Bill is making pies right now.

[hippywife]

We went to the farmer's market yesterday and my friend Stephen had small pie pumpkins already and something I'd never seen before: sunshine kubocha squash (see pics at link below.)

http://www.thehaywire.typepad.com/

We bought one of each. Bill is the pumpkin pie baker around here and Stephen asked me to send his recipe so I posted it on his website.

Bill baked both this morning and I made crust a little while ago and stuck in the fridge before I made dinner.

We are gonna have a side by side taste comparison. But I'm already pretty sure that the kubocha is going to make the better pie. We tasted it when it was done this morning and it is a lovely sweet taste that rivals any squash I've ever eaten. It's also not stringy at all like other squashes.

Will report back when they're done! :hi:

[auntAgonist]

1. Bill is welcome to come and mess up my kitchen anyday!

I'll gladly taste test his pies :)

:hi:

The pies DO sound heavenly.

[hippywife]

2. Kesha!

And you are always welcome to come partake of whatever we have. :hug:

Poor guy, he just had to throw out a batch of the kubocha filling. He had a bad egg explode on him when he tried to crack it into it. We let the chickens free-range today for the first time in ages. Rambo went back to the old dilapidated shed like she always does. He went back there to check on her and found two eggs. We thought that was very odd since they are only supposed to be able to lay one a day, but we thought maybe one of the other chickens had been back there. We now figure she laid it when she escaped the pen a couple of months ago. Woooooo! Smelllllyyyyyy! :rofl:

First time that's EVER happened since we've had chickens.

Luckily that was only half of the squash. :D

[hippywife]

3. Here are the pies!

They are both really, really delicious but the kubocha was the winner in the side-by-side comparison. An overall brighter flavor than the pumpkin. We will definitely be using them again.



Here's Bill's recipe which he as literally been tweaking for years and has finally settled on, altho the final product ends up with a wee but more cloves and allspice because we like it a little more on the spicy side.

Bill's Pumpkin Pie

Preheat oven to 425

2 cups cooked pumpkin (preferably cooked in a solar oven)
3/4 cups yogurt
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup eggnog
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
heaping 1/2 tsp ginger
heaping 1/4 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
2 medium eggs

Mix all ingredients in a food processor, pour
into two pie shells (whole wheat heart healthy pie shell)

Bake 15 minutes at 425, lower temp to 350, bake another
hour and a half.

I made the crusts which were going to be lard but my lard too old and had gone bad, so I made a butter crust slightly adapted from the homemade pop-tart crust over at Smitten Kitchen. It was delicious, flaky and held up very well for this pie. The only thing is that I did crimp the crust edges very nicely but the crimps did not hold up in baking. It was still really, really good.

Butter Pie Crust
(makes two single or one double crust)

1 1/2 cup unbleached AP flour
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
1 t. baking powder
2 t. kosher salt
1 heaping T. organic sugar
1 cup (two sticks) cold butter cut into pats
1 lg. egg
2-3 T. milk, as needed (I used almond milk because it was what I had)



Blend the dry ingredients in a large glass bowl. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients with a
pastry blender until pea-sized lumps of butter are still visible. In a small bowl, blend the milk
and eggs well and add to a well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Mix well with a wooden
spoon and then quickly blend well with hands to avoid over handlinguntil it forms a butter-studded
ball. Divide the dough, wrap and chill at least a couple of hours.

Because this is a slightly wetter dough than normal, make sure the kitchen is as cool as you
can make it in order to roll out the dough. Remove the dough from the fridge, unwrap and allow
to sit for about 3-4 minutes on a clean, floured surface until it slightly softens and you are able
to work with it. Use as much flour as you need to and be careful not to overwork or allow to
become too warm. Have your pie dish ready. Roll into a round larger than your pie dish.
Once the dough is rolled out, starting from the edge farthest from you, roll it slightly around the
rolling pin. Move the pie dish to a position north of the dough and lift the dough, on the pin, and
settle over the dish and adjust. (This is a very maleable dough so any small tears are easily
repairable and it's receptive to being rolled out again immediately if you tear it beyond repair.)

Poke with fork tines around the entire surface if baking for a cold fill, or fill and bake according
to the temp and time instructions in your pie recipe.

[spinbaby]

4. Winter squash almost always makes better "pumpkin" pie

Even the pie pumpkins can't do as well as a butternut squash.

[hippywife]

5. The kobucha was especially nice

since the flesh was already sweeter and was totally string-free. It required less time in the food processor to puree.