I spent the last few days biking
RAGBRAI (more to come on that in a future post). Because I knew I'd be off the grid for a few days, I asked my sister, Lauren, if she'd share some of her food love for my blog. Here is what she had to say (and don't overlook the great pie pics below):
Hello there, this is my inaugural debut as a web writer/food blogger, nice to be here, thanks for having me. When Jenna asked me to write for her this week while she rides her bike half-way across Iowa (yes, the state), I initially thought, well, crap, I don't know anything about fitness. Being her sister of sloth-like movements and habitual sedentary living, not one to ever finish an Ironman competition, let alone a high school track practice, I wasn't sure I could hold the attention of her online demographic. But then I remembered that I have a lot more in common with most of you than she does. I'm normal. You may relate to what I have to say.
So, without stalling any further, I bring you my post; my statement and declaration that you will all understand. No, I won't talk about nutrition in the same way my sister does, and fitness will not be mentioned here in any intentional way, but hopefully you will be able to follow my meandering thoughts as I navigate this crazy world of blogging in the public domain. Because, for real, I'm about to come clean on something.
I love pie. I want you to love it too. It's beautiful, crumbly, sweet, reminiscent of windowsills wafting scents of baking fruit to passers by, it is emblematic of what is good in the world (yes, I know what a big statement that was). To me, and clearly I'm a romantic and crazy person, I think that pie makes life better. I make them to feed my family and friends, and I don't just want to feed them, because macaroni and cheese and chocolate can do that, I want to satiate their urges and make them identify new taste buds. I want them to pause with it in their mouths, to smile as the crust crumbles and sweetness (maybe a bit of savory in there? is that fleur de sel?) comes through, I want them to taste the warm, farm-fresh fruit as if it were still on the vine. I even picture hand stitched aprons and table cloths, antique pie servers and plates, flowers growing and milk being delivered in glass. A warm breeze.
I'm not kidding. I am not 80 years old, I swear, but about this I feel most passionately that some things are sacred. Pie is one of them. I do not have religion in my life, but I do have pie. And I'm wholly dedicated to it; a devout pie worshipper.
My obsession began within just the last two years, and I've tried every pie crust recipe online. For the most part, I make up what I want to go inside. I make tarts and galettes too, tiny pies and big, hand held pies and little scrappy doughy bits cooked and kept for dipping in jam. The variations possible are limitless, and for Jenna's sake I'll mention that there's only 2 sticks of butter in my favorite recipe for crust and most of the time, I only use half the recipe. So otherwise, all you're eating is fruit, or sweet potatoes and caramelized onions, or chicken pot pie, or curried vegetables, or dried tomatoes and fresh herbs, or...(I'll stop, but you get the point- this can be healthy). And if you're a purist like me, you harvested these fruits and vegetables yourself, maybe you have the garden or farm that supplied most of it, and maybe, in your wildest and most hopeful moments, you hope to one day have the cow to make your own milk, the chickens for the meat, and the bees for the honey. If you make your pies truly from scratch, you'll have a more active lifestyle than most.
To my new friends, I'll show you my pictures and share a recipe. Obviously, I won't tell you all my secrets, because why then would you make the pilgrimage to the pie shop I'll open one day? It'll be called "Pie Shop." (purposeful period) or something equally clever.
My pie crust: 2 sticks real butter (salted for savory pies, unsalted for sweet)
2 1/2 cups All Purpose flour (you can totally use pastry or whole wheat too- try it, play around!)
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp sugar
Enough ice cold water or milk to form a dough ball
Cut the butter into small cubes and stick in the freezer for a bit. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl (or directly in your Cuisinart). When butter is super cold (that's an exact temperature, duh), mix with dry ingredients. Julia Child says you should do this with your fingers so that you know what the dough should feel like. I agree, and now that I know what it should feel like, I use the Cuisinart. The outcome of this step is for all your butter to be mixed in with the flour and such, and broken down into what should remind you of crumbly oats, little granular balls.
You want the butter well mixed. This is most easily achieved by hand by smashing the butter against the side of the bowl with your thumb, then incorporating the flour mixture. However, your hot little hands will warm the butter quickly, so work fast. In a mixer, this step happens in about five pulses. When sufficiently granular, add the cold liquid until it becomes a ball capable of being manipulated.
Take it out of the bowl, flour up your surface, work the dough quickly and just enough to form a ball. Split dough in half (this is enough dough for a top and bottom layer or two bottoms). Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1-24 hours.
Roll out the dough, fit to your pie pan (leave enough to crimp to make a crust), fill and bake. I'm purposefully hazy on these last few directions because it's always different. I never really pay attention to the temperature I cook at (probably always within 350-450 degrees f), I rarely pay attention to the amount of time I cook something, and depending on the pie, I may precook my crust or use an egg wash to create a seal between bottom crust and filling...again, the variations are limitless. I will say this though, don't be afraid to mess it up, it'll still taste good. Your pie is always done cooking when the crust is tanned. Easy enough there, right?
If I haven't lost you completely by telling you how to do that, please see these pictures for inspiration!
