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today's pies: one apple, one apple and mixed brandied berries, one galette with cream cheese, red bananas, nutella, and honey drizzle

two weeks ago i told you about a venison loin i was swooning over, and promised to tell you the following week about the dessert i made to go along with it: three pies. well, two pies and a galette. i broke my promise and instead talked about a favorite soup and weekday veg. but today, kids, today i came to redeem myself. today is all about PIE.

in fact, today is about my great-grandmother’s pies. i never met my great-grandmother, but her daughter, helen, definitely steeped my in her pie philosophy:

1)it’s all in the crust

2)so make a lot of them.

great-grandma’s recipe for pie crusts made 16 crusts. SIXTEEN. i am not joking. my grandmother would easily use at least half of those for any family gathering, making fruit pies, cream pies, chocolate pies… you get the idea. i seem to be channeling some of grandma helen’s penchant for a counter full of pies these days, because i can’t seem to just make one. i make the crusts every so often, stack them (separated by waxed paper) and put them in the freezer, and take them out when i need an easy dessert, or want to make a quiche, or have some fruit that needs to be used up. i don’t just use them for dessert, mind you. we are a quiche family, and i also like to make a savory galette (see below) or giant empanadas by putting filling on half and folding over… but the empanada is for another day.

so. the crust. great-grandma used lard (which i hear is now coming around to being considered the healthy choice?), grandma used crisco, and i use straight real butter. this is surprisingly easy and if you want you can halve it for only 8 crusts-but since you can freeze them and it honestly doesn’t take much longer to make the full batch, why not do it all at once?

GREAT GRANDMA’S PIE CRUSTS

4 cups unsalted butter, chilled
4 t. apple cider vinegar
2 T. salt
10 c. flour
1 1/2 c. water

Blend flour, salt, and butter (which has been cut into small cubes). I do this with my hands, which is called the “rubbing method.” Add vinegar to water and then add this mixture a bit at a time, using just enough to make a soft dough. Separate into 14 balls, cover with moist tea towel, put in a cool place (if you refrigerate it, you will need to leave it out 10-15 minutes before rolling). Roll out each ball (a pastry frame is Very helpful here), starting by smashing the ball into a round, and putting thumb-prints around the edges (this will help keep it in a more uniform shape and avoid cracking). Cut into a circle, putting remainders aside. Continue rolling balls, and at the end take your stack of remainders and knead them together (as little as possible)-you should have two pie crusts out of these remainders. They will be a little tougher than the other crusts, so don’t save those for company. (These are, however, perfectly fine for quiche.)

As you roll out your crusts, stack them between wax paper. Use big freezer bags or a round storage container as they will break easy in the freezer. Remove and thaw to use in any pie recipe.

GALETTES

Galettes are, for all intents and purposes, rustic pies without the pie pan. They can be more simple, and more focused on the flavor of the fruit (or savory items for that matter) than a pie, and therefore seem much more inviting and contrary to their simpleness -somehow- Sophisticated. I’m sure it’s because I’m used to pie, being from the midwest and not France, and so this seems like a special treat. That, and I’m just such a sucker for easy and impressive.

general instructions: preheat oven to 400. put a pizza stone in the oven, if you have one. butter or grease a cookie sheet, making sure it is one with shallow sides in case the interior drips out of the galette. lay out pie crust on cookie sheet, put contents (not too thick, sorry) in center, leaving 1 1/2 to 2 in border. fold up border to make a “pizza edge,” folding every 2 inches around the filling. (it is important to allow the crust to thaw Completely so you do not break the crust in this step and end up losing all the juices during baking.) bake until crust is browned and interior is bubbly-this will vary depending on your ingredients but will be somewhere between 40 minutes and an hour.

great-grandmother’s pies, updated for foodie friday

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