04 Sep 2024 Fried perfection and the ice cream dream
By Chef Don Bingham
The smell of fall spices and aromas are beginning to make their appearance in our thinking and in our kitchens! I’m even noticing a revival in the historical delight of an old-fashioned delicacy, the fried pie, in food articles, food trucks, and traditional food memories. What a wonderful way to welcome fall!
In doing some research on the history of the fried pie, I discovered the origin in the U.S. goes back to the 1700s with the South’s creation of “Crab Lanterns,” a term that was used for crab apples which were cooked down with brown sugar and spices, then fried in a pastry until golden brown.
Fried pies come from a long tradition of female home cooks in rural Arkansas, who turned the dessert into a staple dish because of its convenience, affordability and ease. Unlike cakes, which could take all day to prepare and required expensive ingredients that might be hard to access, fried pies were a quick, affordable way to enjoy something sweet. Reconstituted dried fruit, especially apples and peaches, were most often used. Once canned biscuit dough was invented in the 1930s, cooks could even use biscuit dough as a shortcut for the crust. Today’s fried pie flavors go beyond fruit and include chocolate, coconut, sweet potato, pecan and even cheesecake.
One of my favorite memories that locals in the 501-area code will recall is that of the “miniature fried pie” that the late Mabel Sherrin would bake for any special occasion. The tablespoon-size fried pies would always make an appearance for the annual Orpheus Club Musicale fundraiser that the Ladies Musical Society would offer the community to raise funds to purchase instruments for the public school system in Conway. I was honored to have known Mabel Sherrin and have her recipe for these delicacies. The recipe is included with this article!
As my wife and I would attend cooking schools throughout the United States, we would often find fried pies offered in the cooking demonstrations! There are many varieties of crusts and fillings, with only a few mentioned in the recipes that accompany this article. For those of you who do not have time to produce your own home-cooked pies, there are many establishments in the 501 that offer them for purchase.
Two of our favorites are Burge’s Hickory Smoked Turkeys and Hams in Little Rock off Cantrell Road in the Heights and Burgers, Pies & Fries on Harkrider Street in Conway. Fried pies may be baked instead of fried and sprinkled with a delicious glaze or even powdered sugar — chef’s choice!
Pairing fried pies with homemade ice cream is a double treat! I’m headed to the kitchen now–it’s time for a fried pie as a precursor to the coming cooler days of fall!
Nathalie Dupree’s Fried Pies
Nathalie is a friend who is an author, a chef for PBS TV and the founder of Rich’s Cooking School of Atlanta, Ga.
CRUST:
2 cups self-rising flour
1/4 cup shortening
3/4 cup milk
Place the flour in a small bowl. Cut in the shortening, using a pastry cutter or fork until the mixture is well combined. Stir in the milk to make a soft but not sticky dough that will roll out without sticking. Add more flour to the dough if necessary.
FILLING:
8 ounces dried apples or peaches
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
Place fruit and water in a heavy, medium-sized saucepan and let stand for 1 hour or overnight. Cook over low heat until thick enough to cling to the spoon, about 45 minutes. Stir in sugar.
Pinch off a piece of pastry the size of a small egg. Place it on a well-floured surface and roll it into a 5-inch circle. Place about 2 tablespoons of apple mixture on the bottom half the pastry round, leaving a half-inch edge uncovered. Fold top of pastry over apples, forming a half circle. Trim to within 1/4 inch of the filling. Press the edges together with the tines of a fork. Prick the top of the pastry with a fork in several places. Place in a heated skillet and fry on both sides until golden brown. Serve hot.
Mabel Sherrin’s Miniature Fried Pies
Mabel was a Conway resident who was an activist for history and music.
CRUST:
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup shortening
3 Tbsp. ice-cold water
Mix flour and salt; cut in shortening; add water. Stir gently; roll and cut in small circles. Fill with filling, approximately one teaspoon. Fold into half-moon shapes, baste with melted butter, sprinkle lightly with sugar.
FILLING:
2 packages dried apricots
1 cup sugar
Cover dried apricots with water; boil until tender and most of the water is gone; add sugar and mash. Let the mixture cool before using it to fill the crust.
Place on cookie sheet and bake at 350 till golden.
Alice May Johnson’s Fried Raisin Pie
Crust:
4 cups flour
1 cup shortening
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. salt
Cut shortening into a mixture of the flour and salt. Add buttermilk and stir to make dough. Shape and roll out into six-inch ovals or rounds. Place a heaping tablespoon of raisin mixture on each pastry, fold over and crimp the edges. Fry in oil over medium heat to golden brown.
Filling:
1 cup raisins, packed
2 1/2 cups water
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
2 Tbsp. butter
Bring raisins and 2 cups of water to a boil in a heavy saucepan. Simmer for 30 minutes. Add sugar and bring to a boil again. Mix 1/2 cup water with flour and stir into raisin mixture. Cook until mixture thickens. Add butter and let cool before making pies.
Fry in oil over medium heat to golden brown.
Orange Crush Ice Cream
This recipe has been in our family for 50 years. We borrowed it from another wonderful cook.
2 liter bottle of Orange Crush soda
2 cans Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk
1 can pineapple tidbits, crushed
Juice of one lemon
Mix together, then pour mixture into an ice cream freezer container and freeze as directed per manufacturer’s directions.
Bonnie’s Vanilla Ice Cream
Bonnie was a sous chef/lunch lady for me at Little Rock’s First Baptist Church for many years. Her recipe is another favorite
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 cartons whipping cream (large)
1 can of Eagle Brand Milk
3/4 tsp. salt
3 1/4 tsp. vanilla
Beat eggs until fluffy; add sugar, beat until thick; add remaining ingredients; mix well; add dairy milk until 2/3 full Freeze in ice cream freezer per manufacturer’s directions.
Donna Verser’s Homemade Ice Cream
Donna is a long-time friend of Nancy and mine’s, and our boys were best buds. She would make her famous ice cream for our sons, Joseph and Justin.
4 eggs, beaten
2 cups sugar
1 can Eagle Brand milk
1 large can evaporated milk
2 tsp. vanilla
1 quart whole milk
Mix Eagle Brand and evaporated milk. Stir in eggs, sugar and vanilla. Add a quart of milk and mix well. Pour the ingredients into an ice cream freezer, then use the remaining amount of additional milk to fill the freezer. Mix well. Put the paddle in the freezer. Freeze until ice cream forms.
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