OK so I'm cheating. Big Guy's off in the desert for another few days hunting the elusive peccary (javalina). Consequently I had a rather uninspired but no less delicious ham sandwich for dinner last night. The pie you're looking at was the sweet treat of the week to welcome you know who home on Monday night.
A page from Martha's web site, the pie is simple enough to make. I used treasured cranberries I'd stashed in the freezer from the holidays and beautiful Oregon Royal Riviera pears from Harry and David, courtesy of our friends John and Shirien. The incredibly juicy perfectly ripe pears are gi-normous so it only took 3 to do the trick along with a 12 ounce pacakge of cranberries, a touch of brown sugar mixed with a few tablespoons of cornstarch, some of my homemade bourbon vanilla and chunks of butter sealed the deal.
Looks good huh? Well believe me it tasted good too. Imagine sweet creamy buttery pears and tart cranberries - what could be better? I mean really!
There's only one problem and since I try to be honest to a fault, I'm here to confess. While it looks great, tasted fabulous and lasted for all of 24 hours, there wasn't enough cornstarch to counteract the juicyness of the pears and crans so it was very, very runny. No matter though. Big Guy called it a "cobbler" and we ate it anyway.
Hit Martha's site here for the recipe but remember if your pears are extremely juicy, adjust the cornstarch upward to 4 or 5 tablespoons and leave your pie in the oven for the full 90 minutes. I didn't, should'a so I'll have to make it again. Oh darn!
Incidentally, I didn't bother with the egg yolk/cream wash or the apricot preserves. I merely brushed the pastry with half and half cream and dusted it with granulated sugar.
Oh my, what a lovely looking pie!!!! I bet you already miss the last abode terribly and are sooooo ready to get yourself settled up in the paradise that is Oregon! Thank goodness for lovely things such as this pie to make the transition no to bad!
Posted by: Lea | 02/14/2013 at 06:23 AM
Thanks Lea and yes, you're right. Rolling pastry with a wine bottle is a rather new experience LOL. I miss my old kitchen but I'll be getting used to the new Oregon kitchen soon. Three more weeks and I'll be heading "home".
Posted by: June | 02/14/2013 at 07:20 AM
To bad you aren't here now! The weather is just fantastic! The pie sounds yummy...don't you just love Harry and David?
Posted by: Lorraine | 02/15/2013 at 09:20 AM
Wow! I'll wager this is delicious. I do a pie with apples and cranberries, but this sounds even better. Have a wonderful weekend. Blessings...Mary
Posted by: Mary@One Perfect Bite | 02/15/2013 at 10:02 AM
Lorraine - Order up some more good weather, OK? Harry and David are the bomb! Absolutely love these pears.
Mary - I've made it with apples too, but the pear/cranberry combination is really fabulous no doubt because of the OREGON pears. LOL
Posted by: June | 02/15/2013 at 12:07 PM