It’s a Pie Emergency!!

I have two very dear friends in Pittsburgh, Randall and David. They undoubtedly make the best pies I’ve ever had and even more impressive is they make most of their pies from the fruit they grow on their small city lot. Montmorency cherries, rhubarb, raspberries, gooseberries and fraise dubois (small french strawberries). One day I got a call, “Lisa, you must come over, we are having a pie emergency!”. I hopped in my car and drove right over. A pie emergency, as it turns out, is when you have too much pie to eat and you need a few spare stomachs to help you out. This is the kind of emergency I am good in! Below you will find one of my new favorite recipes for Pecan Pie with instructions to make your own delectable flaky crust. Have a pie emergency of your own. Your family and friends will be happy to come to your rescue!

PECAN PIE
This recipe was adapted from the book Pie Pie Pie by John Phillip Carroll. I highly recommend it. Simple and delicious recipes.

Pie dough for a single 9″ pie shell
Filling:
6 TBSP unsalted butter
1/2 c. sugar
3 eggs, room temperature
1 c. dark corn syrup
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
1-1/2 c. pecan halves

Preheat oven to 425. Roll out dough and fit into a 9″ pie pan. Trim and flute edges.

Put butter in small saucepan over medium heat. As butter melts, swirl pan in small circles over heat to brown butter evenly. Reduce heat to low and continue to swirl melted butter in pan for approx. 5 minutes or until butter turns the color of a walnut shell. DO NOT BURN! Immediately pour browned butter into a large bowl. Add the sugar and eggs, whisk until well blended. Add corn syrup, vanilla and salt and whisk again. Stir in pecans.

Pour mixture into prepared pie shell. Bake for 15 minutes at 425 and then reduce heat to 350 and continue to bake for about 25 more minutes or until the filling has set around the edges but the center still quivers slightly. Cool for at least 1 hour, then serve warm or at room temperature.

Singe crust recipe:

1 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
generous 1/3 c. regular or butter flavored crisco, well chilled
2 TBSP ice water

Measure flour and salt into a medium sized bowl. Sift or whisk flour and salt together. Add cold crisco and cut into flour.

At this point the dough should look “shaggy”. You have heard directions in the past to mix the crisco and flour until they resemble peas, but according to Randall this is too small. If you want a really tender flaky crust the pieces should be larger.

Next, add the water 1 TBSP at a time, mixing with a fork after each addition. The dough will look crumbly.

The disk before it goes in the fridge.

With your hands press the dough together into a ball and place it in the center of a piece of saran wrap. Loosely gather the saran wrap around the dough and then press the dough into a thick disk shape. Pop the covered dough into the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

Now you are ready to roll the dough out. A marble or ceramic rolling pin are ideal because they can be chilled and will keep the fat in the dough from breaking down but a wooden rolling pin will do. Place dough on a well floured surface and roll from the center out.

Once the dough is large enough to fit in your pie pan gently lift the edge farthest away from you and lay it across your rolling pin like Randall is doing here. It’s an easy way to get the crust into the pie pan without it tearing.

To fit the crust into the pan gently lift up the edge with one hand while pressing gently on the dough inside the pie pan. Trim off the edge with a sharp knife or scissors leaving about 1″ extra all the way around the pan. Tuck the edge under and flute or crimp edge to your liking. If the filling isn’t ready at this point put the crust in the fridge until you are ready to fill it. You could also freeze the pie shell by sticking it in the freezer UNCOVERED for about an hour, until it gets hard, then wrap and put back in the freezer.

A couple of tips from my favorite pie pals: Tip#1 When you unwrap a stick of butter, don’t throw the wrapper away. There is usually enough butter left on the wrapper to grease a casserole dish or baking sheet. Simply fold the wrapper in quarters and put it in a freezer baggie. Pop it into the freezer until you need it. BRILLIANT!!! Tip#2 Foil pie pans are great for making homemade crust protectors. Once the pan is empty and washed, cut the bottom of the pan out, turn it upside down and you have a nifty crust protector that didn’t cost $15 or $20. GENIUS!!!