Pear-Apple Pie

You know, I have this list of recipes I would like to try, as a page here on the blog. Somehow, I'm really good at making other recipes from the same books, but not the one on the list.

Yesterday, I stopped by my Grandma's house to pick up a massive bag of banana and bell peppers. We're talking a plastic shopping bag so full the handles barely met. This is the second time in the last couple of weeks that we've had such a large bag of peppers in the house. And apparently her deep freezer is full of them as well. The last bag I used in chili, sauteed with onions with steaks, and in breakfast hashbrowns. This bag is going in meatloaf and chicken fajitas this week.

At the same time that I picked up the peppers, Grandma also gave me several pears from her tree. These pears are huge; I believe Grandma said they weighed one that was 1-1/4 pounds!!! These are easily twice the size of pears I buy at the store. For scale, here's a photo of one with two of the apples I have left from Aunt Patty:

The recipe I chose is from 100 Great Breads, which obviously has recipes for things other than bread. The original recipe calls for a raspberry-confectioner's sugar syrup to be served with the pie. But there aren't free raspberries being given away by family members to use for such a sauce, so there isn't a sauce with my pie.

Pear-Apple Pie

For the pastry dough:
2-1/2 c flour
1-1/4 c sugar
1 stick butter, softened
1 medium egg
2 Tbsp water, plus more if dough won't stick together

Mix the above in a (large Pyrex) bowl with a hand mixer or pastry blender. Split the dough in half. Roll out half of it on a floured surface, and line a pie pan (or a tart pan).

For the fruit filling:
8 apples, cored, peeled, sliced/chunked
3 monstrous pears, cored, peeled, sliced/chunked
about 1/4 c sugar

Put the above in a dutch oven or some other large pot and cook on low/medium heat for 5-10 minutes, until the fruit begins to soften and smell heavenly.

Pour or spoon the filling into the pastry. Sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg. I probably used about 1/2 tsp cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg (this was not in the original recipe).

Roll out the other half of the dough and cover the fruit filling, pinching edges to seal.

Brush a beaten egg onto the top of the pie, then sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for 25 minutes.

Did you have leftover dough after making the top and bottom crust? No worries! Roll it out, brush with leftover egg wash, and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Bake for about 10 minutes or until golden. It's like a cinnamon-sugar cracker!

Something else from this weekend... While the Hubs was out hunting on Saturday morning (a successful hunt, as he bagged a 10-point buck on the farm!), I was working away at the house, cleaning and putting the rest of the cabinet handles on! The bags of produce from left to right: pears, apples, peppers

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