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"Diets" Grains & Seeds Three
Bites II
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October 28, 2008 Here we go again with yet another pie crust recipe. I have always had difficulty making a decent pie crust, no matter the ingredients. I initially started making my dough in a food processor, which is easy but it doesn't create the flakiest of crusts. I tried mimicking a crust Jamie Oliver made on one of his Saturday morning shows and it was easy to work with and had good results. Not terribly flakey, but good. I'm starting to think that a crust will never truly be flakey unless I use lard rather than butter. I read an article in one of my food magazines and they provided a how-to via picture instruction. I decided to try it. The ingredient list was small: flour, salt, butter and ice water- nothing out of the ordinary. After mixing the dry ingredients, I added small cubes of butter to form a mound on my pastry board and "pinched" the butter into the flour. Again, no food processor was used and I think I'm beginning to prefer working with my hands. Using my fingers I made sure all of the butter was coated evenly with flour before adding the ice water. The most unusual technique was referred to as "fraisage" which literally means pulling away small pieces of the dough (about the size of a walnut) and smearing them with the heel of my hand. Supposedly it's the French's secret to a flakey crust. I decided to give it a try and although I enjoyed pulling the dough together with my hands and using this new (well, new to me) technique, once the dough was chilled it was very hard to roll out. I kept rocking my rolling pin from the center to the edge and turning the lump an 1/8th of a turn but it took a long while to roll out easily. I think I'm going to go to the counter at my local diner (it's an old fashioned diner called the Modern Snack Bar in Jamesport, not your typical diner and there are two young girls that turn out pie after pie, day after day). I've just got to know what kind of fat they use. I'm sure it's a simple process to them since they make probably 50-100 pies a week. I feel like my quest for the perfect pie crust will never end, but at least I enjoy all of the practice pies. Tonight I made a mile-high apple pie using my Emile Henry ceramic deep dish. Just look at the height on this thing!
I cooked the apples on the stovetop and cooled the mixture before filling the pie crust. Is this extra step worth it? Take a look at this slice- there is no gap between the apple and the top crust. That's the secret! Add a few spices, some nuts and yellow raisins to make a perfect autumn dessert. I'm not saying I'd use this method again.... we'll have to see after a conversation with the girls at the Modern Snack Bar. Stay tuned... Mile High Apple Pie Pie Crust: Filling: Mix the flour and salt in a mound on a pastry board or a marble surface; add the cold butter cubes. Rub and pinch the butter into the flour with your fingers to coat the butter pieces evenly, forming small, pea-size balls. Create a well in the center of this mixture and add the chilled water. Mix together with your hands. Gently scrape the moistened dough and form it into a cohesive mass. Pull away walnut-sized pieces of dough and "smear" them with the heel of your hand (aka fraisage). Form the flattened pieces into a ball and halve it. Form two disks and wrap separately in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 2 hours. Roll out the dough using a floured rolling pin starting from the center to the edge, rotating the dough 1/8 of a turn until the dough is 1/8 inch thick. Carefully transfer the dough to the pie dish and nestle into the bottom and edges. Put in the fridge until the second crust is rolled out. Add the filling, brush water around the edge of the pie and top with the remaining disk of dough. Press down and seal the two crusts, then trim off the excess. Crimp the edges and cut 3 slits into the the top to allow the steam to escape. To make the filling: In a large saute pan, melt the butter. Add the apples and sauté for 3 or more minutes. Add the sugars, lemon juice and flour. Continue to sauté for 3 minutes. Season the apples with nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt. Add the raisins and mix thoroughly. Cook until the apples are no longer crisp and hard. Don't completely cook them but keep in mind that it's a deep dish pie so they should be 3/4 of the way cooked so the inside of the pie isn't raw when it comes out of the oven. Remove the apple mixture from the heat. Mix in the pecans and cool. Place the pie in the oven and bake for 45 minutes to an hour, depending on how soft your apples were going into the pie it may be closer to an hour. If the top starts to get browned before the pie is done, cover with a foil tent.
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Recipes:******************* Appetizers
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