Jewel Yam Pie

Organic Jewel Yam and Maple Pie

This is my own preparation, and I usually just eyeball the quantities, and attempt to leave butter and white sugar out of it.  This cuts down dramatically on calories, etc.  ...if it's gonna be a pie, you do need a pre-made pie shell, which you can make by many other expert recipes or by buying (lard-free if possible) at the store.  I am using a smaller 9 inch vegetarian pre-made shell made at the local grocery this time.

Gather:

2 big beautiful ruby colored organic Jewel Yams: boiled until soft and the skins peel off easily, and then mashed until very smooth. By hand-masher or fork is fine.
1/3 c plain greek organic yogurt
1/2 c organic vermont maple syrup, less if you like your pie more savory. 
1/3 c golden-brown choice sugar
4 large and local egg whites, whisked into a froth (not as many if you decide leave the yolks in).
1/4 teaspoon natural vanilla

Spice mixture: 1 tablespoon of cinnamon, and a dash of cloves and nutmeg, a pinch of sea salt.
Ginger is a nice addition, as yams and ginger have a centering, balancing and harmonious nature when put together.  Fresh ginger or dried, (a pinch will do) it's up to you.

Preheat your oven and blend all of these ingredients together.  Pour the mix into a standard 9" pie dough, smooth out into the shell and bake for 20 minutes at 400°F.
Remember to then reduce your oven's temperature to 350 and then let this pie bake for 35-50 minutes.  You may need to check on it (fold foil over the pie crust to keep from over-crisping if necessary) and stick a toothpick in, when it comes out clean, you have a Jewel Yam Pie to set up on a wire rack for a few minutes at least before you try to cut into it...  Served hot or cold, and not too sweet...really good for breakfast the next day.  That seems to be a large part of how I rate a pie, anyway: if it's good for breakfast, it's a champion.

To be a good host you can add whipped cream but I like this pie 'casual' and edible anytime.  It's less sugary sweet than other recipes that you will find - light comfort food as we come into Autumn.

Summer Pies

One more peach pie for end of summer!  ...total peaches

Reunion Pies!

This spring we had a gathering of cousins in Maryland, and maybe it's a family trait, but at all of our events were supplemented by pie.  Not all were homemade, but all were tasty and worth bloggin' about.

Here we have an old-fashioned apple pie and a crumble top fruit pie, for dessert at the pool party!

This one is a Blueberry Pie that came from Butler's Orchard, Germantown.  We mainly had this for breakfast.  I liked this one the best, perfect for Raven's Pie (only 3 more months until football season!)

Strawberry Rhubarb - heavy on the Rhubarb is okay with my folks - very popular and hard to photograph quick enough.

On Memorial Day, a friend brought over Soviet Lemon Pie, which I would have called a cake or a tart.  I include it on the Pie Blog because it was so odd - the secret ingredient was Ensure.  I can't say it was really very good but we had a fun time discussing it over watermelon vodka shots.

The 2010 Spring Guest Pie

Springtime brought yummy fruit and friends to the house this past month, and here is my favorite 2010 Guest Pie!  Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble was delicious.  I think this is my favorite pie of all time, and my Dad's favorite too.  Much Thanks to the guest chef, C-n-G!

Uncle Bro's Apple Gallete

Before going into to bake

If you want a way to ease yourself into pie making, you could start with a free-form pie known as a galette. On the other hand, getting the flaky crust and caramelized apples perfectly done can make this simple pie not totally simple.
Uncle Bro is indeed a master chef, a professional in a city of serious chefiness, and has even recently served up a good meal to the Dalai Lama here in San Francisco! As humble as Uncle Bro is, admittedly he knows this French Tart.

I had the pleasure of hanging at Uncle Bro's and having a wonderful home-cooked meal of a fresh farmer's market vegetable soup (which resurrected my interest in Cauliflower), a wonderful chicken entrée and this cute dessert baked with Granny Smith Apples and served with a crème inglese...so wonderful at the end of a long week. Thanks to Uncle Bro and Swiss Sis for hosting!

Butternut - Azuki Pie

Spontaneous Pie! A roasted Butternut Squash that has decorated my kitchen since Thanksgiving, and the sweet little red Azuki beans available in the pantry inspired me to get creative and throw something together I had never done.
Bringing together the organic brown sugar, a little buttermilk, a few eggs and some cloves, this pie was for me a not-too sweet and not-too heavy after-holiday pie that was so tasty warm, I can see having this for breakfast.

Final Pie of the Year: Chicago Stone-Baked Pizza Pie!

This one was my first pizza pie on '...The Pie Blog'. I called it a delicious mess, as I learned to make a deep dish Chicago style creation for this last blog of the year without having a proper pizza peel or proper deep dish. Nonetheless, the taste was a most fantastic outcome. It ended up looking a bit like a gi-normous stromboli.

The crust was a hand-made whole wheat garlic bread, and yes I made it from scratch without a bread maker or any machines. This made for a really rustic and irregular shape and texture, truly homemade comfort. I also made the tomato sauce from scratch, making this an all day thing that I would best do on winter break like now. The hot italian spicy sausage, crumbled and cooked into the dough was the best part, I think. Fresh italian cheeses and lots of fresh basil topped it off. This was time consuming, but very worthwhile and ultimately easy to do.