Fresh Peach Pie

As some of you may have noticed, I've been somewhat AWOL from posting of late, but it's not for lack of baking, but rather for lack of time. Let's just say that the mild envy I once felt seeing people enjoying a leisurely mid-morning latte in a cafe or attending a yoga class at 2 p.m. is approaching full-on resentment. But if I didn't have my day job, I never would have met Josephine Lume, the lovely and uber talented CFO of Henry Street Settlement (where she plays a mean calculator!) who gifted me with these peaches from her father's tree, pictured below. (I'm convinced her father, a native of Italy, lives in an orchard in Queens, where he grows persimmons, figs, blackberries and, of course, peaches.)

About those peaches. They are certainly not "pretty as a peach" but what they lack in appearance is made up in juicy deliciousness.

For a fresh peach pie, boil the peaches for about 60 seconds and, if you're lucky, the skins will slip right off. If not take a paring knife to peel them before slicing.

Next, combine the sugar, cornstarch and salt.  Add water and stir until combined. Slip the peach slices in and cook until the mixture boils. Then cook another minute.

Pour the mixture into an unbaked pie shell.  You can see below I had too much liquid, so I simply spooned some out.

Cover with a top crust. I got a little fancy with a lattice.

Bake until done. Cool on a rack.

Enjoy in the garden, even if it lacks a peach tree.

This recipe is from a c. 1960 cookbook published by The Women of Circle "B" of the First Brethren Church in Ohio.

Production notes: I followed this recipe exactly, but had to spoon out some liquid. Next time, I would leave some in the saucepan. I used a nine-inch pie pan and five cups of peaches. Always bake pies on a foil-lined baking sheet for ease of removal from the oven, and also to prevent the bubbling juices from spilling onto the oven floor.

My favorite pie crust recipe

2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 stick of cold butter, cut into small pieces
6 T. cold Crisco, cut into pieces
2 t. sugar
1 t. salt
3 - 6 T. cold water

Place dry ingredients in a food processor and whirl to blend.  Add butter and Crisco and process until it resembles cornmeal. Transfer to a round bowl, and add the water, a couple of tablespoons at a time.  Blend with a fork.  When it holds together, transfer to a lightly floured surface and form a large ball.  Divide in half and either roll out between two sheets of plastic wrap, or refrigerate until it's a bit firmer and then roll out.

Rhubarb Pie

We spent Sunday at a lovely vineyard in southern New Jersey celebrating the wedding of our niece Jessica to her longtime boyfriend Brandon. Jess had wanted wedding pie instead of wedding cake, but deferring to tradition (and her mother), compromised with wedding cupcakes.

So yesterday, in honor of Jessica (who, in addition to just finishing medical school, makes a pretty mean pie herself), I baked a rhubarb pie, with rhubarb purchased at a farm stand we passed en route home on Monday morning.

Rhubarb used to be called pie plant; indeed, pie filling the most common use of this tart vegetable. I was intrigued by this recipe which, unlike most rhubarb pie recipes (this is one exception) calls for eggs, adding a richness to the filling.

It's very good and not too sweet (despite two cups of sugar) and not at all custard-y, which I would have expected with three eggs. I'm guessing the recipe dates from the late 1940s or 1950s, when eggs were not all that dear, as they were during WW II.

First, make the pie crust (directions at the end of the post). Next, wash some farm fresh rhubarb.

Dice it up.

Mix the eggs and add the sugar and cornstarch.

 Place the cut rhubarb into an unbaked pie shell and pour the batter over it.

Lay the top crust on, crimp the edges and vent by making a few slits using a sharp knife.

 Bake at 425 F for 40 minutes or so. If the edges start browning too quickly, cover with some aluminum foil.

Jessica and Brandon cutting the wedding cake -- they did have a six-inch cake atop the cupcake display.

Production notes: I made the larger size (measurements at the right on the card) because I used a 10-inch pie plate. I also skimped on the cornstarch, fearing a gloop-y filling. Don't! Go for the larger amount so that the filling will be firm. (There were no leftovers, but I'm certain that by the next day, it would have firmed up, even without the full amount of cornstarch.)
Note that the recipe says not a word about a pie crust. Perhaps it was meant to be a single crust pie, like this one and the filling would have been more custard-like. In fact, looking at the recipe now, I think that's what the recipe author may have intended. Oh, well. Just part of the fun of baking from old recipes!

For the pie crust, I used my tried and true:

Pie Crust
2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 stick of cold butter, cut into small pieces
6 T. cold Crisco, cut into pieces
2 t. sugar
1 t. salt
3 - 6 T. cold water

Place dry ingredients in a food processor and whirl to blend.  Add butter and Crisco and process until it resembles cornmeal. Transfer to a round bowl, and add the water, a couple of tablespoons at a time.  Blend with a fork.  When it holds together, transfer to a lightly floured surface and form a large ball.  Divide in half and either roll out between two sheets of plastic wrap, or refrigerate until it's a bit firmer and then roll out.

And below, truth in baking. The too-liquid-y filling. But when the pie was cut into slices, it was just fine, as you can see from the photo at the very top.

Butterscotch Pie

If I were being executed, my last meal would include a big serving of butterscotch pudding -- that's now much I love it.  So I was thrilled to find this handwritten butterscotch pie recipe in a vintage collection I had just purchased on eBay. There is no better way to "enhance" butterscotch pudding than to sandwich it between a flaky pastry crust and light-as-air meringue. It did not disappoint.

Before beginning the pudding, prepare the pastry shell -- details at the end of this post.  While your pie shell is cooling, assemble the ingredients for the filling.

Cook the brown sugar, water and butter until thick.  Next you'll add in the milk, egg yolks, cornstarch and salt (a step I neglected to photograph, unfortunately).  Don't simply pour the eggs into the hot sugar mixture or you'll have scrambled eggs. Temper them first by adding and few tablespoons of the hot mixture into the eggs, whisking all the while.

Pour the pudding into the prepared pie shell.  Quickly whip the egg whites with the confectioners sugar to make the meringue.

Spread the meringue atop the pudding, being sure that the meringue touches the edges of the crust so the pudding is sealed inside.

Brown in the oven for just a few minutes, until the meringue is golden.  Remove from the oven and let cool. The pudding may be very liquid-y at this point -- mine was and I feared I'd be serving butterscotch soup that night.  But after several hours of resting, the filling firmed to the perfect pudding consistency.

 The recipe (and method notes) below.

Butterscotch Pie

Prepare and blind-bake one 8 or 9 inch pastry crust.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. water
1 T. butter
2 T. cornstarch
2 eggs separated
pinch of salt
2 c. whole milk
2 T. powdered sugar

Beat the egg yolks in a small bowl. Add the salt, milk and cornstarch dissolved in a little water.  Set aside.
In a medium saucepan, boil the brown sugar, water and butter until thick.  Temper the egg mixture by whisking in a few tablespoons of the hot sugar mixture.  (The idea is to make the temperature of both mixtures more equal.)
Slowly and while stirring constantly, add the egg-milk mixture to the hot sugar.  Stir over a medium flame until smooth.  It will be very liquid-y.
Pour into the pie crust.

Beat the egg whites until foamy.  Add in the confectioners sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.  Spread over the pudding mixture, making sure that the meringue touches the edges of the pastry.

Place in oven for a few minutes, until the meringue is browned.  Let sit at room temperature for several hours.

My Go-To Pie Crust

2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 t. salt
2 t. sugar
8 T. cold  butter (one stick) cut into chunks
6 T. cold Crisco cut into chunks
4 - 6 T. ice water

Put the dry ingredients in a food processor and blend.  Add in the fat and process until the mixture resembles small peas.  Add the ice water (though the feed tube) one or two tablespoons at a time, processing between each. When the dough begins to hold together, transfer to a plastic bag and form into a disk inside.  Refrigerator for 30 minutes before rolling out.  This makes enough for two 9-inch crusts.

To blind-bake (pre-bake), preheat oven to 400 F.  Roll out dough and place into pie pan.  Cover with parchment, foil or plastic wrap and place dried beans inside to weigh it down.  Bake for about 10-12 minutes and remove the beans.  Prick dough with fork and return to oven for about ten minutes until browned.

I served the pie to Bob and Jennifer, friends we had met last year on a food tour in Istanbul. There was a moment of terror when I cut into the pie, not knowing if it would be pie or soup, but all was well.  Jennifer noted how "light and airy" it was.  (I'll save the vanilla ice cream I'd bought "just in case" for a future baking disaster.)

Fresh Raspberry Pie

Some people favor winter, others summer.  My favorite time of year is raspberry season which occurs twice in the northeast -- right now, and in the fall.  The DH and I were lucky enough to spend July 4th with friends in Beacon, New York, and equally lucky to visit nearby Fishkill Farms where we picked cherries, blueberries and red, black and white raspberries.  This was my first encounter with white raspberries; they are not as sweet as the red or black (and much whiter in real life than they appear in the photo).

Anyone who has succumbed to the zen of berry picking knows that it's very easy to pick more than one can possibly eat and since raspberries begin to decompose the moment they're picked, there was but one thing to do: make a fresh raspberry pie.

I quickly put together a pie crust (recipe below) and, following a vintage berry pie recipe, prepared the pie.  It's really, really easy.  Just roll out the bottom crust, gently fold the berries into some flour, sugar and salt, and pour into the shell. Dot with a generous amount of butter. Roll out the top crust and you're good to go.

It's difficult to know how much thickener (flour, cornstarch or tapioca) to add to absorb the liquid from the berries without turning the filling into a gloppy gelatin substance.  I followed the recipe exactly (and even cheated by adding a bit of small pearl tapioca to the bottom of the pie) but still too much liquid was released.   Not a huge problem, and I didn't hear any complaints.

Some production notes:  I added more raspberries than called for, because I had them, and dotted with about three tablespoons of unsalted butter (not two).

Pie Crust

3 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
3 t. sugar
1 1/2 t. kosher salt
1 1/2 sticks cold unsalted butter (12 tablespoons) in pieces
9 T. cold Crisco in pieces
ice water

Place flour, sugar and salt in a food processor and mix until combined. Add the butter and shortening and mix until the size of small peas, or smaller.  Add ice water, one or two tablespoons at a time until the dough holds together.  Check this by removing the top and pressing the dough between your fingers. Divide in two pieces and refrigerate until firm.  Roll out to line and top pie pan.

The Ballet Cook Book Dinner, Part II

Check out the wonderful Antonio Carmena's latest performance, as he stars in this frenetic video of the second in our series of dinners from the 1966 Ballet Cook Book.   I know it's in fast motion, but the meal prep truly felt just as fast (over several hours, no less)!

Watch him roll out the pie crust!  And the way he formed the ice cream into quenelles -- how elegant is that!