Gastronomy612′s Weblog

Cherry pie conjures up two things for myself: cherry pie itself, and then the Warrant Song, Cherry Pie. 

A lot of people are terrified about the work involved in pie making.  Either it is very easy, or I have a lot of time on my hands (which is debatable), as I find pie making both fun, and easy.  Based on this, you may think I used pre-made pie crusts, the lazy man’s guide to pie making and then dump a can of highly sweetened cherries/apples/pumpkin pie mix in the crust, throw it in the oven and call it a day.  Not only do I find that disgusting, but not pie making, rather pie assembly.

Pie crusts are generally what throw people for a loop, and understandably as most people I know don’t even own a rolling pin.  Which then annoys me because on many wedding registries, the couple requests a rolling pin.  If you did not use/own a rolling pin before, why are you asking for one now?  Is there a corollary between marriage and pie-making?  I don’t think so.  Regardless, a rolling pin does not a pie crust make.  If you do not own a rolling, utilize other pin-like devices you may have, e.g. a bottle of wine.

The pie crust recipe I like to use most often is butter-based, and thus requires no lard or shortening, two things I never have at home and am unsure of what to do with most of the time.  Given that, I found the recipe in the Dining Out section of the NYT a couple years ago and use it for any and all pies I make. 

Heat your oven to 400F then follow this crust recipe.  For two shells (a top and a bottom), you need 2.5 cups of flour, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 20 tablespoons of chilled and cubed butter.  If you are lucky enough to have a food processor, pulse the flour and salt together before adding the butter.  After the butter is added, your dough should look somewhat mealy.  Add 2-6 tablespoons of chilled water to the dough until it clumps together more, but is not goopy.

 When the dough has formed into the proper consistency, put some flour on the counter, and plop the dough on down.  Form into two round balls, squish them down into discs and wrap in plastic wrap.  Put those puppies in the fridge for at least an hour before pie making use.

When you take them out of the fridge they are going to be hard, at least my discs were, so I let them warm up a bit before I tried to roll them out on a floured counter.  Eventually I was able to get my bottom crust ready to be put in the pie pan.  I do not recommend the aluminum kind of tins, or even necessarily the metal kind.  I like using my Pyrex pie pan as I feel that it cooks evenly and perfectly each time without needing to be pre-baked, and it does not require pie weights.  I do not know if this is attributed to the pie pan, or the crust recipe.  Regardless, do not use either with this recipe.

A “trick” to getting the delicate crust into your pan, is to simply roll out the dough on floured plastic wrap and then help the dough roll around your rolling pin/wine bottle, then gently unroll it in the pan.  In my experience, it works very well, and rarely does the dough break off in any unfixable manner. 

Some of the edges fell off in the process, but like I said, they were easy to adhere back on to the rest of the dough.  Moreover, no one oogles at the bottom crust anyway, they just eat it.

Earlier I said I am not a slacker-pie-maker.  And I’m not.  But the cherries I used were canned, albeit they were canned by my sister and brother-in-law from the cherry tree in their front yard.  Huz-zah!  The label on the can indicated it was done in May 2007.  They did not need any sugar or thickener, although I did add some sugar and some flour, as they seemed a bit soupy when put in the pie. 

I really wanted to use my new pastry cutter to make a lattice top, but I soon gave up as I was not able to keep the long lattices together for the counter-to-pie transport.  Instead I opted to merely create a top cover.   After using the trick above to put my top crust on, and pinching the edges together, I cut out vents on the top of the crust to allow heat to escape (and not explode the inners of my pie) and create a pretty decoration.  After I made the cut outs, I whipped an egg and brushed some egg wash on the top and sprinkled it with sugar to give it a golden brown sparkle when it was finished baking. 

I baked that bad boy in the oven for about 40 minutes or so.  Truth be told I didn’t watch what time I put it in and took it out.  I just monitored it, but only peeked in the oven once or twice.  Sure, some of the crust fell off the sides when I removed it from the oven, and I could see where I missed the crust with the egg wash, but I don’t work for Boston Market, so I think this is allowed. 

Hours after we ate kebabs, Scott, Kathy, David and I had some pie-a-la-mode with a few blueberries.  It was a very patriotic dessert, and was well received.

In the future, I would like to try to make a pie crust using shortening.  I think that the faux fats in it will help the dough hold together better, and thus allow me to create a lattice top it may also render a flakier crust. 

oh, and enjoy