January 2021

The distinctiveness of this pie is its crust: made from fairly finely crushed saltine crackers (best with  the original Keebler Saltines)  and moistened with melted butter until it holds together so you can pat it into a pie plate. Chill it a bit and then bake for about 15 minutes until it’s lightly brown.

When I first posted this pie on Facebook I had lots of comments, one in particular that said “How low can you go.”  At first I wasn’t not sure what that meant.  But then I took it to mean that it was a fulsome stab at cooking economically, resorting to cracker crumbs for a crust.  But this crust makes the pie as does its simple  filling that take minutes to make.  The result is a pie with a flavor  profile of sweet, salt and sour. I loved this pic so much that I made it a second time a few days later.  It was in that second version  where I made changes.  The first time the crust fell apart because I hadn’t crushed the crackers fine enough and I added more melted butter so the crumbs would hold up better.  I’ve actually seen some versions where the cracker crust is rolled out like a standard pie dough.

Here the pie is covered with lightly whipped cream; some versions use meringue

Read more…

I’ve decided that Shaw’s is my least favorite supermarket of the Big Three (Whole Foods, Hannaford and Market Basket). My reasons were firmly planted after a visit to the Falmouth Route 1 Shaw’s recently where I went to buy two items: Hershey’s cocoa and Karo light syrup.   I’ve never done a complete shop at any Shaw’s. Though if you want to finish fast, the Shaw’s at Westgate Shopping Plaza in Portland is the best because hardly anyone is in there. But I was in Falmouth and it was convenient to go there.

Route 1 Shaw’s in Falmouth

 

Read more…

I love lamb winter or summer but particularly in the summer when I use a charcoal  grill  to roast a whole leg on the bone or butterflied. I stud the charcoal base with smoking woods.  And  I generally make a seasoning paste of parsley, garlic, thyme or rosemary, mustard and olive oil whizzed in the food processor until it’s the texture of a well made pesto.  I rub this over the lamb.

Leg of lamb prepared for roasting on a bed of potatoes and a few local carrots

Read more…