Life of Pie

Well, I'm back in Boston after an amazing week in Philadelphia with Joe. It was so relaxing, and I got quite a bit of satisfaction out of feeding Joe and his roommate. While I was in town I baked them not one but two delicious pies - pecan and apple. See, I really wanted to make a pie, but Joe didn't have a rolling pin. He ended up buying me one to keep in his apartment in exchange for my promise to bake him a pie every time I come visit. Of course I will gladly oblige. I even overcompensated this time by making more than one.

I used the same crust recipe for both pies because it turned out so very well the first time. It's flaky and buttery and everything a pie crust should be. The trick is to cut the butter into the dry ingredients the old-fashioned way, with a pastry blender. You could use a food processor, but I think that just creates more mess than it's worth, and really it's the uneven results of the handmade method that make the crust so good - the pockets of unincorporated butter in the dough are what create the flakiness. The other key thing to remember is to use very cold butter and to give the dough enough time to chill in the fridge before you roll it out and then again before you put the filling into it.

Both pies turned out spectacularly. The only other thing I should note is that no matter how badly you want to eat it right away, you have to let the pecan pie sit and cool for a few hours before you serve it. Otherwise, hot pie juice will gush out at you when you cut into it. It still tastes good, but no one wants liquid pie.

Pie Crust

• 1 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1/4 c. ice water

Mix together the flour, salt and sugar in a bowl. Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the dough chunks are the size of peas. Sprinkle on the ice water and blend just until the crumbs are evenly moistened. Turn the pastry onto a work surface and gather it into a ball. Flatten into a disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 30 minutes. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry to a 13-inch round. Ease the pastry into a 9-inch pie plate and trim the overhang to a half-inch. Crimp the edges decoratively. Refrigerate until firm.


Georgia Pecan Pie

• 3 eggs
• 1 c. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 c. light corn syrup
• 1/2 c. dark corn syrup
• 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
• 5 oz. pecan halves

Preheat oven to 350. Position a rack in the bottom third of the oven. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs with the sugar and salt. Whisk in the light and dark corn syrups, butter and vanilla until combined. Stir in the pecans. Pour the filling into the pie shell and arrange the pecans in a decorative pattern. Cover the rim of the pie with foil strips and bake the pie for 50 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the filling is puffed but still slightly jiggly. Remove the foil strips and let the pie cool completely before serving.

Cinnamon Crumble Apple Pie

Filling ingredients:

• about a half-dozen Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced thin
• 2/3 c. sugar
• 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 2 Tbsp. melted unsalted butter

Topping ingredients:

• 1 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. golden brown sugar
• 1-1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 6 Tbsp. chilled unsalted butter, cut into half-inch cubes
• vanilla ice cream

Preheat oven to 400. Mix all filling ingredients in large bowl to coat apples. Blend first 5 topping ingredients in processor. Add chilled butter cubes; using on/off turns, cut in until mixture resembles wet sand. (You could also do this manually with a pastry blender.) Toss filling to redistribute juices; transfer to crust, mounding in center. Pack topping over and around apples. Bake pie on baking sheet until topping is golden, about 40 minutes (cover top with foil if browning too quickly). Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Bake until apples in center are tender when pierced and filling is bubbling thickly at edges, about 45 minutes longer. Cool until warm, about 1 hour. Serve with ice cream.

P.S. Just to prove that I didn't make ONLY junk food this week, a picture of Tuesday night's dinner - beef rib-eye and vegetable stew with homemade buttermilk biscuits.

Crunch Time

It's been a while since I've updated, mostly due to my 10-day absence during spring break at the end of March. (It was lovely - I spent a weekend in New York City with my best friend from high school and then the rest of the time lounging on the beach in southwest Florida with some college friends.) Since getting back, I've been trying to eat healthier, since I always tend to binge on vacations. Over the last week I've made a lot of very simple, not-quite-blog-worthy meals: marinated and grilled chicken, steamed vegetables, fresh fruit, and the like.

Last night I stuck to my healthy theme but got a bit more elaborate. My friend Chris came over to watch a movie and we decided to make big, beautiful salads. The results were so pretty that I had to take a picture and post the recipe, which I adapted from one by Rachael Ray (yes, again).


Incredible Crunchy Salad
Serves 3-4

• Coarse salt
• 3/4-c. long grain rice
• 1 green apple, peeled, quartered, cored, and finely diced
• 1 small red or green bell pepper, cored, seeded, and finely chopped
• 1/4 medium red onion, minced
• 6 radishes, finely chopped
• 2 T plus about 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 2 T white wine vinegar
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• Coarse black pepper
• 1/4-c extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 small package croutons or crostini
  
• 2 packages pre-washed lettuce mix (pick your favorite)
• 1-lb. chicken cutlets

Heat 1-1/3 cups water in a small pot. When it comes to a boil, salt it and add the rice. Cover and reduce to a simmer and cook the rice for about 18 minutes or until just tender, with a bite remaining. Remove the lid and fluff the rice, then spread it on a cookie sheet to quick-cool.

While the rice cooks, combine the apples, bell peppers, onions, and radishes in a small bowl, adding them to it as you chop. Dress them with about 2 tablespoons of the fresh lemon juice and lightly toss the crunchy mixture with your fingertips.

In a bowl, whisk together the remaining 2 teaspoons of lemon juice, the white wine vinegar, the chopped garlic, mustard, and some salt and pepper. Add the olive oil gradually as you whisk.

Season the chicken cutlets with salt and pepper and saute or grill over medium-high heat (I used a stove-top grill pan). While they cook, crunch two big handfuls of the croutons/crostini into small pieces. When the chicken is done, slice it into half-inch-thick slices crosswise.

Arrange the lettuces on plates. Scatter the cool rice across the salad, layer on the crunchy apple/pepper/onion/radish mixture and the croutons/crostini, and arrange the chicken slices on top. Drizzle the dressing in a slow, even stream all over the salad.