Mr. E's birthday

All summer long Mr. E has been craving a cherry pie. Cherry pie making doesn't come naturally to me and I don't see cherries at the farmer's market so it is not usually something I think to make. He always sees them in grocery stores or even at the bakery at the beach but honestly, they look like the filling was dumped right out of a can. So... for his birthday this year he asked for a homemade cherry pie. After a bit of research I found that no, we don't grow the kind of cherries around here that go in a pie, but yes, someone has taken the time to review cherries and found that the best cherries out there are from a company called Orgeon Fruit. Luckily, a new organic/local grocery store just opened a few miles down the road from us and I was able to find these cherries!

I hope he loves this pie as much as I do as I put a lot of love (and research) into this dessert!

Cherry Pie with Crumb Topping (I combined two recipes from Emeril & Oregon Fruit Company)

3/4 c sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch*
2 cans Oregon Red Tart Pie Cherries, drained, reserve juice from one can
1/4 tsp almond extract (optional)
Pastry for a 9-inch pie

Crumb Topping:
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Drain the cherries and reserve the juice from only one can. In a saucepan, stir the cherry juice into the combined mixture of the cornstarch and sugar. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until thickened. Gently stir in cherries and optional ingredients. Remove from heat. Pour filling into pastry lined pie pan. In a separate bowl, combine the oats, brown sugar, flour, remaining 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon, and remaining 1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg. Blend the butter into the dry ingredients using your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Place on top of the cherry filling. Bake 30-40 minutes or until crust browns and filling begins to bubble. If necessary, cover edges with aluminum foil during the last 15 minutes to prevent over-browning. Cool pie several hours to allow filling to thicken before slicing.

*Three tablespoons quick cooking tapioca may be substituted. Discard juice, combine sugar, tapioca, cherries, and almond extract; mix well and let stand 20 minutes before pouring mixture into pastry lined pie pan. Continue as above.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/apple-and-cherry-pie-with-oatmeal-crumble-topping-recipe/index.html
http://www.oregonfruit.com/of.pl?pg=rp&rcp=Cherry%20Pie