Pi 3.14 PieVenture

In honor of Pi day 3.14, I think you all need to take a look at our recent PieVenture.

Map by Sara Dariouan

PieVenture

Are you ready for a PieVenture thru a few local L.A. spots? We've been dreaming about doing this for nearly 8 months. Finally while I was off during the winter break we made this little PieVenture happen.

First off, I am super excited to introduce Sara Darouian to my readers. She's the illustrator behind the beautiful map I commissioned for this post. She's a talented graphic designer, who just got what I was looking for after only a few email exchanges. Please contact her for any illustration needs. Here's her site and her contact info: me@saradarouian.com

So SB (Surfer Boy = Husband) and I went on this PieVenture. Let's just say I love the way he says Pie (P-eye). And he knows one of my favorite pie places to go to is Polly's Pie. They use to have one in Santa Monica, but it's gone and replaced by a Panera, so not the same. Twice a year we end up near a Polly's, so I indulge in my favorite burger, the Polly Burger and a piece of cherry pie. This place has special meaning. When I was a kid every Tuesday night my mom and a grandfatherly man named Frank Finnegan (Can you tell he was Irish), would go and eat pie. I loved those moments. He has since passed away and mom lives in New Mexico. So knowing how much I love Pie, SB and I saw the opportunity to go on a local L.A. PieVenture.

First stop was PieHole. I know you just LOVE that name. This place is located in the art district of downtown L.A. and with no traffic is really only 20 minutes away, with, give it an hour.

I asked a few people in line what there favorite pie was, I heard Mexican Chocolate and the Chocolate Crostata, because that one was just all pure chocolate. Second favorite was the Earl Grey Pie, I knew I probably wouldn't get this at the other two places so I choose that one. SB chose the Apple Pie. He said it was too thin of crust and he wasn't a fan of the sprinkles of sugar on top. I kind of liked it myself.

Close up of the flavorful Earl Grey Pie. This was perfect, I'm always worried that the Earl Grey tea leaves will take over the rest of the pie, like the Lavendar Panna cota I had once and tasted like soap. But this pie did not disappoint. And can you see the thin layer of chocolate at the bottom. Bonus! Can you just see the fluffiness in this pie.

Cool minimal decor and I loved their menu. Kraft paper rolled down on the wall. Easy to update and just simple. I would love this my kitchen for menu plans or shopping lists. Average price for piece of pie (PPP) = $6, heftiest of the three pie places we visit.

Next up was House of Pie. Not to far away from DTLA in the city of Los Feliz. This is the place that started the idea of the PieVenture, when we were on our way to Griffith Park here, we saw this and said, "we need to go there and have some P-eye!" This is the day that SB named it our "PieVenture" he owns the copyright to that term!

SB had the Bavarian Chocolate Pie. This was a big piece of pie, tall and lightly whipped with drizzles of chocolate. We about got into a PieFIght at this place. I wanted to take the picture of SB's fork going into the pie, but his hand kept getting in the way, so I had to art direct. He wanted to eat the pie, it was about to be a Pie Smack down. The waiter told me "let the man eat his Pie." I told him, hey this is part of the PieVenture, taking the pictures along the way. This got everyone talking about what we were calling this escapade, they all agree and PieVenture was the right call and wanted to know where we were going next.  Can we say we might have to have PieVenture meet-up next?

You must know that Cherry Pie is my favorite pie EVER. My friend Carolyn makes a mean, [which = GOOD] Cherry Pie and Polly's Pie has a really good one. But this is now top of my list of REALLY good Cherry Pie. Do you see the sugar crystals on top of the basket weave crust, yum. They warmed this up without me even asking. I declined the a la mode part. And glad I did, it was a MOUNTAIN of ice cream that they were serving. So if you like your pie that way, which I don't, this is the place for a generous serving of a la mode! PPP = $4.50. Cheapest of the three.

Last stop for the day was Republic of Pie. This is in North Hollywood. This wasn't to far from House of Pie and a natural stop in our circular adventure, from the Westside. This place is really cute inside, and bigger than you think. There are about three sections to the area. This is also the only of the three that has live music and you can apply to play live on Music Mondays. Incidentally we ran into some friends who live in the area and love coming here for breakfast. Our trip was only a sweet pie adventure, no food or savory pies, which only means we'll need to go back to try those ones.

So Republic of Pie is known for their Chocolate Bread Banana Pie. But this pie was HUGE, and we were on our third stop, I could barely fathom it. So I decided to get the smaller Chocolate Cream Pie, this was a rich thick dark chocolate pie, very dense and very good. I could barely eat much, so I took this home and enjoyed it the next day while watching Downton Abbey.

SB chose the Peach Pie, although I tried to talk him out of it since January is hardly a time for in season peaches. However, he liked the glutinous texture, I didn't like this at all, but I'm a snob for making these type of pies when the fruit is in the peak of their season. Presentation was great for both these pies with twirls of caramel and chocolate. PPP = $5.25.

Piehole. 714 Traction Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90013

House of Pie. 869 N Vermont Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90027

Republic of Pie. 11118 Magnolia Blvd, North Hollywood, CA 91601

We ate a lot of pie, but I have my limits, so you see above the variety of to go boxes of pie. Next time your in L.A., or if you live here, why not go on a little PieVenture, take some friends, order some sweet and savory pies, enjoy the people watching and conversation, and be ready to take a few home while your at it. Enjoy!

Technorati. GB587T4BYJBX

Mini Blueberry Pies

I think I might be slightly obsessed with blueberries.  While I normally buy them fresh, especially when they are on sale, we also buy wild frozen blueberries from our favorite store, Trader Joes. We keep these in our freezer for making shakes or defrosting to put into yogurt and now for mini blueberry pies.  I got this recipe from a recent Bon Appetit , I keep challenging myself to make a least one of the recipe's in their magazine, sometimes more come out of it. I'm the dessert maker, SB finds all the savory ones to make. Here's the recipe I used and well the image above is inspired by Bon Appetit too.

Pastry Dough

1 1/2 cups of flour

1/2 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/2 cup chilled unsalted butter (i usually cut this into small cubes before I mix it in) 

Use a food processor, if you don't have one use a pastry blender.  Pulse the flour, sugar and salt in the food process and in add in the butter. Pulse until the texture looks like coarse meal. Add 1/4 cup ice water, pulse. Add more water if it's till dry. Dough needs to come together in clumps.

Form into a square (this makes it easier to roll out the rectangle. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for about 2 hours till it gets firms.  Let it stand to room temperature for 15 minutes before rolling it out.

Preheat oven to 375°.  

Blueberry Mixture

2 cups of blueberries (Either use fresh blueberries or defrost some frozen ones)

1 tsp of lemon zest (usually one lemon)

1 tbsp of fresh lemon juice (usually one lemon) 

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1 egg large egged whisked with a tbsp of water

Raw sugar

Roll out dough on a floured surface into a large rectangle. Cut into 6 rectangles. If there not perfect, embrace it, these are handmade and should look like it.

Mix berries with lemon zest, lemon juice, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Brush edges of rectangles with water; (I used my fingers dipped in the water, it's faster for me).  Place about a tablespoon and half of blueberries in center of each rectangle (may use more or less, depending on how big the piece is.). Fold dough over, and press edges to seal. Place the six rectangles on a parchment-lined baking sheet, brush with egg wash, and sprinkle with raw sugar. Cut slits in tops. You can see i should have cut more slits, but it still turned out yummy.

Bake mini pies for about 35-40 minutes, rotate sheet halfway through, until juices are bubbling and pastry is golden brown (be warned the juices will run onto parchment). Let cool slightly, these can be served warm or at room temperature.

Enjoy!