Friday is PIE DAY!

My tastebuds must be craving tart. Something to jar my senses out of the late winter ho hums. Last week, my Sunny Day Lime Pie gave a little dose of sunshine and some fruity tang to our weekend. This week, I was craving cranberry and maybe lemons. I changed my track a bit after I bought a bag of clementines. Instead of the usual sweet little nuggets, this batch made our mouths pucker. Cha-ching! Perfect pairing with cranberries for a tongue tingling pie.

Clementine Cranberry Pie

double 9" pie crust

10 clementines
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup water
2 T apple brandy or orange liqueur
2 T + 1/2 cup brown sugar

3 cups fresh or frozen whole cranberries
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 T flour

-wash and dry clementines
-slice off the ends,but leave skins on
-slice fruit into very thin slices
-layer slices into a 9x13 inch glass pan
-combine orange juice, water, and brandy or liqueur
-pour over clementine slices
-sprinkle 2 T brown sugar over top
-cover pan tightly with foil
-bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour 15 minutes
-increase oven heat to 375 degrees
-remove foil from pan
-sprinkle 1/2 cup brown sugar over top of clementine slices
-bake, uncovered, for an additional 30 minutes

I was not sure if this technique would work like I wanted it to, but they came out perfectly.
The slow roasting, sugar, booze and fruit juice worked their magic, making the slices tender and carmelized. We still have piles of snow here, so it was a treat to sit in our sunny window and inhale the enchanting aroma of roasting clementines.....ahhhhh.
But, I digress.

-let the clementines cool a bit while you prepare the rest of the pie
-combine the cranberries, sugar, and flour in a bowl, mixing thoroughly
-pour this mixture into the prepared bottom crust
-layer the roasted clementine slices on top of the cranberry mixture
-top with crust, crimp and vent
-bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour 10 minutes

This pie will add some serious pep to your step. I ate an entire caramel roll this afternoon, and it is all I can do to not eat this whole test piece. (I'm washing it down with a glass of Viognier, which is a lovely pairing, by the way.)  The gorgeous colors combined with a double layer of tart within a double layer of flaky sweet will make you heart spin. (or maybe that's the wine:)  Take that old man winter.

p.s.The nifty little contraption in the photo above is a pie gate. It was seriously the most exciting Christmas gift that I received. It keeps your pie juices from leaking out and the whole thing from falling apart if you try to cut it warm, like I did today! I was forever trying to craft devices out of cardboard and tape, none of which ever worked. (soggy piece of cardboard in your pie, anyone? yum.)  Of course, this one is a Martha Stewart product.