Tag: graham cracker

The fresh oranges, yogurt and perky mint leaves will take your mind (but maybe not your hips) off the cookie crust, not to mention all the sugar in the cranberry juice. You can always use light berry juice, but it’s tastier to go with the regular kind and just hit the gym a little earlier the next day.

Graham Cracker Crust

for a single crust pie

1. 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
2. ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
3. 1 tbs granulated sugar or honey
4. 1 tsp flour

Preheat the oven to 350°

Combine all the ingredients

Press into a pie plate, starting in the center and working outward toward the sides until the bottom and sides are covered

Bake 10-15 minutes

Cranberry-Orange Smoothie Filling

1. 1 envelope unflavored gelatin
2. ⅓ cup cranberry juice
3. 3 cups fresh orange segments
4. 2 cups plain yogurt
5. fresh mint leaves, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350°

In a small saucepan, sprinkle the gelatin over the cranberry juice

Set aside for 5 minutes

Over medium heat, whisking constantly, cook the gelatin and juice, 3 - 4 minutes

Remove from heat and let cool completely

In a blender, combine the gelatin mixture with oranges and yogurt until smooth

Pour the filling into the cooled pie crust

Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 4 hours

Put fresh mint leaves on top

Out for dinner at a favorite restaurant in Gloucester, Mass., Ellen Dunn (Heads, You Win!) heard her waitress Ann Marie cheerfully telling friends at the next table, “Can’t come to the party, I’m doing pies all weekend. ”Naturally Ellen had to ask about any pie event. It turned out that Ann Marie had another life as the sister of and pie-maker to her brother and sister-in-law at their ice cream parlor in Danvers.Goodies 50’s Style Ice Cream Parlor opened in December 2003, the same day a snowstorm put three feet of snow between John Palmisano and his new business. After shoveling his way in, he figured if the rented freezers failed, the out of doors would be a handy alternative. He survived that winter and did fine all summer long, but by the end of October his customers’ cravings had begun to turn - from chocolate ice cream cones to holiday pies. As business slowed and John’s blood pressure rose, Ann Marie came up with a solution, “If they want pies, we’ll give them pies — Ice Cream Pies!” and proceeded to invent an entire menu of gourmet pies, from Holy Cannoli Pie to Chocolate Covered Cherry Pie and Raspberry Ripple. For Thanksgiving, Ann Marie created a Pumpkin Ice Cream Pie.All Ann Marie’s pies are handmade, each a perfect expression of her devotion to Goodies’ fabulous ice cream, and to maybe some day not having to hold down two jobs. Goodies Ice Cream Pies have developed such a following that customers are now begging John to ship them. Except he still hasn’t found an affordable shipper, so if anyone knows of one, Tell Penelope and she’ll let John know; or contact John yourself at Goodies 50’s Style Ice Cream Parlor.

Ann Marie’s Pumpkin Ice Cream Pie

Graham Cracker Pie Crust

Use graham crackers, gingersnaps, biscotti or chocolate wafers (with chocolate wafers use 2 cups of crumbs)

1. 1½ cup crumbs
2. 2 tbs sugar
3. pinch of salt
4. ½ cup unsalted butter, melted

Combine the crumbs, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl and toss together.

Add the butter and stir vigorously until blended

Use your fingers to press and pat the mixture over the bottom and sides of a 9 inch pie pan

If you like the crust a little more crispy, preheat the oven to 325° and put the pie crust in for 8 mintues

Cool completely before filling.Makes one 9 inch pie shell

The Pie

1. 1 cup crushed ginger snaps
2. 5 or 6 giant paddles (or 1 quart if you want extra for tasting) of pumpkin ice cream (if you can’t find pumpkin, Ann Marie votes for Ben and Jerry’s Festivus Ice Cream)
3. ½ cup caramel or butterscotch sauce
4. ¾ tsp cinnamon or nutmeg

Pile the ice cream into the prepared graham cracker crust

Sprinkle the ginger snaps over the ice cream

Zig zag the sauce over the cookies or make your own design

Dollop on the whipped cream

Sprinkle the whipped cream with the nutmeg or cinnamon (for depth and decoration)

Makes one 9 inch single crust pie

Banana cream filling takes practice. There’s a point in the milk simmering, sugar-flour-salt-adding part of the recipe where the mixture can turn into banana cream filling, cream of wheat, or a pancake. It’s like a stem cell. Let’s just say rehearsal is everything. Penelope once read that Catherine Zeta-Jones had to make a pumpkin pie for a Thanksgiving party, and made one three times. A rehearsal, a dress rehearsal, and a performance pie. Apparently it came out pretty well. But sometime later she tried actual cooking and set the kitchen on fire. When Michael Douglas came home and found her sitting in the hallway waiting for the smoke to clear, his love wasn’t diminished but his advice was to stay out of the kitchen. Of course, if you look like CZJ you don’t have to cook. Or do anything. But she works really hard so we like her anyway. Meanwhile, as of this printing Penelope still hadn’t gotten the filling right. Having only achieved the cream of wheat stage, she’s considering asking Meisha if she likes pancakes. To be continued…

Banana Cream Pie

This is a great recipe, it just requires more talent than Penelope currently has. As they say in Harry Potter, “The wand chooses the wizard.”

Graham Cracker Pie Crust

Use graham crackers, gingersnaps, biscotti or chocolate wafers (with chocolate wafers use 2 cups of crumbs)

1. 1½ cup crumbs
2. 2 tbs sugar
3. pinch of salt
4. ½ cup unsalted butter, melted

Combine the crumbs, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl and toss together

Add the butter and stir vigorously until blended

Use your fingers to press and pat the mixture over the bottom and sides of a 9 inch pie pan

If you like the crust a little more crispy, preheat the oven to 325° and put the pie crust in for 8 minutes; it has to cool completely before filling

Makes one 9 inch pie shell

The Banana Filling

1. ¼ cup all-purpose flour
2. ⅔ cup sugar
3. ¼ tsp salt
4. 2 cups milk
5. 2 eggs, beaten
6. ¼ cup unsalted butter
7. 1 tsp vanilla extract
8. 2 large, firm ripe bananas
9. 1 tbs fresh lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 325°

Stir together the flour, sugar and salt; set aside

In a heavy saucepan, bring the milk to a simmer

Pour the sugar mixture into the milk in a thin stream, whisking constantly to keep the mixture smooth

Whisk in the eggs

Cook over moderate heat

Keep stirring or whisking constantly until it boils and thickens, about 7-10 minutes

Reduce the heat and boil gently for 3 minutes more; don’t stop stirring

Remove from the heat and add the butter, stirring until smooth

Add the vanilla and mix well

Pour into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap, with the wrap against the surface; chill until set

When you’re ready to serve, peel slices of the banana and mix with the lemon juice.Save a few pieces for the top to garnish the top, and fold the rest of the slices into the chilled fruit filling

Spread the mixture into the crust and garnish with the reserved banana pieces

Makes one 9 inch single crust pie

Penelope’s best pie pal entertainment lawyer Ellen Dunn (Heads You Win) was sent to London to visit the set of a soon to be released major motion picture starring a superhero whose name cannot yet be divulged, but who drives a very cool car. After the big chase sequence, Ellen was having lunch with the crew when a dessert buzz started to ramp up. It was Banoffee Pie day. “Excuse me, what kind of pie?” Ellen said. “I’ve never heard of Banoffee Pie.” “Don’t know why not,” a grip told her, “It’s American. It comes from combining banana and toffee.” Not to argue with a grip, and thanks to the diplomatic filter honed in a big career, Ellen did not blurt out, “I don’t think so. First of all, toffee is not something we Americans pull off the shelf first. Nor would we just naturally think to combine it with bananas. No, I’ve never heard of Banoffee Pie and neither probably had Alexander Hamilton or my friend, Penelope.” That not having been said, Ellen took the patriotic route, plus a little undeserved credit for her countrymen, and wrote down the recipe for Banoffee Pie which, considering the exchange rate, was about the only thing she could afford to bring home.

Banoffee Pie

Since the production catering staff only cooked for 100 people at a time, they weren’t too sure of the quantities for a single pie. But being a great pie pal and having access to production assistants, here’s what Ellen was able to piece together:

1. 2 14-oz cans sweetened condensed milk
2. 10 oz graham cracker crumbs (or authentic UK digestive biscuits)
3. 5 oz butter, softened
4. 4 medium bananas
5. 1 cup heavy whipping cream
6. 2 tbs confectioners sugar
7. 1 tsp vanilla
8. grated chocolate - optional

The Pie Crust

Mix the graham cracker crumbs (or English digestive biscuits) with softened butter and press into a 9 inch pie tin

Place the pie crust in refrigerator until filling is ready

The Filling

Place two cans (tins to the Brits) of milk, unopened, in a pan of water for 1½ hours. (In the UK they boil the milk for 3 hours. Minimum.)

The cans must remain unopened and be submerged in the water as it boils. This will “carmelize” the milk

Note from craft services: Wait until the cans cool before opening, otherwise theywill explode

If the water boils down to expose the can, quickly refill it

Allow the milk to cool to room temperature

Slice the bananas and layer in the pie pan

Spoon the carmelized milk over the bananas

Whip the cream with the confectioners sugar and vanilla, and spread on top of the milk

Top with grated chocolate

Still skeptical but ever the pie pal, Ellen sent the recipe right to Penelope. Equally skeptical, though not nearly as diplomatic when not facing down a grip, Penelope wouldn’t say she would never make a Banoffee pie, or wouldn’t like Banoffee pie, or would refuse a piece if she were served one by some nice independent producer at a dinner party in Pacific Palisades; but in deference to her newly painted kitchen ceiling, how do you know when the cans are cool enough not to explode?

Penelope never forgot this, she just forgot who told it to her. But anyway, the pie intelligence was: The technique for managing the temperature of a fruit pie is also true for regulating the heat in a marriage. Even though the outside may not look like it’s about to burn, if you feel that things are bubbling up on the inside, trust your instincts and turn down the heat, then walk away for a little while. The thing will sort itself out. Especially good advice for obsessive-compulsives, over-thinkers and micro-managers. Which is why this pie crust is not only terrific for cream pies, it’s also good practice for laying off someone who would actually like things to work out. With this no-bake cookie crust, you just put it together and leave it alone. Of course like advice in general, easier said than done.

1. graham crackers, gingersnaps, biscotti or chocolate wafers are all delicious and fun to bash into crumbs (the chocolate wafers need 2 cups of crumbs)
2. 1½ cup crumbs
3. 2 tbs sugar
4. pinch of salt
5. ½ cup unsalted butter, melted

Combine the cookie crumbs, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl and toss well

Add the butter and stir hard until the big crumbs are tamed and the whole mixture is blended

Use your fingers and press the mixture over the bottom and sides of a 9 inch pie pan

You really don’t have to bake this, but if you insist on making life more difficult, preheat the oven to 325° and put the pie crust in for about 8 minutes

Cool completely before adding the filling