Tbsp. cornstarch

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup Michigan red tart cherry preserves

  In large bowl, combine cherries, blueberries, almond extract, lemon juice, and orange zest; set aside.  In small cup, combine 2 Tbsp. reserved juice with cornstarch; set aside.  In 2-quart heavy saucepan, combine remaining reserved juice with sugar; bring to boil over high heat and boil about 20-25 minutes, or till mixture is reduced by half and slightly syrupy.  Stir about 3 Tbsp. of the hot syrup into the cornstarch mixture, then stir the cornstarch mixture into the syrup.  Bring back to boil and boil for 5 minutes, or till mixture thickens.  Stir in the preserves.  Remove from heat and cool slightly.  Pour slightly cooled syrup over fruit, tossing to combine.  

Assembly:.  

1.  Fit 9" pie plate (or 8" deep dish pie plate) with your favorite pie dough.

2.  Refrigerate pie dough.   

3.  Make crumb topping.

4.  Heat oven to 400F.  Adjust oven rack to lower position.

5.  Make pie filling.  Fill pie dough with filling.  Bake 30 minutes.

6.  Spoon crumb topping over partially baked pie.  Use pie shield to protect pie edges.  Bake additional 20

     minutes. 

7.  Sprinkle almonds over top of pie, fluffing topping with fork if needed.  Bake additional 10 minutes, or till

     pie is bubbling.  

WHERE TO SHOP FOR ORGANICS AND UPSCALE GROCERIES

Organic and upscale foods can be hard to find at competitive prices in New Bern.  I'm listing some of my favorite foods and where I buy them.

Plugra butter, salted and unsalted:  Wal-Mart, at around $2.24/half pound; Food Lion, at around $2.29/half pound.  Since these two stores started carrying Plugra, I noticed that Harris Teeter seems to be out of it.  Their price of $5.99/half pound could be why they're not reordering.

Bel Gioso Mascarpone:  Wal-Mart, at around $3.49/8 oz. compared to Harris Teeter, at around $6.99/8 oz. Wal-Mart doesn't always have mascarpone in stock.  Harris Teeter does run specials occasionally.

Prosciutto:  Harris Teeter runs specials on Citterio @ $3.99/3 oz..  Wal-Mart's price for a 3-oz. pkg. of Del Duca prosciutto is always $3.99, but you have to inspect the packages carefully.  Sometimes the ends of the prosciutto are discolored, meaning it will be dried out.

Good-quality chocolate:  You can find this in just about any store, but best prices are going to be at Wal-Mart, unless another store is running a good special.  Harris Teeter sometimes runs clearance prices on some of their good chocolate bars.  I like to occasionally shop at Fresh Market in Greenville where you can find high-quality Callebaut chocolate (about 60% cacao) in bulk bins for cheap, cheap, cheap.  It's fresh and doesn't sit around.  I always buy my white chocolate here, and once you taste it, you'll never buy it elsewhere.

Chicken:  I'm all about organics, but I've been turned off with big chickens that tend to be tough.  It used to be normal to find 2-lb. chickens in the grocery store that were tender and juicy.  Then farmers learned how to use growth hormones and antibiotics to grow their chickens super fast and keep them from getting sick.  So now the chickens grow fast, in fact too fast.  Their meat is just not tender and juicy any more.  Even the Smart Balance organic chickens found at Harris Teeter are disappointingly large.  So I'm now buying my chickens at the Bridgeton Poultry Market.  No, they're not organic.  But they're extremely fresh, tender and juicy.  You can ask them for a specific size chicken -- e.g., 2-lb. or 3-lb. or whatever -- and you will get it.

Seafood:  B&J's on Route 70 has the best seafood in New Bern.  It's not cheap but you can pretty much depend on them for good seafood.  Most of it is local, but not all.  Bridgeton Poultry Market also carries some local Pamlico Country shrimp that they freeze in 1-lb. bags.

Organic Foods:  Wal-Mart has some, but selections are limited.  You can usually find some organic veggies (green onions, green peppers, broccoli, zucchini, lemons, to name some), eggs and flours.

Harris Teeter has a good selection of organic veggies, fruits, herbs, dairy, eggs, flours, canned, bagged and boxed foods, but prices are high.  Harris Teeter also carries a good assortment of frozen organics.  Their own brand of frozen veggies in poly bags are especially good.  You'll have to search out their organic items though,  because they're mixed in with nonorganics throughout the store, except for the produce section where they have a dedicated space.

Food Lion has a surprisingly diverse section dedicated to organics in boxes, bags and cans as well as a good assortment of frozen organics, making for easy shopping.  I love that the organics are all together in one place.  You can find Arrowhead Mills here, as well as Bob's Red Mill and a host of other brand names.  Organic oatmeal is available at a good price, and it's where I buy mine.  They even have organic spices.  What you won't find is a lot of organic veggies and fruits.  In fact, be careful.  The section in produce that is dedicated to organics is misleading.  It used to house all organics, but evidently sales were slow.  Now half of that section (on the left side) is nonorganic.  They may be phasing out of organic produce.

New Bern Farmer's Market:  Scott Farms is the only true organic vendor here, but their prices are really high.  R Garden is not organic certified but they don't spray their vegetables with pesticides and they are trying to slowly phase into using organic fertilizers.  Their prices are more affordable and the quality of their vegetables is high.  Putnam Family Farms also doesn't use pesticides but they do use chemical fertilizer.  Moore's sprays with pesticides only if they have to, but try not to.  Our farmer's market is a true bargain if you want veggies that are not oversprayed with pesticides, but you have to get there early -- about 8AM -- for best selection.  Fresh and local is always your best bargain.  This morning I bought free-range eggs, green onions, baby carrots, green beans, white sweet potatoes, radishes and Swiss chard.

I'd love to hear your questions and/or comments.  Do you know of other places to shop for favorite foods?

MY HOLIDAY COOKIE ENTRY

I won't be entering the New Bern holiday recipe contest because there are no judges, just online voters.  For the Nestle holiday cookie contest, where the winner is picked by judges, I entered Chocolate-Almond Snowballs.  These are fudgy treats covered in white chocolate ganache and coconut.  Two bites of deliciousness.  The dough is made in a food processor, so easy.  The recipe is now on the Nestle Facebook Ap.  You can get it by clicking here.  Once you are at the site, click on "view entries."  Scroll down till you see the above photo.  Unless, of course, you get sidetracked by some of the other great recipes.  I don't expect to win, but it was fun coming up with an original, easy recipe.  The extra bonus here is that I have a new Christmas cookie and, surprise -- it's one of my top faves.

BAREFOOT CONTESSA'S PECAN SHORTBREAD

This year was a bad one for New Bern area pecans, thanks to the unwelcome visit of one blustery Irene.  All the unripe nuts were blown off the trees before they could be harvested.  Fortunately, I found pecans at Sam's Club and I still have some in my freezer from last year.  I love the buttery flavor of pecans, especially in shortbread cookies where they can be the star.  Like this recipe from Ina Garten.  These are simple cookies, but oh, so very good, with a nice flavor from almond and vanilla extracts.  They would love to have a place on your holiday cookie tray.

Pecan Shortbread
Source:  The Barefoot Contessa
Rating:  9 out of 10
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3/4 lb. (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract (I used my homemade vanilla.)
1 tsp. pure almond extract
3-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. kosher or fine sea salt
1-1/2 cups small diced pecans

Heat oven to 350F.  In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, using low speed, mix together the butter and sugar until they are just combined.  Add flavorings.  In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and salt, then add them to the butter/sugar mixture.  Add pecans and mix on low speed until dough starts to come together.  Dump onto a surface dusted with flour and shape into a flat disk.  Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.

Roll  dough 1/2" thick and cut into 2-1/2" squares with a plain or fluted cutter, or cut into any shape you like.  Place cookies on ungreased baking sheet.  Bake 20-25 minutes, util edges begin to brown.  Cool on wire racks.  Yield:  about 20-24 cookies, depending on size.

SPRUCE UP YOUR ARTIFICIAL CHRISTMAS WREATH

Artificial wreaths can be boring.  They have no aroma and the plastic needles and leaves can look so, well, plastic.  But if your yard is like mine, there are plenty of live greens that can be added to kick up the look, and give fragrance.  Rosemary, nandina and weeping youpon provided me the opportunity to do just that.  (They are all evergreens, and the nandina and youpon produce berries as well as bright green and red leaves.  Rosemary is also delightfully fragrant.)  


It's easy to do.  Just slip some cuttings through openings in the wreath -- no need to attach with wires or tape.  Here I am, attaching rosemary to a wreath that hangs on our welcome dog.  The red/green leaves are nandina.

Doesn't he look cute with his festive greens?  A sprig of youpon with berries is clenched in his mouth.

The greens were free, and add fresh notes to otherwise old and stodgy wreaths.  Give it a try.  It'll only cost you some time.

LE BISTRO

The ad in the newspaper read, "Opening Saturday!  Le Bistro fine dining with Executive Chef Christopher Maravelas."  How excited was I to try out our city's newest eating place.  Maybe this would be the one.  After all, when an executive chef is mentioned, one would expect superior food.

Le Bistro is housed in the same place that Stacia's Lieu Secret was.  I wondered if Stacia's went out of business.  As the three of us walked inside, we saw that the inside had not been redone.  It looked just like Stacia's.  In fact, Stacia was there!  It turns out that the restaurant took on a new name, but everything else remained the same.  Stacia's outdated decor didn't seem to fit a bistro theme.

Fussy linen tablecloths don't seem to fit with paper napkins, but that's what you get.  And what are all those Victorian accents on the walls?  This looks more like a Victorian tea room than a bistro.  But I'm being picky again.  Well, Stacia's was always known as a place for ladies to lunch.

My luncheon choice, chicken salad on a croissant with potato salad, looked appetizing.  I asked for the potato salad to be wrapped to go so I could take it home for hubby to eat.  The croissant that I was salivating over was disappointingly cold and tough instead of warm, flaky and tender.  When I mentioned this to the server, her reply was, "I'll tell the chef."  Tell the chef?  How about a warm croissant for me?  It didn't happen.  My disappointment didn't stop at the croissant, though:  the chicken salad was totally bland and tasteless.  (Later, at home, hubby took one bite of the potato salad and dumped it, saying it had no flavor.)

Carole ordered Vegetable Rice salad with her chicken salad sandwich.  In Carole's own words, "...the veggies were invisible and the rice a scoop of mush. The chicken salad was average but the side was not tasty at all."  

Rita's Portabella sandwich had Cremini mushrooms (baby bellas) instead of the large Portabellas.  Worse yet, the baby bellas were few and far between.  The fruit salad side was just okay.

The prices at Le Bistro are too high for their inferior food.  Your lunch will cost you about $9 plus drink and tip at Le Bistro, but you can go downtown to Captain Ratty's or Morgan's for a consistently decent lunch that will cost about $7 plus drink and tip.  Just down the road from Le Bistro, Bella Cucina offers an array of tasty salads and entrees for lunch that range from $6.50 - $8.49.  Stacia's may have a new name, but what is really needed here is a complete makeover of the menu and decor.  Robert Irvine, please come quickly.

SUPER-EASY MUSSELS DINNER

Here's an idea for a super quick, easy and delicious dinner.  Pier 33 Gourmet fully cooked frozen mussels are available at Harris Teeter in two flavors.  We like the tomato and garlic sauce version.

When they go on sale, I always buy a few and stash them in the freezer for when I don't want to cook.  Directions are on the box.  I usually just put the unwrapped frozen mussels in a skillet and heat them up.  Serve with some crusty bread and dipping oil.