Saturday, April 24, 2010

Strawberry Cream Pie and Radio Folk


So on Friday, I dropped off two pies to the all day show put on by X96's Radio From Hell. I've been cooking pies for Kerry, Bill and Gina since Bill mentioned that he wanted to be a member of the National Pie Council a few years ago. He wasn't able to get the station to send them out to Celebration, Florida for the yearly competition, so I thought he should be able to grade a pie here in Salt Lake. I brought a Coconut Cream Pie into the studio for him to try and he liked it, so I've kept bringing them pie for the yearly 13-hour broadcasts for the past 5 years.

This year, I brought the classic Coconut Cream Pie for Bill and a Strawberry Cream Pie for Kerry. I don't create a pie for Gina because she has a standing policy of not eating anything cooked in someone else's kitchen. Rule 1: Never waste pie... ever. You can hear me delivering the pie if you download the April 23 2010 6PM Hour podcast from the Radio From Hell section of iTunes. And seriously, if you're not listening to Radio From Hell on X96, you should give it a try. It's the best radio morning show I've ever listened to, mainly because it's not your standard morning show. It's actually intelligent and the entertainment is genuine, not a bunch of classic radio stunts.

Bit since this is a food blog, let me give the recipe for the Strawberry Cream Pie. It's very similar to the Coconut Cream Pie, just a different finishing ingredient.

Strawberry Cream Pie



2 ½ cups whole milk
¾ cup heavy whipping cream
3/4 cup sugar
5 ½ tablespoons cornstarch
½ teaspoon salt
3 egg yolks
2 1/2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup lightly crushed strawberries

Separate the egg yolks and place them into a small container, mix them up and set aside for the time being. You'll be coming back to them later. Next, chop up about 9 large strawberries and place them in a bowl. Using a fork, crush the majority of the pieces into pulp, but leave some of the chunks whole for texture. Place them to the side until later.

In a medium saucepan, pour in the sugar, cornstarch and salt, then stir them together until they are completely combined. This prevents the cornstarch from clumping together and getting lumps like bad gravy. Add the milk and cream and whisk until any existing sugar and cornstarch lumps are gone. Cook over medium heat and stir constantly to prevent scorching.

After about 8-10 minutes, the consistency will switch from milk to a thicker warm pudding. Right after it starts to thicken, scoop a small amount of the mixture into the egg yolks and immediately start stirring the yolks. (Tricky part, continue to stir the other mixture too so it does not burn). Do this a few times so the yolks slowly warm up. This will prevent them from curdling when they are added to the main mixture. Now add the yolks into the saucepan very slowly, stirring the entire time.

Once added, pour in the butter and cook for two more minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Add the strawberries and just stir until it's mixed in well.

Immediately pour it into a pre-cooked crust and refrigerate for 2-3 hours so it sets up.

When you're ready to serve it, make sure you top it with whipped cream. If you want, you can also create a strawberry syrup to drizzle over the top.

Strawberry Syrup

1 cup strawberries
1 1/2 cups sugar

Cut the strawberries into small pieces. Crush half of them with a fork and place both the crushed and chunk strawberries into a small saucepan. Add the sugar, stir and heat until it boils, stirring frequently. Once they have boiled for 2-4 minutes, pour the mixture through a strainer to remove the chunks. The remaining liquid can be placed in a small bowl to be scooped onto the slices of pie or placed into a squeeze bottle to drizzle over top of the pieces.

Reminder, I'll be going through all of the pie recipes by the middle of November so you can use them for Thanksgiving. So keep reading!!!

Next post: A marinara recipe that's extremely easy to make.

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