Thursday, February 3, 2011

FOR THE LOVE OF PIE

My oh my do I love a good pie crust. Whether it’s a savory pot pie or a sweet fruit pie, if the crust isn’t any good it’ll be a lousy pie.

 I've been testing different pastry crust recipes for years. Always careful to keep the ingredients cold and not over mix the dough. As with biscuits, working the dough as little as possible is crucial. I've had great pie crusts from women who never measured their ingredients, as years of practice enabled them to know from sight and touch whether it was right, (and it always was.) Some cooks swear that lard gives you the flakiest crust, but I just can't bring myself to use it. Crisco has always been a favorite, and some cooks like to use half Crisco and half butter.  The ingredients for pie crust are few and the technique is not complicated. If you follow some basic rules with a little practice you’ll make wonderful pastry crusts every time and never eat those disgusting cardboard imposters sold in grocery stores again.  Pies, sweet and savory are easy to prepare, and everybody loves them. 
Roxanne, my business partner and I were on a business trip awhile back and stayed at The American Artists Gallery House B&B in Taos, N.M.  http://www.taosbedandbreakfast.com/
The inn is owned by Charles and LeAn Clamurro, Charles is the chef and prepares wonderful gourmet breakfasts daily. We were served a Mediterranean quiche along with fruit, rolls, coffee, etc. What Roxanne and I raved about and remember to this day was the crust in that quiche. It was extraordinarily light, crumbly and flavorful.   Until recently I’ve not tasted a pastry crust that came close to his.
 But the other night I made a savory pork pot pie from the new Tyler Florence Cook Book; ‘Family Meal’. The pie crust recipe was out of this world. Jack and I kept picking at the leftover crust long after we’d finished eating. The filling was delicious but the crust was the real star. The recipe is below, try it I promise it will become a new favorite of yours. I’m going to try an apple pie with this same crust; I can’t imagine that it won’t be fantastic, I’ll keep you posted.

Tyler Florence Pastry Dough – Makes two 9 inch crusts.
2 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup plus 4 Tablespoons (2 ½ sticks) chilled butter cut into small pieces (I put the cut pieces in the freezer for several minutes before using)
4-5 Tablespoons ice water (or more as needed, Colorado is so dry you will need more!)
Sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Using your fingertips or a pastry blender, work in the butter until the mixture looks like coarse bread crumbs (don’t over mix; you want pea size pieces of butter). Slowly add the ice water, a little at a time, incorporating it with a fork or your fingertips as you go, just until the dough comes together when squeezed with your fingers. If the dough is too dry add another Tablespoon or two of ice water. Press dough into a ball, do not over knead. Once pressed into a ball divide in half with one portion being slightly larger for the bottom piece and shape into disks. Wrap the dough disks in plastic wrap, refrigerate and let them rest for at least two hours, ideally overnight. (Dough that is not allowed to rest will shrink when baked.)
Roll out and bake per your recipe, keeping one disk in the refrigerator while working on the other.
BAKING HINTS:



1.    When baking a two crust pie, Rose Levy Beranbaum tells us to bake the pie close to the bottom of the oven on either a hot baking stone or baking pan. This is done to ensure that the bottom crust is fully baked and is wonderfully brown and crisp.

2.    I love this next tip; it’s for an apple pie and appears to correct an age old problem:  Once you have sliced the apples, the next step is to macerate them in sugar and spices. This may seem like an unnecessary step as many recipes simply call for mixing the sliced apples and sugar together and then piling them in the unbaked crust. The problem with this method is that apples contain water and as the pie bakes the apples shrink and you often end up with a gap between the baked apples and the top crust. To solve this problem, Rose Levy Beranbaum in her 'Pie and Pastry Bible' came up with the idea to first macerate the apples in sugar which causes the apples to release their juices. Then we simply drain the juices, and boil them with a little butter to concentrate their flavor. This concentrated juice is then added back to the sliced apples and the result is a delicious, slightly caramel flavored apple pie.

So go forth and bake pies, the world will be a better place!
If you're thinking about selling your home and wondering what improvements you should make in order to set it apart from the competition; below is an article from Realty Times regarding kitchens, which might give you some new ideas. And as always, if you or someone you know is thinking about buying or selling a home, Roxanne and I hope you will think of us, Thank You!
Becky
720-979-3184

Growing trends in kitchen architecture include softer lighting, larger windows, and–here's a surprise–fewer cabinets. That doesn't mean that you can get away with very little storage space, instead it means you have to be creative.
If you're selling your home and these popular trends aren't part of your home's blueprint, not to worry... you can make your kitchen sizzle with a few simple changes.
Create a gathering space. If you have a large kitchen, consider installing or placing a portable island in it. These are very popular for a number of reasons. They're handy, useful for extra storage space, and they often become a central gathering spot at parties, especially when there's food on them. Add a few bar stools and you've got a comfy and welcoming place for guests to relax while dinner is being prepared.
Turn down the lights. Not literally, rather use lighting that's less harsh. Overhead lighting is excellent but, to create a mood, you can place accent lights in tucked-away areas that will still allow the light to shine in the kitchen. Maybe an adjoining hallway, for instance, could have a small lamp on a table or sconces on the walls.
Make room. Even though some architects are taking away the cabinets, buyers still are attracted to plenty of storage space. That means sellers who don't have it, must creatively devise it. By staging your home with stand-alone cabinet furniture and displaying some kitchen items in them, you give buyers an idea of how to use the space.
You'd be surprised at how many buyers enter a home and may not have any idea about how to use a particular area/space in a house. Taking the time to show them how you've used it can help them understand how it will suit their needs, or, at the very least, spark their own ideas about using the space.
Make it comfy. Think about what makes you want to stay and visit at a friend's home. Good food and company, of course! But also, comfortable seating. Even though your furniture likely won't be sold with the house, the convenient chairs you have in your kitchen will influence the buyer's overall reaction to your kitchen and house. If the chairs are too large, don't match the design and decor, and are uncomfortable looking, they'll give the buyer a feeling of something being “just not quite right”.
Comfortable chairs–even a love seat, upholstered bench or wing chair–can be very inviting. They sort of beckon buyers to take a seat, stay for a while... and if there's a plate of cookies and a cup of fresh brewed coffee, well now, the buyer just might have time to really begin to feel at home. And that, after all, is precisely what every seller wants every buyer to feel in their listed home.