Eggnog Chiffon Pie

Baked Pastry Shell

1/4 cup sugar

1 envelope unflavored gelatin

1 1/2 cups dairy eggnog

2 slightly beaten egg yolks

1/4 cup rum

2 egg whites

2 tablespoons sugar

3/4 cup whipping cream

Caramel Filigree

For filling, in a medium saucepan combine the sugar and gelatin. Add

eggnog and egg yolks. Cook and stir till sugar and gelatin dissolve

and mixture thickens slightly and bubbles. Cool 10 minutes; stir in

rum. Chill till consistency of corn syrup; stir occasionally. Remove

from refrigerator; let stand till partially set (consistency of unbeaten

egg whites.

Meanwhile, in a large mixer bowl beat egg whites till soft peaks form

(tips curl). Gradually add the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, beating

till stiff peaks form (tips stand straight). Fold egg whites into

gelatin mixture.

Beat whipping cream till soft peaks form. Fold cream into eggnog

mixture. Chill till the mixture mounds when spooned; pile into baked

pastry shell. Chill several hours or until set.

About 1 hour before serving, prepare Caramel Filigree and drizzle atop

pie. Pipe additional whipped cream around pie, if desired.

Caramel Filigree: In a heavy 1-quart saucepan heat 1/2 cup sugar over

medium-low heat without stirring. When sugar begins to melt, heat and

stir constantly till mixture is almost a medium caramel color (syrup

will darken after removed from heat). Stir in a few drops of hot water.

Let stand for 1 minute. Using a spoon quickly drizzle the caramelized

sugar over the top of the pie till a web of caramel is built up.

Caramelized Upside-Down Plum Tart

4 tablespoons butter

3/4 cup sugar

1 pound dark Italian prune plums, halved and pitted

Pate Brisee

2 tablespoons heavy cream

1 cup creme fraiche or sour cream

1 teaspoon kirsch

In a 9 inch skillet with an ovenproof handle, melt the butter over moderate

heat. Stir in the 1/2 cup of the sugar. Arrange the plums, cut-side up,

in concentric circles and cook until the sugar begins to caramelize, 15 to

20 minutes. Let stand until completely cool.

On a generously floured surface, roll the Pate Brisee into a 12 inch circle.

Drape the dough over a rolling pin and flip it over the caramelized plums.

Trim off the excess dough. Roll the edges down so that the crust lies flat

on top of the fruit but reaches the edges of the pan. Refrigerate, covered,

for 30 minutes.

Prheat the oven to 425F. In a small bowl, combine the heavy cream with 1

tablespoon of the sugar. Brush this glaze over the dough. Using a fork,

prick the dough in several places and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until

golden brown.

In a small bowl, combine the creme fraiche, kirsch and remaining 3

tablespoons sugar.

Immediatly invert the tart onto a large platter. Serve warm or cold with

the flavoured creme fraiche.

Pate Brisee

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 stick (4 ounces) cold butter, cut into small pieces

2 tablespoons sugar

pinch of salt

2 to 3 tablespoons cold water

In a food processor, combine the flour, butter, sugar and salt. Process

until the mixture resembles coarse meal, about 8 seconds. Add the water

and process, turning the machine on and off, until the mixture resembles

small peas, about 5 seconds.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly, just

until the dough holds together. Flatten the pastry into a 6 inch disk.

Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.

Banana Cream Pie

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup all purpose flour or

3 Tbs cornstarch (I use the cornstarch)

1/4 tsp salt

2 cups milk

3 egg yolks, slightly beaten

2 Tbs butter

1 tsp vanilla

1 9-inch baked pastry shell

(meringue made from the leftover egg whites, optional)

Combine sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a saucepan. Add milk gradually.

Cook, stiring constantly, over medium heat til bubbly. Cook and stir an

additional 2 minutes and remove from burner.

Stir small amount of hot mixture into egg yolks, immediately add egg yolk

mixture to hot mixture and cook for 2 minutes, stiring constantly. Remove

from heat.

Add butter and vanilla and stir til smooth.

Slice 3-4 bananas into the cooled baked pastry shell. Top with pudding

mixture and spread meringue (if desired) on top of the pie. Bake at

350 degrees for 12-15 minutes. Cool.

(Instead of meringue, I sometimes top with fresh whipped cream.)

Apple Pie

This recipe is a mixture of that from both sets of parents, and was

partly based on the Betty Crocker cookbook. It has a top crumb crust,

rather than a full crust.

pastry for 9 inch one-crust pie

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

1 tsp ground cinnamon

dash of salt

8 cups thinly sliced pared tart apples (about 8 medium or 6 large)

ingreg. for crumb crust:

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 c. flour

1/3 c. butter or margarine

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

maybe a pinch of cloves and mace

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Mix sugar, flour, cinnamon & salt in large bowl.

Stir in apples. Put apple-mixture into pastry-lined pie plate. (You may want

to press apples down firmly -- they shrink a LOT!!! You need a real mound of

apples to end up with a decent pie).

Mix sugar and flour for crumb crust in medium bowl.

Cut in margarine; add spices. Put crumbs on top of pie -- you'll probably

need to press them onto apples to keep them from falling off.

Bake for 10 minutes; then lower to 350 and bake for 40 more. Check for

doneness with fork.

Almond-Plum Tart

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup shortening

3 to 4 tablespoons cold water

8 to 10 plums

1 cup finely ground almonds

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon finely shredded lemon peel

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

2 tablespoons butter

1/3 cup currant jelly, melted

For pastry, stir together the flour, the 2 teaspoons sugar, and salt. Cut

in shortening till pieces are the size of small peas. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon

of the water over part of the mixture; gently toss with a fork. Push to

side of bowl; repeat till all is moistened. Form dough into a ball.

On a lightly floured surface roll dough into a 12 inch circle. Transfer to

a 9 inch quiche dish. Trim edges of dough even with rim of pan.

Halve and pit plums. In a mixer bowl, combine almonds, the 1/2 cup sugar,

egg, lemon peel, connamon, and almond extract. Beat with electric mixer on

low speed till combined. Spread almond mixture evenly in pastry shell.

Place plums, cut side down, atop almond mixture. Dot with butter.

Bake in a 375F oven 50 minutes or until crust is brown and juice from plums

is nearly evaporated. Cool on wire rack. Brush top with melted jelly.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Pizza Dough

My recipe takes about 20 minutes to cook, at 425-450 degrees, but it

does depend on the pan you're using - I find a ceramic pizza pan cooks

the dough much better than a tin pan, which can leave a soft bit in

the middle.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups plain flour (or half and half white and wholemeal)

2/3 - 3/4 cup warm water - add yeast (a packet, or 2 tsp), and a

tsp of sugar.

Leave the yeast 5-10 min to bubble and add to the flour, with

about 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Mix roughly in a bowl, then

put in the food processor, and process, adding a LITTLE more

water if it won't form a ball. Turn out in the bowl, which has

had a teaspoon of olive oil put in it. Roll the ball in the oil,

cover loosely, and leave until risen (depends on the weather, but

I find an hour is enough).

Spread out in your pizza platter (ceramic if possible, see above),

and it will begin to rise again while you potter around the kitchen,

finding whatever ingredients are available to make fridge pizza.

Cook about 20 minutes - I've never had any problem with anything

burning, except maybe the odd mushroom.

Caramelized Onion Pizza

Dough:

Basic White Dough

1 Tbs. sugar

1 cup warm water

1 pack (1/4 ounce) dry yeast

3-1/4 cups flour

1/4 cup olive oil (optional: excluding it makes a chewier dough)

1 Tsp. salt (if excluding oil, use 1/2 Tsp. salt)

Whole Wheat Dough

1 Tbs. sugar

1-1/4 cups warm water (110 - 115 degrees)

1 pack (1/4 ounce) dry yeast

1-1/4 cups white flour

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup olive oil

Dissolve sugar in water and add yeast. Stir gently until disssolved (about

1 minute) Let stand until the yeast foams slightly (about 5 minutes) to

insure that the yeast is effective. Combine 3 cups of the flour and salt

in a large bowl. Pour in the yeast mixture and oil if you are using it.

Begin kneading the mixture, gradually adding enough of the remaining 1/4 cup

flour so that the dough is no longer sticky. Continue kneading until the

dough is smooth and elastic (another 10-15 minutes by hand). Shape dough into

a ball and put in an oiled bowl, turning the dough to coat it with the oil.

Let rise until doubled in bulk (45 minutes to 1-1/2 hours, depending on the

yeast and the temperature). Punch down the dough and shape into 1 or 2

pieces. The entire recipe will make one large (16") pizza or two small

(12") pizzas. Shape the dough either by hand or with a rolling pin,

stretching out as necessary to achieve a thin dough. For a lighter crust,

let the dough sit for a half hour after shaping before constructing pizza

and baking.

Topping:

1/4 cup olive oil for frying onions

6 cups thinly sliced onions (approximately 3 pounds)

6 garlic cloves

3 Tbs. fresh thyme or 1 Tbs. dried thyme

1 bay leaf

salt & pepper

2 Tbs. oil for dribbling on top of pizza (optional)

1 Tbs. drained capers

1-1/2 Tbs. pine nuts

Heat 1/4 cup of the olive oil and add the onions, garlic, thyme and bay leaf.

Cook, stirring occassionally, until most of the moisture has evaporated and the

onion mixture is very soft, almost smooth, and caramelized, about 45 minutes.

Discard the bay leaf and season with salt and pepper.

Cover the dough with the onion mixture, sprinkle with capers and pine nuts,

and drizzle with remaining olive oil if you are using it. Bake in

pre-heated 500 degree oven for 10 minutes or until golden brown. The baking

time will vary depending on whether you bake on a stone, a screen or in a

pan. Be sure that your oven is well pre-heated before putting pizza in.