Bourbon Icebox Pie and the DC Square Dance

I've made a lot of pies with bourbon before. Banana cream pies with peanut crusts and salty bourbon caramel, drunken pumpkin bourbon pies, peach-bourbon ginger hand pies...but I have never made, nor even heard of (but do tell if you have) a pie that is just straight. up. bourbon. Or at least I didn't until this Saturday. Brent and I were drinking coffee in the morning, leafing through the 1972 New York Times Heritage Cookbook, looking for a pie to bring to the DC Square Dance that evening, when we came upon a recipe for Kentucky bourbon pie. For a boy who does not have too much of a sweet tooth, this one really caught his attention. After every other recipe I mentioned..."But what about plum crumble (which I did end up also making--stay tuned)? Jeff Davis? Chess?" His only reply was "Meh. I dunno...that bourbon pie sounds pretty good...and perfect for a square dance."

Swayed by his inclination and old-timey argument (which is nothing new 'round here), along with the simplicity of the recipe, bourbon pie it was. I mean let's face it BOURBON + PIE. Ain't no grave gonna hold that down. The whole thang is essentially bourbon + whipped cream + egg yolks in a pie crust, though a gingersnap or Oreo crust would also be fantastic. The bourbon is uncooked (as is everything else, so make sure you get good, fresh, organic eggs) making it wayyyy boozy. Perfect for a raucous Saturday night square dance, indeed.

Bourbon Icebox Pie
Adapted from the New York Times Heritage Cookbook by Jean Hewitt

Ingredients
Nothing-in-the-House pie crust, halved (a gingersnap or Oreo crust would also be quite tasty)
5 egg yolks
3/4 c. sugar
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1/4 c. water
1/3 c. bourbon
1 tsp. orange zest
2 c. heavy cream, whipped
1/2 oz. unsweetened or dark chocolate, shaved

Directions

1. Prepare half of the Nothing-in-the-House pie crust as per the directions. Chill dough at least 1 hour before rolling out and fitting into a greased and floured 9-inch pie pan. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

2. Using a fork, prick chilled crust all over the bottom. Line crust with parchment paper and pie weights or dried beans and bake for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, remove weights, reduce temperature to 350 degrees F and bake until crust is golden brown, about 20 minutes more. Let crust cool completely.

3. To prepare the filling, beat the egg yolks and gradually add the sugar until the mixture is light yellow in color.

4. Pour the 1/4 c. water into a small heat-safe bowl or top of a double boiler and sprinkle the gelatin on top. In a medium saucepan or bottom of a double boiler, bring additional water to a boil, placing the bowl of gelatin-water on top until the gelatin dissolves. Add the gelatin mixture to the egg yolk mixture. Using a whisk, mix well and add the bourbon.

5. Fold the whipped cream into the bourbon mixture and pour into the pie shell. Sprinkle chocolate shavings on top and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Serve chilled.

The (blurry) Capitol City Possum Chasers: Brent Feito (bourbon pie purponent), Aaron Lewis, Paul Brown, Kevin Enoch, & John Schwab

While the bourbon pie was a purrrty good thing to bring to a square dance, it would have probably been best a tad colder--the church was hot with all those warm bodies rippin' & snortin' about! But even in a slightly melty state, the treat was well received by dancers and musicians alike, and it gave our gang a kick in the pants, fueling fiddle tunes and flatfoot steps, then Raven jukebox singalongs and 4am joke telling on a schmancy house party patio.

If any reader has any information or stories about bourbon pie, its relatives or derivatives, please get in touch!

The Pies of Late Summer on NPR

A few months ago I called my ever-inspiring and resourceful thesis advisor and mentor Marcie Ferris for a catch-up and some career advice. In loading me up with contacts, ideas, and encouragement, she said she'd put me in touch with her good friend in DC, Bonny Wolf, a food writer editor of NPR's Kitchen Window, and as I would find, role model and kindred spirit.

We met for lunch, where we shared our backgrounds, foodways interests, and projects, and I was delighted when she asked me to contribute a story to Kitchen Window. I decided to write it on the seasonal pies of the late summer season. The piece came out last Wednesday, with some really great feedback from readers! (It was the third most e-mailed piece of the day before the naked Prince Harry story came out).  If you're a follower of the blog, the recipes and photos for Nothing-in-the-House pie crust, a fig-pistachio tarte tatin, plum & orange flower custard galette, and peach-pecan pie may be familiar to you. If not, now there are two places to find them!

Thanks very much to Bonny for being a wonderful editor and to Marcie for putting us in touch and for generous support, as always. And do follow Kitchen Window--it's a superb site with excellent recipes and corresponding personal food narratives. I'll probably be contributing another piece in late fall/early winter, though this one may not be about pies--branchin' out!

Also, hello to all the new readers and followers who found Nothing-in-the-House via the NPR piece! Thanks for checking out the pie blog and feel free to get in touch if you have any comments, pie stories, or questions. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and check out our Nothing-in-the-House Baking Co. (featuring a new fall pie CSA for those in DC!).

Strawberry Mascarpone Tart with an Almond Shortbread Crust

Yes, I know. Strawberries in late August!? Especially after I recently championed the bounty of the late-summer micro-season to a national audience? Though I enjoy and recommend eating with the seasons. I'm not the most diehard, and I assure you, this purchase of California Driscoll berries was for a very good reason. I'll explain.

About a month ago I was out with my fella, his sister, brother, and sister-in-law Luigia, at the Quarry House, a former basement speakeasy and one of the best and oldest bars in the DC area that boasts a great beer selection, whiskey menu, rockabilly/honky-tonk Saturday nights AND Old Bay tater tots. It was indeed, a Saturday night, and we were enjoying our Clipper City Ales, sampling the whiskey and dancing to some real genuine Southern rock. Back at the table, trying to hear each others' jokes over the loud music, all of our phones (except Luigia's) went off at once. We checked our messages to discover that we had all gotten the same text, from, of course, Luigia: "Don't forget my birthday party August 11." I put it in my calendar then and there.

Luigia is a wonder of a gal. She's Italian, and though she learned English within the past few years, she still manages to be utterly hilarious in a language not her own (Quite a challenge as I remember from my study abroad days, where I could only eek out a few lame French puns). She's fun and caring and strong-- just pretty radical all around. I was not gonna miss her birthday. And I was going to make her a birthday treat.

When the party weekend rolled around a month later, I asked Luigia what kind of pie/tart/cake she wanted. She said she liked fruit tarts and loved strawberries. So of course a strawberry tart it was for the birthday girl. When I found this recipe for a strawberry mascarpone tart with almond shortbread (& a brilliant red strawberry simple syrup!) I knew it hit a trifecta of Luigia's loves--the crust especially, as she had really dug the grapefruit-ginger marmalade with almond shortbread crostata I'd made back in the spring. As usual I was snapping these shots in a hurry before rushing off to the party, so please excuse the slight blur, but this recipe is no slouch.

Strawberry Mascarpone Tart with Almond Shortbread Crust
Adapted from Dust Jacket 

Makes 1 11-inch tart

Ingredients
For crust:
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour, sifted
1 c. almond meal (make your own by grinding almonds in the food processor)
3/4 c. confectioner's sugar 
10 Tblsp. (1 stick +2 Tblsp.) butter
4 egg yolks
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. almond extract
1 T. ice water

For filling:
1 c. heavy whipping cream
1 c. confectioner's sugar, sifted
1 vanilla bean, split in half and seeds scraped
3 c. mascarpone
2 Tblsp. lemon rind
1 lb. strawberries (3 1/2-4 c.), hulled and halved

For strawberry simple syrup: 
2 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. water
3/4 c. strawberries, hulled and quartered

Directions
1. Combine flour, almond meal, and sugar in a food processor and pulse until well combined. Add cold butter chunks to the almond mixture and process until mix is the size of small peas. Add egg yolks, extracts and ice water and pulse just until dough begins to form. Remove pastry dough from the food processor and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Chill for at least one hour and up to 1 day.

2. After dough has chilled, preheat oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease the bottom and sides of an 11-inch tart pan. Remove the dough from the fridge. Roll out dough between two sheets of parchment paper and transfer to the tart pan, forming the crust up the sides (dough will be crumbly, so you may have to piece it together). Fold dough over the sides to ensure that the tart will have a strong edge. Prick all over the bottom with a fork. Chill for 30 minutes.

3. Line the pastry with parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove paper and pie weights and bake for 10-12 minutes longer until golden brown. Let cool to room temperature.

4. While tart is baking, make the strawberry simple syrup.  Place sugar, water and strawberries in a medium saucepan over low heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Boil for 10-15 minutes until thickened. Strain out strawberries and let cool.

5. For the filling, place cream, confectioners sugar and vanilla bean seeds in a medium size bowl or bowl of a stand mixer and whisk until soft peaks form. Stir in mascarpone and lemon rind  until just combined.  Spoon mascarpone cream into the cooled tart shell and smooth with a knife or spatula. Top decoratively with the strawberries. When ready to serve, drizzle with the simple syrup.

Looking for more strawberries? Try the Nothing-in-the-House Strawberry Crème Tart or our Strawberry Icebox Pie. Or maybe it's the almond shortbread crust you're after? Then get to this Almond & Grapefruit-Ginger Marmalade Crostata.

Nothing-in-the-House Baking Co. Debut at the DC Meet Market!

After about a week of late-night baking marathons, grocery store runs and just one minor exhausted breakdown, Nothing-in-the-House Baking Co. finally made its debut this past Saturday at the DC Meet Market! My lovely assistant and housemate Bobbie and I set up the stand with picnic baskets and wooden library boxes, ticking from America's milltown Lowell, MA, stamped tags and tin pie pans. Then Bobbie and our friend Diana engineered the Nothing-in-the-House banner with clothes pins, stencil letters and twine, and a borrowed stapler from the handy man neighbor at Picnic Gourmet Spreads.


But what do you care about the decor--let's get to the baked goods! Though I didn't make quite everything I had hoped (a savory tomato galette, clementine curd stuffed doughnuts, and more fried pies were also on the list), we offered a good selection of tarts and doughnuts, whoopie pies and even a vegan & gluten free cookie! Here's the menu:

Nothing-in-the-House Baking Co. at the DC Meet Market, August 18th
-Berry tartlets 
-Chocolate peanut butter pretzel tartlets 
-Plum frangipane tartlets 
-Shaker lemon tartlets
-Carrot cake doughnuts with a cream cheese glaze -Glazed 'n' raised doughnuts (with blackberry, caramel & plain glazes)
-Stone fruit & bourbon fried pies
-Chocolate stout & espresso whoopie pies with salty caramel buttercream
-Vegan & gluten-free iced oatmeal cookie

It was a beautiful, mild August day with just a hint of fall in the air. The stream of customers started right off the bat with a fan who had visited the Tarts by Tarts stand at Crafty Bastards and has been looking for our baked goods since! That was a very encouraging way to kick-off the market and over the course of the day it was so wonderful to see a lot of old friends (some I had not seen in years, like Lisa & Sarah!) and meet new folks jazzed about baked goods.

Though I still have to tweak that carrot cake doughnut recipe, and forgot to sprinkle sugar on the fried pies, I was really pleased with everything else and received some great feedback and excitement about future appearances and the pie CSA.


Around lunchtime, my friend Kate arrived, daisies in tow, to help sell, and she did an amazing job, hawking whoopie pies to all the other vendors who were stuck in their stalls! She also bought us delicious Bones BBQ sammiches. Throughout the day we jammed to DJ Dianamatic's French pop tunes, and in the afternoon our friends Clear Blue Sky arrived to play a short honky-tonk set, which went just perfectly with those fried pies.

By 4:00 we were sold out--with that, some money in the pocket, and all the great folks we met, I'd call it a success! Then Bobbie, Kate and I loaded up the car and drove promptly home for a much-needed nap.

I'd like to send a special thanks to all who made this debut possible: Bobbie & Kate for their really generous time and support, Mary for the late-night butter run, Luigia for the tent, Morgan & Kenan for the tables, Marion & John and housemates for the food processor, Kari for helping to get this whole thing 'tarted with Tarts by Tarts, The DC Meet Market, the other helpful & friendly vendors, and everyone who stopped by the stand, bought something, or just took a card, put their name on the mailing list, and said hello. I'm looking forward to doing it again soon (the next DC Meet Market is September 15th!). In the meantime, stay posted on upcoming Nothing-in-the-House Baking Co. events and the upcoming pie CSA here. Thank you!

Nothing-in-the-House Baking Co. Debuts at the DC Meet Market!

 

Almost exactly a year ago, I moved into a beautiful group house of beautiful people (aptly dubbed The Dollhouse) in Northwest DC. One of those inhabitants happened to be my lost soul-sister, fellow baker and look-alike Kari. When Crafty Bastards Arts & Crafts Fair put out a call seeking vendors for their Food Fair last October, we combined our powers (with our powers combined...) and launched the pop-up shop-style baking company Tarts by Tarts.

After that first market, where we sold out in under 4 hours, we served up our goods at Treasury Vintage, offered made-to-order tarts for Valentine's Day, collaborated with the awesome Panda Head Blog and sold Southern-inspired treats at the DC Square Dance. It was a wonderful & inspiring collaboration and we learned a lot and all the while got some wonderful press and feedback from the DC community. Last month, Kari left us for a goat cheese-making apprenticeship in Maine, putting Tarts by Tarts on hiatus, though we hope to team up again sometime soon.

In the meantime, I've decided to forge out on my own and launch the baking business side of this here blog under the name Nothing-in-the-House Baking Co. Though I'll be offering more than just pies, the aesthetic will be much the same--valuing seasonal and local products with an eye on tradition and creativity. In the coming weeks, I'm hoping to launch a pie CSA, offer made-to-order baked goods, and sell at future local events.

I'll be making my debut at this Saturday's DC Meet Market, happening from 11am-5pm at 15th & P St. NW. Among the offerings will be stone fruit & bourbon fried pies, berry tarts and carrot cake doughnuts. I hope to see you DC readers there, and keep your eyes on this space for more information on future Nothing-in-the-House Baking Co. projects and as always, pies!

Andy Warhol's Pie Crust Illustration

Before Andy Warhol painted soup cans, produced static films, and posed as Robin & Batman with Nico (respectively), he apparently made cookbook illustrations. Here's one he did to depict "Fixing the lower crust" of a pie for the 1961 Amy Vanderbilt’s Complete Cook Book. You can find more of his food drawings via the Flickr set of Crossett Library at Benington College, or in this round-up celebrating what would have been Warhol's 84th birthday. Thanks to The Runcible Spoon gals for sharing this!

Fig-Pistachio Tarte Tatin

The summer between my junior and senior years of high school, I lived with a wonderful family in Brittany, France as part of an Indiana University immersion program. During my stay, I spent a lot of time in the kitchen with my lovely host mom Anny, learning how to make crêpes and galettes and mousse au chocolat (as well as the metric measuring cup system). Though this was before my pie obsession, one of the things we made together was a tarte tatin--the classic French tart where the fruit, generally apples, is caramelized in sugar and butter on the stove, then baked upside-down and flipped after baking. I remember Anny telling me the story of its invention: apparently the two Tatin sisters, owners of the Hotel Tatin accidentally baked a tart upside-down, then out of desperation served it to the guests who much to the sisters' surprise, gave it rave reviews.

I, much like the guests at the Hotel Tatin that night, love a tarte tatin. It's so simple to make, and shows off the beauty and flavor of the fruit paired with rich caramel. Plus you get to use your cast iron skillet! Though the classic tarte tatin is apple, you can really make a tarte tatin with any fresh fruit. One of my favorite pies to make in general is Ruth Reichl's pear tarte tatin, found in Gourmet. I was pleased to find this recipe for a fig-pistachio tarte tatin in the Pieminister cookbook, just as figs are coming into season down here. Since Pieminister is a British pie shop, all their recipes, like those I made with Anny are in metric. Here's my version of their fig-pistachio tartin, with ounce and cup conversions.


 Fig-Pistachio Tarte Tatin
Adapted from The Pieminister Cookbook

Ingredients
Nothing-in-the-House pie crust, halved
16-20 small figs or 10-14 large figs
3/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. water
3 Tblsp. unsalted butter
4 oz. pistachios nuts, shelled
1-2 Tblsp. honey

Directions
1. Prepare half of the Nothing-in-the-House pie crust as per the directions. Once chilled, roll out into an 11-inch circle, stab it with a fork in several places, and place on a cookie sheet or cutting board between two sheets of parchment paper.  Store in the fridge while you prepare the filling.

2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Trim the stalks of the figs and halve them lengthwise. Set aside.

3. In a large oven-safe frying pan or cast iron skillet, place water and sugar and heat on low until sugar dissolves. Once sugar has dissolved, raise the heat to medium-high and bring sugar water to a boil and cook without stirring until the syrup is thick and has become golden-caramel in color.

4. Reduce the heat and add the figs--making space so they all fit. Be careful not to burn yourself on the hot caramel. Cook until the figs are tender and release juices but still hold their shape. Remove them with a slotted spoon and set aside in a small bowl.

5. Boil the caramelized juices until they are thick and syrupy, 3-5 minutes more. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the butter until it melts. Scatter the pistachios over the pan and return the figs to it, cut side down, in concentric circles.

6. Put the frying pan back on the heat until the juices bubble. Put the circle of pie crust on top of the filling and tuck it firmly into the edges of the frying pan to form a crust. Transfer the pan to the oven and bake for about 25-30 minutes until the pastry is golden brown. Once the tart has settled for a minute, put on your oven mits and flip the tart onto a plate (prend courage!). Drizzle the tart with honey and a few extra pistachios, if you desire and serve with goat's milk ice cream or Greek yogurt.

The rich flavor of the fig and pistachio, coupled with the sweet, dark caramel makes for a rich and earthy dessert that hints at the almost-impending fall. Though the Pieminister guys suggest pairing it with Greek yogurt, I think it would be just perfect with goat's milk ice cream, if you can find it (or make it!). Tangy frozen yogurt would also do.

Oh, and don't be afraid of the skillet-to-plate tart flip. Just make sure that your plate is slightly bigger than your skillet, protect your hands with oven mitts, and trust yourself--you'll have no trouble. Consider it one of the rites of a baker.

Elizabeth Graeber's Small Fruit Tart

 I was first captivated by the work of DC based illustrator Elizabeth Graeber when I saw the book An Illustrated Guide To Cocktails sitting on my friend's coffee table. Written by his pal, Orr Shtuhl and boasting quirky, imaginative drawings by Elizabeth, it focuses on the history and heyday of classic cocktails, including recipes for at-home cocktail hours.

Then a few months later, I caught more of her sketches in the form of a Sriracha slaw (!) recipe on Morgan Hungerford West's ever-inspiring Panda Head Blog. I checked out more drawings on Elizabeth's website and was pleased to find that the gal is quite prolific, producing beautiful art in the form of Beatles portraits, coloring books, and yes, food drawings, of yes, baked goods, and yes, pies (okay, tarts)!

We're hoping to collaborate on something illustrated and pie-themed sometime soon, but in the meantime, check out more of Elizabeth's food illustrations at Food On Paper and in particular, the Small fruit tart drawing pictured above. All pieces are for sale and would look lovely in any kitchen or dining room!

Plum & Orange Flower Custard Galette

I've been out-of-town for a bit, working long hours, living out of a hotel, and unable to bake.  But on the rainy Saturday before I left,  I went on a baking frenzy for an upcoming project. I'll keep you posted when it comes out, but since I'm writing it for someone else and not just for this blog, I had to plan to use fruits that are available both now (so I can bake with them) and into late summer. Here in DC and in more Southern regions at least, plum season lasts into September, I picked up some plums--the tartest variety (though I am now blanking on the name)-- at the Mt. Pleasant Farmers' Market.

I came across this recipe from Dessert First via Pinterest, but didn't really want to do a classic tart, and since I'd already made some standard pies for this upcoming piece, I opted for a galette style where the crust is more roughly cut and folded over the filling. Those edges, where the fruit is encased by crust on two sides, make for the best bites of the whole thing, and the real reason for a galette, in my book. Since the custard is rather sweet, you'll want to chose the tartest plums you can. Though the original recipe calls for 2 tsp. of orange flower water, I would scale it back to 1 tsp. unless you're into very floral flavors. All together this is a rather easy recipe that really showcases the beauty of the plum in both taste and sight, without need for any additional accompaniment (though it did go quite well with an afternoon cup of coffee).

Plum & Orange Flower Custard Galette
Adapted from Dessert First

Ingredients
Nothing-in-the-House pie crust, halved (save extra egg for the crust egg wash)
1/2 c. (4 oz.) crème fraîche
1 egg yolk
2 Tblsp. light brown sugar
1 tsp. orange flower water (the original recipe called for 2 tsp., but I found it a little too floral for my taste. Feel free to adjust according to yours)
2 lbs. (approximately) plums or pluots, pitted and halved
2 Tblsp. Turbinado sugar

Directions
1. Prepare half of the Nothing-in-the-House pie crust as per the directions. Once chilled, roll out into an 11-inch circle and place in a greased and floured 9-inch pie pan. Do not flute crust. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place pie pan in the fridge while you prepare the filling.

2. In a medium bowl, combine crème fraîche, egg yolk, brown sugar, and orange flower water, using a whisk. Pour into the pie

3. If you haven't done so already, halve and pit plums (leave the skins on). Arrange them in concentric circles over the custard filling. Decoratively fold pie crust over the plums. Brush an egg wash over the crust and sprinkle it and the plums with Turbinado sugar.

4. Bake approximately 40 minutes until crust is golden brown, custard has set and plums are juicy. Let cool. Enjoy warm or at room temperature.

We enjoyed our slices at my friend Lars' poultry operation, Green Gate Farm out in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. More about our trip out there via Virginia wine country coming soon, probably in the form of a Green Gate Farm chicken pot pie post...

Surry County Peach Sonker with Dip

In old-time music, Surry County, North Carolina is well-known for its distinctive regional variation of playing, often referred to as Round Peak style. With its roots in Scots-Irish, English, and African American traditions of fiddle and banjo music, it's known for its driving rhythm, and intense syncopated melody. I visited Surry County a few months ago, for the Mt. Airy Bluegreass and Old-Time Fiddlers' Convention, or as the festival is referred to among old-time musicians, simply "Mt. Airy". Though I heard many styles of bluegrass and old-time, and even some Cajun music there, the Round Peak style is the most celebrated and what reigns supreme at the festival.

Little did I know when I was there, though, that along with Andy Griffith and Round Peak playing, Surry County also boasts a distinctive regional dessert, called a sonker. A sonker is essentially a cross between a cobbler and a pie, as it uses pie pastry, but is served in the biggest rectangular pan that can fit in the oven--perfect for serving large crowds at church suppers and community events common in the region. Sonkers also serve as  a means for showcasing some of the superb fresh local produce grown in Surry County. A peach filling is classic, but they can also be made with cherries or blueberries or other stone fruits, and in the winter, sweet potato sonkers are quite popular.

A sonker is also traditionally served with a sauce called "dip", a warmed-milk and sugar concoction ladled over individual slices. As Nancie McDermott mentions in Southern Pies, a fancier dip can also include an egg, likening it to the "classic Southern dessert sauce, boiled custard." The whole ensemble is even celebrated at the Surry County Sonker festival, held on the first Saturday of October. 

For my first sonker, I went with a classic peach, and threw in a few apricot slices I had leftover from the gooseberry-apricot pie. Here's the recipe I used, adapted only slightly from Southern dessert maven Nancie McDermott.

Surry County Peach Sonker with Dip
Adapted from Nancie McDermott's Southern Pies

Ingredients
Nothing-in-the-House pie crust, multiplied by two

For filling:
1 1/2 c. sugar
1/3 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
9 c. fresh peaches, peeled and cut into slices
1/2 c. (1 stick) butter, melted

For dip:
1/2 c. sugar
3 Tblsp. cornstarch
3 c. milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions
For crust & filling:
1. Prepare Nothing-in-the-House pie crust as per the directions. Once dough has chilled, roll out half of it to line a 9x13-inch greased and floured baking pan. Make sure to tuck the dough into the corners. Leave a 1-inch overhang around the sides of the pan and trim off any excess dough.

2. Roll out remaining dough and cut into long strips, approximately 1-inch wide. Refrigerate pastry-lines pan and cut strips while you prepare the filling. If you have extra dough, wrap it in plastic wrap and freeze for your next sonker!

3. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine sugar, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt, using a fork or whisk to combine. Add the sliced and peeled peaches and gently toss them with the dry mixture until they are evenly coated. Pour the filling into the pastry-lined pan and spread evenly. Pour the melted butter and 1/2 c. water evenly over the peach filling.

4. Remove pastry strips from the fridge and weave a criss-cross or lattice pattern across the top of the filling. Press the end of each strip against the side of the pastry crust, then fold the bottom overhang of pastry over the strips. Seal and crimp the edges using a fork.

5. Place the sonker in the oven and bake for 10 minutes at 450 degrees. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F and bake for about 45-55 minutes more, or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbling.

For dip:
1. In a medium saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch, mixing well with a fork or whisk. Add milk and vanilla and stir to dissolve the dry mixture into the milk. Place the saucepan over medium-high heat and stir constantly as it comes to a boil. As soon as it boils, reduce the heat and let the dip simmer until it thickens and becomes smooth, about 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to let cool.

2. Serve sonker warm, covering each slice with a generous ladle-full of dip.

With its FULL STICK of butter added to the filling and warmed milk dip reminiscent of childhood late night snacks, this is an incredibly sumptuous and comforting dessert that would be excellent anywhere from a Surry County fiddlers' convention to a Washington, D.C. kitchen. My housemate Bobbie said it's one of her most favorite things she's ever eaten, which is saying a lot in our house full of baked goods, and is evidenced by her plate-licking photo below. Personally, I'm going to pioneer the movement to combine the Surry County Sonker Festival and the Mt. Airy Bluegrass and Old-Time Fiddlers' Convention into one event, or at least bring a sonker or two to next year's fiddle festival.

Pickling & Preserving Party!

A few weeks ago there was a post on Food52 about National Can-It-Forward Day. I had never heard of such a day, but they were offering coupons for free Ball jars for folks who were interested in hosting pickling and preserving parties on Saturday, July 14th. I love canning, I love pickles, and I love parties, so I decided to cast my name into the hat. Sure enough, a week or so later, a FedEx envelope with 6 coupons for free Ball jar sets arrived on my doorstep. Score!

So on the morning of the 14th, three friends and I, Andy, Annie, and Lars met at up at the Mt. Pleasant Farmers' Market, checked out what produce looked the best, and planned our attack. We decided to do vinegar cucumber pickles, dilly beans, and pickled okra, a peach-jalapeno jam, and a blueberry-basil jam. We were able to find almost all of our ingredients at the market, thanks in a large part to the very friendly farmers at Earth Spring Farm who had herbs and jalapenos, pickling cucumbers and okra.


We headed to Bestworld to get the rest of our ingredients, as well as some beer and lunch fixins, for we needed to fuel up for our day-long kitchen activities. Next stop was the hardware store for jars...we were able to get one set at the adorable Old School Hardware in Mt. Pleasant. Then we tried the Ace in Takoma Park, but unfortunately they did not take manufacturer's coupons, so we ended up having to buy our jars. No worries, though--I'm sure the coupons will be put to use at some point 'cause we'll definitely be doing this again.

Back home in the kitchen, we spread out our bounty. Andy went to work on our open-face quesadilla (open faceadilla) lunch, Annie put on some summer jams and then we all tied on aprons, cracked beers, and started peeling peaches, stringing beans, and chopping basil.

It was a collaborative process, with everyone helping with each item...prepping produce, stirring jam pots, and sealing jars. Though we're still waiting on the pickles (they need 6 weeks to "pickle"), the blueberry-basil jam was probably our favorite. And since this is a pie blog, I'll say that it would go great on this lemon goat-cheese tart (replace the blackberry preserves with the blueberry-basil jam) or in this almond crostata (replace the marmalade with the jam). Here's the very easy recipe we used, adapted from Rustic Kitchen.

Blueberry-Basil Jam
Adapted from Rustic Kitchen

Ingredients
8 c. fresh blueberries
5 c. sugar
about 1/2 c. minced purple basil (to taste)
5 Tbslp. lemon juice

Directions
Pour fresh, washed blueberries into a large saucepan. Stir in sugar, purple basil, and lemon juice. Boil, stirring occasionally, until the mixture reads 225 degrees F on a candy thermometer and coats the back of a spoon. Once the mixture is ready to can, pour into sterilized jars and seal (make sure to follow proper instructions for sterilization and canning--you can find some on the Ball jar site). Makes about 3 pints.


In the end, we had almost 50 jars of pickles and jams and spent a lovely overcast Saturday sharing skills and stories, listening to tunes, and making deliciousness-in-jars from our local farmers' market bounty. Many thanks to Andy, Annie, and Lars for being such awesome pals and picklers. And thanks to Food52 for inspiring us and donating the jars-- even if we didn't get to use them this time, we'll definitely be having another pickling & jam party soon.

Gooseberry-Apricot Pie on the 4th of July

My aunt and uncle had gooseberry bushes on their property. On summer evenings, when I was visiting with my family for a cookout or the 4th of July, or spending the night by myself, we'd collect old Tupperware bowls and walk the few yards to the line of gooseberry bushes. Sometimes we'd find my uncle's mother Maggie there, already picking. Their bushes were the green gooseberries, weird entities that reminded me of eyeballs, with seeds like a grape.  I remember my mom and aunt baking them into tart pies with top crusts bulging around the spherical fruits.

I was surprised to see cartons of gooseberries here at the farmers' market in DC a few weeks ago. Though when I was growing up, I didn't consider that they were a fruit that's mainly prevalent in the midwest, but upon spotting them, I realized I hadn't really seen them anywhere else. When I picked out two pints, one green and one purple, my friends who I was with, one from California and another from DC weren't sure what they were, and asked if I knew what to do with them. I nodded, confident, "We used to pick them at my aunt's house." But when I got home, I wasn't as sure. In the few days they sat in the fridge before I decided to bake them, the "green" gooseberries had turned purple, and when I tried one raw, it wasn't as sour as I'd remembered.


I searched the internet for a gooseberry pie recipe, and not finding one I felt totally confident in, decided to combine a few into my own variation. Most of them called for cooking the berries before baking them, which seemed strange, since I quite clearly remember my family's version containing whole fruit. I wasn't sure of my memory, though, so I opted for the pre-cooking technique.

I made the crust the night before, on July 3rd, in our sweltering kitchen. Though I usually prefer to cut the butter into the flour with a pastry cutter or knife and fork, I decided to put my almost-frozen butter in the food processor, thinking it would mean less working of the butter, aka colder butter (aka flakier crust). In the end, the butter was a little too incorporated for my taste--more like tart dough than pie dough, but it was probably the best option considering the temperature.

On the morning of the 4th, I got up early to make the pie to beat the heat, and leave room in the day for other festivities. I'm not sure if I over-cooked the gooseberries in my pre-coffee state, but they basically turned to a quick jam. I had doubts of a gooseberry-jam pie, so I trusted my instinct and decided to throw some sliced apricots I'd been saving into the filling. I'm glad I did. The result was a tart-sweet, slightly unusual pie that was perfect à la mode on a humid Independence Day.



Gooseberry-Apricot (Goosepricot) Pie

Ingredients
Nothing-in-the-House Pie Crust
4 c. of fresh green or purple gooseberries
3/4 c. sugar
3 Tblsp. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
A pinch of nutmeg
2 Tblsp. unsalted butter, cut into small chunks
2 pints apricots (6-8 medium sized apricots), peeled & sliced

Directions

1. Prepare the Nothing-in-the-House pie crust as per the directions. Chill dough at least 1 hour. Once chilled, roll out 1/2 of pie crust and fit into a 9-inch greased and floured pie pan. You can choose to roll out the top-crust now and refrigerate it flat, or roll it out once you've prepared the filling. Either way, you should put both the remaining crust and the pie pan in the fridge while you prepare the filling (this is a crucial step if it is hot in your kitchen!).

2. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Combine gooseberries, sugar, cornstarch, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a medium saucepan. Place on medium heat until berries begin to break down and mixture thickens, approximately 8-10 minutes. Remove from heat, set aside and let cool to room temperature.

3. Remove pie pan with bottom crust from fridge and place sliced apricots on the bottom of the crust. Pour the gooseberry filling over the sliced apricots and distribute evenly. Dot the gooseberry filling with the 2 Tblsp. of butter

4. If you haven't rolled out the top crust yet, do that now. Once the crust is rolled, place over the top of the gooseberry filling. Seal the bottom and top crusts and flute the sides decoratively. Decorate the top crust if you wish (you'll notice the flag on mine!) and cut steam vents with a fork or knife. Brush top crust with an egg wash (you can use the leftover egg from the crust) and dust with Turbinado sugar.

5. Place pie in the oven and bake for 10 minutes at 450 degrees F. After 10 minutes, reduce heat to 375 degrees F and bake for 35-45 minutes more until the crust is golden brown and filling is bubbling. Enjoy with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on each slice!

After throwing this baby in the oven, we got down to business with an all-out hot dog bar, inspired by my friend Francis Lam's piece in Gilt Taste. My favorites were a homemade pimento cheese-vegetarian chili-crushed Utz BBQ chips dog and a Banh Mi dog (radish & carrot slaw-cilantro-cilantro mayo) but other toppings included pickled jalapenos, caramelized onions, "hot dog relish", sauerkraut, and an assortment of condiments. We also had a hot dog blind taste test--Nathan's vs. Hebrew National-- Nathan's won. After a few dawgs each we collapsed on the couch for a lazy game of Trivial Pursuit. My fella was feeling sick (not from the hot dogs), so instead of fireworks, which I'm not the biggest fan of anyway, we decided to celebrate the USA with a movie night and a slice o' gooseberry-apricot pie on the 4th of July.

Peach-Pecan Pie

Peaches in the summertime, apples in the fall/If I can't have the one I love, I won't have none at all. That's one of my favorite, if not my favorite old-time lyric. My dad used to sing it to me before bed, in a modified version of Shady Grove (modified, because I cried when he said "I'm bound to go away," which he changed to "love you more each day!"). That memory aside, I like that phrase for its simplicity, its assertion of seasonal eating in a time when that was not a question; you ate fresh apples in the fall (and probably storage apples through the winter) and peaches all summer. Love could be fleeting and unreliable, but autumn apples and summer peaches were known entities.

This peach-pecan pie from Nancie McDermott via her friend Sandra Gutierrez seems to be the type of dessert that's just the thing for the tail end of peach season, as apples are starting to gain ground on farmers' market tables and the line of peach cartons starts to recede. I say this because of my association with pecans as a fall pie, and in reality, this pie can work on any summer day (let's be honest here--I made it in June!). But maybe it's the end of summer and you're sunburned and hot and just a bit tired of peaches, and you need a new take-- a tangy custard, a pecan crumble. Either way, this suits me as a perfect transition pie, with the pecan topping hinting at those summer nights when it starts to get a little cooler and you need to slip on an extra layer, and your mind starts drifting towards bonfires, and doughnuts, and well, apples...



Peach-Pecan Pie
Adapted from Nancie McDermott's Southern Pies

Ingredients
For crust:
Nothing-in-the-House pie crust, halved

For filling:
3 c. peeled & sliced fresh peaches (about 6 medium-sized peaches)
1 c. sugar
2/3 c. sour cream
3 egg yolks
2 Tblsp. all-purpose flour

For pecan-crumb top:
1/2 c. (1 stick) cold unsalted butter
1/2 c. sugar
1/3 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 c. (2 oz.) chopped pecans

Directions
For crust:

1. Prepare half of the Nothing-in-the-House pie crust as per the directions. Chill dough at least 1 hour. Once chilled, remove from before rolling out and fitting into a greased and floured 9-inch pie pan. Crimp edges decoratively.

For filling:
1. Scatter peeled and sliced peaches over the bottom of the pie crust.

2. Using a whisk, combine sugar, sour cream, egg yolks, and flour in a medium bowl until everything is well-combined. Pour this thick and creamy sauce over the peaches.

3. Place the pie in the oven and bake until the custard is set and the crust is golden-brown, approximately 30 minutes. 

For topping:
1. Combine butter, sugar, flour, and cinnamon in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the mixture resembles peas and cornmeal. Stir in the chopped pecans and set aside.

2. Remove pie from the oven and scatter the pecan topping over the pie. Return pie to the oven and bake until the crumb top is golden brown, about 10-15 minutes more. 

3. Place pie on a cooling rack and let cool to room temperature, approximately 45 minutes. Can be served warm or cold. Nancie and Sandra recommend cinnamon whipped cream, but vanilla (or cinnamon!) ice cream would also be delicious.

An Interview with Emily and Melissa Elsen of Four & Twenty Blackbirds

I've been longing to make it to Four & Twenty Blackbirds, the Brooklyn sister-owned pie shop credited with salty honey, salted caramel apple and chamomile buttermilk pies that have cast their spell on me from afar. In addition to these creative- classic pies, their slightly sinister nursery rhyme-based name and affinity for bikes, I thought they might be gals after my own heart--indeed, one of the sisters and I share both a first and middle name (Emily Elizabeth à la Dickinson, or the heroine of Clifford the Big Red Dog). Since I wasn't sure when I'd make it to New York next, I asked the pair for an interview and to share a pie recipe. Here's their words, along with instructions for a quintessential spring-summer pie--rhubarb, Four and Twenty Blackbirds style! (Emily (L) & Melissa (R) Elsen of Four and Twenty Blackbirds, pictured below)

The inspiration for your shop name comes from the nursery rhyme (I assume). Could you tell me why you chose it?

Sing a Song of Sixpence is the inspiration for the name. A close friend of our family had suggested we look to nursery rhymes for naming inspiration - it's all over the place in many of those rhymes. We wanted a name that had some familiarity and association with pie, but that wasn't too obvious or cute. We liked the light and dark aspects of the rhyme and macabre humor.

What is your most treasured/used pie baking tool?

Emily: I like a solid and well balanced tapered rolling pin for rolling dough.

What's your favorite kind of pie?

Emily: Any pie that is made with fresh, in-season fruit - particularly stone fruits and figs, and rhubarb of course.

What's your baking story--how long have you been doing it, who taught you and how did you learn? Any funny stories from those first (or later?) baking experiments?

We grew up in Hecla, South Dakota where our mother owned and operated a local family restaurant with her two sisters, our grandmother Liz baked all the pies and we worked there as soon as we were big enough to wash a dish! We both went in different directions for college - I came to Brooklyn to study art and Melissa studied finance and then traveled New Zealand and Australia for a couple years. We reunited in Brooklyn and started baking together and realized that we had the potential to make it a real business. At the time, it was hard to find good fresh pie in NYC on a regular basis and we wanted to make a place that was devoted to it because we loved making it and eating it of course!

Why pie?

We love the simplicity of it, and yet it has so many creative possibilities - we felt we could do something new with it. Also, I'm particularly attracted to it as a sculptural baked good - pie crust is fun to work with once you get to know its ins and outs.

It seems like you guys are really into bikes too. Is there any kind of bike-pie connection? Pie racks on your bikes for easy transportation?

We are both really into bikes for transportation and distance riding for exercise - we live close to Prospect Park which is great for cycling laps, and doing a distance ride up the West Side highway and into Jersey is one of my favorite ways to spend an afternoon. We have a lock and pump at the store that we let customers use and we sell tubes and patch kits as well. We are not bike racers, but we love the bike community in Brooklyn which is growing every day. No pie bike racks yet, but we'd love to do bike delivery one day!

What's it like working with your sister?

Emily: For me, my sister is the perfect business partner. We are very different personalities, so we balance each other - and we are close enough in age that we like doing the same things and our interests align well. It's not without difficulties, arguments and such, but she is the one person I truly trust to have my back, though I know I drive her crazy sometimes.  

What's your favorite music to listen to while you're in the kitchen?

I'll listen to (almost) anything and I'm always changing it up... lately I've been getting into older reggae, and some newer stuff, as well as a lot of hip hop. I like good rhythm when I work.  

Any words of advice for new or aspiring pie bakers?

Be prepared to work hard in this industry and be in love with what you are doing, keep a positive attitude and always be curious to learn more.

Four & Twenty Blackbirds Rhubarb Pie

By Melissa & Emily Elsen

For all-butter pie crust
2½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar
2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into half-inch pieces
1 cup cold water and 1/8th cup cider vinegar on ice

What to do:  
1. Stir flour, salt and sugar together in a large bowl.

2. Add butter and coat it with flour using a spatula or bench scraper. Working quickly, cut butter into the flour with a pastry blender until mostly pea-sized pieces of butter remain (a few larger pieces are okay; do not over-blend).

3. Sprinkle four tablespoons ice water over the flour mixture and cut the water in with a spatula or bench scraper. When water is fully incorporated, add more water, one to two tablespoons at a time, and mix until the dough comes together in a ball, with some dry bits remaining.

4. Squeeze and pinch with your fingertips to bring all the dough together, sprinkling dry bits with drops of ice water if necessary to combine.

5. Shape into a flat disc, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least an hour, preferably overnight. Wrapped tightly, dough can be refrigerated for 3 days or frozen for one month.

6. Roll out to fit the bottom of the rectangle pan, just to the edges, not over. Use the scrap to create about 20-25 lattice pieces to fit the pan width and length. 

For rhubarb filling

Combine in a large bowl:

4 to 6 cups rhubarb that has been chopped, frozen overnight and then thawed and drained of excess liquid (freezing helps to release excess water in the Rhubarb)

3 tablespoons lemon juice

6 dashes of old fashioned or Angosturra bitters

3 whole eggs, beaten

In a separate bowl, sift together:

3 cups sugar

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

5 Tablespoons arrowroot (or cornstarch if you can't find arrowroot)

Combine the wet ingredients with the dry. Scoop into pie shell, with most of the liquid - but do not make the pie too watery, the Rhubarb should be just slightly covered in the liquid. Arrange lattice on top, crimp edges in. 

For egg wash + baking

Beat together:

1 whole egg

2 Tablespoons heavy cream or milk

1. Brush the top of the lattice with the egg wash and sprinkle with raw (or demerara) sugar. Bake on a half sheet pan at 350F for 30 minutes, rotate and bake for another  30 - 40 minutes - depends on oven strength. Look for a golden brown color in the crust, and for the filind to be set and bubbling over, not watery looking. Be sure to let the pie cool for at least an hour before slicing and serving. 

Thanks so much to Emily & Melissa Elsen for their time and generosity with words, photos, and recipes. After this teaser I'd better get to Brooklyn to try a slice o' Four and Twenty Blackbirds pie soon.