Mmmmmmm...Pie!

[DaisyNukem]

That's it! As part of my rehab from my break up I am going to learn how to make pie. I tried when my kids were young, but I never had the patience to master pastry.

Any good tips or recipes?

[Mutagen]

Is talk of pie's cousin, the cobbler, off topic? Because a bubbling hot blackberry cobbler is heaven.

On the topic of pie, a place where I used to live did an unexpectedly great buttermilk pie. I still prefer berry pies, but the buttermilk went great with a hot coffee.

[chonies]

Yes! General tips: In my opinion, unless you're making a fancy tart, shortening is best for crust. Save your butter for something you can taste, and also the fat structures of shortening make a crust flakier. Use a pastry cutter, use ice water, and chill your shortening (or lard, if that's the direction you want to go in. I don't care for the taste of lard, so I just use store-brand shortening because it doesn't have palm oil).

This is my basic recipe (in imperial, sorry):
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 c shortening, chilled
4 to 8 tablespoons ice cold water (make a tumbler of ice water so you can spoon it out as needed)

Mix flour and salt (and anything else) with shortening in a large bowl. DO NOT ADD WATER YET. Use pastry cutter to chop the shortening into the flour. Do this for about a minute or so, until the flour and shortening are mostly together but not completely intermingled like cookie dough--it's good to see small streaks or pea-sized chunks of shortening. The contents of the bowl should look mixed but kind of ragged. Add about 3 tbsp of water at once. Stir with fork. Add water one tbsp at a time until the dough comes together in a kind of wet mound. Not soggy, but cohesive. Here's the trick: you want it to stick together without it turning to paste or exploding into dough shreds. It's probably the trickiest thing to learn. The best texture is like slightly sticky play-doh, I think.

Divide into two balls, then flatten each slightly with hands into thick waffle-like disks. Wrap in waxed paper or plastic, put in refrigerator. Let chill a few hours. [this step is optional, but I've found it very helpful]

When ready, prepare a lightly floured surface. I use a piece of parchment paper with a dusting of flour. You don't want to use too much because you might work it back into the crust, which is not good. Put one disk on the surface, sprinkle lightly with flour, then roll it out. I use a traditional rolling pin, but I also have a French one if I feel fancy and masochistic. Roll gently, and change direction from time to time, perhaps by moving your dough. Don't over roll, because this could melt the fat and make the crust too sticky to handle. As you roll, try to make sure that your dough is not sticking to your surface. Quickly check for size (bigger around than your pie tin) and consistency. You don't want too many thin or thick spots because that could cause leaks or dough clumps.

Place in pie plate and crimp edges. If you're making a two-crust pie, roll out the second disk and set aside until filling is done. If not, this crust can be stored for a few days in the refrigerator. Otherwise, follow instructions and enjoy pie!

Since it's blueberry season, here's my blueberry pie recipe: 4 c blueberries, washed and checked for stems. Pat dry. Add about 2/3-3/4 c. sugar and 2 T flour. Stir in zest and juice of half a lemon, or about 2-3 T juice. Dot with about 4 T butter. No spices. Cover with crust and bake 40 min at 425. Try not to eat in one sitting.

To be honest, I've cooked a lot of things in my life, but pie crust is so basic and so tricky because it's really responsive to invisible elements like tiny temperature changes, humidity and even different flour brands--some days I use a ton of water, other days I don't. It's just experience and a lot of pie baking.

Also, note: A good/decent pie cutter and rolling pin are worth it. My pastry cutter is from Target and my rolling pin is heirloom-quality but I bought it on clearance. About the recipe, it's really old-fashioned, and other recipes would suggest adding things like sugar, or perhaps a spice, which isn't a bad idea, or spices to use for a savory pie. You can also add a tablespoon or two of ice-cold whole cream to make it rich and flaky, if you like.

Enjoy!

ETA: Other tips. Blind baking/pre-baking--even if it's not called for in the recipe, sometimes it might be a good idea for a few minutes (I learned this from GBBO). And I made a mini quiche for breakfast this morning. I way over-baked the custard but the crust was on fleek, and it was from the recipe above.

ETA, jr: Mutagen--cobbler, yesssss. A friend's son made an amazing banana cobbler once, but I'm partial to the traditional berry and peach varieties.

[discoprincess]

Jul 25, 2005 17:00:24 GMT -4 Mutagen said:

Is talk of pie's cousin, the cobbler, off topic?

Pie without the bottom crust! My sister makes a mean cherry cobbler.

When I was a kid my favorite part of an apple pie (Entemann's) would be the crust...especially when coated with the apple flavored goo.

I have a ceramic pie plate that has a recipe for apple pie on it. I don't bother making the crust though; I get organic refrigerated crust and make the filling myself.

My extended family is from the south, so I can't leave this thread without giving a shout-out to sweet potato pie and pecan pie and peach cobbler!

[chitowngirl]

Wet bottom Shoo fly pie!

[chonies]

I love shoo fly pie. Wet, dry, doesn't matter.

There was one episode of Psych where they ate cinnamon pie (Dual Spires/the Twin Peaks tribute episode) and I haven't found a recipe that seems worth trying. Also, there was a scene in one chapter of Auntie Mame where Patrick eats pineapple pie...I have to go to the supermarket. Maybe I should try that.

[mrspickles]

May 31, 2015 15:36:59 GMT -4 chonies said:

I love shoo fly pie. Wet, dry, doesn't matter.

There was one episode of Psych where they ate cinnamon pie (Dual Spires/the Twin Peaks tribute episode) and I haven't found a recipe that seems worth trying. Also, there was a scene in one chapter of Auntie Mame where Patrick eats pineapple pie...I have to go to the supermarket. Maybe I should try that.

I must know how the pineapple pie trial goes. I flove Auntie Mame.

[Sunnyhorse]

I made blackberry cobbler for Mother's Day, and then, last weekend, we had friends over for dinner, so I made a Mrs. Ledbetter's pie. I like to think that my grandmother, a goddess of a pie-maker, would've approved—it, along with a good coconut cream, is my favorite pie.

[eclair]

I like cheesecake, which usually is very pie like in appearance. I also really like peach pie, with big peach pieces that make the top look lumpy.

[azaleaqueen]

I love all kinds of pie. Fruit, cream, pecan, cobbler, custard, quiche, you name it. Southern Living magazine has icebox pies on the cover, with recipes for crumb crusts made of things like pretzels and saltines. I used to make a really good raisin pie but haven't made it in decades because my family won't eat raisins.

My father used to love gooseberry pie and when my mother could find canned gooseberries she'd make a two-crust pie. One day she found a recipe in a magazine for something called Gooseberry Fool Pie. She thought it sounded good so she made it. It was a helluva lot of trouble and took her about half a day. He tasted it and said it was okay but he liked the two-crust better. She almost gave him a pie shampoo.