Pie Story

I love pies - be it savoury or sweet. What makes a good pie according to me is the crust. 

Three years back when I first visited Arun in UK, I remember trying out Pies every time we went out and that would make him not so happy. The best one I had, has to be in the covered market in Oxford. During that same trip I discovered what I had so far seen in all the cooking videos - store bought pie sheets.

Pork and mushroom pie

The first ever pie I made was pork and mushroom pie. I made a filling with pork sausages, minced mushroom and peas with onion garlic and seasonings. The store bought pie crust sheet was such a saviour for someone who had no experience in making one. I wish we get these in the India too someday!

Mixed berry and cream cheese Pie

The next one was a mixed berry pie with cream cheese. Not the healthiest but definitely the tastiest. I made a berry jam with frozen mixed berries, some sugar and lemon zest and juice. After blind baking the pie crust, poured a layer of cream cheese and topped with the mixed berry jam and fresh berries. Playing around with the lattice was easier with these already made crust sheets.

Brushed the pie with egg wash and baked it in the pre heated oven at 180 degrees till the crust turned beautiful golden brown.

Christmas Pork Pie

I made the pie crust from scratch for the first time for one of the Christmas parties at home. Got hold of some nice minced pork from a cold corner close to my place. After reading up hundreds of blogs and tons of videos I finally made the crust. It needs just four ingredients - water, butter, salt and butter and a lot of patience and time. Check out these recipes by Cupcake Jemma, Allrecipes or Bigger Bolder Baking. There are numerous other recipes out there so go ahead and do your research.

Apple Pie

The gorgeous apple pie you see above was the latest experiment with a pie crust without butter. I followed this recipe on YouTube. This recipe doesn't need butter. It might not be the most authentic way but you can enjoy a little bit of healthier Pie!
Recipe for the filling is given below below.

Ingredients :

• 2 diced red apples
• 1 tbsp honey
• Pinch of cinnamon powder

Method:

• Heat the pan and add the diced apples with honey.
• Stir it for 5 minutes and the apples will try to break down and form a jam like consistency
• Add a pinch of cinnamon (cinnamon makes everything better!) and a pinch more if you like and stir it well.
• Pour the apple filling into the pie tin. Get creative with the lattice and give it a nice egg wash for the beautiful golden colour
• Bake the pie in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes or till the crust turns golden.

Enjoy your piece of the apple pie with a drizzle of homemade caramel sauce and don't forget to take a picture!