The Galveston County Daily News

“Downsizing” often has negative connotations, but downsizing a pie to an individual serving can be a positive thing.

Small pies, often called hand pies, are much better travelers than a slice of pie. In fact, some retailers call them “pocket pies” because they are so easy to carry around.

While they may seem as American as, well, apple pie, hand pies circle the globe. In South America, small pies known as empanadas are made with both meat and fruit fillings. Indian hand pies called samosas usually have a spicy filling, and Greek tiropita pies often are sold as a quick breakfast on the go.

Making hand pies involves a little more work than one big pie, but the process is almost the same. The filling, whether sweet or savory, is prepared just like a regular pie filling, and then the dough is rolled out, cut and folded or crimped over a dollop of filling.

The assembled pies can be either baked or deep-fried. The world’s largest purveyor of hand pies, McDonald’s, switched from fried pies to baked apple pies in 1992 (their pineapple pies, which they call empanadas, also are baked).

Not all piemakers have made the leap out of the frying pan and into the oven. Alvin’s Froberg Farms, a local favorite for both big and little pies, still deep-fries hundreds of pies each day.

“It depends on the time of year, but we often make 200 or 300 of our fried pies a day,” Nina Froberg said. “Right now, we’re not making as many as we do in May or June, but we still make all the varieties.”

Froberg added pies to the Froberg Farms offerings of fresh vegetables and fruits many years ago and has turned over the daily pie-making to her sister, Tina Johnson. She still enjoys eating the hand pies, which are available in about 20 varieties.

“My favorite is the peach cream,” she said.

The Froberg fried pies are made in the basic fold-over rectangle shape.

Many of the pies from other cultures are half-moons, made by folding a circle of pie crust in half. Creative cooks can opt for cutting shapes from pie dough and crimping two pieces together. Kitchen stores sell “pocket pie” makers in heart, star and other fancy shapes; the pie makers combine a cookie-cutter side for cutting the crust and a crimping side for sealing in the filling.

While the pocket pies are cute (especially the heart-shaped one, which look like something Little Red Riding Hood might have had in the basket of goodies she was taking to her grandmother), they tend to have a higher crust-to-filling ratio, making them more suitable for fruit fillings than for meat pies or other sandwich substitutes.

Historically, though, not every pie maker felt a need to choose between meat or fruit: the Cornish pasty, eaten by generations of Welsh miners, and their descendants who emigrated to work in Michigan’s mines, were traditionally made with a hearty meat filling in one end and dessert in the other. When it comes to hand pies, it’s all good.

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Blackberry Hand Pies

1 cup fresh blackberries (1/2 pint) 1/2 cup grated apple 1 tablespoon cornstarch 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 cup sugar Milk for brushing tops Additional sugar for sprinkling tops

Pastry Dough 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 6 tablespoon unsalted butter, cold, cut in small cubes 2 tablespoons shortening Pinch salt 3-4 tablespoons ice water

In a medium heavy saucepan over medium heat cook blackberries, apple, sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon. Stirring frequently, until mixture comes to a boil and thickens, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

To make the pastry dough, blend flour, butter, shortening and salt in food processor or by hand until the mixture resembles a coarse meal and has some pea sized pieces of butter left in it.

While pulsing add water a little at a time until dough comes together when pinched in your hand. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour or up to one day.

To assemble the pies, roll chilled pastry out on a lightly floured surface into a 1/8 inch thick rectangle. Cut 5-inch squares or circles with pastry wheel.

Place the circle in your hand and fill with about a mounded tablespoon of filling. Seal shut pressing the edges well with your fingers.

Fold edges over in a decorative shape or seal with the tines of a fork. Reroll dough scraps to make up to eight circles or squares, allowing it to rest about 10 minutes between rolling.

Place hand pie on parchment lined cookie sheet. When all the pies are on the cookie sheet brush with a little milk and generously sprinkle with sugar.

Bake about 20-25 minutes until golden brown, rotating cookie sheet half way through baking. Store at room temperature.

— Recipe from “Gourmet Girl,” by Katia Stana

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Peach Hand Pies

For The Pastry 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 16 tablespoons (2 sticks, 8 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into pieces 1/2 cup sour cream 4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice 1/2 cup ice water

For The Filling 2 pounds of peaches 1/4 cup flour 1/4 cup sugar Pinch of salt 1 teaspoon bourbon 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract One egg yolk beaten with 2 tablespoons water (for egg wash) Coarse sanding sugar, for decoration

To make the pastry, in a bowl, combine the flour and salt. Place the butter in another bowl. Place both bowls in the freezer for 1 hour.

Remove the bowls from the freezer and make a well in the center of the flour. Add the butter to the well and, using a pastry blender, cut it in until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

Make another well in the center. In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream, lemon juice and water and add half of this mixture to the well.

With your fingertips, mix in the liquid until large lumps form. Remove the large lumps and repeat with the remaining liquid and flour-butter mixture.

Pat the lumps into a ball; do not overwork the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

If preparing ahead of time, the dough can be stored at this point for up to one month in the freezer.

Divide the refrigerated dough in half. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out one half of the dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Using a 4 1/2-inch-round biscuit cutter, cut seven circles out of the rolled dough.

Transfer the circles to a parchment-lined baking sheet, and place in the refrigerator to chill for about 30 minutes.

Repeat the rolling, cutting, and chilling process with the remaining half of dough.

To make the filling, peel and chop the peaches into small bits (about 1/2-inch dice), much smaller than you’d use for a regular-sized pie.

Mix them with the flour, sugar and pinch of salt, and add the bourbon and vanilla, if you wish.

Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator and let stand at room temperature until just pliable, 2 to 3 minutes.

Spoon about 1 to 2 tablespoons filling (use the smaller amount for a 4-inch circle) onto one half of each circle of dough.

Quickly brush a little cold water around the circumference of the dough and fold it in half so the other side comes down over the filling, creating a semicircle.

Seal the hand pie, and make a decorative edge by pressing the edges of the dough together with the back of a fork. Repeat process with remaining dough.

Place the hand pies back on the parchment-lined baking sheet, and return to the refrigerator to chill for another 30 minutes.

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Remove the chilled hand pies from the refrigerator, cut a small slit in each and lightly brush with the egg yolk wash.

Sprinkle sanding sugar generously over the pies and place pies in the oven to bake.

Bake until the hand pies are golden brown and just slightly cracked, about 20 minutes.

Remove the pies from the oven, and let stand to cool slightly before serving.

— Recipe courtesy of Deb Perelman

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California Walnut And Wild Mushroom Hand Pies

For The Pastry

1 cup all-purpose flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/3 cup cold unsalted butter, cubed 1/4 cup cold cream cheese, cubed 1 tablespoon whipping cream

For The Filling 1/2 cup boiling water 2 tablespoons dried porcini mushrooms 2 tablespoons butter 1 shallot, minced 2 cups combination of shiitake, oyster and chanterelle mushrooms, roughly chopped 1 cup California Walnuts, chopped 1/2 cup white wine 1/4 cup fresh coarsely grated Parmesan cheese 1 large egg, lightly beaten

In food processor, pulse flour and salt. Add butter and cream cheese; pulse just until dough forms pea-sized pieces.

Drizzle cream evenly over dough and pulse until it begins to clump.

Remove dough from processor; pat into round (add 1 additional tablespoon cream if dough does not hold together) and refrigerate in plastic wrap at least 1 hour and up to two days.

In small bowl, pour boiling water over porcini mushrooms and let sit 10 minutes.

In sauté pan over medium to high heat, melt butter. Add shallots; cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes or until tender, but not browned.

Add mushrooms (not porcini) and walnuts to pan; cooking 5 minutes or until tender. Add porcini mushrooms with water and white wine; cook 7 minutes or until liquid has been absorbed.

Remove from heat; let cool. Stir in Parmesan.

Can be covered and refrigerated up to two days.

On lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Using 3-inch round cookie cutter, cut 24 circles.

Add one heaping tablespoon mushroom mixture to center of 12 circles.

Brush edges of pastry with egg; place remaining rounds on top and crimp edges with fork. Slit tops with knife.

Arrange 2-inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush tops with egg.

Bake in center of 350-degree oven 20 to 25 minutes or until pastry is golden. Serve warm.

Makes 12 servings.

— Recipe provided by California Walnuts

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Argentine Empanadas

For the crust: 1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour 1/8 teaspoon salt 4 ounces stick butter or margarine 1/3 cup milk

For The Filling

1 pound ground beef 2 tablespoons Vegetable oil, olive preferred 1 large onion, finely chopped 1 red bell pepper, seeds and stem removed, finely chopped 2 jalapeño chiles, seeds and stems removed, minced 1 medium potato, peeled, boiled, finely chopped 2 hard cooked eggs, finely chopped 10 green olives, finely chopped 2 tablespoons raisins 1 tablespoon ground mild paprika 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley or substitute dried Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

For The Glaze 1 egg, beaten 1 tablespoon milk

To make the crust, sift the dry ingredients into a bowl.

Work the margarine or butter into the flour using your fingers or two forks.

Add the milk and mix just until the dough comes together and can be formed easily into a ball. Refrigerate for at least an hour.

Saute the beef in a skillet until well done, stirring frequently with a fork to keep the meat broken-up.

In a separate skillet, saute the onion, bell pepper, and jalapeños until the onions are a golden brown.

Combine all the remaining ingredients for the filling and nix well.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Divide the dough in two and roll out to a thickness of 1/8-inch and cut into circles 7 inches in diameter.

Spoon the filling onto one half of each leaving room to fold in half and seal.

Press the edges with the tip of a fork and cut a 1-inch slice in the top. Place on an ungreased baking pan.

Combine the ingredients for the glaze.

Bake for 10 minutes.

Reduce the heat to 350 and continue baking until the crust turns light brown.

Brush the tops with glaze and bake for an additional 5 minutes.

— Recipe courtesy of CD Kitchen