Ok, before you get too excited this is not the PPC pie crust recipe - you'll never get that one out of us!  But several friends and customers have contacted me lately asking for a good pie crust recipe for all of those Thanksgiving pies. 

I used to be afraid of making pastry, but this is a (fairly) fool proof method that will result in crust that is both flaky and tender.  The vinegar is essential - the acid prevents too much gluten from forming when the flour combines with the water - and gluten = tough, heavy pastry.  Some pie crust recipes add a tablespoon or so of sugar, but I don't really think it is necessary...your pie filling will be sweet enough, and I like the contrast of the buttery, crisp pastry and sweet filling.  I also think it is worthwhile splurging on some good butter - we use Rose Valley butter, which has a great milkfat content and fantastic flavor.  Trader Joe's usually has good prices on organic butter, or even better try to find some butter at your local farmer's market.  

This recipe will provide enough pastry for one double-crust or two single-crust 9-inch pies.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

8 oz (2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup ice water

Method

Cut butter into small pieces, put into a bowl, and put in the freezer for at least 30 minutes and up to several hours.  If you have room in your freezer, it is also helpful to combine the flour, salt, and baking powder and put that bowl in the freezer for 30 minutes as well.  Getting the butter nice and cold will ensure a nice flaky crust - flakiness results when small pieces of fat melt during baking, resulting in the beautiful layers of the best crusts.

Once all of your ingredients are very cold, put the flour mixture in the bowl of a food processor.  Pulse one or two times to combine.  Add the butter, and turn on the processor.  Add the vinegar and then the ice water in a continuous stream through the feeding tube.  Immediately turn off the processor.

Turn out the dough onto a clean, lightly floured work surface.  Smear it back and forth a few times with your hands until it starts to come together.  Often it seems too crumbly at first, but don't fret!  Just keep working it a bit and it should come together.  If it is really crumbly for some reason, sprinkle over a teaspoon or so of the ice water and keep gathering it together.

Divide in half, and then form the pastry into two rough squares and wrap each in saran wrap.  Refrigerate at least 2 hours, or overnight. Proceed with your pie recipe...

Good luck and let me know about your pie baking adventures! 

Oh. My. Gosh.  I had always heard that Oregon berries are pretty wonderful, but I had no idea how amazingly delicious they would be!  We are in the midst of strawberry season, and Chris and I can't get enough of them.  One of the fun things about being a vendor at the Farmer's Markets is trading with other vendors, and swapping pies for berries seems like a good deal to us!  We have been sampling the strawberries from our friends at Deep Roots Farm, Sungold Farm, and Heavenly Harvest, and they are all fantastic. 

Last weekend we came home with half a flat of strawberries (which were traded for a Cheese & Veg pastie and a Beef & Stout pie!), and we have been eating them with yogurt, whizzed up into smoothies, with vanilla ice cream and Two Brothers chocolate sauce, and just by the handful every time we pass through the kitchen. 

I also baked this Strawberry Streusel Cake, which is a recipe from my favorite food writer, Nigella Lawson.  This cake might not win any beauty contests, but it is another sweet way to savor strawberry season!  I used lucsious Seascape strawberries from our mates at Heavenly Harvest farm.

 Strawberry Streusel Cake

3/4 cup sugar

2 3/4 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 sticks of chilled butter, cut into small cubes

1 cup sour cream

1 large egg

2 tsp vanilla

1 tbl brown sugar

For puree:

2 tsp cornflour

2 tsp vanilla

2 punnets of strawberries, hulled

3 tablespoons strawberry jam (optional)

To make puree, make a paste of cornflour and vanilla, and add to blender with the berries and jam.  Puree until smooth.  Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease a 9 inch springform pan.

Combine sugar, flour, baking powder, and baking soda in a large bowl.  Using tips of your fingers, rub in butter cubes until mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.  Remove 1/2 cup and set aside, and then mix in sour cream, egg, and vanilla to the main bowl.  Mix well.

Use a fork to combine the reserved mixture with the brown sugar.  Sprinkle evenly across the top of the cake, then bake for 45-50 minutes or until lightly golden.  Cool, and then serve as is, or with vanilla ice cream or a dollop of creme fraiche.    

When Chris and I were planning the Pacific Pie Company menu, we knew we had to include some lamb pies, because what is more Aussie than lamb?  But we weren't sure how lamb pies would fly in the States - while the typical Aussie eats 30 pounds of lamb per year (and the Kiwis chow down on 57!), Americans eat less than a pound of lamb per year.  Which is quite a shame, given how scrumptious a roast leg of lamb can be, with tons of garlic and rosemary and mustard.

Another delicious way to enjoy lamb is in a PPC pie, and our market customers certainly agree.  Much to our surprise (and the delight of our lamb farmer), lamb pies have been a hit at all of our markets.  Our Sunday Roast Lamb pie is Chris' favorite dinner packed into PPC's flaky crust - free range lamb brasied in red wine, rosemary and onion, which is then combined with oven roasted organic yams, carrots, and yukon gold potatoes.  I drew the inspiration for the Golden Lamb Curry pie from my absolute favorite cookbook author, Nigella Lawson.  Her fabulous Feast cookbook includes a recipe for Lamb Maharaja, which is a wonderful tumeric and chile-spiked curry.  I tweaked the recipe a bit, and added yams and yukon golds, which pair beautifully with the tender curry-soused lamb. 

The lamb in our pies comes from Anderson Ranches in the Willamette Valley.  Reed Anderson raises Certified Humane lamb on the lush pastures of the Valley.  The lamb is totally free of antibiotics and hormones.  We think it tastes fantastic, and we're so glad to be partnering with Reed Anderson to bring our customers yummy lamb pies.   

Tonight I am making Greek Lamb patties, which will be so good wrapped in pita with yogurt sauce, tomato, lettuce and feta. 

Greek Lamb Patties

1/3 cup bread crumbs

1 garlic clove, minced

1/3 cup coarsely chopped fresh mint, basil, parsley, or whatever herbs are growing in your garden 

1 1/4 lb ground lamb

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 tablespoon good dijon mustard

1/4 lb feta, crumbled

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Mush everything around in a bowl with clean hands (or a fork, if you must).  Form into patties and pan fry or grill for about 4 minutes per side.  Wrap in pita and smother in yogurt, veggies, avocado, and whatever else you can find in the fridge! 

As I wrote in my last post, we recently hit the road to visit some of our farmers.  We returned with an eskie (that's Aussie for cooler!) full of wonderful meat, including some thick, grass fed ribeye steaks from Fluit Family Farms. 

On Sunday night I cooked up one of Chris' favorites, the classic Aussie pub meal of Steak Diane.  It is sooo good, and so easy, give it a try!

Steak Diane

Adapted from The Joy of Cooking

Heat a large, heavy skillet (I use cast iron) over medium high heat.  Add 1 TBL olive oil.  Season steaks with salt and pepper and saute in pan for 5 minutes on each side for medium rare (less time for rare and more for medium).  Remove steaks from pan and allow to rest while you make the sauce.

Return the pan to medium high heat and add 2 TBL butter until melted.  Add 1/2 cup chopped shallots and cook for 3 minutes until softened.  Stir in:

1/4 cup beef stock

1/4 cup brandy or white wine

1 TBL dijon mustard

2 tsp fresh lemon juice

1 tsp worcestershire sauce

Boil for 2 minutes, scraping the bottom of the pan to incorporate all of that steaky goodness into the sauce.  Add any juices that have accumulated on the steak platter.  Remove the pan from the heat and stir in 1-2 TBL cream or half and half.  

Pour sauce over steaks and garnish with some chopped parsley.

Enjoy with some potatoes, asparagus, and a nice glass of red.  Mmmm.... 

I was just reading an article about up and coming chefs in San Francisco, and the reporter asked each of the chefs what they can't live without in the kitchen. Melissa Chou of Aziza (which my sister and her partner recently visited and said it is phenomonal!) nominated her Dad's old radio as her indispensable kitchen item. Louis Maldonado of Cafe Majestic says he would be lost without his Masamoto knife. And Justin Simoneaux of the Moss Room says preserved lemons are his go-to ingredient.

So I have been thinking - what are my essentials in the kitchen?

My Kitchenaid mixer. A group of friends bought this for me as a going away present when I moved to Australia back in 2001. This mixer came all the way Down Under with me, and then all the way back to the U.S. last year. It has mixed up countless birthday cakes, batches of cookies, weekend muffins, wedding cakes, pizza dough...and the design is so classic that it cheers me up just to look at it.

Furi knives. Furi was started by an Aussie mechanical engineer, and they make incredible knives that feel great in the hand and stay sharp for ages. I also just got the most gorgeous new knife for my birthday this year (thanks Chris!). It was made by a Japanese company that has been making samurai swords for 700 years. This knife is truly a thing of beauty, and wicked sharp!

Cast iron skillets. They are cheap, they can go from the stove top to the oven, and they just get better with age. What more do you want?

Good salt. The most important ingredient in any recipe, from cookies to meat pies. Most commercial salt in the US is stripped of all of its minerals - and therefore unique flavor and nutrition. There are so many amazing salts on the market now. When we lived in Australia I loved to use Murray River pink salt. I also love French gray sea salt, it has such a lovely silver color and amazing, deep mineral flavor.

A glass of wine. Ok, I promise I don't drink when I am baking meat pies for PPC, but when I am home preparing dinner for Chris and I, I just love sipping on a good glass of wine. It is such a wonderful feeling to putter around the kitchen, radio on, working with great ingredients and enjoying a drink after a hard day's work!