PIE-A-DAY #38
Alex Brown and Evan George are a pair of vegetarian party boys called The Hot Knives. Brown is a cheesemonger for Gourmet Imports, and George is a News producer here at KCRW. And together they are part of the judging panel for the vegan pie category at this year’s pie contest.
Many of their Vegan Pie Fillings play on cocktails. Their Coconut Cream uses kudzu starch, a thickener made from the root of the kudzu plant.
The recipes come from the duo’s book Lust for Leaf: Vegetarian Noshes, Bashes, and Everyday Great Eats — The Hot Knives Way.
Get started baking (and partying) below, and visit kcrw.com/pie to enter YOUR delicious pie (or pies) in the 5th Annual Good Food Pie Contest on Saturday, September 7th at LACMA.
Vegan Pie Fillings
(From Lust for Leaf: Vegetarian Noshes, Bashes, and Everyday Great Eats — The Hot Knives Way, by Alex Brown and Evan George)
Coconut Cream
Makes 8 to 10 tartlets
Note: This sweet goo works best when it’s not cooked; you’ll want to add it to finished crusts and serve that way. You can try making a Pop-Tart, but don’t blame us if it explodes.
2 cans coconut milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons kudzu starch
2 tablespoons water
1. Combine the coconut milk and the sugar in a small sauce pot and stir to combine. Heat on medium heat.
2. Mix the kudzu starch and the water together until the kudzu dissolves. Add this to the coconut milk and stir. Keep the heat on; as the milk gets close to a boil it will start to thicken considerably. Like, a lot. Like, you’ll be all confused at how thick it will get. Cool the mix down after it’s approached pudding texture.
3. Get thee some tart shells and dollop to your heart’s content. Garnish with fresh berries, or layer with Rumerized Pineapple (below) to get all piña colada like.
Manhattan
Makes 1 large pie, 8 Pop-Tarts, or 8 to 10 tartlets
3/4 cup rye whiskey
1/4 cup sweet vermouth
1/2 cup sugar
Zest of one orange
Angostura Bitters
1. Pit the cherries.
2. Combine the pitted cherries, booze, and sugar in a medium pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes. Chill.
3. When shaping pies, zest the orange and distribute it evenly over the top of the filling. Dash two drops of bitters per square inch of exposed filling, finish shaping and bake as directed per shape.
Rumerized Pineapple
Makes enough for 8 to 10 tartlets
1 ripe pineapple
1 vanilla bean
1/2 cup rum
4 teaspoons butter (or margarine), divided
1. Skin the pineapple, and slice into quarter-inch thick rounds. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Heat a large skillet on medium-high flame and melt 1 tablespoon of butter. When butter is sizzling, add four to five slices of pineapple, depending on the size of your pan, and cook undisturbed for 5 minutes. Check for color—you want a good caramelization—then flip and sear the other side before removing. Repeat this process, adding more butter as needed until all your pineapple is cooked.
3. Split and scrape the vanilla bean (reserve spent pods for making vanilla extract) and whisk the seeds into the rum.
4. Load all the pineapple into a roasting dish, and add the vanilla rum. Braise at 350 for 25 minutes. Remove and cool and you’re ready for pies.
Oaxacan Apricot
Makes 1 large pie, 8 Pop-Tarts, or 8 to 10 tartlets
2 pounds fresh apricots
1 cup mezcal (tequila will do)
1 cup sugar
1. Halve and pit the apricots, and combine in a medium saucepan with the booze and sugar. Heat on high and stir to combine.
2. Once the mix hits a bubble-boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring frequently. Let the mix cool down a bit before adding to dough and shaping.