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Summer Fruit Pot Pie: New Duds for an Old Fruit Pie Friend

Summer Fruit Pot Pie: New Duds for an Old Fruit Pie Friend

Perfect Peaches Ready for a Summer Fruit Pie

I can see the problem you are having.  A giant mound of peach perfection and you are so tired of fruit pie and cobbler (Okay, we should probably admit that is NOT really a thing, being tired of pie and cobbler).   But it’s a holiday weekend and you MUST use that beautiful bounty ASAP yet you would rather be on the beach, boat, SUP or _____(fill in the blank). So with that last hurrah of summer celebration hurtling toward you at ram speed, here’s a dessert that you can make in a flash, yet will look like you have been slaving away.  Stone fruit –still abundantly available – is the perfect choice for this “cobbler, not-a-cobbler.”  Cut into wedges, a peach or nectarine is sizable enough to hold its shape (ain’t nobody likin’ fruit mush) and comes with its own good dose of pectin.  I throw in a few blueberries for a wee bit of flavor, color, and texture contrast, but warn against fruit with a high water content and thin skins (I got my eyes on you raspberries and blackberries.)

Normally a fruit cobbler comes with a streusel or pastry crumb topping, but I love this idea of biscuits.  I would say it’s fresh and new, but since I created this dish at New World Grill some 20 years ago, I will settle on timeless. It’s hard to find a fruit pot pie at all, and the ones I have seen are made with a double pastry crust.  This dish has no bottom – which means…..???? You got it!! No soggy bottoms!!! Pastry fraidies unite! You can do this!!  Just cook the fruit with a little cornstarch stove-top then drop biscuit dough on top. Super easy to serve as well because everyone gets a heaping spoon of fruit topped with a biscuit topped with …Ice Cream? Whip Cream? Greek Yogurt? Yes. Yes. And Yes. Please. It’s dessert magic.

Summer Fruit Pot Pie in a green oval casserole on a cooling rack

I have made this with peaches and nectarines (peel the peaches, but no need on the nectarines), but you might also try plums or apricots.  And cherries could be a nice alternative to the blueberries I use.  Just keep a sturdy skin in mind when improvising.  And always let a fruit dessert cool to avoid the juice-bomb.  This is best served same-day, an hour from the oven or reheated.  Biscuits are a bit of a diva when it comes to humidity, so the longer it sits around the less flaky they will be.

I learned to make traditional biscuits from a woman who said “handle them like you are holding hot coals.”  (It was a KFC shoot and we must have made 1000 biscuits).  It was good advice – don’t touch them much at all. Biscuits are made by cutting little tiny bits of ice cold butter into the dry ingredients, so that each pea-sized bit is flour-coated.  Then you gently add the liquid – buttermilk, perhaps – until it just holds together. If you hot-handle the dough, the butter will start to melt.  The butter should melt only once – in your honking hot 425oF oven – because that creates steam and that, my friends, provides lift. Voilà! Flaky!!

The other reason to lightly handle the dough is to avoid overworking the glutens which will make a tough and sometimes shrunken biscuit. (That joke just wrote itself. I don’t even have to put it in words.)  I got you covered here, this dough is NOT fussy and is made in the processor and uses a small amount of boiling water to pull the dough together.  It’s a bit of the opposite of everything I have just said – no hot coals.  This makes it super simple and you can get away with it in part because it is going atop hot fruit which will also create some steam.

Summer Fruit Pot Pie

Nectarines and Blueberries in an oval casserole

Fruit Filling

  • 8 cups pitted and sliced nectarines, about 8 pieces or 4 pounds
  • Juice of one lemon, about 3 Tablespoons (please zest it first and save the zest for the biscuit)
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 3 Tablespoons corn starch
  • 1/2 cup cold water
  • 2 cups blueberries

Biscuit Topping:

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • Zest of one lemon
  • 6 ounces ice-cold butter, cut into bits
  • ¼ cup + 2-3 Tablespoons boiling water

Preheat oven to 425oF. Butter a 9x13x2-inch 3-quart casserole.

Start the Fruit: Combine the nectarines with the lemon juice and sugar.  Set aside.  Dissolve the cornstarch in the cold water and set aside for 5 minutes.

Start the Biscuits: Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest in the work bowl of a food processor.  Pulse to combine.  Cut in the butter with the food processor, by pulsing 8-10 times, until the mixture resembles coarse meal.  (You can also use a pastry cutter).

Back to the Fruit: Combine the nectarines with the cornstarch in a saucepan.  Bring the cornstarch-nectarine mixture to a boil, and cook for 1 minute.  Remove from heat and gently fold in the blueberries.  Transfer fruit mixture to the casserole.

Biscuit Dough in a food processor work bowl

Finish the biscuits: Slowly pour in ¼ cup boiling water and pulse a couple times until just combined. Scrape down sides.  Add additional water one Tablespoon at a time, up to 3 additional Tablespoons.  Pulse with each addition until dough just comes together and becomes spoon-able.  It should remain a bit stiff and not turn gooey. If you add the water all at once, you run the risk of adding too much liquid and melting the butter.  Add it gradually and it will just slightly soften it.  Drop the dough by scant 1/4 cups onto the fruit to form 12 biscuits.  Use a spoon or small spatula to ease the dough out of the cup.  All that butter will let it slide out quite easily.

Adding Biscuit dough atop Summer Fruit in an oval casserole

Bake in bottom third of preheated, foil-lined oven for 35 – 40 minutes until fruit is set, biscuits are golden, and a toothpick inserted in a biscuit comes out clean.  If the biscuits are getting too brown, cover loosely with foil for the last 10 minutes or so. Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly.  Cool for about an hour, to let the juices set.  Serve while still warm or reheat if it has cooled. Top with ice cream, whipped cream, or plain Greek yogurt.

Serves 12 grateful guests.

Spoonful of Nectarine and Blueberry Pot Pie in casserole on rack

Still got peaches or nectarines a plenty? Don’t forget our old friend – roasted beet and peach/nectarine salad!

Roasted Beet and Nectarine Salad in a lime green bowl

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Roasted Fresh Chilean Blueberry Mulligatawny Soup

Roasted Fresh Chilean Blueberry Mulligatawny Soup

Mulligatawny soup with roasted blueberries and red rice in a green bowl on a green patterned small plate with a spoon, wine glass and small green plate with two pita breads

This fragrant soup will warm your soul on a cold winter day. Spices and ginger create an exotic perfume and are the perfect counterbalance to roasted blueberries, with just a hint of sweetness. Coconut milk (or coconut milk drink) is a relative newcomer to the beverage market. It adds some nice richness to the soup, but only has 45 calories per cup – infinitely better than the fat-laden canned coconut milk from the tropics.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Black Japonica Rice
  • 8 cups chicken broth, divided per below
  • 1 Tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 Tablespoon grated fresh ginger
  • 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded, ribs removed and minced
  • 4 pods cardamom, slightly crushed
  • 2 teaspoons ground coriander seed
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
  • 1 large potato, peeled and diced
  • 1 cup yellow split peas, cleaned and rinsed
  • 1 cup fresh blueberries
    2 teaspoons plus 2 Tablespoons lemon juice, divided per below
  • 2 teaspoons honey
    2 cups unsweetened coconut milk
  • 1 Tablespoon tamarind paste, softened in 2 Tablespoons boiling water, strained
  • Garnish: 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

Preheat oven to 400° F.

In a large saucepan with tight-fitting lid, bring 2 cups chicken broth to a boil. Add black Japonica rice, stir once, and reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook 50 – 55 minutes or until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and let stand covered for an additional 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in large stockpot over medium-low heat; cook onion, garlic, ginger, jalapeno, and spices, stirring, until onion is softened and mixture is fragrant, about 5 minutes.

Add remaining 6 cups of chicken broth to pot, along with carrots, potatoes, and split peas. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 20 – 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Discard cardamom pods (they float!).

Meanwhile, place blueberries in a shallow baking dish. Combine 2 teaspoons lemon juice with honey, and drizzle over blueberries. Roast for about 7 minutes, or until blueberries are about to pop.

Blend or process soup mixture, in batches, until pureed; return to pot. Add remaining 2 Tablespoons of lemon juice, coconut milk, and tamarind paste; stir until heated through.

Divide black Japonica rice and roasted blueberries among 6 shallow soup bowls and ladle soup in. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

Serves 6
Nutrients per serving:
290 calories, 4 gms fat, 36 calories from fat, 2 gms saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 796 mg sodium, 12 gms dietary fiber, 11 gms protein

Roasted Fresh Chilean Blueberry-Stone Fruit Crumble

Roasted Fresh Chilean Blueberry-Stone Fruit Crumble

stone fruit crumble in a mason jar with a plaid towel

A-comfy-cozy-warm-and-toasty-sit-by-the fire-and-sip-port-dessert. Cutting the butter that normally makes a command performance in the topping, this dessert weighs in at only 117 calories and 2 grams of fat. Ah, but it feels like so much more.

 Ingredients

Crumble Topping

  • 6 Amaretti Italian cookies, coarsely crumbled
  • 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
  • Pinch of salt

Fruit

  • 2 fresh Chilean Nectarines, halved, pits removed
  • 1/2 cup fresh Chilean Blueberries
  • 2 fresh Chilean Plums, halved, pits removed
  • 2 Tablespoons port
  • 1 Tablespoon sliced almonds, toasted
  • 1/4 cup non-fat Greek Yogurt

Directions

Preheat oven to 400° F.

Prepare 4 – 4” (1 1/2 cup) ramekins by coating the sides with a thin layer of butter.

Mix the crushed cookies, brown sugar and salt together in small mixing bowl.

Arrange 1/2 nectarines, cut side up in each of the four prepared ramekins. Divide the blueberries among the dishes. Place the 1/2 plums, cut side down, pushing the nectarines at an angle, so they overlap slightly. Drizzle each with the port. Sprinkle crumble on top and divide nuts among the ramekins.

Place ramekins on a sheet pan, and bake for 18 to 20 minutes, checking the topping after about 15 minutes. Place a small square of foil over the ramekin, if the topping is starting to darken. Fruit should be tender and juicy when pierced.

Serve warm with dollop of Greek yogurt on top.

Serves 4
Nutrients per serving:
117 calories, 2 gms fat, 18 calories from fat, 0 gms saturated fat, 0 gms cholesterol, 47 mg sodium, 3 gms dietary fiber, 4 gms protein