Apricot - Blueberry Fried Pies

My Ma Stuart made the best of the best pies. One of her specialties was dried apricot fried pies. We used to sit for hours under her big elm tree splitting apricots picked fresh from her tree in the front yard. After hours of cot splitting we would carefully lay the fruit on sheets spread out on the garage roof so it could dry under the hot August sun. The next day we would flip all those apricots and let the sun continue its drying work. It did not take but a couple of days for all that fruit to be completely dried out and ready to store up for the winter. Now do not begin to think that the work was done. Oh no! My Ma never let a perfectly good apricot go to waste not when she could dry it and let it go to waist! We dried every last cot that ever so productive tree spewed forth!
I don't know that she ever wrote down a recipe for her apricot pies; I have been left to my own devices to come up with my own ideas. I recently made up this variation on my old favorite. The filling mellows and becomes, "to die for" if left to rest 24 hours in the refrigerator before it making into pies.
Enjoy!

Apricot-Blueberry Fried Pies

Pastry:

6 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons salt

2 cups shortening

⅔ cups water

2 eggs

2 Tablespoons white wine vinegar

Filling:

12 ounces dried apricots (diced)

6 ounces dried blueberries

2 - 12 ounce cans apricot nectar (such as Kearns)

¾ cup sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup powdered sugar, for dusting

4 cups vegetable oil (plus more as needed for frying)

Pastry: In a large bowl combine the flour and salt; cut in shortening until coarse meal forms. Combine the water, eggs, and vinegar; gradually add to the dry ingredients, tossing with a fork until dough forms a ball. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill one hour or more.

Filling: In a medium pot, bring apricots, blueberries, nectar, and ¾ cup sugar to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until mixture reaches a jam-like consistency, 30 to 40 minutes. Let cool. Stir in vanilla extract.

To assemble: Roll out half of pastry to ¼ inch thickness. Cut into 5½ inch circles. Place 1 heaping tablespoon of fruit mixture in the center of a dough circle. Moisten edges with water; fold dough over filling and press edges with a fork to seal.

In an electric skillet or deep fat fryer, heat oil to 375°. fry pies in batches for 6-7 minutes or until golden brown, turning once. Drain on paper towels. Dust with confectioner's sugar.

Yield: 14 pies

Upside Down Apple Pie

I found this recipe on the back of an envelope shoved into a box of recipes that I meant to file long, long ago. I do not know where it came from. All that to say that this not an original. I wish I could give credit where credit is due! This is a very fun pie to make and it looks so very impressive when you tip it out of the pie pan. The brown sugar and butter fairly drip down the mound of pecans, pastry, and apples. YUM! Naturally I recommend that you use my recipe for If All Else Fails pie crust. (Found with Sweet Cherry Plum Pie recipe below)

I hope you try this one and that you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it.

Pastry for a 2 crust pie

Topping:

½ cup packed brown sugar

¼ cup butter, melted

1 cup pecan halves

Filling:

1 cup sugar

⅓ cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons butter

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

8 cups thinly sliced peeled tart apples

Preheat oven to 375°.

Coat a 9 inch deep-dish pie plate with cooking spray. Line bottom and sides of pan with parchment paper; coat paper with cooking spray and set aside.

Topping: In a small bowl combine brown sugar and butter; stir in pecans. Arrange in the bottom of prepared pie plate with the rounded sides of the pecans facing down.

Filling: In a large bowl, combine the sugar, flour, butter and cinnamon. Add apples; toss to coat. Set aside

On a lightly floured surface, roll out larger portion of dough to fit bottom and sides of the pie plate. Transfer pastry to the plate; press it firmly against pecans and sides of pie plate. Trim edges.

Fill crust with the sliced apples. Roll out remaining pastry to fit the top of the pie; lay over the filling. Trim and seal the edges. Cut slits in the pastry.

Bake pie 60-70 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Carefully loosen the parchment paper around the edge of the pie; invert hot pie onto a serving plate. remove paper from the top of the pie and let cool 15 minutes before serving.