Here's the last wintery pie for the last day of winter, and oh, nelly, what a winter it was! Again, from the cookbook "Four and Twenty Blackbirds," a tangy buttermilk pie. I made the crust gluten-free with my favorite gluten-free flour from Williams-Sonoma--Thomas Keller's Cup 4 Cup, available here: Williams-Sonoma Cup4Cup. It's mimics regular all-purpose flour better than anything I've ever tried.
The makings of a good crust. Gluten-free flour, lard, and as expensive a butter you can find. Mwah!
Parchment paper half-sheets from King Arthur Flour. I love these to line cookie sheets and to roll out my dough.
If I have extra filling from custard-type pies, I pour the excess into these little ramekins and bake along with the pie. A little warm custard nirvana minus any crust.
Tangy and yummy with buttermilk and a touch of vinegar for a little more twang. (-;
Happy National Pi Day--here's a pie straddling winter and spring just for you...and me!
Grapefruit Pie from the cookbook "Four and 20 Blackbirds"
Eggs and sugar whirled together:
Butter Pie Crust--I went a little wild with the fork tines. This pic was after it had been in the freezer to thoroughly chill.
Beautiful red grapefruit. I cup of freshly squeezed juice was needed.
A very expensive bottle of Campari.
Isn't it pretty? It looks like a liquid ruby jewel.
Couple of dashes of Angostura orange bitters next.
Sorry for the shadows--I couldn't get a good shot. I just thought it looked pretty--grapefruit juice, Campari, eggs, egg yolks, and heavy whipping cream swirled together. Looks like I'm able to marbleize some paper.
Whirled up again.
Pastry brush--I have the authentic wooden one as well--to brush onto partially, blind-baked pie crust. It helps seal the crust from the liquid about to go in.
Ohhhh, the goodness. It was so delicious! Let me tell you who else thought so...
I'm sitting in my art room at the computer and my husband comes in to tell me goodnight. All of a sudden we hear slurping, and we both hold each other's gaze in a brief panic of knowing before seeing. I had brought the pie into this room to cool on a pie rack set on a low bench. Well, Kman had let Ebert in, and that beagle nose and tongue went straight to this pie. BEFORE I had one bite.
I cried out, "I just spent 3 hours on that pie!" My husband says, "Well, just avoid the hole," But there wasn't just a little indentation. Ebert's tongue had cut a swatch through the top of almost 1/2 of the pie. What you see above is the ONLY piece I was able to selvage, confident that no dog germs had come near it. Later, while I was still up at 1 a.m., Eberto wakes up and went straight to my room door. He did the same thing the next morning. I guess you could say, this was beagle certifiable as delicious. The next time around, he is NOT getting one piece!
Sunday, March 9, 2014
First pie of the year. I meant to start this blog in January, but it just didn't work out that way.
I had my heart set on calling this blog Pie on Sunday, but that name is already taken. Sooooooooo, we'll go with "Listen to me, Pie Lady." The inversion of that quote is used in the sweet film, "Waitress" where Old Joe says to our heroine, Jenna, "Pie Lady, listen to me." It's a moment of great importance: A man at the end of his life of missed chances trying to open the eyes of a young person and redirect her from his path of regret. It's a warning of the utmost importance.
I can't find a clip of YouTube of that great exchangeb(about at 1 hr, 21 minutes into the movie), but here's the movie trailer. You can get a tiny piece of it around 2:04.
O.K., so here's Egg and Grog Pie from "The Four & Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book" by Emily and Melissa Elsen out of Brooklyn, NY by way of North Dakota. This is the first book I will start with on my pie sojourn. I'm not really much of a "cake" girl, by pie and pastry, have always been my loves. And if you have gluten problems, don't let it stop you from having these delicious items. Substitutions are everywhere!
Please, please try to use freshly grated nutmeg. The fragrant difference and taste is overwhelming!
I like to use "baker's sugar" when baking...it blends so much more easily.
My poor box of Maldon sea salt has seen better days!
Flaky goodness! I grind it up between my fingers before adding.
Vanilla bean paste-so delicious. It doesn't thin the batter, but rather adds viscosity to it.
See all those vanilla bean flecks? Heady!
The gingersnap crust starting to come together.
Oh, yes. Heavy whipping cream, and 3 eggs, and...
I kid you not. This black spiced rum was in my cabinet way before I turned to this recipe. But, when I did, this same bottle is pictured in the book! AMAZING! I will admit, I was captivated by the label first--I love octopi--but, man on man, this stuff is so delicious. I like it better than any other rum I've tried. This little addition add the "grog" part to the pie.
Look--even the lid is super fabulous!
Eggnoggy-like filling is ready to go...
The finished result. You're supposed to let it cool 2-3 hours. I made 30 minutes. Within 6 minutes, my husband and I had eaten 1/2 of the custardy pie. Listen, Kman HATES pie and he loved this. So del-ee-ish-us. (-;
