Fried Pear Pies Recipes

PEAR HAND PIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350*F In a medium sized bowl, combine sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon, and lemon zest. Mix well Add diced pears to sugar mixture and mix gently until well coated. Roll pie crust out. Using a bowl as a pattern that is approximately 4 - 5 inches in diameter, cut out round circles for your hand pies. Reroll excess dough to create more crusts. Place crusts onto a lined baking sheet. Place a small amount of pears in the center of one cut pie crust - leaving approximately 1/2 inch space around sides. Dot pear mixture with a small amount of butter. Sprinkle with few drops of lemon juice. In a small bowl beat egg with 1 tablespoon of water. Brush egg around the edge of the circle. This will act as a glue. Fold circle in half enclosing the pear filling. Crimp edges with a fork to ensure a good seal. Brush egg mixture on top of each hand pie. Slice slits on top and dust with course sugar if desired. Place on a lined cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden.

FRIED PEAR PIES

Steps:

• Make the dough: Pulse the flours, sugar and salt in a food processor to combine. Add the butter and pulse again until the flour looks like cornmeal, then pulse in the egg until the mixture clumps together. Knead the dough a few times, press it into a disc and wrap loosely in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before rolling out.
• Make the filling: In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, melt the butter with the sugar, cinnamon, vanilla seeds, honey and lemon zest. Stir constantly for 5 minutes. Add the pears and cook, stirring from time to time, until they start to soften, about 5 minutes. Let cool.
• Beat the egg with 1 tablespoon water. Line a baking sheet small enough to fit in your freezer with parchment or wax paper. On a floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/8 inch thick and cut into circles with a 4-inch cutter. Gather the unused dough into a ball and repeat until you have used all the dough. You should have 8 to 10 circles. Place on the baking sheet and refrigerate for about 15 minutes.
• Working quickly, make the pies: brush the outer 1/2 inch of a pastry circle with the egg wash, then spoon a heaping tablespoon of pears onto the circle, off center. Top the pears with as much of the liquid from the pan as will fit without spilling out, about 1/4 teaspoon. Lift the edge opposite the pears with a spatula and fold the pastry to cover the pears, making a half-moon shape. Crimp the edges with the tines of a fork to seal the pie. Transfer to the lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining pastry circles. (If the dough starts to tear, chill it.) Freeze for at least 3 hours.
• Shortly before serving the pies, in a large, heavy skillet set over high heat, add enough oil to rise 1/2 inch up the pan and heat until it reaches 350 degrees or a pinch of dough immediately bubbles and starts to brown. Fry 3 or 4 pies at a time, turning them once, until both sides are golden, 4 to 5 minutes. If they start to turn dark brown, lower the heat a little. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on brown paper bags. Repeat with the remaining pies. Serve warm, with ice cream.

FRIED PEARS

Steps:

• 1. Mix together sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and set aside.
• 2. Heat butter and oil in a medium skillet over medium heat (the oil helps to keep the butter from burning). Prepare the pears while heating the butter (this way they don't have time to turn dark). Add pears and saute until just tender.
• 3. Sprinkle with the sugar cinnamon mixture (As little or as much as you like). Stir gently to coat all of the slices. Turn off the heat.
• 4. Add nuts, stir gently to mix. Serve with whipped cream or over vanilla ice cream.

FRIED PEAR PIES

Steps:

• 1. TO MAKE THE FILLING: In a large nonstick skillet, heat the butter over medium heat. Add the pears and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the sugar, lemon juice, and allspice and continue cooking until the pears are tender, about 3 more minutes. Let cool completely. 2. TO MAKE THE CRUST: In a medium bowl, mix the flour and salt. Add the lard or shortening. Using a pastry cutter or 2 knives, cut the lard into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Tossing with a fork, gradually add the ice water until the mixture is completely moistened and holds together when pressed between your fingers. Gather up the dough, press into a flat disk and wrap in waxed paper. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 1 day. 3. Line a baking sheet with waxed paper. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough until 1/8 inch thick. If the dough is well chilled and hard, let it stand at room temperature for a few minutes until softened enough to roll out. Using a 6-inch saucer as a guide, cut out pastry rounds, gathering up the dough scraps and re-rolling as necessary. Place an equal amount of filling on the bottom third of each pastry round. Lightly brush the edges of the rounds with the egg mixture. Fold each round in half to enclose the filling and press the edges sealed with the tines of a fork. Place on the waxed paper and refrigerate while heating the shortening. 4. Place a large wire cake rack over a jelly roll pan. In a deep Dutch oven melt shortening over high heat to a depth of 2 to 3 inches and heat it to 350°F. In batches, without crowding, deep-fry the pies until golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes. Using a slotted spatula, transfer to the rack to drain. Serve warm or at room temperature.

FRIED APPLE PIES

Steps:

• Sift flour and salt together. Cut in the shortening with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add cold water 1 tablespoon at a time and mix with fork. When the flour mixture is moistened, gather it into a ball, wrap it in plastic, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Peel and dice the apples and place them in a saucepan. Combine the sugar and cinnamon; pour over the apples and toss to coat. Cook, covered, in a saucepan on low heat. Cook until soft, then mash with fork to form a thick applesauce. Allow to cool.
• Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface. Roll the dough out to 1/8 inch thick and cut rounds with a large cookie cutter (4 inches in diameter).
• In each round, place 1 heaping tablespoon fruit. Moisten edges with cold water, fold in half, and press edge with a fork to seal. Repeat with the remaining pastry and filling.
• Heat oil in a deep-fryer or large saucepan to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Fry the pies, a few at a time, 2 to 3 minutes on each side; cook until the crust is golden brown. Drain on paper towels.