Peach Fried Pies!

 

 

 This recipe for fried pies is one from another of my aunts, Aunt Lassie.  For those who are new to "Sweet Tea and Cornbread", my mother has five sisters and they are all really good southern cooks, so I not only get recipes from them, they actually cook them up for me to photograph sometimes also, which is great!   

Aunt Lassie is next to the oldest of my mother's sisters and she is quite a character.  I am not allowed to tell you how much of a character, because Mama won't let me, but let's just say she was always the life of the party and still tries to be. She would be the first to say so!  She never meets a stranger, that is for sure and no matter what the adversity of life, has not let it get her down! 

 

The first thing I always think about concerning Aunt Lassie's cooking is how fast she always was in the kitchen.  She used to be like a five foot tall tornado when she got started cooking.  I remember us going to visit her one time, sort of unannounced.  She and her husband were remodeling an old Victorian era house and collecting antiques for it and we went to see it one afternoon. 

 

We had no plans to stay for dinner, but she insisted.  She said I have a good roast thawed out and I will fix that.  It was already like three or four o'clock or so, and I was thinking, there is no way we are eating before seven or eight o'clock.   So, we went to the kitchen to start dinner and she got out this pressure cooker and seasoned up that roast and threw it in there and got out some vegetables, peeled potatoes and started some tea.  She was moving around in that kitchen like a whirlwind.  Within, what must have been less than an hour and a half, we sat down to a full dinner and it was delicious.  When we left, I told Mama I had never seen anybody cook that fast in my life.   She just laughed and said Aunt Lassie had always been fast like that and that cooking in restaurants and such made you get much faster out of necessity.

 

Aunt Lassie also loves kitchen gadgets.  That must be where I get it from.  When we sat down to write up this recipe, she told me she had a food processor before anyone in this area even knew what one was...lol.   The even funnier thing is, she is still using it.   I think she said she saw it at a Montgomery Ward store in either Houston or Dallas, TX.  years ago and she said, I have to have one of those and she bought it and brought it home.   She says it's one of the best kitchen appliances they ever invented.

 

I have posted my mother's fried pies on the site already, but since we used fresh apples for those and not dried fruit, I wanted to also post one with dried fruit.  This recipe is just a bit different overall.   Here is what you will need:

 

3 (6oz.) pkgs. dried peaches (could use dried apricots also)

1  1/4 cups sugar

4 Tbs. butter

1 tsp. vanilla 

1 tsp. cinnamon

1  1/2 cups self rising flour

1/3 cup shortening

1/3 cup milk

shortening or oil for frying

 

Place the dried fruit in a saucepan with just enough water to cover it.  Add the sugar, butter, vanilla and cinnamon.   Simmer, uncovered for about 40 minutes. Once cooked down allow it to cool and then it's best to refrigerate and get it good and cold.   Once cold, Aunt Lassie said she puts the mixture in her food processor and pulses it just a second.  Now you know why I told you the food processor story.   Don't over do it with the food processor though, or you will have peach sauce.  You can also just mash the peaches up with a potato masher while they are warm and before you refrigerate them. 

 

To make your pastry, cut the shortening into the flour, like you would for biscuit dough.  Gradually add the milk to make a soft dough.   It might take a bit more or less milk than the 1/3 cup, just add it a little at a time until the right consistency.    Now, you can roll and cut the pie circles from here or you can refrigerate this dough and get it good and cold and then roll.  It is easier to work with cold.   

 

If you will just cut the dough in equal portions like this and then roll each portion, you will get pies that are all about the same. 

 

 Rolls each portion on a floured surface and then use a saucer or something similar in size to cut out a perfectly round circle.  Place about 1/3 cup filling in the center of each one and fold over.  Using the tines of a fork press to seal all the way around.  Make sure they are sealed well. 

 

 

In a large skillet heat some shortening or oil, place two to three pies in the hot oil and cook just until well browned on each side.  Aunt Lassie says she pricks the pies with a fork as they cook to allow some of the steam to escape.

 

Serve plain or with a sprinkle of powdered sugar!  They are yummy!

 



Fried Apple Pies!

  

Fried pies are another southern classic that people love.  I don't think people make them much anymore though.  They are actually not all that hard to make, but they do take time.  It just seems that most people don't really know how they are made.  So when I went to cook with my mother last week, we did a batch of fried pies.  

We usually use dried apples for the apple pies, but on this day she had some really good Gala apples so we decided to use them.  You can, of course, used the dried fruit.   We also made the dough for the pastry with a buttermilk baking mix, but a lot of folks do use canned biscuits.  

In my opinion, the taste of the dough you make up is much flakier and better, but the biscuits work.  You will need the large biscuits though.   

 Here is what you will need:

Apple Filling

5 Gala apples or some other firm apple, peeled, cored and diced

1/2 stick butter (4 Tbs.)

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup apple juice

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. vanilla

1 Tbs. cornstarch

Pastry

2 cups buttermilk baking mix (like Bisquick)

1 cup water

1 stick melted butter (for brushing the tops)

Place the peeled, diced apples in a skillet with the butter sugar and salt.  Saute them until they cook down and get tender. 

Mix the apple juice, cinnamon, vanilla and cornstarch together.  Pour over the apples and bring to a quick boil then turn the heat to medium and cook until the juices thicken.  The apples should be cooked until they are mush but should be very tender.  Turn off and let this cool on the stove.  Place in the refrigerator and chill.  It's really best to do this the day before to allow sufficient time to get cold, but you could do it in the morning and have it cold enough by the late afternoon.   If the filling is not cold, it makes it really hard to keep it in the pies when you fry them.

Mix the baking mix and water until you get a soft dough, like biscuit dough.  You might have to add just wee bit more water than the 1 cup. It's really best to do this ahead and chill the dough also, but you can proceed from here. 

Divide the dough into 8 even sections.  Take each section and roll it out on a floured surface.

Cut about a 7" circle from each rolled dough section.  A good way to get a nice circle is to place a large saucer or bread and butter size plate down and then cut around it..voila, pretty circle of dough.  Place about 1//3 cup of the apple filling in the center. 

With a pastry brush wet the edge of the dough all the way around with a little water. Fold the dough over and seal them with the tines of a fork all the way around.  Continue with the other seven until they are all filled and sealed.  It  is a  time consuming little task making fried pies.  This might be why nobody knows how to make these anymore...lol!   Your family will love you for the effort though, so keep going, we are almost there!

Now time to fry and this is where we need to discuss your options.  You can deep fry these in a deep fryer of oil.  Actually, a lot of folks do it this way.  Just heat your oil to about 350 and drop them 1 or 2 at a time in and cook until golden brown.  Drain on a paper towel lined plate.  Or you can fry them in a large skillet with about a 1/2 inch of oil in it. or my mother puts oil on her large griddle (like you cook a batch of pancakes on) and places all of the pies on them at one time.  Take the melted stick of butter and brush the uncooked side with it, then when you turn them, brush the other side with it. and brown the other side.  This actually works great and you can get them all cooked at one time and quickly.  With this method the pies are not as greasy as with the deep fried method, but for some people that is what they like about a fried pie...grease.  This produces a more buttery pie.  We love them like this, but you know between me, Mama and Paula Deen, we keep the dairy farmers in business with our butter consumption...lol!  You can't go wrong with either method...deep fry or pan fry. 



Fried Apple Pies!





Peach Fried Pies!

 This recipe for fried pies is one from another of my aunts, Aunt Lassie.  For those who are new to "Sweet Tea and Cornbread", my mother has five sisters and they are all really good southern cooks, so I not only get recipes from them, they actually cook them up for me to photograph sometimes also, which is great!   Aunt Lassie is next to the oldest of my mother's sisters and she is quite a character.  I am not allowed to tell you how much of a character, because Mama won't let me, but let's just say she was always the life of the party and still tries to be. She would be the first to say so!  She never meets a stranger, that is for sure and no matter what the adversity of life, has not let it get her down! 

The first thing I always think about concerning Aunt Lassie's cooking is how fast she always was in the kitchen.  She used to be like a five foot tall tornado when she got started cooking.  I remember us going to visit her one time, sort of unannounced.  She and her husband were remodeling an old Victorian era house and collecting antiques for it and we went to see it one afternoon. 

We had no plans to stay for dinner, but she insisted.  She said I have a good roast thawed out and I will fix that.  It was already like three or four o'clock or so, and I was thinking, there is no way we are eating before seven or eight o'clock.   So, we went to the kitchen to start dinner and she got out this pressure cooker and seasoned up that roast and threw it in there and got out some vegetables, peeled potatoes and started some tea.  She was moving around in that kitchen like a whirlwind.  Within, what must have been less than an hour and a half, we sat down to a full dinner and it was delicious.  When we left, I told Mama I had never seen anybody cook that fast in my life.   She just laughed and said Aunt Lassie had always been fast like that and that cooking in restaurants and such made you get much faster out of necessity.

Aunt Lassie also loves kitchen gadgets.  That must be where I get it from.  When we sat down to write up this recipe, she told me she had a food processor before anyone in this area even knew what one was...lol.   The even funnier thing is, she is still using it.   I think she said she saw it at a Montgomery Ward store in either Houston or Dallas, TX.  years ago and she said, I have to have one of those and she bought it and brought it home.   She says it's one of the best kitchen appliances they ever invented.

I have posted my mother's fried pies on the site already, but since we used fresh apples for those and not dried fruit, I wanted to also post one with dried fruit.  This recipe is just a bit different overall.   Here is what you will need:

3 (6oz.) pkgs. dried peaches (could use dried apricots also)

1  1/4 cups sugar

4 Tbs. butter

1 tsp. vanilla 

1 tsp. cinnamon

1  1/2 cups self rising flour

1/3 cup shortening

1/3 cup milk

shortening or oil for frying

Place the dried fruit in a saucepan with just enough water to cover it.  Add the sugar, butter, vanilla and cinnamon.   Simmer, uncovered for about 40 minutes. Once cooked down, allow it to cool and then it's best to refrigerate and get it good and cold.   Once cold, Aunt Lassie said she puts the mixture in her food processor and pulses it just a second.  Now you know why I told you the food processor story.   Don't over do it with the food processor though, or you will have peach sauce.  You can also just mash the peaches up with a potato masher while they are warm and before you refrigerate them. 

To make your pastry, cut the shortening into the flour, like you would for biscuit dough.  Gradually add the milk to make a soft dough.   It might take a bit more or less milk than the 1/3 cup, just add it a little at a time until the right consistency.    Now, you can roll and cut the pie circles from here or you can refrigerate this dough and get it good and cold and then roll.  It is easier to work with cold.   

If you will just cut the dough in equal portions like this and then roll each portion, you will get pies that are all about the same. 

 Rolls each portion on a floured surface and then use a saucer or something similar in size to cut out a perfectly round circle.  Place about 1/3 cup filling in the center of each one and fold over.  Using the tines of a fork press to seal all the way around.  Make sure they are sealed well. 

 

In a large skillet heat some shortening or oil, place two to three pies in the hot oil and cook just until well browned on each side.  Aunt Lassie says she pricks the pies with a fork as they cook to allow some of the steam to escape.

Serve plain or with a sprinkle of powdered sugar!  They are yummy!