Pie today, Pie tomorrow!

Today's Pie: Strawberry!

Yummy stuff. That's all I can say.

I found two recipes that looked delicious when I was perusing the interwebs, so I had to pick one. Strawberry Pie will certainly be returning a bit later, so I can try the other recipe. But this one was pretty excellent. This crust is a recipe I got from good ol' Alton Brown (you'll see a trend here), and besides being really easy to make, it's SUPER tasty. Crispy and flaky, but soft enough to dissolve in your mouth.

6 oz flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 oz butter
1 oz lard
ice water in a spray bottle

Much like the recipe used for the previous pies involving rhubarb (because I used this method as a model), cube the fats (butter and lard) and freeze 'em for at least ten minutes. Stick the flour and salt in a food processor and pulse to combine, then add the butter and pulse. Next, add lard; pulse. Then grab your spray bottle and spray the top of the flour to get it wet; pulse. Repeat a few times until you can pinch a bit of the dough and it sticks together. Once you've prepared the crust dough this way a few times, it's pretty easy to tell when it's just right.
Then dump it into a plastic zip bag, squish it into a disc, and chill it in the fridge for fifteen minutes. When it's nice and cool, roll it out and put it in your pie plate. I like to use two plates: set one on top of the dough (make sure it's floured so it doesn't stick) and flip them over together so the crust is hanging over the back of the pie plate. Gently gather the edges so they are closer to the angled sides, or they easily get pulled off at the corner. Place the other pie plate on top, upside down so they fit together. Flip again and remove the inner plate. Even out any holes with some crust dough that might be hanging over. Poke holes across the bottom and sides with a fork ("docking" the crust). Now stick the crust in the freezer for fifteen minutes and get the oven preheating to 425F.
We'll blind bake this crust since the filling is cooked separately. When the dough is cold and the oven is hot, throw a piece of parchment paper on the crust and fill it up with beans or rice or some other form of pie weights. If you use food like I do, don't try to cook it and eat it. It won't turn out quite right. I've re-labeled a jar of rice "Pie Weights" and they do nicely. Bake for ten minutes, remove the weights (the parchment paper will be cool enough to pick right up if you pull it out of the oven), and bake for ten more minutes or until deliciously golden brown. Filling time!

1 quart fresh strawberries
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
3 tablespoons cornstarch

Cut the strawberries into big pieces and arrange half of them in the bottom of the crust. Mash the other half in a saucepan, put on med-high heat, and add sugar. They'll boil fairly quickly, so stir frequently while you mix the water and cornstarch in a bowl. It might be easier to have this done before beginning to cook the fruit. In any case, add the cornstarch/water mix gradually while stirring the berries. turn the heat down and simmer for about ten minutes until it thickens up. Pour it over the uncooked berries in the pie crust and chill for several hours.

When you're ready to serve, whip up some whipped cream!

1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon powdered sugar

Chill a whisk or the beaters for a hand mixer and a bowl. Beat the cream until it is almost to forming peaks. Add the vanilla and sugar and beat until the peaks are forming. Don't keep beating though! You'll start to curdle it. Spoon over a slice, and enjoy!

Some notes: I forgot to pick up lard, so I'm still using shortening in the crust. It still works quite nicely, so don't feel too bad if you can't get your hands on lard. Shortening is also a good substitute if you're vegetarian or serving vegetarians. For this particular pie, I was in a bit of a hurry while making the crust. I messed up the first crust by using too much water. Way to go. So I was running late for work, and the second crust didn't get fully chilled before I rolled it out. It was all sticky and falling apart. It still turned out delicious, but it looks like a puzzle that a four year old couldn't figure out and just tore the pieces instead. While making the second crust, the filling got to sit out for a bit longer and prolly thickened a bit more. I don't really think it changed anything too much.

I also made a pie over the weekend just for Chris. It was tasty, and I'll get to it when I make it for the official count.

Yummy Pie, every day! Come back tomorrow for something AMAZING!