An Overdue Peach Pie

Ever since seeing the move The Waitress several years ago,
I've wanted to try my hand at making pies.
All those pies that Keri Russell dreams up look so fun and delicious!
So I figured what better time to try it out than for Father's Day
(yeah, I know this post is just a tad bit overdue
but it's never too late for pie, right?!)

I've always been extremely intimidated by making my own dough
and usually chicken out by using the store bought stuff.
This time I was determined to do it all on my own.
And, you know what, it wasn't that bad!
In fact, I dare say it was fairly easy.

Pastry for Pie (Two Crust Pie)

from Betty Crocker's New Cookbook (page 93)

2/3 cups plus 2 Tablespoons shortening or 2/3 cup lard

2 cups all purpose or unbleached flour

1 teaspoon salt

4-5 Tablespoons cold water

1.  Cut shortening into flour and salt using pastry blender or 2 crisscrossing knives until particles are the size of coarse crumbs.  Sprinkle with cold water 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with a fork until all flour is moistened and pastry almost cleans side of bowl.  You may need to add 1-2 more teaspoons of water.

2.  Divide pastry in half and gather into 2 balls.  Shape into a flattened round and wrap in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for several hours.

3.  Lightly flour your work surface and rolling pin.  Roll pastry into a circle 2 inches larger than your pie plate.  Fold pastry into fourths.  Place into pie plate and unfold, pressing firmly against bottom and side.  Trim edge of pastry 1/2 inch from rim of pie plate.  

4.  Keep other dough ball in the fridge until ready to roll out for the top of the pie.  When ready, roll it out like the other round and fold into fourths.  Cut slits into the pastry so steam can escape.

Peach Pie

from Betty Crocker's New Cookbook (page 99)

2/3 cup sugar 

1/3 cup all purpose flour 

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

6 cups sliced peaches (6-8 medium) *see notes below

1 teaspoon lemon juice 

1 tablespoon stick margarine or butter  

1.  Heat oven to 425.  

2.  Mix sugar, flour, and cinnamon in large bowl. Stir in peaches and lemon juice.  

Turn into your pastry lined pie plate.  Dot with butter (which I forgot to do).

4.  Cover with top pastry that has the slits cut into it.  Seal and flute.

3.  Cover the edge with a strip of aluminum to prevent excessive browning.
Remove during the last 15 minutes of baking.

4.  Bake about 45 minutes or until crust is brown and juice begins to bubble through the slits.
Cool in pie plate on wire rack.

Look at all the oozey yummy goodness!
I think I baked mine a little too long because it was pretty dark around the edges.
But it still tasted yummy and I was very happy with the results.

Note:

The one challenging part of the pie I wasn't anticipating was slicing the peaches.
The ones I bought were pretty ripe and were not slicing away from the pit easily.

Apparently, peaches found earlier in Summer are the clingstone variety
which don't break away from the pit very well.
Freestone peaches, which come away from the pit easily,
are available later in the season.

I learned this by googling "how to slice peaches"
after totally massacring my first two peaches.
What would I do without Google?

After reading a few articles and watching a few videos
I came up with this method:

1.  Use a paring knife to make vertical slices around the peach.

2.  Stick the point of the paring knife straight down in the center of the peach.

3.  Use the knife to pry the slice away from the pit.  You may have to cut your way down around the pit.

4.  Once the first slice is out, use the knife to cut around the pit to free the other slices.

5.  Repeat 5-7 more times with all of the peaches, thereby getting peach juice all over your hands, your countertop, and maybe even dripping a little bit onto the floor.


In the end, all the hard work is worth it.
Especially when you slice into that pie
and serve it up with a few scoops of vanilla ice cream.
Yum.

Enjoy!