Read & Print Recipe from www.greatgrandmother.org

 

New Hampshire Mushroom and Spinach Pie

 

If you have read any of my past recipes, you know that I write them as if I were describing it to you over a glass of wine. There's a story behind each of these. Additionally, I assume that you have some knowledge of how to work around your own kitchen and how to adapt recipes to your own liking and proclivities. When I suggest that you chop an onion, you know how to do it. If not, then experiment on your friends.

I am often told that my recipes become conversation pieces at parties. Hmmmmmm. Either the guests are half-cocked already or they have sick senses of humor and are easily entertained. Maybe all three!

That being said, let's get started with this easy-as-pie recipe.

Start with a disk or two of your favorite pie dough. If you want this to be a "two crusted pie"--having an upper and lower crust--then plan accordingly. No, there is no need to blind-bake the bottom if you are going with a two-crusted version.

I like to make my pie dough with half Italian 00 flour and half all purpose flour, both from King Arthur. The King's flour hides many minor mistakes. I also like a 50-50 fat ratio, using vegetable shortening and sweet (unsalted) butter from Organic Valley. The butter is bright yellow, not that insipid mellow yellow that looks like your neighbor's lakeside cottage. Then, I always add a tablespoon of my homemade apple cider vinegar into the ice water, so that it softens the gluten strands and makes them a bit less chewy. Of course, salt is a good addition, since bland crust can ruin a pie.

If you want to go totus porcus (one of Winston Churchill's favorite all time sayings), then add manteca (beef lard) instead of shortening, and a cup of extra sharp cheddar cheese. Ouch! That's how good it is. It's so good it'll make your dog cry.

Start with a ton of mushrooms--all sorts, if you can get 'em. Maybe eight cups worth. Add EVOO to a hot skillet and then the shrooms, sliced nicely. Cut the heat to low and caramelize these pups until the edges get brown. That's the natural sugar working its magic. Take your time with this step and you will get a superior outcomes, I promise. Add a 1/4 cup of sherry or brandy. Let the liquid evaporate. Don't salt at this point. Salt will just ruin your mushroom magic.

Then add a half of a stick of sweet cream butter, two cups of previously frozen chopped spinach, some diced onion, S&P, and a 1/4 cup of flour. Cook down, then add a half cup of cream or half-and-half. This will thicken nicely. Bring to a quick boil and stop. STOP! Yes, STOP!

If you have mushroom powder--which I do (obviously! I mean, anybody who is good in the kitchen has mushroom powder, right? Come on, get with it!), then add it at the end. Turn off the heat.

Get your oven hot--say 400 degrees F.--place a cookie tray in the oven ahead of time. Then, roll out the crust, fill it with warm (but not hot) filling, add the top crust, dock it (put some holes in the top for steam to escape), wash the top with a milk or egg wash, and place on the cookie tray in the 400 degree oven for ten minutes.

Reduce the heat to 350 and wait until your pie is done. The pie is done when the top crust is golden brown, as the bottom will cook nicely on the pre-heated cookie sheet (a trick to use in the future) and the insides were already cooked.

Drink copious amounts of red wine with this, or Long Trail Winter Ale or something from Harpoon Brewery!