Luck of the Pot.

Living in Monticello, the Colorado state border is a mere twenty minutes’ drive along Highway 491.  To put your mind at ease immediately, the “pot” I am referring to has nothing to do with legalized marijuana in Colorado.  However, with Pioneer Day coming fast, I am about to go off on one of my convoluted writing journeys.

The Big 4 Tractor has been a main attraction, for the most part, in our small town.  This giant, for its time, tractor was made by the Emerson-Brantingham Company in 1912.  Purchased by the San Juan Arid Farm Company for $4,500, shipped to Dolores Colorado before making the trek to Monticello.  It took about three days, but at a top speed of three miles per hour, along an unpaved roadway, no surprise, right?  This was a two person operation; the driver who was required to stand the entire trip, and the fuel hauler.  Once a week, William Young would make the 110 mile journey to purchase fuel (gasoline, not diesel); hauling it in a wagon containing 50 gallon barrels.  Mainly used at a 3,200 acre dry farm at Piute Knoll and Piute Springs, between 1912 to 1915; a severe drought forced bankruptcy and the use of the Big 4 came to an end.

Eventually purchased by the City of Monticello in 1962, it was featured, and driven, only once in the Pioneer Day Parade.  However, it made its way to Veterans Memorial Park, where it sat rusting, disused, except by the children who played in the park and loved to climb the tractor.  Long story short, the tractor was eventually restored, is housed in its own protective building next to the Frontier Museum on Main Street; proudly cruising in the Pioneer Day Parade yearly.

So back to my story about pot, no, not that pot, another type of pot, namely a cooking vessel.  Besides Pioneer Day’s celebration, reunions and get-togethers of all types are a summer event; graduating classes, family, military, and the simple, “let’s just get-together and celebrate”.  What type of foods are typically served?  Usually, and here comes the pot, potluck meals!  The term “potluck” has its origin in 16^th century English, “pot” meaning a cooking pot while “luck” referred to “chance or fortune”.  In this instance, “whatever is available to eat” aka “already cooked in the pot” for unexpected guests who showed up spur of the moment.  By 20th century English, “to take potluck” had acquired a more general sense of “to take what comes” or “to take one’s chances”. 

In America, mid-19^th century meaning of potluck became “a communal meal where each guest brings a dish to be shared”.  It often helps if the guests inform the host(s) of what they will be bringing, or get suggestions, so not half the dishes are the same.  Variety is the spice of life, and who wants to eat 12 different types of potato salad at one meal!?!

Since I did mention potato salad, here’s a recipe for a new style I experimented on, with deliciously amazing results; oven baked potato salad.  While any type of potato can be used for this recipe, I prefer using Golden Yukon Potatoes.  The flesh is yellow, buttery flavored with a creamier texture than other types, such as russet, red-skinned or even Idaho baking potatoes.  The skin is thin, so I don’t peel it all off, but leave some for color and texture.

Oven Baked Potato Salad

Ingredients:

1 medium to large potato per person

1 tsp. olive oil per potato

1 tsp. mayonnaise per potato

Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 450F.  Line a baking dish with aluminum foil.

Peel the potatoes (leave some skin on for color and texture, or not), cut into 2-inch pieces and place into bowl.  Add one teaspoon of olive oil, for each potato, mix well and place potatoes onto aluminum foil (use spatula to get all the oil in as well). 

Cover the potatoes with another section of foil, folding ends of both sections of foil together to create a packet.  Place into the oven for one hour.  Remove from oven, cut a slit into top of foil (be care of escaping steam) and pour potatoes into a bowl (some might have stuck to the foil and browned; add them in anyway, they’re yummy this way!).

Mix in one teaspoon of mayonnaise per potato used, add salt and pepper to taste.  This potato salad can be eaten hot or cold.  It is so delicious, you might want to add in extra potatoes and other ingredients for those who will definitely want seconds!

Mary Cokenour

Fruit Pie Without the Pie Pan.

Recently there was a bake sale at the Monticello Welcome Center; all funds raised were being donated to the upkeep of the Big 4 Tractor.  The Big 4 is the only one left in the United States that is still running.  It appears in the Pioneer Day Parade every year, and goes to other events.  This tractor is rare and priceless, so efforts are being made to have it declared a National Monument.

Since I had already planned on making a birthday surprise for Dave, the retired manager of (who still volunteers at) the Welcome Center; why not make extra for the bake sale.   While flipping through cooking magazines, I came upon the photo and recipe for "Rustic Fruit Pie".  Now I've said it before, and I'll say it again, baking is not one of my favorite culinary activities, but I do try from time to time.  However, I was able to figure out how to cheat on the recipe, make it simple for myself, and even make extra for the bake sale.  I call mine "Artisan Rustic Fruit Pie"; artisan for handcrafted, rustic for country style; hence the use of both descriptive words.  By the way, you might see such names as tart or galette used to describe them; whatever works for the baker, I say.

Artisan Rustic Fruit Pie

 

 

Ingredients:

 

1 package refrigerated pie crusts (2 in a package)

2 cans (21 oz.) fruit pie filling

2 Tbsp. butter, melted

 

Preparation:

 

Preheat oven to 425F; line baking sheets with parchment paper.

 

Unroll each pie crust onto center of parchment paper. 

 

 

Apple Filling, Raisins, Nutmeg

In a medium bowl, use a fork to take all the fruit out of the can; all the liquid is unnecessary, so don't worry over leaving it.  It might come in handy later on to serve over ice cream.

 

Now comes the truly fun part, creating a unique filling.  While the pie filling itself might just be enough; the addition of spices such as cloves, cinnamon or nutmeg will kick up the flavor of apple or peach.  For cherry or blueberry, I usually have bags of frozen stored in the freezer, so add a nice handful to the canned fruit.  Slivered almonds can be added to the fruit, or used on the crust; raisins go great with the apple.









Onto the center of the pie crust, spoon all that lovely goodness; try to keep as much as possible piled up.














Put a little water into a small bowl, not much as you'll be using this to wet your fingertips only.  First, wet those tips, now carefully lift up the crust and crimp a section; the water will help keep the crimp sealed; repeat all around the filling, making sure to draw it close to the center, but not cover it entirely.

Almost done all around.



Done!

 

 

 

 



 



With a pastry brush, let me digress for a moment; you don't have to get a fancy name, expensive pastry brush.  In any hardware store, you can buy those small hair bristle brushes for about $1 each.  Yeppers, you can use them for pastry brushes; make sure to clean them in soapy hot water and dry upright before storing them away.  They last indefinitely!

So, use the brush to paint the melted butter all over the exposed crust.  Afterwards, you can sprinkle cinnamon and sugar (use large or coarse grain sugar, found in the baking section) over the crust, and don't forget a little bit over the filling too.  For the cherry and blueberry, I used brown sugar; and this is where you can add those slivered almonds too.

Large Grain Sugar

Cinnamon and Sugar over Crust and Filling

Ready to Bake Apple (on left), Peach (right)

Bake for 30 minutes.  Now it's going to be a given that they might leak as there is no pan keeping them from expanding; after the 30 minutes, remove from the oven and let them rest for 15 minutes; the leaks will seal themselves.  Each pie will look unique which gives more credence to using the terms "artisan" and "rustic".  To get the pie onto a plate, cut the parchment paper around the pie, grab one end of the paper and simply slide it off the baking sheet and onto the plate.  Serve warm from the oven alone, or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  To store, cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator; warm up a piece and don't forget the ice cream!

Apple Raisin

Blueberry

Cherry

Peach

..and there you have them, rustic fruit pies using store bought items.  It might be cheating, but it's still homemade, and delicious!!!

Mary Cokenour