Typically when it's time for Blogger C.L.U.E. Society I head to my assigned blog and spend a couple of hours poking around and seeing what all might work. Then, I print (in pdf form) several recipes for Connie to take a look at. Once we've talked about the pros and cons, I make a decision and make one or two of the recipes. I usually have a fallback in the event I screw something up. Like the epic brownie failure not so many months ago! This time I typed in the url of Lora's blog and there it was. My perfect recipe. Blueberry Icebox Pie. Oh, yeah. How perfect is that. The theme this month is Beat the Heat. We love blueberries. The photo of the pie had me licking my lips. I didn't even ask Connie what he thought. I just put graham crackers and blueberries on the grocery list!
Then, I just had to go back to Lora's blog and poke around a bit. I'm totally in awe of Lora. She is a baker extraordinaire. And, she can cook like all get out. She has a couple of soups that I'm just waiting for cooler weather to try. Lentil with caramelized onion and Kale and Chickpea with Garlic Crostini. Don't those conjure up a lovely fall day? There's a no-knead olive bread that even this non-baker could probably tackle. Ahhh, I can only wish I could bake half as well as Lora... Hopefully, someday when we get to Florida I can meet her and sample some goodies!!! I'm thinking sampling is a great excuse to go NOW - LOL.
So, the recipe. It's super simple. And, Connie who tends to tolerate sweets, has actually ASKED for more of this. I think that's the first time ever with a sweet. He likens it to frozen blueberry yogurt. Please don't tell him they sell frozen yogurt and it's similar to ice cream. He thinks he doesn't like ice cream. So, we'll keep this our secret, ok?
Blueberry Icebox Pie
Ingredients:
for the Crust:
12 full size graham crackers
1/4 c sugar
6 T vegetable oil (olive oil if you're being very healthy or melted butter if you're being decadent)
for the filling:
1 c fresh or frozen blueberries plus a few to decorate the top
1 T sugar
2 T Grand Marnier or Limoncello
1 c heavy cream
1 T confectioner's sugar
1 c vanilla Greek yogurt
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350F. While that is heating, give the graham crackers a whir in your food processor until you've got crumbs. Mix the crumbs with the sugar and oil. Press the mixture into a 9" pie plate. Bake it for 8-10 minutes or until it's nice and brown.
Remove the crust from the oven and set it aside to cool. Rinse the processor. Now, you'll give the blueberries a whir. Before you do so, mix them with the sugar and the liquor. Pour the blueberry mixture into a large bowl. Whip the cream. (I'm with Lora here. Real cream. Whipped yourself. Makes all the difference in the world.) Slowly add the confectioners sugar until you've got peaks on the cream. As Lora notes, whip too much and you've got butter. Gently scrape the whipped cream onto the blueberry mixture. Now, gently fold them together. Equally gently, add the yogurt. Spoon the mixture into the cooled crust. Decorate with blueberries and pop this into the freezer overnight.
Now, I'd love for you to visit Lora's blog and see the recipe there. Here's the link: Blueberry Icebox Pie. And, my fellow bloggers have some other fun Beat the Heat treats. You'll find their blogs below. Happy Eating!
I love the Secret Recipe Club. It's such a fantastic opportunity to get acquainted with a blog I'd probably never have found on my own. It's tough to find new blogs when life is so busy that getting posts on my own blog is a problem. From after Labor Day until tax season is over, I barely have time to breathe. That's why I so enjoy browsing through another blog searching for just the perfect recipe to try. With GeorgieCakes that's easier said than done. She has quite the collection of wonderful recipes. I was stumped. And, I knew I didn't have time to try four or five and choose my favorite to blog about. Then, I saw this recipe. My wonderful husband, Connie, LOVES pears. They're his favorite fruit. And, he loves pies. Perfect. My search was over. Now, I just have to find the time to go back and try the other dozen recipes I found :-)
Now, just a word here about the Secret Recipe Club. It's a group of 300 bloggers who are randomly assigned a blog. We're divided into four groups and each group posts one Monday of the month. So, the Mondays that I don't have a SRC post, you can hop over to their website at secretrecipeclub.com and see what everyone's posted.
And, I do want to introduce you to Georgia of Georgiecakes. She's a hoot. As I'm typing this on Tuesday, September 21 at o'dark thirty, I hopped over to check out what she's got on her blog now. Maple pesto. Made with three different kinds of nuts. Be still my heart! That one is going on the menu for sure!! I love Georgia's enthusiasm and her wonderful recipes. Hers is a blog I'll use regularly. Thanks Georgia!! Here's a link to her original post: Pear Frangipane Tart
What did we think? There's half a tart left. It's early in the morning. I want a slice. Really want a slice. But, it's my oatmeal morning. Ugh. Pear tart would be so much better. The recipe sounds more complicated than it is. And, you can make pieces and parts ahead of time so it's perfect for entertaining. Just get all the components made in advance and put together your tart the day of the party. I poached the pears the night before and refrigerated them in the poaching liquid - which was incredible. The next evening when I made the frangipane (just try and keep from licking that bowl!) and baked the tart, I couldn't bear to toss the poaching liquid. It was just too good. So, I poured it in a little saucepan and thickened it with some cornstarch. In the event it wasn't perfect with the tart, I spooned a bit around the edges of the plate instead of drizzling it over the tart. Either way works because we practically licked our plates. If you're being really adventurous, you can make a homemade pie crust and put a bit of pear nectar in it instead of water. Ok, I've got to quit writing about this tart or my oatmeal won't get eaten.
Pear Frangipane Tart
Ingredients:
For the pears:
6 bosc or anjou pears
3 T melted butter
3 T sugar
1 c white wine
1/2 c Lyle's golden syrup (or 1/4 c honey, maple syrup or Karo syrup)
2 T vanilla bean paste (I didn't have any so used about a teaspoon of vanilla extract)
For the frangipane:
1 c almonds, toasted (whole, sliced or slivered work, you're going to grind them anyway!)
1/2 c
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 t flour
1/2 t salt (I left this out and didn't miss it in the least)
1 vanilla bean, halved with seeds scraped out
Directions:
First, you're going to poach the pears. You'll need to peel the pears and cut the bottoms off so they'll stand upright. Put the melted butter into a measuring cup. One by one, dunk the pears in the melted butter.
Stand them in a baking dish and pour in the rest of the butter.
Sprinkle them generously with the sugar. Mix the Lyle's Golden Syrup
and the wine. Pour that mixture into the bottom of the baking dish.
Bake the pears at 425 for about 45 minutes or until they're very soft. Baste the pears occasionally with the juices.
Next, you need to make the frangipane. Put the almonds and sugar in the bowl of a food processor. Process until they're well ground. Put the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and cream until they're pale and fluffy. Add the egg and egg yolk and mix for two minutes. Finally, add the almond mixture, flour, vanilla bean seeds. Mix for about three minutes.
Both the pears and the frangipane can be made 2-3 days in advance. Be sure to reserve the poaching liquid.
Now, it's time to assemble the tart. You can either make a pie crust or cheat like I did and use one of the pre-made ones. Spread the frangipane filling in the bottom of the crust.
Remove the pears from the poaching liquid and pat them dry. Cut them in half and remove the seeds. Slice the pears into 1/2 inch slices. Lay the slices on the frangipane in a circular pattern.
Bake the tart for 45-50 minutes at 350. Just about when you're ready to take the tart out of the oven, pour the poaching liquid into a small saucepan. Mix about a tablespoon of cornstarch with a tablespoon of water to make a slurry. Cook the poaching liquid on medium heat and thicken with the corn starch. Serve the slices of pie with a drizzle of the sauce.
Note from Connie: This may be his favorite pie ever. While I was at a conference, he inhaled the other half.
adapted from GeorgieCakes
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Connie's brother, Tom, just moved from Boston to Chicago. Well, he's working and living in Chicago. Home is still Boston. And, he's got a ski house in Vermont. He's been back to Boston and Vermont twice in the couple of months he's been living in Chicago. Can't say that I blame him since he's renting a room in Chicago. I'd be escaping too if my space was a room!! When Connie invited Tom to join us at my family's Thanksgiving, I wasn't surprised that he said he'd love to stay for the whole weekend. Here are Connie and Tom on Thanksgiving. Evidently, filling one's plate is very serious business:
One of the things I like best about cooking is the creativity involved. Rarely do I make a recipe exactly as it's written. And, unless you're baking, that's ok. Strawberry Rhubarb Pie is an example. I have a recipe for rhubarb cream pie that I've used for years. Some neighbors in Fort Wayne gave it to me in about 1979. I had a lovely rhubarb plant in the garden up there but I really didn't know to cook the stuff other than stewing it with some sugar. Over the years, I've tried a lot of other rhubarb pie recipes. But, I keep coming back to this one because it's so darned good. And, I always followed the recipe to a "T." Finally this year, I decided it might be a good twist if I added strawberries to the mix. Now that I've tried strawberries in it, I'm thinking blueberries might also be a great addition. A bit of recipe lingo here... When a recipe says, 1/4 c cheese, grated, it means to take 1/4 c of cheese and grate it. The end result is going to be more than 1/4 c. If the recipe says 1/4 c grated cheese, it means to grate the cheese, then measure it. The rhubarb in this recipe is a good example. Dice enough to make two cups.
