Thursday, April 8, 2010

Amish-inabe Pie

This is a recipe I received from a Grand Portage Band Member, Robert Swanson.

We were talking about food and he mentioned raisin pie (one of my favorites) with a twist. Love the name.

Here is a little story to go with it.
The recipe is for raisin pie. back to the east there are people that would
make this pie because it was easy, it could be made year round and did not
require refrigeration. because it did not need refrigeration they often
made this pie to serve at wakes. After awhile it became to be called
funeral pie. these people were called Amish people.
a few years ago I started making this pie and added cooked mahnomin to
it. with the blending of the two cultures,
I call this Amishinabe pie.

The short version for print space consideration is standard raisin pie
recipe with 1/2-3/4 cup cooked wild rice added


Raisin Pie

2 cups raisins
2 cups water ½ cup packed brown sugar
2 tbl cornstarch
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp salt
1 tbl. vinegar
1 tbl. butter or margarine
Combine raisins and water
Boil for 5 min
Blend sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and salt
Add to raisin liquid and cook until boiling
Boil 1 min stirring constantly until cornstarch clears
Remove from heat
Stir in vinegar and butter. Cool slightly
Pour into pastry lined pan
Cover with top crust bake at 425 degrees 25 to 30 mins

Additions
After you stir in the vinegar and butter, add 1/2 - 3/4 cup cooked wild
rice

Wild rice preparation
Measure I cup uncooked wild rice
Rinse rice 3 times in warm water
Measure three cups water bring to a boil
Add rice to boiling water cook about ½ hour
Or
Combine rice and water bring to a rolling boil lower heat to medium
Cook about 30 – 45 mins.
Measure out 1/2-3/4 cup cooked wild rice
Add to raisin pie

Note: lemon juice and vinegar inhibit browning. To insure that your
piecrust browns properly add 1 tsp sugar and a pinch of salt to the pie
crust recipe

Double crust pastry recipe
2 cups sifted flour
¾ cup of shortening 1/3 cup cold milk or water 1 tsp salt

Mix flour and salt (and sugar, see note above)
Cut in shortening
Add liquid a little at a time
Gather dough together in bowl
Place on floured surface
Roll out to ¼- 1/8 inch thickness