s'more pie; or, adventures with the broiler.

If I don't see a saltine again for about 18 months, that would be fine. I spent last week with a beast of a stomach flu. It was bad. Reading-my-favorite-food-blogs-was-too-much-for-me-to-handle bad.

Thankfully, though, I'm on the mend and gleefully returning to my kitchen. Starting with this: S'more Pie from SmittenKitchen, adapted in turn from Gourmet. I glumly tucked this recipe away in my bookmarks back in the summer, knowing that I'd need a far cooler kitchen to attempt made-from-scratch marshmallow topping. Fall weather, you are so very welcome.

This pie was quite tasty. It was also perhaps the most pathetic-looking dessert I've ever produced. You see, the recipe called for the pie to be browned in the broiler, but I've always been intimidated by the broiler drawer of my oven (I had the same model in my old apartment, too). That's why I own a culinary torch. Alas, my torch was out of gas. I really wanted an authentic browned topping on the pie, though, so I decided to brave the dreaded broiler drawer. How bad could it really be? Well ... behold:


That's right. My beautiful pristine marshmallow topping turned into THAT. It went something like this:

[After the pie has been in the broiler drawer for about a minute.]

A. sniffs. "Hmm, it smells like maybe it's browning too quickly." Casually strolls to oven; slides out drawer and sees disaster; wails. Remembers over-active smoke detector and runs into bathroom [knows from experience that this is the only room without a smoke detector] clutching pie and calling out, "Trivet! Trivet!" Slams door and turns on bathroom fan.

K. knocks on bathroom door with a trivet. A. and K. leave pie on bathroom floor with fan running, emerge to find M. standing on armchair waving a pack of mailing envelopes in front of smoke detector and D. vigorously swinging apartment door back and forth in an effort to clear the air. [A.'s wonderful friends are experienced at smoke-alarm evasion.] Alarm averted. Pie is still served up in the bathroom.


As it turned out, the blackened topping was kind of delicious - burnt marshmallow! Very authentic. And although I'm never ever attempting to use my broiler in the future, I'll be making this again. Or should I say, s'more?

Blue sky reflected in shiny chocolate filling. Mmm.

S'more Pie
adapted very slightly from smittenkitchen, adapted from Gourmet (Nov. 2006)

Crust:
5 tbsp. butter, melted
10 graham crackers, finely ground (~1 1/2 c.)
1/8 tsp. salt

Chocolate filling:
7 oz. bittersweet or dark chocolate, chopped finely
1 c. heavy cream
1 egg at room temp.
pinch of salt

Marshmallow topping:
1 tsp. unflavored gelatin
1/2 c. cold water
3/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. light corn syrup
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Make crust:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly butter a 9" or 9.5" pie plate. Stir together crust ingredients in bowl, then press evenly over bottom and up sides of pie plate. (*I find that a small bowl with roughly parallel lines helps to make the sides secure.) Bake until crisp, 12 to 15 mins., then cool to room temp., about 45 mins.

Make filling:
2. Bring cream just to a boil in heavy saucepan, then remove from heat, add chocolate to pan and let stand for 1 min. Gently whisk until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Gently whisk in egg and salt until combined, then pour into cooled crust. Cover edges with foil and bake about 25 mins., until mostly set but center wobbles slightly when shaken. (It will firm up as it cools.) Cool pie on rack until room temp., about 1 hour.

Make marshmallow topping:
3. Stir together sugar, corn syrup, pinch of salt, and 1/4 c. water in heavy saucepan. Bring to boil over moderate heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Boil for about 6 mins. or until candy thermometer reaches 260F. (*I don't have a candy thermometer, so I boiled it for about 6 mins. This may not have been quite enough for entirely firm marshmallows but it worked out fine.)

4. Sprinkle gelatin over remaining 1/4 c. water in bowl of KitchenAid mixer with whisk attachment; let stand 1 min. Then, with mixer running at medium speed, slowly and carefully (!) pour in hot syrup, avoiding whisk. When all of syrup is added, increase speed to high and beat until mixture is tripled in volume and thick, about 5 mins. Add vanilla and beat until combined.

5. Immediately spoon topping onto cooled pie; it will slowly spread out. Chill uncovered for 1 hour, then lightly cover with greased plastic wrap and chill 3 hours more.

6. Brown topping in broiler for 3 mins. (*at your own risk!) or with culinary torch. Rinse knife between cuts if necessary.

*Note: Before browning, pie can be chilled for up to one day.

onion upside-down pie.

I came across this recipe while flipping through How to Be a Domestic Goddess on my way to the chocolate babycakes and remembered that it's been languishing on my ever-growing mental must-try-this list ever since I received the book as a gift a few years ago. (Thanks, S.!) Determined to make it before summer temperatures cause me to break out in a sweat at the mere prospect of turning on my oven, I decided it would be the perfect reward to end a long day of drafting papers.

I made just a few minor adjustments, like cooking the onions for longer and adding a splash of apple cider vinegar at the end to deglaze the pan. Served with a big green salad, this was simply satisfying. And while my pie did NOT look like the picture in Nigella's book, the pale mauve of the onions was quite pretty. M. and I speculated that the pie might work with different combinations, too, like leeks and blue cheese. Yum!


Supper Onion Pie
from How to Be a Domestic Goddess

Filling/topping:
4 med. red onions
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. butter
3-4 sprigs of thyme, de-stalked
5 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, grated (about a heaping 1/2 c.)

Scone dough:
1 2/3 c. all-purpose flour
1 scant tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
scant 1/2 c. milk
3 tbsp. butter, melted
1 scant tsp. dry English mustard
1 large egg, beaten
1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar (*optional; I liked the depth of flavor this gave the onions)

1. Preheat the oven to 400F. Peel the onions, halve them, then cut each half into 4 segments. (*I then separated each segment so that the onions would cook evenly.)


2. Heat the oil and butter in a large skillet, then add the onions and cook over med. heat, stirring regularly, for about 45 mins. (*my adjustment; Nigella suggested 30 but I wanted the onions softer). (*Add the vinegar at the end, scraping the pan to get all the yummy browned bits.) Season with salt and pepper to taste, then add thyme.


3. Turn the onions into a 9-in. pie dish and scatter 2 oz. of cheese on top. Let sit while you make the scone dough.

4. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl, then add remaining cheese. In a separate bowl, mix the milk, butter, mustard, and egg well, then pour into the flour mixture. Mix to a dough using a fork or a wooden spoon; it should be quite sticky.

5. Tip onto a (*lightly floured) work surface and pat it out into a circle roughly the size of the pie dish. Place it on top of the onions, pressing it down lightly and making sure all the edges touch the dish, to seal it.

6. Bake at 400F for 15 mins., then turn oven down to 350F and give it another 10 mins. (*mine needed about 15), by which time dough should be golden and crisp on top. Let stand for a few minutes, then cover with a large plate and flip over, releasing the pie.