Friday, October 16, 2009

Peach Pie

Ingredients:

Pie Crust:
2 c Flour
1 c Butter or butter flavored Crisco (I do half of each)
1/2 tsp Salt
5-7 tbs ICE water (make sure it is ice cold, this is very important)

Filling:
4 large ripe Peaches peeled and sliced or 1 large bag of frozen peaches (never use canned)
2 tbs Sugar
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
1 tbs Flour

Directions:

Filling:
-Peel and slice peaches into a large bowl. Stir in sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg, let sit for an hour on your counter, covered with saran wrap, two hours if using frozen peaches.
-Stir in flour to thicken the juice and pour into pie crust.

Pie Crust:
-In a large bowl combine flour and salt.
-With a fork, two knives or a pastry cutter cut butter/ Crisco into the flour until it there are pea sized chunks.
-Slowly add in water 1 tbs at a time mixing thoroughly with a fork until the mixture holds together. Be careful not to use too much water or crust will be soggy and hard to work with.
-Divide into two parts, and roll out on a lightly floured surface.
-Line a pie pan with one crust and set other aside to top the pie with.

Baking:
-After filling first crust and arranging the peaches so they are evenly distributed, cover with second crust and pinch the seams together. Cut a few slits in the top of the crust and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.-Bake at 400° for 30-45 minutes.-Allow to cool for about 15 minutes (it will still be warm) and serve with frozen whipped cream or french vanilla ice cream.

Taste: 4.5
Ease: 2

I used to make this pie monthly at a job I had, everyone loved it. I have had the crust recipe for years but came up with the filling after a lot of trial and error. This is great for a cool autumn night with a great seasonal beer like Sierra Nevada's Stout or Pale Ale a Samuel Adams' Octoberfest, Widmer's Oktoberfest or Brrr (a favorite of mine), or even Rogue's Mocha Porter, Shakespeare Stout (another fave), or Old Crustacean Barleywine (which comes in a cool bottle but is pricey).