A New Year, A New Pie

Prosciutto VA Country Ham, Fig and Gorgonzola Pie

I decided to replace the prosciutto with salt cured Virginia country ham since I was not happy with the flavor of the prosciutto, once it was cooked.  The result was delicious.  The very salty ham balanced nicely with the sweet figs and tangy gorgonzola. 

The only issue I seem to have now is figuring out an easier way of getting hold of this ham, which I had to order from Padow's, in Richmond, Virginia.  I was unable to find it anywhere in Manhattan or Brooklyn.  Sadly, I was informed, by several local butchers, that this ham is generally too salty for my Northern neighbor's taste-buds.  It's all in the way it's used.  Because this ham is so salty, it needs to be offset by something mild or sweet.  In Richmond, we use this ham most often to make ham biscuits, small sandwiches made of country ham placed on a buttered roll or biscuit.  Simple but delicious.

I hope to start selling this pie in the next month or two at the Greenpoint Food Market.

Sorry for the washed out pictures but I had 3 hungry roommates waiting for me to finish photographing the pie so they could dig in.

Homemade Granola

My friend, Cara gave me this recipe right before Christmas and it has quickly became my breakfast staple.  Not only is it easy to make but it tastes just as good or better than store-bought granola.

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 1/2 cups raw pistachios, hulled

1 cup raw pumpkin seeds, hulled

1 cup coconut chips

3/4 cup pure maple syrup

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. 

2. In a large bowl, combine oats, pistachios, pumpkin seeds, coconut chips, maple syrup, olive oil, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon and cardamom. 

3. Spread mixture on a rimmed baking sheet in an even layer and bake for 45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, until golden brown and well toasted.

Yield: About 9 cups.

* I could not find raw pistachios this week, so I replaced them with raw almonds.  The mix turned out just as good.

** Since pure maple syrup is so expensive, I have been replacing it with equal amounts of agave nectar.

*** Maybe it's just my crappy oven, but the first time I made this recipe, the granola ended up burning after only about 20 min. at 300 degrees so now I bake the granola for about a half hour at 275 degrees, mixing several times before turning it up to 300 degrees to brown the oats.  Since every oven is different make sure to check the mix often.

**** My favorite way to eat the granola is with greek yogurt, some extra agave nectar and dried cranberries.  When I was visiting Cara, we ate it in soy milk, which I am not normally a fan of, but the added sweetness of the soy milk was really delicious with the granola and it kept its crunchiness. 

K&M Pie Contest 2010 addition

Come out to K&M on Saturday, January 23rd, at 6pm, for tons of awesome pies and to help support a great community program.  $5 will get you all the pie you want and the proceeds will go to 

bk farmyards

Check out this video to get an idea of what bk farmyards is all about.

http://www.bkfarmyards.blogspot.com/

Hope to see you at K&M!

97 pies & a Merry Christmas

I had a week-long bake-fest last week in preparation for the DeskSet's yearly Biblioball for 2009.

I did not have enough counter space in my kitchen so the pies ended up spreading out into the living room.

A new pie is now available! 

CranRaspberry Pie with a Brown Sugar Oats Crumble

Sweetie Pies Richmond?

SweetiePiesBrooklyn is heading south.  Im going to be in Richmond, Va. from December 17th through the 29th for an extended holiday.  If you are interested in a SweetiePiesBrooklyn pie over the holidays, please email me at victoria@sweetiepiesbrooklyn.com.

Check out the PIE CHART: Pies of Perfection on the right hand column for available pie options.

See you in Richmond!

Rooftop Farms

I stopped by Rooftop Farms in Greenpoint, Brooklyn on November 22nd to check out their last market of the season.  Located at 44 Eagle Street, off Franklin Ave, the farm grows a top an old warehouse building  which overlooks the Manhattan skyline and Greenpoint's industrial waterfront.  Rooftop Farms provides locally grown produce, including, but not limited to, lettuce, kale, eggplant, beans, tomatoes, peppers and a variety of herbs.  I'll be using their sage starting next spring in my Sausage, Apple and Sage pies. 

www.rooftopfarms.org

Made to Order

I have finally started taking pie orders online.  I received my first made-to-order pie last week for Thanksgiving.   My Pear Japaleno Pie w/ Pepper Jack Cheese Crust was requested and is shown below.  I also decided to make this pie for my family's Thanksgiving and it was the perfect ending to a delicious dinner (thanks again Michele).

If you would like to order a pie, please email me at victoria@sweetiepiesbrooklyn.com.  I can do both 8" pies and 5" pies.  5" pie orders come in batches of 6 and would create perfect holiday gifts.  As of now, I am only making my Sausage, Apple and Sage pie, my Pear Jalapeno Pie and my Apple Pie with Cheddar Crust.  I will announce when new pies are available for order.