Coconut Cream

This morning I got up at 7:30.  My mom was coming to pick me up at 10, since my charming husband had our car for the day, and she didn't want me to take an hour train ride on my day off.  I had much to do before she arrived.  There were copious amounts of dishes from my second attempt at the pate brisee last night that needed to get done.  The pate brisee had to be baked into a pie shell, and cooled, then filled with the filling that I had yet to make (sidebar: the filling is Shirriff, not Sherriff, as I had mistakenly been spelling it) and topped with the whipped cream I had yet to beat.  There also had to be a shower and some getting ready thrown in there as well as breakfast.

The pie crust burnt.  

Fortunately I had enough pate brisee left over to make two mini pie shells, about muffin tin size.  I filled one with the filling, which had thickened splendidly, and topped with whipped cream. This was my first ever non-can variety that has not been essentially whipped soup.  On the filling it needs to be said that stirring constantly just plain sucks.  After my hand cooled (perhaps I should try a longer spoon next time) I re-read the package and decided to opt for the cheat-y microwave method next time.  I think I went astray in two places with the pie crust.  First, I took a page from the mini quiche recipe that said you need to leave the pate brisee hanging over the edge of each muffin indent by about 1/2 inch.  It seems with pie crust, any hanging bits will burn.  Secondly, when weighting the bottom of the crust down with rice (which incidentally you should do with a tinfoil buffer, not a wax paper buffer.  Wax paper? Not so pleasant when it begins to cook) you take the rice off once the bottom has formed, approximately halfway through the baking time.  This I learned when sharing my woes over lunch with my mother, aunt and grandmother today.  Also, you should poke holes in the bottom of the pie crust so it doesn't poof up.  Who knew?  Apparently they all did.  

Either way I was satisfied by bringing one mini pie to my grandma for her birthday, and leaving one in the fridge for my husband, for his dessert tonight.  Tomorrow I will make more pate brisee in the morning, leave it to chill while I work, and make mini pies for the rest of the filling, which are actually much more conveniently mobile than one silly large pie anyway.  Of course, I'm not jaded in the slightest by this experience. ...

I don't have any ideas for dinner tomorrow at this moment, but it needs to be something quick as it will be a long day at work and I will be hungry (read: ravenous and likely cranky) when I get home.  Suggestions would be welcome.

So funny story...

...Actually it's really not funny.  I failed to complete the coconut cream pie.  What's this, you ask? Well, really I'm just a big lazy slob.  Truth be told, after serving until 4:30 on the first day of school (which incidentally involves kids actually being in attendance at the school for an hour, and then heading out to lunch at a less than kid-friendly establishment, and all sitting in my section) and then transiting home, I bailed on the completion.  Instead, I heated up last night's hamburger soup, which I then served with a loaf of Safeway's "french" bread, and some olive oil and balsamic.  Then I vegged.  Until 10PM when I thought to myself - crap, I'd better at least make the pate brisee so it can chill, and I can get up ridiculously early to finish it before heading out for a ladies lunch with my x chromosome family members tomorrow.

So. The Pate Brisee.  This went marginally well again, though I had one false start when I quadrupled the salt instead of double checking the quantity before charging ahead and dumping it in.  Fortunately only the salt and some flour were wasted.  On the plus side, I actually had wax paper for the kneading and the chilling tonight.  This is to be continued when we see if I have the culinary savvy to handle the Sherriff coconut cream filling, and the pie shell pre-bake.  Until tomorrow then.