Pies

For those you who were not at dinner, and therefore not on the large mass email I sent out inquiring about the menu, you missed out on the Pie Wars of 2007. Apparently the chasm between Apple and Pecan is unbridgeable, with accusations of fundamentalism and unpatriotic behavior being bandied about wildly. And obviously, pumpkin pie has to be made for Thanksgiving. So I ended up making three pies, which was actually the easy part, as I, you know, like baking. And since the pie crust is the biggest bother, scaling up is no big problem if you're already making one.
My usual problem is that I don't roll out the pie crusts enough, or there simply isn't enough dough. Using a butter:Crisco ratio of 2:1, I made crusts for 5 pies, and rolled out 4 crusts from that, which worked well. Also note my apron in the picture below, sewed by my same sister. I'm too much of a throwback sometimes I fear. Still, it lets my wipe my hands on something other than my pants or shirt, which is probably a good thing.
Now, I know the last time I made a pumpkin pie, I said I would try to make it from a real pumpkin this time. Ha! I didn't even try to look for a sugar pumpkin. Three pies is still more than enough work without having to boil pieces of pumpkin. But next year, people, next year! Also, the way to test for doneness is to have a knife come out clean, but it leaves a large mark. I don't know what to do about this. Maybe I should bake a leaf of crust on the side so I can cover it later. This might be thought of as "obsessive." Anyway, the same recipe was used for the pumpkin pie as before, and I turned to Baking Illustrated for the apple pie, although I used six apples, not seven.
The pecan pie I was most worried about, since I had never made it before, and most people (5 out of 6) wanted pecan over apple. It turned out very very good, and I wouldn't mind making it again soon. It didn't really really fill the pie shell completely, so I guess I should have used the smaller pie tin for it instead.

i like polygons, okay?

i can feel your disappointment. i'm disappointed in myself, really. but i tried! i tried to find a sugar pumpkin to make pumpkin pie from scratch with. i went to three stores! so, you (and i) should really be disappointed in new york city and their terrible supermarkets and groceries.
so, i went back to my old tried and true friend, libby's pumpkin. which still took me four stores in my neighborhood to find.
this is also a story about how i can't, for the life of me, roll out a pie dough to fully cover any sort of pie dish. i think this may have to do with the fact that my chopping board is too small, the width of saran wrap is too short, and cookbooks don't actually know what 1/8" actually looks like. however, i should also know to just make a recipe and a half whenever i make pie dough. whatever, at least i actually had shortening (helloooooo crisco) to put in it this time.


as for the filling, i deviated from my normal libby's pumpkin side-of-the-label recipe, because, as i said, i was GOING to eviscerate my own pumpkin. alas, there's always thanksgiving. i used this recipe, which is probably still the same as most other pumpkin pie recipes. and turned as just as delicious. it made a bit too much for my pie tin, so i put the overflow in its own ramekin. because if there's anything i love, it's ramekins, squirrels, and geometric shapes, all neatly represented in the next two pictures. again, i know, we're all disappointed in me. i should have tried to get them all in one shot.

So, I'm not too busy to bake, but I am too busy to write about it.
Continuing the freezer purge, there were two pie crusts left, and my roommate requested I make apple pie from them. I can never remember what recipe I used the last time I made apple pie, and I knew I needed to make a smaller recipe than 6 cups of apple, so I looked at Baker's Illustrated, as usual, and a recipe from Baking Bites. I actually wrote the recipe down as I was making it, just in case it turned out to be the best apple pie ever. It wasn't, but it wasn't bad. The apples cooked down a lot, and also sort of lumpy, so I think I could have arranged them more compactly in the pie and fit more in, but my roommate had no complaints.
Apple pie is so much easier when you don't have to make the crust pie


Thaw frozen crusts for about 15 minutes. While thawing, slice 1 granny smith apple and 1 and a half golden deliciouses. Mix with 1/4 cup white sugar, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, a scant tablespoon flour, 2 dashes of salt, 2 dashes of nutmeg and a 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon. Let sit for 15 minutes or so. Place in pie crust and dot with a tablesppon of butter. Press down the other pie crust gently and place on top, using fork tines to seal the edges. Cut slits in a super cute and decorative way, and place in 425 degree oven for about 15 minutes, then 45 minutes to an hour at 375 degrees, until filling is bubbling. My crust got pretty brown quickly and had to be covered with foil, so watch it.

Then, realize you actually have an extra apple, some strawberries, and leftover crisp topping from a previous berry pie. Throw them together in a pie tin and also bake for about 45 minutes in a 375 degree oven.
Decide there wasn't enough butter or juice so it's not very browned or all that good. Offer to roommates anyway, and realize that three pies divides up into three people very easily. Really, I had one small slice each of apple pie and the apple-strawberry thing, and almost all of the berry pie, and each of my roommates staked out their own pies.

The apartment has been trying to clean out the freezer, as I have previously mentioned. But here's why:


While it's exciting to pretend our freezer is turning into Hoth, it is not very practical. Neither practical is the three frozen pie crusts my roommate has had in there for months. But someday! He will make us quiche. But probably not in the next week. I had a bag of frozen berries that I hadn't used yet, so with my college-learned skills, I came upon the novel idea of making berry pie. I'm a genius, I know. I didn't think I would have enough berries though to fill up a pie, so I also bought some fresh strawberries. I glanced at my 'vintage' (1985!) Sunset Pies and Pastries book. They called for 6 cups of fruit, while the frozen pie crusts want 3.5 to 4 cups of filling. This detail was somehow lost on me, as I used about 5.5 cups of fruit. This ended up filling the crust to the brim. Hmm. This is also a problem when you put the pie into the oven or take it out, as the flimsy disposable pie tin is...flimsy. And bendy. Anyway. The below is somewhat adapted from the Sunset book, although it's really pretty basic.

End-of-the-summer, dying-freezer berry pie


Thaw frozen berries for a few hours, and drain off any excess water or juice. Add enough sliced strawberries to make 5.5 cups of fruit. Add 1 cup white sugar, 3 tablespoons cornstarch, and a half tablespoon lemon juice. Stir gently and let sit for about 15 minutes. Take out frozen pie crust and also let thaw for 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
While everything is sitting, make the streusel for the top. Sunset says 1 cup flour, 1/2 brown sugar, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, then rub in 6 tablespoons of butter. I had to sub white sugar, as I really truly believed in my heart that I had brown sugar. I also added 1/4 cup of oatmeal for a healthy sort of appearance. Dice the butter first, and then mash it in with a fork, then your fingers. This ended up being too much for my already overloaded pie and I had maybe a scant cup leftover.
Brush pie crust with a beaten egg. (I poked it a few times with a fork, but I don't think I really needed to do this.) Add as much fruit filling as possible. Panic. Top with streusel, panic some more. Wrap edges of pie crust with tin foil. Place in oven for one hour. (If you are me, don't make the streusel until after you put the pie in the oven, because you're looking at a different recipe. Make the streusel, and add it on 10 minutes later. Take the pie out of the oven, spilling filling in the process. Wipe up with kitchen towel. Add topping, place back into oven. Spill more filling. Wipe up with kitchen towel, which is now scarred for life. Thank your lucky stars that you had enough forethought to place a baking sheet on the rack underneath the pie when it spills some more, because this sort of thing has happened before. Not recommened, except that last tip about the baking sheet.) Take out of oven-carefully- after about an hour, when streusel is golden brown and filling is bubbling or near bubbling. Let cool while you're passed out from the combination of late August heat and standing in front of the oven while you were trying in vain to get the pie out safely.Confidential to travelling roommate: Come back soon. Other roommate apparently doesn't like berry pie at all, and I'm pretty sure I could eat the whole thing myself if I really tried.