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We had taken Thing One and Thing Two to Old Sturbridge Village earlier this year, where they both tried, and enjoyed, an old-fashioned Carrot Pie. One of the handouts from our visit was a copy of the "receipt" (what they called recipes in the early 19th century) for that pie, and they decided they wanted to make it for Thanksgiving, and make their relatives guess to see if they could tell what was in it.
It's a good thing that I spend a lot of time in the kitchen, because recipes in the 19th century didn't tend to include amounts, and skipped a lot of technique, because they were written for an audience that would have learned the basics of these recipes at their mother's hip over the course of years. To give you an idea of what I'm talking about, this receipt read:
"Carrot pies are made like squash pies. The carrots should be boiled very tender, skinned, and sifted. Both carrot pies and squash pies should be baked without an upper crust, in deep plates. To be baked an hour, in quite a warm oven." - The American Frugal Housewife, 1832
Yep. That's it. But that's OK, they include the squash pie receipt, too:
"For common family pumpkin pies, three eggs do very well to a quart of milk. Stew your pumpkin, and strain it through a sieve, or colander. Take out the seeds, and pare the pumpkin, or squash, before you stew it; but do not scrape the inside; the part nearest the seed is the sweetest part of the squash. Stir in the stewed pumpkin, till it is as thick as you can stir it round rapidly and easily. If you want to make your pie richer, make it thinner, and add another egg. One egg to a quart of milk makes very decent pies. Sweeten it to your taste, with molasses or sugar; some pumpkins require more sweetening than others. Two teaspoonfuls of salt; two great spoonfuls of sifted cinnamon; one great spoonful of ginger. Ginger will answer very well alone for spice, if you use enough of it. The outside of a lemon grated in is nice. The more eggs, the better the pie; some put an egg to a gill of milk. The should bake for forty to fifty minutes; and even ten minutes longer, if very deep." - The American Frugal Housewife, 1832
OK, that's a little more helpful, but still pretty far removed from a recipe in a modern cookbook. But, like I said, I've spent enough time in the kitchen to translate this into a reasonable recipe, which I've written down below. This was very tasty, and, of course, similar to a pumpkin, squash, or even sweet potato pie, all of which are basically a pureed-or-mashed-orangish-vegetable-in-custard-with-spices, really.
(And for the record, two family members actually guessed "carrot.")
Just like my shots of the cheesecake and bread pudding I made for Thanksgiving this year, this was shot with natural light from the window in my dining room on the left, white reflector for fill on the right. Nikon D7000 w/Nikkor 50mm ƒ/1.8 prime, 0.7s @ ƒ/4.8, ISO100.
Ingredients
For the crust
6 oz. flour
2 oz. shortening
2 oz. unsalted butter, cold, cut into 1/2" pieces
1 tbl. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 oz. ice-cold water
1 oz. ice-cold vodka
For the filling
1 3/4 lb. carrots, peeled and cut into 2" pieces
1/2 c. molasses
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. salt
1 c. milk
3 eggs
Directions
Combine the flour, salt, sugar, and shortening in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade and pulse until the flour takes on the look of coarse meal. Add the butter, and pulse in 10-12 1-second bursts, until the butter is the size of small peas. Turn out into a bowl and add the cold water/vodka mixture about 1 tbl. at a time, stirring after each addition. Add only enough water for the dough to hold together when squeezed. Shape into a disc, double-wrap in plastic wrap, and place in the fridge for at least an hour to allow the flour to hydrate completely and the dough to firm up a bit.
Boil the carrots in lightly salted water until tender (a paring knife inserted in a large piece should come out without resistance.) Drain and mash the carrots. Add the other filling ingredients and whisk to combine. Using either a hand blender or standing blender, puree until smooth.
Preheat your oven to 350°F.
Roll out your dough and line the bottom of a 9" pie pan with it. Crimp the edge, dock the bottom lightly, then refrigerate for 45 minutes, then freeze for 10. Line with parchment and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake 15-20 minutes, then remove the parchment and beans and bake for another 5 minutes.
Pour the filling mixture into the pie crust and return to the oven. Bake 50-60 minutes, until set at the edges but with a slightly-jiggly center (a paring knife inserted 2" from the center should come out clean.)
Cool to room temperature before serving. I garnished this with whipped cream lightly sweetened with maple syrup and freshly grated nutmeg.
via Recipes to Share Pool http://www.flickr.com/photos/djwtwo/15275663863/in/pool-34955636712@N01
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