Time for Pie

I believe everyone likes “Pie” but have their own favorites.  Which helps give us all the varieties of pies there are in the world.  My top four are cherry, pecan, pumpkin and any pie with rhubarb in it.  Now I’ll eat many other favors of pie but there are some I would pass on.  What are your top four favorites?

Now eating pies and making pies are quite different.  But making pies doesn’t have to be that difficult for you.  The first thing that scares most away is making a “pie crust” from scratch.  That’s easy to get around these days.  There are plenty of good ready-made crusts today.  That’s both refrigerated and frozen crusts.  So don’t let that stop you from making pies.

But if you would like to make your own pie crust, it’s not that hard.  There are plenty of recipes out there online or in cookbooks for you to try.  And you can find a lot of variations, so one should fit your need.

One of the basic ingredients in a pie crust is the one that pulls it all together.  However, you even have to make a choice here.  Butter, shortening and lard are the three main binders.  Personally, I prefer the lard to the others with butter second.  But that’s a choice everyone has to make for themselves.

A couple of key factors to remember if you make your own crust. Form your dough into a disc shape before refrigerating and rolling out.  It helps in rolling out the dough. Always refrigerate the dough for an hour or two before rolling it out.  Always use a floured surface to roll it out.  Flour your rolling pin before starting.  Then roll out from the center of the disc to the edges.  Turn the dough a quarter turn each time you roll out from center.  When done rolling out, dust it with a little flour and wrap around your rolling pin or fold in half to make transfer to the pie pan easier.  There will always be extra dough sticking over the sides of the pie pan when you lay it out.  Leave your self some for the crust edge but cut the rest away.  Find an edge or crimp you like for your pie crust and master it.  Not always, but many times a recipe will call for you to prick the crust with a fork.  These air holes help keep the crust from bubbling up on you.

I have several crust recipes in the tabs above.  So check them out or use another that you find and like.

It will be no surprise that the recipes this week include rhubarb and cherries.  Wednesday is “Rhubarb Meringue Pie” and then “Cherry Berry-Berry Pie” on Thursday.  Hope you like them and “Happy Cooking” until next week.