Pear And Gruyere Hand Pies Recipes

Steps:

• Place flour, cheese, sugar and salt in a food processor; pulse until blended. Add butter; pulse until butter is the size of peas. While pulsing, add just enough ice water to form moist crumbs. Divide dough in half. Shape each into a disk; wrap and refrigerate 1 hour or overnight., In a large saucepan, combine water, wine, sugar, cinnamon stick, vanilla and spices; bring to a boil. Add pears to poaching liquid. Cook, uncovered, 10-15 minutes or until tender., Using a slotted spoon, remove pears and cool slightly. Refrigerate until cooled; discard cinnamon stick. Meanwhile, return poaching liquid to a boil. Cook 12-15 minutes or until liquid is reduced to 3/4 cup. In a small bowl, mix cornstarch and water until smooth; stir into reduced liquid. Return to a boil, stirring constantly; cook and stir 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Pour into a 1-cup measuring cup. Cool slightly; refrigerate until chilled., Preheat oven to 400°. On a well-floured surface, roll 1 dough portion to a 1/8-in.-thick circle; transfer to a 9-in. pie plate. Trim crust to 1/2 in. beyond rim of plate; flute edge. Add pear filling; pour syrup over pears. Roll remaining dough to a 1/8-in.-thick circle. Cut decorative cutouts from remaining crust and arrange over filling; re-roll scraps as needed. Brush crust with egg. Place pie on a baking sheet., Bake 30-40 minutes or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cover edge with foil during the last 15 minutes to prevent overbrowning if necessary. Cool on a wire rack. If desired, serve with ice cream.

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.

Steps:

• For the pastry: In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, granulated sugar and salt and pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal with some bigger pieces of butter. Add the ice water and pulse just until the crumbs begin to come together. Add a little more water if necessary but try not to add too much. Turn the mixture out onto a big sheet of plastic wrap, form it into a disc, wrap it and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to an even 1/8- to 1/4-inch thickness. Using a 3-inch cookie cutter, cut out 16 to 20 circles. Transfer to a rimmed baking sheet and chill while you make the filling.
• For the filling: In a small saucepan, combine the peaches, granulated sugar and cornstarch. Bring to a boil over medium heat, mashing the peaches with a fork, and cook until the mixture has thickened, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in the bourbon to taste. Let cool completely, about 30 minutes.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and salt. On a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment, lay out half of the dough discs. Dollop 1 to 2 tablespoons of the filling in the center of each disc. Brush around the edges of the pastry with some of the egg mixture. Top with another dough disc, pressing the edges with a fork to seal. Brush the tops with the egg mixture and sprinkle with coarse sugar. With a paring knife, make a little slit in each pie to vent steam.
• Bake until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer the pies to a rack to cool or serve warm.