PIE!!!!

Pie in oven now...report back later!

Good timing!  Blackberries are ripe/nearly ripe now.  I've been eyeing a few apple trees in the area, too... nobody picked the apples last year, so I figure I'm cleared for picking. They look ready. 

How about elderberries?  I've only ever used them for flavouring wine, but anyone tried them in pies?  There are tons along the Thames.

My rhubarb is out of control, so time to make it into something, too.

PIES.

mmmmmmm rhubarb/strawberry PIE is another favorite!!! 

Carolyn, I expect to hear a full PIE report!

Cherry pie and apple pie are both my favourites!!

I love to make ice cream pie in the summer. I'm going to make an Oreo pudding pie in a little bit.

I only tried pumpkin pie for the first time last Thanksgiving. For some reason I was always afraid to try it. i love that now!

I may have to bake some fruit pies sometime next week. I'm sure DB won't mind! 

mmmmmmm rhubarb/strawberry PIE is another favorite!!! 

Carolyn, I expect to hear a full PIE report!

Ooooh, I am not a rhubarb fan, but Steve loves it!

Carolyn's pie report:  It was nice - I was particularly pleased with the pastry, not bad considering I'm a bit rusty.  Flaky & light, golden - all of what you want.  (More on this later.)  Rolling & shaping it was a bit rough & ready but it tasted good.  Think I'll use the food processor next time to mix it, or else maybe just use my fingers -- pastry cutter was just too awkward.

The filling (yes pkessler - about 5 cups) - I didn't use the full amount of sugar & the recipe said you could vary it.  Result - my husband loved it, because it was still a bit tart.  I would have preferred it to be sweeter.  (This is a dispute we always have between us.)  I was working off a blueberry pie recipe, with variations for other berries & I should have read the fine print below closer because the blackberry wants more thickener (I used corn starch/flour).  Hence, it was very juicy & runny.

Still tasted nice, served warm with vanilla ice cream.  But it was far from perfect & I wouldn't enter it into any bake-offs!

Im dying to know why some of you always spell PIE in upper-case letters!

Because as jennredd already noted, PIE is a capital event!

Was it this one?
http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=29236.0

Started by MrsPink, not jennredd ... though jennredd did pipe in early! 

Oh I'm sorry!!  Apologies to MrsPink!  I think jennredd & PIE are linked so inextricably in my mind, I was certain it would have been her.

jennredd, you need to add the link for those little (PIE!) cartoon guys here, because it definitely belongs on a pie thread!

make a regular, plain, old apple pie, but throw in a handful of red hots (you know, those cinnamon candies that come out around valentine's day in the states).

then make a thin powdered sugar icing & drizzle it all over the top crust.

Oh that sounds scrummy!  I'd nominate that for Pie of the Week!  (I also like those caramelly apple pie variations you see from time to time.)

Ok, more on the pie crust ingredients discussion...  Had a closer read of the cookbook I've been working from - Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything.  The sugar appears to be solely for taste, so I could see omitting it.  Most recipes I've used previously did have a small amount of sugar in them.

On the fat in pie crust...butter, lard & vegetable shortening (like Crisco) hold air & will give the pastry more loft.  Bittman's bet for the best pie crust would be a combo of butter & lard.  Then just butter.  He doesn't recommend shortening because it doesn't taste like anything.  He also mentions oils and says that while some veg oils (nut oils particularly) will give the pastry a good flavor, they will not give loft to the pastry.  Although he mentions how tasty olive oil pastries can be - has anyone had any of these?

Do you decorate your pastry in any way?  (The top crust?)  I brushed it with milk & sprinkled with sugar - it came out lovely & golden.  I seem to also remember brushing pastry (years ago) with beaten egg for a more glazed & golden appearance.  I know some cut out fab little shapes (say an apple or hearts) to decorate the top crust.

I really do need to delve further into deciphering my gran's recipes (her handwriting!!) & see what I can do.  No matter what I make, it never tastes like I remember hers tasting.

For those who say they can't make pastry - there is a knack to it, but I'm convinced it can be learned.  I taught myself & then I even taught my mother (in the past) because she was convinced she couldn't make good pastry.

At least Jenn is consistent... her PIEs are always in upper-case!   

Everyones pies sound fab... i do like the sound of the apple & red-hot one especially!

At least Jenn is consistent... her PIEs are always in upper-case!   

Inconsistency - my middle name!  I'm only doing it to drive you mad!

Ok Carolyn, here is the link for my PIE guys.... http://www.weebls-stuff.com/wab/pie
(I love these guys!!!)

Your PIE sounds like it came out lovely Carolyn!  Warm with ice cream....mmmmm....PIE!

I think I would have tried the food processor too, only cause it would save time!  I'm sure using fingers is probably the way our Moms/Grans did it!

Carolyn, PIE for brekkie???!!!   

Carolyn, PIE for brekkie???!!!   

Yes, that would be my natural instinct, to have pie for breakfast, lunch, dinner & points in between.  But I do have to curb my food indulgences somewhat to keep myself from ballooning up to 20 stone (as I once was).  Fortunately, I have a little conscience bird (otherwise known as Steve) who reminds me, in the most loving way imaginable, why pie for breakfast (for me) is probably not the best idea in the interest of my health.

I do foresee a pie/coffee break coming sometime this afternoon perhaps.  Which reminds me of Agent Cooper - yes I was a Twin Peaks geek!

I think I saw someone posting the last couple days about baking a pumpkin pie -- very original at this time of year!  Was that DesertDreamer?  I wonder what happened?

(I'll be adding a poll to this thread!)

Ok Carolyn, here is the link for my PIE guys.... http://www.weebls-stuff.com/wab/pie
(I love these guys!!!)

HAHAHA I was just telling DH last night that I was going to have post a link to that on this thread.    When come back bring PIE!!

mmmm . . . PIE!  Dangit, now I'm going to have to go make a pie!!

If you want to do a shortening pie crust, I've had good results with Flora White--it's a similar consistency to Crisco.  It's sometimes tricky to find, but they carry it in ASDA.

Ummm, Twin Peaks and ummmm pie.  I made peach cobbler last night and something is wrong.  I think the peaches are sweeter than the ones at home and so I should have added less sugar, or a little more corn starch.  Still tastes good though.  Even for breakfast!!

Someone on UK Yankee gave me a great pastry recipe using vegetable oil (I think it was Desert Dreamer).  It's very easy and makes lovely, light pastry:

1 cup flour
1 third cup veg. oil, (put the oil in a measuring cup, then add enough milk to make half a cup liquid. )
half tsp. salt.
Mix all together until it stays together and forms a ball, you can use a spoon to mix it. The mix automatically comes together into a ball. Put between two pieces of wax paper and roll out.


Yah, it was me. It's my mom's recipe that someone gave her in the 70's, only one she's ever used. I use it all the time for PIES and pasties. The recipe makes one PIE crust, so if you want a top PIE crust, make it twice. I've used it as a lattice before as well. Is that the right word, lattice? Sounds right, anyway. Unfortunately, I've lost my one and only PIE pan, it's gotta be somewhere in my kitchen, but it's hiding well. I'm craving pumpkin, and the Libby's is all ready to go!

The trick with pastry is that you should never over work it, use ice cold water and handle it as little as possible.  You do not want to bring out the gluten in the flour because that is what will make it tough (very, very unlike bread dough where you want to bring out the gluten).  If you want a nice flaky crust, you cut the shortening into the flour really, really well.  That is what the pastry cutter is for and does a great job.    then add the water and mix with a fork, just until the pastry is of the consistency that you can make it into a ball.  Squeeze it together, flatten out a bit and refridgerate for about an hour.  A lot happens in that hour and it magically comes together as a nice dough.

When you roll it out, again do not handle it and roll out, turning a quarter turn for every roll. 

Try and use as little flour as possible when rolling out because that will also make it tough. And don't rework the pastry after it has been rolled out.   

Just my two cents on pastry making!! 

and I am a Crisco user but White flora in the UK is just as good!