Papaya Pie

I can't believe a week has gone by already since my last post.  I promise to never again curse those bloggers I follow for not posting for days at a time....

OK, papaya pie?  you ask why papaya pie?  Well for one thing it is fun to say papaya pie... papaya pie... or as William likes to say Peter and Petunia Pig ate papaya pie on popcorn mountain, say that 5 times fast.

Well Anthony is doing a project/report for school on Martinique and Antigua in the Caribbean could get extra credit if he brought in food so he decided on papaya pie.

I don't regularly cook with papayas, and I am not sure if this is actually the season for papayas.  Is there a season for Papayas?  What is the difference between green and red papayas?  Where can I buy papayas?  How do I know which ones to select?   The questions went on and on.

After looking through a few books and recipes I realized I was going to just have to dive right in and make it up as I went along, really how bad could it be?  First I went to Joe Randazos Produce Market on Wayne and Warren in Westland I think,  coming from the UP where there are forests in between towns, I am never really sure what city/township/village I am in.

The only papayas they had were green papayas, sort of squat little dark green hard objects that looked more like green coconuts than the yellowish, soft bowling pin shaped objects I was expecting.  Well here goes nothing.  Then, on my way home I went to Kroger and found a couple of small red papayas smaller than I expected but they looked more like "real" papayas to me.

Home I went, split a green papaya in half, it was filled with white seeds that looked more like puffed rice than the black seeds of the red papayas, hmmm I hope this works.  I scraped out the seeds, peeled, diced and put in a pot of boiling water with a little salt and turned on to a full boil.   I have to say I was getting a little concerned as there was a slightly unpleasant odor coming from the green papayas, and they were about as hard as a good fresh pie pumpkin.  The red papayas were soft and creamy and I had just peeled, seeded and diced them and set them aside.

After about an hour the green papayas were soft so I drained them, pureed them and let them cool.  Adding the remaining ingredients to taste more than anything, and stirring in the red papaya for a little color and texture and I had what looked an awful lot like applesauce and tasted pretty good too.  The crust was made with the help of sous chefs Anthony and Jonathan and baked.  I have to say they are quite tasty and I hope you enjoy them as much as we did.  Although I think they would also be good with fresh apple sauce, or berries or chocolate custard....

Papaya Pie
      For the Crust
           4 c Flour
           1 T Baking Powder
           1/2 c Sugar
           1 t Salt
           1 1/4 c Butter, cut into small pieces
           1 1/3 c Milk

     For the Filling
           3 c Mashed Green Papaya, about 2 7 inch around 
           1 c Red Papaya, diced
           2 c Sugar
           4 T Lime Juice

           2 T Butter, melted
           1/2 t Nutmeg
           2 t Cinnamon
           1/2 t Salt
           1 1/2 t Vanilla

     For Assembly
           Extra Flour for dusting the work surface
           1 Egg Beaten
           1 c sugar mixed with 1 T Cinnamon
           
      Instructions
            1.  To mash the papaya, peel it, seed it and cut into 1 inch chunks
            2.  Cover with water and a pinch of salt, bring to a boil and let it cook for about an hour until you 
                  can squish it with a fork.  Drain and puree in a food processor, blender or mash by hand if you
                  have too.
            3.  Set the papaya aside and let it cool.
            4.  Combine the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a bowl, mix well
            5.  Add butter and cut it in with a pastry blender, fork or as we did with clean hands... the kids love
                  mixing it with there hands, continue until the mixture resembles gravel, it is ok if there is still some
                  larger pieces of butter.
            6.  Stir in the milk until everything just comes together, be careful to mix it gently to keep the finished
                  crust light and flakey.
            7.  Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate
            8.  Combine papayas, sugar, lime juice, butter, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and vanilla and mix well.  You
                  may want to add more sugar or lime juice to your taste.
            9.  Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
           10. Cut dough into thirds and roll out to about an eighth of an inch thick.  Using a 3 inch biscuit
                  cutter, cut into circles, reserving excess dough.
           11. Place 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of filling on each circle and gently fold over.  Press down edges with a
                  fork and place on a greased baking sheet.
           12. Repeat with remaining dough
           13. Brush with a beaten egg and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar
           14. Bake for 15 minutes, allow to cool slightly before eating.