Sour Cream Pear Pie

Yes, I know that sounds weird. I got lots of skeptical looks when I told people there was sour cream in the pie. But once they tried it, they were converted into believers! This pie was deliciously creamy. It was similar in flavor to apple pie, but ever-so-slightly (and delightfully!) different. So go ahead, take a risk, and try it! I promise you'll be pleasantly surprised!


Sour Cream Pear Pie (adapted from Allrecipes.com)

• 1 unbaked 9" pie crust (I used Martha's Perfect Pie Crust, as posted by Apple A Day)
• 8 small to medium pears, thinly sliced (it would be nice to peel them if you are less lazy than me)
• 1/3 c. granulated sugar
• 3/4 c. all-purpose flour, divided
• 1 c. sour cream
• 1/2 tsp. lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. almond extract
• 1 Tbl. cinnamon, divided
  
• 1/4 c. packed brown sugar
• 2 Tbl. butter, melted

Put your pears in a gallon-sized zip-top plastic bag. Add granulated sugar, sour cream, lemon juice, vanilla and almond extracts, 1/2 Tbl. cinnamon, and 2-4 Tbl. all-purpose flour, depending on how juicy they are. Zip the top (double-check to make sure it's closed, because you don't want to accidentally dump out half your pears! Not that this happened to me, or anything....), and shake and massage around until everything is thoroughly mixed. See how we cleverly avoided dirtying a bowl to mix that up???

Line a 9" pie plate with the crust, trimming the excess from the edges. Dump the pear mixture into the pie plate, along with as much of the juices as you can get out of the bag. Don't worry about making it pretty, because we're going to cover it up with a crumb topping.

Mix together 1/2 c. all-purpose flour, the brown sugar, 1/2 Tbl. cinnamon, and the melted butter until you have pea-sized crumbs. Sprinkle this generously over the top of the pie. Bake at 400 degrees F for 10 minutes, then turn down the heat to 350 degrees F, and bake another 45 minutes. Cover the crust with foil for the last 10 minutes or so, if needed, to prevent over-browning.

Another Pictureless Post...

Sorry guys, another pictureless post. This is the last one, I promise. But I really wanted to share this one--it's a Blondie original! And that made me excited. I had friends over to watch a movie (Sherlock Holmes--very good!). I made a small selection of goodies for them to munch on, including a veggie tray with homemade hummus, Joelen's crab rangoon appetizers, and these pear cigars. I have no idea what to call them, but pear cigars sounds as good as anything else. They were light, tasty, and not too sweet!

Pear Cigars (A Blondie original!)

• 4 medium to large pears
• 1 Tbl. lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
• 3 Tbl. honey
• 2 Tbl. cornstarch
• 1 package filo dough, thawed
• 1/2 stick butter, melted
  

Slice the pears up nice and thinly (a mandoline works well for this). Peeling them before slicing would probably be nice, but I was lazy and didn't do it, so feel free to omit that step. Put about 1/2 in. of water in the bottom of a medium saucepan, and add the pears. Add lemon juice, ginger, and honey, and stir to evenly coat pears. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer covered for about a half hour, or until pears are tender. Mix the cornstarch with about 2 Tbl. cold water until dissolved and smooth. Add the cornstarch slurry to the pears, and stir to combine. Simmer 1 minute longer, or until thickened. Let the pear mixture cool.

Take one sheet of filo dough, and brush with melted butter. Top it with another sheet of filo dough. Brush with melted butter again. Fold the filo stack in half, like a book (hint: the filo stack should NOT be long and skinny...if it is, you folded it in half the wrong way. Unfold and try again). Brush with butter again. Spoon 2-3 Tbl. of pear mixture along the folded edge. Do NOT go all the way to the edge with the filling. Roll the filo dough over the pear mixture once, then fold in the sides (like wrapping a burrito) and continue rolling until you reach the end of the filo sheet. Your cigar should have all the ends tucked in so as to minimize the chance of tasty filling leaking out. Place the cigar seam-side down on a greased baking sheet. Repeat this whole process until you've used all the pear filling. It should make around 18 cigars.

Bake the cigars at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes, or until golden. Enjoy!