MIXED BERRIES & GINGER PIE

This pie is dedicated to my friend's new born son, as you can see from the crumbling crust inscription resting happily on top of the pie ;).This is also my entry to Cook Sister's blog event Waiter, there's something in my pie!

The recipe for this pie is one R and I have been making over the last few winters. We discovered this recipe while experimenting with a huge pack of frozen berries picked up from the local TJs. Thawed the berries, looked around the pantry, where we had lemons, ginger, almonds, and lotsa alcohol (see how that useful that can be ;). Voila, right there a simple, crowd pleasing "family" recipe was born!

The best part is you can use any left over pie filling, as a berry sauce on almost any dessert, be it crème brulee, ice cream or similar desserts of your choice. Now who can complain about a two-in-one dessert? Or if you are like R, it can be your sugar rush for the week by eating spoon full of the good stuff and justifying it as eating berries that are good for you…..right!



Mixed Berry and Ginger Pie Recipe
Ingredients
For the Filling:
3 cups of frozen berries. You can use any mixed berries like blueberries, strawberries and gooseberries.
1 cup sugar
1 cup toasted slivered almonds
¼ inch ginger diced thinly
1 tsp lemon juice
½ cup red or white wine
2 tsp orange liqueur (optional)
1 tsp butter

For the Crust:
2 ready to bake pie shells/crusts (1 for the base and the other for the top). I use the TJs gourmet pie crusts, as they are amazingly easy to use
1 tsp butter

Method
For the Pie Filling
In a deep pan, melt the butter. To that add the thawed berries, sugar and wine. Let it cook for a while till the mixture reduces. To that add the lemon juice, ginger and orange liqueur. Let this mixture cook for about 1-15 minutes. Stir occasionally Remember to cover the pan with a lid, as the liquid tends to jump around a fair bit. Taste the filling and add more sugar according to taste.

For the Pie:
1. Pre heat oven to 425 degrees
2. Thaw both pie crusts (if frozen) for about 15 minutes till they come to room temperature and become pliable
3. Place the pie crusts onto your work area and flatten them individually.
4. Gently move one of the flattened pie crusts to a 10 inch pie pan.
5. Add the pie filling and sprinkle with toasted almonds
6. Place the 2nd crust over the filling. Brush with melted butter
7. Wrap the excess top crust to seal the pie. Make slits in the top crust to make sure the steam has an outlet
8. If you have excess dough remaining, you can use it to decorate the top of the pie
9. Bake the pie at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cover the sides with foil. This will keep it from getting too brown (SOMETHING I FORGOT TO DO :(). Bake at 350 degrees for another 25-30 minutes, or till the crust starts to brown.
Note: This pie does not need a lot of cooking time, as the inside filling is already cooked.

Enjoy!!