Baking a Pie..... what a lovely way to spend the day!

Today is Saturday. Nothing much going on and I don't plan on scheduling anything of importance either so my day is free. Funny term "free" isn't it? Especially because it costs you $ just to get out of bed.... but, I'm still trying to decide what to do with the Pork Spareribs we've decided to have for dinner.... how to make them? what style? side dishes?.... same conversation as we have every day about food.

So I'm at loose ends since I've nothing much to do (housecleaning doesn't count in my plans either...), just had a Latte, some leftover pasta with mussels which should tide me over for a while and so without gnawing hunger to push me on (hunger is a great motivator to cook something, isn't it?), I'm sort of daydreaming, figuring out what's in the pantry (lots of possibilities there....) and I've got one or two things in the freezer which might do as well. There was a sale a while back on frozen fruit, which I always have on hand for smoothies or last minute desserts and so I've got a nice little collection in there which I might as well use. Nothing like something "fruity" in winter, is there?

I dug up some Blueberries and some Mixed Berries out of the deep freeze (giving the rest of my frozen treasures a break) and so I decided to take my time and bake a pie! How great will that be? I've also got some Eggnog Ice Cream which will do nicely (are you kidding? it will be bomb!....), so first, a pie crust needs to be created, and not just any crust either.... must be flaky, tender and just right or else the pie will not work. Just like I always say: "la tortilla hace el taco" (the tortilla makes the taco) or in other words, the small details are BIG so take care of them. Build perfection at every step. (OCD is great for people who love to cook, lol).

I've been working, literally, for years on THE PERFECT PIE CRUST so this time, we will try this one. After we eat the pie I'll report back on what the consensus is, ok? But here's the recipe:

OLD FASHIONED FLAKY PIE CRUST.- A little bit more involved but I'm searching for perfection so we'll call this my "OCD" Pie Crust..... found it in a very old book of recipes under "Winning Fair Recipes":

3/4 cup cake flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
5 tablespoons shortening
1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar
3 cubes ice
1/2 cup cold water

Measure butter & shortening onto a plate, put into freezer for about 20 minutes. Measure cake flour, all-purpose flour, sugar, salt and baking powder into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse for a few seconds to mix. Take 1/2 of the cold butter and 1/2 of the cold shortening, put into processor with dry ingredients and pulse off and on for about 1 minute. Scrape down twice while doing this. Take remainder of the cold butter & cold shortening and cut in very briefly with the processor, leaving visible pea-sized chunks. Do not over process at this stage!

In a measuring cup, mix egg yolk and vinegar together, add ice cubes and water. Let this get chilled, about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove mixed flours and shortening from processor, put into a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle approximately 4 to 5 tablespoons of this egg, water, vinegar mixture, a little at a time, mixing gently with a fork. The key to this is, you do not want a wet dough, and you do not want to over mix.

Place this dough into plastic wrap or plastic bag, chill in refrigerator for a few minutes. (May also be frozen for a few weeks at this stage for future use). Remove from refrigerator and roll out. Double for making a 2-crust pie.
NOTE: This is the complete recipe and here are the changes I will make: I never use unsalted butter since I hate the way it tastes, I will reduce the salt by half; don't use cake flour either so I will use all-purpose for everything; you can reduce the water by half too, check on it, and then roll out between sheets of plastic wrap so it won't stick and just peel off; you might want to refrigerate the crust in the pan (40 min) and then 20 min in the freezer before baking to allow the gluten to relax; you can also make more than a few in advance, freeze them so you have them ready in a jiffy, they work great.
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IF YOU NEED TO BAKE THE CRUST BEFORE FILLING (BLIND BAKING).- Set your oven rack to the lower rack, pre-heat you oven to 425F and place a baking sheet in the oven to heat up too, pierce the bottom and sides of the crust with a fork to prevent bubbles, cover the crust with aluminum foil or parchment paper all the way to the sides and fill with beans, stones, loose change, rice or whatever you use to weigh the paper down. (They sell lovely baking weights in stores but since I consider stuff like this "uni-taskers" and won't have them. Everything needs to serve multi-tasks or else...lol).

Once you put the pie crust in the oven on top of the baking sheet, lower the heat to 400F and bake only until it just starts to color, remember it will be baked some more, about 10-12 min. Then take out the pie and remove the weights and the paper. Save your weights but if using beans or rice they will only be good for weights and not usable to cook and eat.

Return the pie crust to the oven and depending if the pie will be filled and cooked some more (like mine) then cook for an additional 6-8 min only. BUT if this pie crust will be used for a cold or non-cooked pie then bake it for about 15 min more or until it's nice and golden brown.

Remove the crust from the oven and to prevent a soggy or limp crust, brush with an egg wash (1 egg + 1 tbl water, well mixed) and only the inside of the crust. Return the pie to the oven and cook 2-3 min so the egg seal dries and is ready for the filling (should be dry and shiny). If this will be a cold pie, then allow to cool before filling but if you're still filling and baking, then it doesn't matter and proceed.
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BLUEBERRY (OR FRUIT) CUSTARD PIE.- Once you taste this, fruit pie will never taste the same!
Super easy and quick that will yield an amazingly comforting pie.....

2 cups blueberries
1 baked 9 inch pie shell, well chilled
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup evaporated milk
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place blueberries in pie crust; set aside.

In a medium bowl, mix flour and sugar; gradually add evaporated milk, stirring until smooth. Whisk in eggs and vanilla until blended; pour mixture over blueberries. If desired, sprinkle with a dash each of cinnamon and nutmeg.

Bake 15 minutes; reduce heat to 350 degrees. Bake 35 minutes longer. Cool completely before slicing.
NOTE: Keep and eye on the crust sides when baking, if they're already golden brown, cover with aluminum foil to prevent burning. You can use any kind of fruit you like on these too.... experiment.
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So there you go, what I believe is a magnificent way to spend a Saturday afternoon..... but then I'm always thinking of stuff to cook or bake. I find that if cooking is your hobby, you actually have edible results at the end and what could be better than that, right?

The more modern we get or futuristic our society becomes I find that the tried and true, old fashioned, "old timey" recipes, foods and drink that take us back to a simpler time are the best. Cook all the way and take no prisoners.... YUM!

By the way, we decided to make Asian Spareribs..... MMMmmmm.....! Talk soon....