They say sharing is caring and I believe that. I love sharing my baked goods with people. Making them brings me so much joy, particularly now that I bake less frequently than I used to. It is a relaxing activity that can sometimes turn a bad day into a good one.
I have been following MyThy aka Mighty in the Mitten on Instagram for awhile now. She is an awesome cook and baker who also happens to be an ER nurse. She and her boyfriend Matt, who is a chef, are starting to host some pop up dinners.
Because I am in the middle of my hard push toward changing my life and finding bliss and my place in the world, I am trying to connect with people, so when MyThy Instagrammed about a dinner at Eastern Market, I had to go.
Mom, Dad, and I went this past Monday. It was a pretty exciting day: eclipse and getting to connect with some new people. Detroit’s Historic Eastern Market is a pretty cool place to hang out. It was deserted Monday night save for the thirty people for the M&M Show.
The long table was elegant and filled quickly as we all looked forward to dinner. Some very nice ladies, a mother daughter and a friend they met at a different food event, sat near us. We so enjoyed talking to them and I gave them each a business card, so I truly hope one of them (or better yet all three of them) send me an email so we can connect again. They sound like they are up for just about anything and lately so am I.
Dinner began with a crispy rice croquette stuffed with pork, mushrooms, and smoked mozzarella on top of tomato sauce. I’m weird and hate tomato sauce, but Mom assures me it was some of the best sauce she’s ever tasted. Luckily it wasn’t all over the croquette because I devoured it and think it may have been my favorite course, though it’s hard to decide – you’ll see why.
Next was a ham, tomato, and peach salad. The tomato honey on the plate was out of this world. Seriously guys, jar that and I will buy it all. I’d also buy a pack of the deliciously buttery parker house rolls topped with benne seeds. I’m definitely wondering where benne seeds have been all my life.
The third course was a cauliflower panna cotta with chanterelles, crispy potatoes, lobster sauce, salmon roe, and pickled raisins. My first experience with salmon roe was totally a hit. This dish may sound weird, but it was delightful. The panna cotta was almost mashed potato like and the mushrooms succulent. It was to be paired with a cracker, but that never appeared. Hey, we all get it, sometimes things go wrong, and I could never, ever do what MyThy and Matt did, but we missed the crunch of the cracker and wondered where it was. A quick explanation would have solved the mystery.
Fourth was an elegantly simple scallop dish that had me eating broccoli for the first time in about twenty years. The main course came fifth. A bowl with braised short rib, pickled red onions, vegetables, and consume appeared. I got to try my first squash blossom which I can cross off my food bucket list. Uni is next (hint, hint for the next dinner 😉 ). We also joked about how I got the biggest piece of short rib. Clearly M&M knew I needed a good dose of iron and protein 😉 The only thing I wanted from this dish was more of it! Okay, and a spoon so I could have enjoyed every drop of the broth.
And you know dessert is my favorite, so the semolina cake with blueberry compote, corn ice cream, and miso caramel stole my heart. Separately all the components were certainly good, but together, they created literally the perfect bite and that is incredibly hard to find.
I was just so happy to be there and meet nice people and hopefully make lasting connections. Because M&M were so generous with sharing their passion and food with us, I wanted to share mine with them, so I made this Stone Fruit Crumb Pie. It’s everything I love about summer: peaches and plums and cherries and dessert and clearly it should be topped with ice cream and sunshine and butterflies, and okay, I’m getting carried away. But this pie for me is happiness and I hope you will make it and it brings you joy as well. I also hope MyThy and Matt loved it.
Stone Fruit Crumb Pie + M&M Show
- Total Time: 1 hour 50 minutes
- Yield: 16 pieces 1x
Ingredients
Crust
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- ½ cup vegetable shortening
- 4–6 tablespoons ice cold water
Topping
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ stick unsalted butter, melted
- 6 tablespoons olive oil
Filling
- 15 cups stone fruit (I used a mixture of peaches, plums, and cherries)
- ½ cup cornstarch
- Juice from 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons bourbon
- 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
- 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
Instructions
- Make the crust. In a large bowl stir together flour, sugar, and salt. Add the butter and shortening and work it into the dough using your hands until the butter and shortening are broken into small pieces and the dough begins to come together. Add 4 tablespoons of water and work it into the dough. Squeeze a portion of the dough together. If it holds, it’s good to go. If it doesn’t add more water 1 tablespoon at a time until it does. Wrap the dough in plastic and place it in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours and up to overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. On a floured surface roll the dough out so that it fits in a 9 by 13 inch pan. You may do this in two pieces and press them firmly together in the pan. Patch dough as necessary so the entire bottom and sides of the pan are covered completely. Refrigerate while you make the filling.
- In a large bowl (or your giant stock pot like me), make the filling. Stir together fruit, cornstarch, lemon juice, bourbon, vanilla, sugar, cinnamon, and ginger until fully combined.
- In a medium bowl, make the topping. Stir together flour, sugars, pepper, salt, and cinnamon. Add the melted butter and oil, stirring until clumps of various sizes form.
- Remove the pan from the refrigerator and add the filling to the crust. Leave most of the liquid in the bowl. If you add it all to the pan, the pie will be soupy. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the filling. Place the pan on a rimmed baking sheet lined with foil because it will bubble over.
- Bake for 20 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees F and bake for an additional 50-60 minutes until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbling. Cool at least 4 hours before cutting and serving. Pie may be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or frozen in pieces wrapped in parchment and foil and placed in a zipper bag for up to 3 months. Thaw in a 350 degree F oven for about 20 minutes.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Sounded like a wonderful culinary delightful dinner! Also glad that you met some nice people and hope you connect with them again. I had to look up a couple of ingredients as I had never heard of them. Very cool to enjoy something new and different. And your stone fruit crumb pie is just tooooo perfect!
I hope I connect with them again too. I’m really trying to put myself out there to change things 🙂