Apple Pie
Quarter and pare eight apples. Cut the quarters in two and fill a deep pie plate. If the apples are quite sour use two-thirds of a cup of granulated sugar; if only moderately so, half a cup. One teaspoon of cinnamon. Roll the under crust very thin. The upper crust should be punctured for the escape of the steam. After moistening the under crust around the edges fold the upper crust under it and press them together to keep in the juice. Bake in a moderate oven from half to three-quarters of an hour.
Apple Custard Pie
Stew six large mealy apples, sweeten and flavor to taste. Take three eggs and separate the whites and yolks. Beat the yolks until light and add to the cooked apples. Then beat the whole mixture, which should become very light. Line some pie tins with paste, pour in the mixture and set in the oven to bake. Beat the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth with sugar, flavor with vanilla or lemon. When the pie is baked, take it from the oven, spread the meringue on the top, and put back in the oven for a few moments until set and slightly browned.–Emelia Cowell.
Cheese Straws
Roll piecrust dough the same thickness as for pies. Cut in strips from six to ten inches wide and cut the strips into straws or sticks a quarter of an inch in width. Lay upon baking sheets, leaving a space between the straws a third the width of the straws. Grate rich cheese, season to taste with salt and red pepper and scatter thickly over the straws and the spaces between them. Put in the oven where the greatest heat will be at the top and bake ten or fifteen minutes. Cut the cheese in the center of the spaces between the straws, remove from the baking sheet with a limber knife and pile tastily on a plate.–Emma P. Ewing.
Cream Pie
A cream pie without cream makes a dainty dessert. Line a deep plate with good paste, pricking it in several places with a fork to let the air out and prevent blisters, and bake a delicate brown. To make the filling, put over the fire in a double boiler one large cup of milk. Stir together half a cup of sugar, a piece of butter the size of a walnut, a small half cup of flour, one tablespoon of cold milk and the yolks of two well-beaten eggs. Mix until they are thoroughly blended, and add them to the milk when it boils. Stir until it thickens, and when the flour is cooked take from the fire and flavor with vanilla. Fill the crust that has been baked with custard, beat the whites of the eggs to a froth, and add to them two tablespoons of powdered sugar; cover the top of the pie with them and brown lightly in the oven. The custard may be flavored with chocolate to make a change.
Good Mincemeat Without Intoxicants
Five pounds of beef boiled until tender (it should be salted when partly done). Let cool in liquor, remove fat, chop very fine and measure. Use twice as much finely chopped apple, which should be tart, as meat. To the apple and meat then add the liquor in which the meat was boiled; also the fat which has been removed, and one quart of boiled cider. If there was a scant amount of fat, add also half a cup of butter. Jelly or candied fruit will improve the pies, if wanted richer. Add also three teaspoons of cloves, two of cinnamon, same of mace, and three pounds of seeded raisins. No definite rule can be given for sugar, as more or less is required, according to acidity of apples. Sweeten to taste with brown sugar. After all the ingredients have been put together, warm, and if found too thick for use, thin with cider or unfermented grape juice. When hot this can be put up as fruit and kept indefinitely.–Mrs E. M. Widdicomb.
Lemon Pie
Four eggs, six tablespoons of sugar, five tablespoons of cold water, the grated rind and juice of one lemon, one tablespoon of melted butter, and a pinch of salt. Beat the yolks and sugar, stir in the rest and bake. Beat the whites sweetened, and spread over the top and brown slightly.–Mrs Whitney.
Pumpkin Pie
To make one pie, rub through a sieve cooked pumpkin enough to make two cups. To this add a small cup of sugar, a saltspoon of salt, one teaspoon of cinnamon and one of ginger and a pint of hot milk, and mix thoroughly. When cold stir in two well-beaten eggs and fill a pie plate that has been lined with good, rich paste. It will require three-quarters of an hour to bake.
Lemon Pie with Raisins
One egg, one cup of raisins, one large lemon, one cup of boiling water, one cup of light brown sugar, half cup of molasses, two tablespoons of melted butter, one even tablespoon of flour. Chop raisins fine; grate the yellow part of lemon; stir the flour to a paste in cold water and add to the cup of boiling water. Beat the eggs and stir all together. This will make the filling for two pies with top and bottom crust.–Mrs S. Z. Foster.
Apple Pie with Pineapple
Bake an apple pie in the usual way, but without sweetening. While it is baking take three tablespoons of grated pineapple, one tablespoon of water, three of sugar, and simmer together till the fruit looks clear. When the pie is taken from the oven, remove the top crust, spread the pineapple over the apple, replace the cover and set the pie away to cool. The pineapple mixture furnishes the sweetening.
Mince Pie
Ingredients: Four pounds of lean, cold boiled meat chopped fine, nine pounds of apples chopped fine, one and a half pounds of suet chopped fine, three pounds of raisins, two pounds of currants, half a pound of citron sliced fine, five pounds of sugar, three teaspoons of ground cloves, ten teaspoons of ground cinnamon, five teaspoons of ground mace, one teaspoon of ground black pepper, six tablespoons of salt, one quart of cider and vinegar mixed with one quart of molasses. Mix all, and add the juice and grated rind of two lemons; or, instead of cider, vinegar and molasses, one quart of sherry and one pint of brandy may be substituted. Keep this mincemeat in stone jars; add a little more liquor, if it should become too dry, when about to make pies.
Pie Crust
One-half cup of lard and one-half cup of butter. Work into three cups of flour. Moisten with cold water. Take half the quantity, roll to an inch in thickness, cover with small bits of butter, then form the whole into a roll. With a rolling pin applied crosswise the roll, flatten it, and cover again with bits of butter. Repeat this operation three times, using in all about a quarter of a cup of butter. This is for the upper crust. The other half for the under crust needs to be rolled but once, and very thin for the pan. If to be filled with custard, squash, lemon or cream, bake the under crust first. To keep it smooth on the pan cut a piece of paper the size of the crust and partly fill it with flour. This flour can be used for gravies, etc. Of course the paper is to be removed before fillng the pie for the final baking. This will make four medium pies, both upper and under crust. This is much cheaper than puff paste and better for ordinary use.–Mrs E. C. Gardner.
Rissoles and Patty Cases
Rissoles are very dainty entrees, considered elaborate enough for the most formal occasion. Cut puff paste in oblong pieces three by four inches, or stamp out in rounds. Place a spoonful of any savory meat mixture (creamed chicken, sweetbreads or mushrooms, daintily seasoned, being most suitable) on the lower half, fold over the wet edges of upper half and press well together. A sauce is served with them. A satisfactory proportion is two tablespoons of butter, two tablespoons of flour, one cup of chicken or other stock. Study to season the mixtures and sauces in a way all your own, setting the seal of your own dainty individuality upon the dishes you prepare.
For patties, roll puff paste one-fourth inch thick, stamp out rounds with French cutter, remove centers from half the rounds, forming rings. Wet the edges of whole rounds, lay on the rings and press well together. Chill and bake twenty-five minutes.
A Pie Mold
In the “old country” where pastry is more hygienic than in America, it would be looked upon as deadly to eat a pie with a soaked under crust. Either there is no under crust, simply a well baked top and a filling of anything from pigeons to fruit, or a pie mold is made. For this purpose, puff paste may be used, or what the Scotch call “half puff,” a pastry we would class as rich, with about half as much butter as flour. This paste is put on the outside of a bowl of tin or graniteware, and pricked all over to keep it from puffing up in unseemly bubbles. A lid is fashioned from another round of pastry covering a saucer. It is ornamented with medallions and scalloped edged ribbons of paste, put on according to the cook’s taste. It must be very carefully baked and turned frequently. When cold slip it off the mold and serve in any way desired. It may hold creamed meat, any stewed fruit or fresh fruit with powdered sugar sifted over it.
Good housekeeping woman’s home cook book by Isabel Gordon Curtis