A recipe to try

Not Quite Pie

recipe by Ruth

Give this a try some adventurous afternoon at home.

This dish has two parts: the mixed fruit on the bottom and the biscuit-like topper. Any mixed fruit would do well, as long as it is moist but not runny. If you mix a fruit combo that is too moist, you may try adding tapioca (sago) to firm it up a bit. The original idea involved peaches. I ended up adding sago to the last one I made but the quality was still great.

Here is the fruit combo I used last:

1 lb fresh cranberries
two large apples cut up
one generous hand full of raspberries
a little sugar to taste
a little salt (say, ½ t.)
cinnamon, allspice, cloves, scant to taste

Boil the fruit together in a saucepan until it meshes and bubbles. Set aside off heat to cool. There should be some juice/sauce but not a lot.

Note: IF you happen to be in a tropical country (smile) you may like to try something involving mangoes. Or, apple raisin and rambutan??? You have to experiment with what you have. You can always rely on sago if you have to. I made this with just apple and raisin too and it was a nice, warm autumn comfort food taste.

Biscuit topper:

2 c. flour
2 T. baking powder
1 t. soda
little salt
enough milk, buttermilk, or cream to make the batter a thick pancake batter consistency, probably 2 cups or more

Mix this all together, dry ingredients first, adding the milk at once last.

Put the fruit mixture in the bottom of a large pie tin. Lay the biscuit batter over it in an even layer, sealing the edges so the fruit mixture doesn’t show much. Sprinkle a little cinnamon and sugar across the top. Put the pie tin on a cookie sheet to catch any drips. Bake ½ hour at 350 or until biscuit part is fully done. Serve warm. Have seconds.