My grandma would effortlessly whip up pie crusts when I was a youngster, but has since ceased baking almost altogether. When she does make a pie, it is usually with the pre-made frozen variety of crust that can be purchased at the supermarket that is inferior in every way and filling plopped out from a can. Since she never eats the pies she makes, it makes no difference to her, and since no one ever complains to a grandma that brings baked goods, she’s basically oblivious to any change in quality.

It is almost certain to me that if you’re used to baking store bought crusts that yours will improve in quality by making them from scratch. You’ll even save a couple bucks while you’re at it. Furthermore, though it is possible to buy chilled pie dough, most often you’ll find that the dough has already been set and pre-baked into tart shells or pie plates and ready to be filled, which leaves you no room to improvise. What if you’d like fluted edges? How about a lattice top? What if you just want to put a lid on your chicken pot pie? You can’t choose whether you want your dough to be sweet or savory. There really aren’t a lot of options available to you, unless you make your own.

In trying to mimic grandma with her “a bit of this, a bit of that, and then you have pie crust!” method, making a pastry crust used to pose a great challenge for me. To make matters worse, ‘helpful’ books and websites only whittled at my confidence. I’ve since learned that my fear of overworking the dough was a tad embellished, that the concern of adding too much or too little liquid or fat was easily remedied by a decent recipe, watchful eye and steady hand, that making pie crust really isn’t that difficult.

One important rule that I have learned, however, is to never try to halve a dough recipe. Pie crusts are often given in recipes suitable for making two crusts (for two pies or a top and bottom crust for one), but I’ve never had any success trying to make just enough crust for a single bottom. Why this is so remains unclear to me, but as long as I stick to the basic principles (as outlined below) and a recipe for two, I no longer have any problems. Since pie crust can be made and refrigerated easily for up to a week, or frozen for several months, having extra dough is hardly an issue. In fact, it’s often a blessing in disguise, as it can easily be rolled out and filled for a quick quiche or dessert.

Here are some basic rules you always want to follow when making “pâte brisée”, that are published frequently with virtually every pie crust recipe to terrify you into picking up a pre-baked shell. Resist that temptation and give it a shot. Ideally, butter yields a most flavorful crust and is best for sweet preparations, and shortening or lard yields a flakier one. As long as you stick to the quantity of fat, you can substitute as you desire. The recipe that follows contains a combination of the two, to yield a flaky, flavorful crust that captures the best of both worlds.

Tips For Making Pie Crust

The ingredients, and preferably your hands, utensils and bowls you are using should be as cold as possible. You want to maintain solid chunks of fat in your dough, not to melt them and completely combine into the flour. This will make a flakier crust. If things are warm, the fat is going to melt, which will result in a tough crust. Contrary to this however, as long as your butter hasn’t been sitting in the cupboard or been melted in the microwave, just out of the fridge butter and your body temperature hands as your only tools can still yield a decent dough.

You shouldn’t over mix the dough. Over mixing will also yield a dense, tough crust instead of a light, flaky one. The mixing causes gluten to develop and the fat to warm and melt, which we’ve already established to be bad. In contrast, you still need to mix the dough enough to actually get it to come together, so if you’re still going a minute strong and need some more water, it’s better to add some more water and mix longer than throw the crumbs into the fridge and cross your fingers.

Once you have made the dough, it is essential that you refrigerate it and allow it to rest. Since it is important to keep the fat solid and cold before baking, the refrigerating will help that, and allowing the dough to rest will help shorten and relax the gluten strands, which will make rolling it easier and the finished product ultimately flakier. Pastry flour is often recommended for pie crusts because it has a lower protein content, and therefore lower gluten production, but all-purpose flour can work reasonably well too.

Here is a basic recipe for pie crust:

Now here is a classic recipe to take advantage of your newly established pastry making abilities.

Apple Galette

• 1 recipe pie crust
• 2 granny smith or other tart apples, cored, peeled and sliced 1/4-1/8″ thick
• 2 fuji, gala or other firm apples, cored, peeled and sliced 1/4-1/8″ thick
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup cinnamon sugar (1/4 cup sugar with 1 teaspoon cinnamon, mixed)
• pinch of salt

• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons milk
• sugar, to dust

1. Prepare the filling by heating a large skillet over medium-high heat and melting half of the butter.
2. Allow the butter to brown (not burn) then add half of the apples. Stir the apples to coat with the butter, then continue to stir occasionally until they begin to caramelize and soften.
3. Add half of the cinnamon sugar and sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Stir to coat and transfer the cooked apples to a parchment lined baking sheet or similar to cool.
4. Repeat with the remaining portion of butter, apples, cinnamon sugar and salt and allow all of the apple mixture to cool to room temperature.
5. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
6. Unwrap the dough and place it on a lightly floured surface, lightly dust with flour and roll out about 1/16″ thick, to a 14-16″ shape as closely resembling a circle as possible.
7. If you desire a more rustic looking tart, skip this step. Otherwise use a large pizza pan or similar to trace a perfect circle out of the dough.
8. Dust off remaining flour and transfer the dough to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
9. Mound the apple filling in the center of the crust, allowing an inch to several inches of space on the border to fold inward.
10. Pick an edge of the circle and fold a portion of the crust on to the filling.
11. Continue moving around the crust, folding in portions of the crust as you go.
12. When you come to the end, you may need to unfold your first fold in order to make the end and first fold match. I realize this might sound and look complicated, but once you’re actually doing so, it will become apparent that it is actually quite simple.
13. Whisk together the egg and milk. With a pastry brush, lightly coat the visible portion of the crust with the egg and milk wash.
14. Dust the egg washed crust lightly with sugar and bake in the oven until the crust is browned, about 20-25 minutes.
15. Transfer to a cooling rack and allow to cool for several minutes before slicing and serving.

My local market is loaded with freshly dried Tunisian dates at the moment. A kilogram box of deglet noor dates sell for about three dollars, which is a relative bargain. Once they’re stemmed and pitted, you’re left with about two pounds of delicious fruit. Dates can be eaten by themselves as a snack or stuffed with a variety of fillings such as nuts, cheeses or other fruits as an hor dourve. They are also quite common and popular in tagines and dessert items.

My favorite usage of dates is in a date square, or what some call “matrimonial cake”. The base of a date square is solid, the filling is smooth and the top is rough, which is supposedly a description one could give to marriage, thus where the name is derived. I’m not sure that I buy this, but ordinarily this is how I would fashion my own. Occasionally it is nice to press the top flat and create a firm and gooey marriage, more akin to the consummation than the marriage and equally as satisfying.

Date squares are apparently as Canadian as Nanaimo bars or butter tarts, which I find strange as dates do not grow here naturally as far as I’m aware. It is commonplace to me, and I would miss the easy accessibility of a date square when I find myself waiting in an airport at 6am

looking for the perfect accompaniment to a bold cup of coffee to keep me awake until my flight. Since most of the sweetness comes from the dates themselves and the crust is composed of oats, it is even somewhat nutritious; especially compared to a lot of the pastries, muffins and cakes that grace the shelves of most coffee shops.

I personally enjoy the flavors of cognac, vanilla and orange in my date squares, but you can freely omit them from this recipe if you wish and still end up with tasty results. I would be hesitant of calling them “orange and cognac” date squares if that were the case though.

Orange & Cognac Date Squares

• 16 ounces dates, pitted and chopped
• 1-1/4 cups water
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 ounce cognac
• zest of 1 orange
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• pinch of salt

• 1-1/2 cups flour
• 1-1/2 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• pinch of salt

1. Combine the dates, water, sugar, cognac, orange zest, vanilla and salt in a saucepan over medium heat.
2. Stir occasionally until the mixture resembles a thick, chunky syrup and most of the liquid has been absorbed.
3. Taste the filling and continue to cook, with the additional of more water if necessary, if the mixture still needs to soften to your preference. Cool the filling completely.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
5. Combine flour, oats, sugar, butter, baking soda and a pinch of salt to resemble a coarse meal that loosely sticks together.
6. Press half the oat mixture into a 9×13″ pan that has been greased and dusted with flour.
7. Spread all of the date mixture evenly over the pressed oats using a spatula.
8. Cover the date mixture with the remaining oat mixture to cover.
9. Bake until lightly golden brown, about 20-25 minutes.
10. Allow to cool completely before slicing into desired size squares or bars.

Once a week, on recycling day, I become fully aware of just how many tomatoes that I eat, my bin overflowing with washed and unlabeled empty tomato cans. During the winter, when tomatoes are woefully out of season, I resort to the tinned variety to whip up some tomato sauce for whatever purpose. Canned tomatoes are a perfect ingredient to remind me of summer, even if February still seems like an impenetrable barrier from spring. Their freshness is preserved in the can from when they were picked at their peak.

Although tomatoes are available year round in the supermarket, the watery globes available in the winter are bland and inedible. The one tomato product to grace the produce shelves that still has some redeemable qualities are the tiny cherry or teardrop tomatoes. The smaller tomatoes are typically sweeter than the larger varieties and still quite palatable, even in the coldest months. Since they can still be a touch bitter during the winter season, roasting them is a great way to bring their natural sweetness to the forefront. In fact, roasting any vegetable will caramelize its natural sugars and make them taste sweeter. Bell peppers, onions, garlic, and any root vegetables, which are fantastic during the winter anyway, such as carrots and parsnips, are great examples of this.
Tomatoes in the Winter…

Several months ago I announced future posts about soup to get through the frigid Canadian winter. Having emerged from my hibernation with one post about soup under my belt, I realize I may have been a bit hasty in doing so. Well, so what if the worst of winter is over, I’m still going to give it a go. First things first though, pretty much any good soup starts with a good stock or broth.
How To: Broth…

For Christmas this year there were simply four of us, so it seemed a little ridiculous to cook up a turkey. My mom is allergic to sage, so I wanted to stay clear of poultry, since sage and poultry go hand in hand to me. I contemplated some beef, but both my mom and grandma enjoy their meat medium-well to well-done, which doesn’t really work for me. I decided to go with a pork roast, perhaps to redeem myself.

The last time I prepared dinner for my mom was when I was doing A Food Year, and I prepared a “Brazilian” pork roast. Though she insists it was delicious, soon after eating we’d discovered that she is allergic to ginger and spent several minutes regurgitating it into my toilet, which is never a desired outcome when cooking a meal for anyone, let alone your mama.

Ahem.

Holiday turkeys tend to be dry. So much so that television shows and movies parody Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners with hordes of jokes about the subject. I think eventually, it just became accepted that holiday turkeys just are dry, or worse, that they’re supposed to be, to ensure it’s properly cooked.

A lean pork roast and a turkey are actually quite similar. The only difference is that a turkey is much larger and therefore even more likely to dry out. There are two things that you can do to ensure that your lean white meat does not become turkey jerky.

1) Brine
Brining meat is one of those things that I’ve recommended to anyone that will listen since I first learned what it was. The general consensus to my preaching is that it either sounds complicated or is too much work. It is neither.

The simplest of brines contain only 3 ingredients: salt, sugar and water. The quantities are as easy to remember as what you put in your coffee. You need 1 cup salt and 1 cup sugar to 1 gallon (4 liters) of water. That’s it. To make the brine, simply dissolve the salt and sugar in the water. It helps to apply heat when doing this, such as boiling the water first. If so, make sure that the water is fully cooled before using the brine. You don’t want to cook the meat in the brine, after all!

To brine the meat, simply immerse the meat in the brine and leave it for 12-24 hours. The easiest way is to brine the meat overnight in the refrigerator so it is ready for the next day. When you’re ready to cook, simply discard the brine and pat dry the meat. Let the meat come to room temperature and cook as you would normally. The brine will penetrate the meat seasoning it through, and help to keep it juicy and succulent while cooking.

2) Fat
The difference between a self-basting turkey and a normal one is that it has been injected with fat. As the fat melts, it bastes the bird and helps to keep it moist and flavorful. Buying a self-basting turkey doesn’t have to be the answer. In fact, if you want to control the flavor (and type of fat) that goes into your bird, the best way is to do it at home.

Butter works well, since it is solid at room temperature, and is easily incorporated with other flavors. Use a herb compound butter, or just plain unsalted butter, and rub it generously under the skin of the turkey in any place that you wish to eat it. That’s it. The addition of fat is generally not such a concern with pork, which comes with its own layer of fat, but rubbing a pork roast with flavored oil or butter certainly doesn’t hurt any.

These two methods will increase the quality of your dinner exponentially.
Oh, and if you’ve never tasted the difference between a free-range organic turkey and a Butterball, please do so the next time you make a holiday dinner. It’s like comparing No Name brand flaked tuna to fresh ahi.

Maple Glazed Pork Loin

• 4 cups apple cider or juice
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 cup salt
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice

• 4 pound center cut pork loin, trussed
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 sprig rosemary

In a saucepan large enough to accommodate, combine apple cider, water, salt, sugar, pepper, cinnamon and allspice over medium heat. Stir until solids are dissolved and allow mixture to cool to room temperature.
Immerse the pork loin in the liquid, making sure it is in a container where it will be completely covered, and refrigerate overnight (at least 12 hours).
Remove the pork from the brine and discard of the remaining liquid. Allow the roast to come to room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
Put the pork loin on a rack, fat side up, in a roasting pan and roast uncovered until a meat thermometer registers 160 degrees and the roast is beautifully caramelized, about two hours.
Remove the pork from the oven and, using the rosemary as a brush, coat the roast with a thin glaze of maple syrup, and then top with the rosemary.
Raise heat to 450 degrees, return the pork to the oven and roast for an additional 15-20 minutes.
Once done, remove the pork from the oven and allow to rest, uncovered, for at least 20 minutes before carving.

I like to roast this along with a package of plain old breakfast sausages. The skins crisp up beautifully with the pork fat and taste absolutely delicious with maple syrup. Excellent served with baked yams and green beans.

September is nearly over. The nights are cold enough now that I’d rather not brave the outdoors without a jacket, sweater or decent buzz. The leaves are starting to change color, the farmers have started or finished pulling their crops and our Thanksgiving is right around the corner. It is nearly autumn, or as I think of it, soup season. God willing, as soup blogging is indeed the path of the righteous man, I will manage to post about as many of my favorites as time permits: and that’s a great many soups.
Butternut Squash and Sweet Corn Soup…

Though it seems somewhat logical to assume the Neapolitans have only given us the wonder of three-flavored ice cream, it is also the pizza that originated in Naples. Considering its popularity, it’s hard to believe that the pizza is barely one-hundred years old, born in 1889 as a dish prepared during the visit of Queen Margherita. This most basic of pizzas, consisting of little more than dough, tomato sauce, mozzarella and basil (a classic Italian combination, symbolizing the colors of the flag and basically all that’s good in the world) started a culinary marvel that would soon span the globe. A Little Slice of Heaven…

If you’ve ever enjoyed a Thanksgiving dinner, chances are you’re fond of the idea of sitting around a table with a big bird and your family. Food marketers capitalize on this idea constantly with images of families sitting in the comfort of a franchise booth, happily chatting and eating their sauce-slathered chicken with no fewer than two starchy sides and a soda. Swiss Chalet now has a commercial on the TV where the family is thankful that their picnic got rained out so they could eat there instead. I think it’s safe to say that we’re fond of chicken dinners if we prefer them to having a picnic with our family! So I guess the real question is, why should you learn to cook a chicken dinner when you can just go to Swiss Chalet?

What’s the Deal with Those Rotisserie Chickens?…

• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 3 cups rolled oats (do NOT use instant oats)
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil or margarine
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a non-stick skillet over medium heat, toast the coconut until it is fragrant and lightly browned. Keep on eye on this and stir frequently because it will quickly go from brown to burnt. Put the coconut in a large mixing bowl and toast the oats until warmed. Combine the coconut, oats, brown sugar, honey, oil, cinnamon and salt and spread out on a baking sheet. Bake the granola until your house smells like a comforting bed and breakfast, about 20-25 minutes. Allow granola to cool, then break apart into chunks and store in an air tight container. Add additional ingredients if desired, such as toasted nuts or seeds or dried fruits, after the baking process to prevent burning.

As with many food lovers, I’m sure, my first experience with food was baking with my grandma. Baba and I would make bread and buns, where I would furiously pound down the dough with my little fists, cookies and, on occasion, we would even make doughnuts. I remember that we even made playdough on the stove top, which always kind of sucked, but was fun anyway. After all that childhood experience, you’d think I’d be endowed with superior baking skills.

As it turns out though, I’m not much of a baker. The recipients of some of my baked good may beg to differ, but baking and I don’t particularly get along. As much as I love the idea of the science involved in it, that there may in fact be a perfect harmony of ingredients and temperature that will yield the best baked good, that even altitude plays a role; I simply don’t have the patience for it. I can’t be bothered to measure things exactly. I don’t have a food scale. Actually, that’s a lie, we just only use it to weigh Harrison. I have difficulty following a recipe step by step. I don’t like that you can’t lick a finger of raw batter to determine whether the result is going to turn out right. Well, most of the time, anyway. Which is why I often delegate these types of duties to Shannon, who will meticulously follow a recipe to its every detail and yield predictable results every time, where I would be batting .500 (which is great for baseball but horrible for food).

This is why I love baking muffins.

Muffins…