Cheddar Pear Pie — The Kind a Neighbor Brings

Hunting camp set up in the Crazies. Three days of farrier work. Two ranches in the county. Eleven horses. The body is tired in the right way.

Patrick on the porch in the afternoon. Coffee in the good cup. The cottonwoods.

Beef stew this week. Chuck cubed. Browned. Slow simmered with carrots and potatoes. Cornbread on the side.

The sky was the sky. It held everything.

A neighbor's heifer was choking on a corn cob. I drove over with my emergency kit. Cleared the cob with a length of garden hose. The heifer recovered. The neighbor brought a pie the next day.

Hauled three bull calves to the auction yard Wednesday. Got a fair price. Came home. Counted the cash. Put it in the ranch account.

Truck started cold Tuesday. Twelve below. Battery is the original. I will replace it before next winter. I always say I will replace it before next winter. I never have.

The Tuesday Roundup AA meeting was eleven this week — three new guys from a referral. The room was full. The coffee was strong.

Three days of horses this week. The work is meditative. The horses know. The owners pay. The cycle holds.

Mr. Whelan from down the road came over Saturday with a story about a horse he sold in 1979. The story took an hour. I listened. He needed someone to tell it to.

The wood pile is half what it was at Thanksgiving. I will split another cord on Saturday. The cord will be ready by next winter. The wood always is.

Mended the chute hinge Wednesday. Welder was finicky. Got it on the third try. Patrick used to do this. I do it now.

A reader emailed about the elk chili recipe. Asked what beer to use if non-alcoholic was not available. I wrote back: any beer is wrong if you don't drink. Use stock.

The Musselshell was clear Sunday. Could see trout in the deeper pools. Did not fish. Just watched.

Listened to the cattle market report on AM radio while I worked the shop. Beef is up. Feed is up. The math is the math.

Drove to Billings for parts Friday. Stopped at the cemetery on the way home. Stood for ten minutes. Came home.

Drove the back fence line Saturday. Two posts down from elk. Replaced them in the morning. The fence held the rest of the week.

Worked on the truck Saturday afternoon. Plugs and wires. Two hours. Hands black with grease. Came in. Showered. Ate.

The barn cats are doing their job. Down to one mouse this week, in the feed shed. The cats brought it to the porch as proof. They are professionals.

Hank, the dog, herded the chickens by accident. He apologized in the way dogs apologize — eyes down, tail low. The chickens were unimpressed.

Took a walk to the river before supper Tuesday. The cottonwoods were silver. The water was running. I did not think much. I just walked.

Wrote a blog post Friday night. The first one in two months. About making chili in a snowstorm. Short. Practical. Posted it. Forgot about it.

Storm came through Friday night. Thunder. The dog hid under the bed. The kids slept through it. The cattle bunched up by the windbreak. Standard.

When the neighbor showed up the next morning with a pie, I didn’t ask what kind it was — I just said thank you and put on coffee. It turned out to be a cheddar pear pie: sharp cheese worked into the crust, sweet pears underneath, the whole thing smelling like something from a century ago when people still knew how to use what they had. That’s the recipe I’m leaving here. I’ve made it twice since. It fits the week the way the stew did — simple, a little unexpected, worth the effort.

Cheddar Pear Pie

Prep Time: 30 min | Cook Time: 50 min | Total Time: 1 hr 20 min | Servings: 8

Ingredients

• Cheddar Crust
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, freshly grated
• 6–8 tbsp ice water
• Pear Filling
• 5 cups firm-ripe pears (about 5 medium), peeled, cored, and sliced 1/4-inch thick
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 3 tbsp cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 egg, beaten (for egg wash)
• 1 tbsp coarse sugar (for topping)

Instructions

1. Make the crust. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and sugar. Add cold butter cubes and work in with a pastry cutter or your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some pea-sized pieces remaining. Stir in the grated cheddar. Add ice water one tablespoon at a time, mixing gently until the dough just comes together. Divide in half, flatten into discs, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
2. Preheat and prep. Preheat oven to 425°F. Roll one disc of dough on a lightly floured surface to a 12-inch circle and fit into a 9-inch pie pan. Trim the edge, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang. Refrigerate while you make the filling.
3. Make the filling. In a large bowl, toss sliced pears with sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and lemon juice until evenly coated. Let sit 10 minutes.
4. Fill the pie. Pour the pear filling into the chilled crust, mounding it slightly in the center. Dot the top with the small pieces of butter.
5. Top the pie. Roll out the second dough disc and lay it over the filling. Trim to a 1-inch overhang, fold the edges under the bottom crust, and crimp to seal. Cut 4–5 vents in the top with a sharp knife. Brush the top crust with beaten egg and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
6. Bake. Place the pie on a foil-lined baking sheet to catch drips. Bake at 425°F for 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 375°F and bake an additional 28–32 minutes, until the crust is deep golden and the filling is bubbling through the vents. If the crust edges brown too quickly, cover them loosely with foil.
7. Cool before slicing. Transfer to a wire rack and cool at least 2 hours before slicing. The filling needs time to set. Serve at room temperature or slightly warm.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 480 | Protein: 8g | Fat: 26g | Carbs: 56g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 390mg