We recently came back from a ski trip out in the mountains, since they’re so close to Calgary, we really try to take advantage of it all and get out as much and as often as we can. Plus, taking up snowboarding was my way of coping with the long Calgary winters because seriously, I was on the brink of snapping and moving a million miles away to some beach resort because of the cold weather we get every winter. Now that I’ve taken up a winter sport, I find that I’m actually looking forward to winter (well the snow, but definitely not the cold, snowboarding in -25ºC weather does not equal fun).
So every couple of weeks we try to book a weekend getaway and stock up on all different types of food (and everything in our fridge) to bring with us up to the mountains where good times are to be had. Of course when we’re done, the reverse usually happens and we’re trekking back all the leftovers in to town and sadly back in to our refrigerator, where it sort of just sits and lingers until I figure out what to do with them.
Just the other day I looked in my fridge and realized that I somehow ended up being the person that was stuck with the whole carton of sour cream. Not just any carton of sour cream, but the cartons that come from Costco and we all know what those look like. Luckily it was the low fat version, so it was something I could work with. I looked up a few recipes and decided to give it a shot. One of those recipes (found here) ended up being a Sour Cream Whole Wheat Pie Crust, which I decided would go great with a Sour Cream Blueberry Pie filling. It seemed like an interesting combo so I gave it a shot and to be honest, I thought the crust ended up a lot flakier than I figured it would be since it was using a lot less butter then the conventional crusts and quite a bit of whole wheat flour as opposed to just all purpose. Either way, all I can say is that my husband was all skeptical when I first told him what I was baking but once he tasted it, the pie definitely didn’t end up back along side the rest of the other trip leftovers in the fridge.
Whole Wheat Pie Crust Recipe (overall I kept the recipe pretty much the same except a few things which I’ve made notes on throughout)
Ingredients:1 cup whole wheat flour (I didn’t have whole wheat pastry flour lying around so I opted to use regular whole wheat flour but in smaller quantities to ensure the crust remains flaky)
1 1 /4 cup all purpose flour
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
4 tbsp cold unsalted butter (Freezing the butter makes it much easier to handle and makes a much flakier crust)
1/4 cup low fat sour cream
3 tbsp canola oil
4 tbsp ice water (keeping the dough cold is key)
Preparation:In a bowl, combine the whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, sugar and salt.
Take the frozen butter out of the freezer and using a mandolin, grate the butter in to the dry mixture. Try to do this quickly to avoid the butter from warming up to room temperature.
Add the sour cream and oil to the mixture and toss lightly, avoid over mixing to prevent the butter from melting.
Sprinkle in the water and knead until the dough all comes together. Do not over work the dough, which will cause gluten to form and prevents the crust from becoming flaky and soft.
Cover the dough with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge to cool down for an hour, if you’re planning to use the dough right away, you can put it in the freezer for 10-15 mins.
When you’re ready to use the dough, uncover, split it in half and roll them out between two pieces of wax paper. One sheet will be used as the base of the pie crust, place it over the pan and trim the edges so you have 1 inch all around. Using a fork, poke little holes on the bottom of the pan.
Once you have your filling in, roll out the second piece of dough the same way as the first. You can either cut them in to strips and use it as a lattice top or just place the either sheet over the pie and leave 1 inch around the outer rim. Crimp the edges of the pie together. If you’re covering the whole pie, remember to slice holes in to the top with a knife to allow air and steam to flow out of the pie shell.
Bake as per instructions of the pie or at 375ºC for 25-30 mins (until golden).
Sour Cream Blueberry Pie Filling (normally this pie filling is topped with candied pecans, but I decided to go with a traditional lattice pie top instead of the pecans, feel free to add them back if you prefer, just lighten up on the sugar and flour on the pecans to make them healthier)
Ingredients:1 cup low fat sour cream (the original recipe called for full fat sour cream, but using low fat cuts out on the unnecessary fat and doesn’t compromise in taste)
2 tbsp all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar (I lowered the amount of sugar from 3 /4 cup to 1/ 2 cup and didn’t notice much of a different since the blueberries are so sweet naturally, I might even use a bit less next time)
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten (or 2 egg whites if you prefer)
2 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (seeing that it’s the middle of winter, my frozen blueberries came to the rescue and worked just as well)
Preparation:Preheat the oven to 400ºC
In a bowl, add in the sour cream, flour, sugar, vanilla, salt and egg. Beat until there are no longer lumps in the mixture.
Fold in the blueberries and pour the mixture in to the pie crust and cover with the rest of the above pie crust dough if desired. If using a pecan topping please refer to the original recipe.
Bake for roughly 25-30 mins or until the crust becomes golden brown, once done, remove from the oven and let cool for at least 20-30 mins before serving.
Pie can be covered and stored for up to a week in the fridge.
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