Citrus Pie!
But first:
The Mesa Urban Garden Free Seed Share and Q&A with me at 1 p.m. Saturday February 1st. You can bring edible varieties of seeds to share or just come and pick up seed to plant. Bring your questions too!
Edible Phoenix is a wonderful quarterly magazine - you can find them at many local farmers markets - they are part of an Edible Magazine of regional issues.
Anyway, on facebook the other day they posted a recipe for "Citrus Pie". The timing was perfect as I was just wondering if I could make some kind of pie with my beautiful blood oranges etc.
Here is the recipe they shared, click here.
I did so many things different - and probably wrong - when I made my version. First off - I did some research for recipes for citrus / lemon pies and found many references to "Shaker Lemon Pie". Even Martha Stewart had her version.
I will tell you the pie is delicious and I used too much sugar - I have to cut back for the next version - but it is still a nice and different treat. And freezable - so the rest is freezing in wedges as I write this.
What I did wrong.
I could not get the really, really thin slices as recommended. I need to figure out how to do that. My mandolin was useless and I am terrible with a knife, but it may be the knives really need sharpening.
Next I managed to confuse a couple of recipes and used way too much sugar - 2 cups. Because the blood oranges are sweeter than lemons, I should reduce my recipe to 1 cup. I recommend that if you try this recipe. BUT if you go with the original idea of using lemons you will need probably 1 1/2 cups of sugar.
Most recipes call for something like 2 lemons or some combination of other small citrus - oranges are always bigger. That kind of reference - 2 pieces of fruit - always has me trying to figure out how to convert to cups, so I used another recipe which call for 2 cup of sliced fruit.
Most recipes stress thin-skinned fruit (less pith). Well I learned from my whole fruit marmalade recipe* experience that we are not opposed to the thicker skin of our oranges. It is a choice.
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| Citrus- Pie left-over "curd" |
My Blood Orange Citrus Pie Recipe
2 cups sliced orange - I also sliced about 4 limequats - I thought the green would contrast nicely with the orange
1 cup sugar (I used way too much sugar for a sweet orange so I recommend 1 cup unless you use lemons)
4 large eggs
1/4 tsp salt
1 pre-baked 9 inch pie shell (I used a deep dish version and it was still not big enough)
The night before you want to bake the pie (or eight hours ahead of time) gently mix fruit and sugar and set aside - cover lightly with a cloth and let macerate.
Baking day: Set over temp to 350.
Cover the edges of the pie crust with aluminum foil to keep from burning. I like to put my pies on a tray for baking, in case of spills.
Gently toss the fruit/sugar together. Pick out several nice look pieces of fruit and set aside for topping before baking.
Lift out and layer the fruit in the pie shell, leaving the liquid behind.
Beat eggs well, add salt and stir into the fruit liquid until well blended.
Pour the liquid over the fruit until just below the edge of the pie crust.
Bake for 30-50 minutes depending on your oven, size of the pie etc. The pie should giggle just ever so slightly when done - my cooked for 50 minutes. Thinner sliced fruit should cook faster. Serve warm or chilled. Can be frozen.
* My marmalade recipe using whole fruit. - the beauty of this recipe is that you can literally use one orange, or 2 lemons - breaking the recipe down according to how much fruit you have. The next cool part of this is the original lemon marmalade recipe is another Edible Phoenix recipe from Molly Beverly from 2015. All of it was inspiration for me because I have never cared for marmalade - just too sweet jelly with a few pieces of rind in it. Ugh. Now the whole fruit marmalade is like a wonderful preserve/jam!
These two plants are 4+ years old each. The fat chubby one is a Hungarian Paradicsom - got from Vilardi Gardens. The other one is one of the "Lipstick" or "Gypsy" type small peppers, sometimes called lunchbox peppers. You see them in the groceries stores all the time.
I have leftover '"stuffing" from the following recipe so I am going to use some of the Paradicsom to stuff and simmer in lemon/oil for another snack.
Nasturtium Leaf Dolma
I love Dolma aka stuffed grape leaves, a Mediterranean appetizer/grazing food. Pickled grape leaves (historically fig leaves would be used also), filled with a grain and herb stuffing and simmered in a lemon/olive oil bath.
Eight years ago I was gazing out the window at my HUGE nasturtium leaves and thought "dolma". I did a little extra research and decided I had to make my version of Dolma with these huge leaves.
I don't always remember to make them every year, just depends on what is going on in my life, but we had company Saturday so I thought - great time to make as our guests like some vegetarian type foods.
You need to pay attention to the set up in the pot AND care in simmering. If the liquid comes to a boil or rapid simmer, the bundles come undone.
I like to use quinoa and another grain/pasta for the mix. I had some of my preserved limequats, parsley and spearmint from the garden so I was set.
8-12 large nasturtium leaves, rinsed and dried, stem cut off as near to leaf as possible without tearing the leaf
1 to 1/2 cups of cooked grain of choice - I used red quinoa and orzo pasta*
2-3 tablespoon of fresh lemon or lime juice
2-3 tablespoon of olive oil
2 tablespoons each minced parsley and mint
6-8 kalamata olives slivered
Optional: 1 preserved limequat or 1/4 preserved lemon, minced
Salt to taste - but check because the preserved lemon/lime and olives are salty
Pieces of carrot or potato to help keep bundles tightly together in the pot
Mix grains, parsley, mint, olives and preserved fruit - blend well but do not mash.
Mix oil and juice together, add salt if using.
Pour 1/3 into pot you will use to simmer
Pour 1/3 into grain mix and stir to coat.
Put about 2 tablespoons +/- at the lower center of each leaf, roll forward, then fold over each side and continue rolling. Place each seem side down in the pot. You are aiming to tightly fill the pot. Continue filling and rolling until you have as many as possible filling the pot. Fill in empty spaces with carrot or potato pieces (they taste good too after cooking).
Cover and carefully bring to a low simmer and monitor so it does not boil. Cook for 20 minutes.
Serve warm or cold. The nasturtium leaves may collapse a little was they cool. Even if they separate the whole 'mess' is still delicious.
*When I cook grains together I determine the full amount of water needed to wind up with no extra liquid, check the time required for each component and start off with the one needing the most cooking time. In this case quinoa needs 15-17 minutes and orzo needed 9. So boil water, add quinoa, 6 minutes later add pasta and cook at low boil stirring occasionally. I also add just a bit of oil, so the mix does not get too sticky. Take off heat, stir and let cool a bit.
I hope you enjoy these recipes and think about giving them a try.
I also hope to see you at the FREE SEED SHARE this Saturday.
Have a best day, enjoying our nice weather.
Be patient, be kind and smile, someone may be having a challenging day and could use a friendly smile,
-- Catherine, The Herb Lady
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