Tips for Pies

It's pie season, and that warrants a post full of tips about pies. ☺ (If you have other tips, please leave them in the comments and I'll add them to the post!)


CRUSTS
Pie crusts are not hard to make, but you do have to follow the directions (no shortcuts!) otherwise they will lose the flakiness or fall apart. I have posted my own favorite crust recipes here, meanwhile here are a few tips for making your own pastry crusts:

• Have all the ingredients as cold as possible--you can even set the bowl and mixing implement in the fridge for a little while ahead of time.
• Handle the dough as little as possible. Extra mixing, rolling, or mooshing reduces flakiness and makes it more stiff and chewstiffer.
• Don't try to use an electric mixer--use a pastry mixer or a fork. Electric mixers tend to overhandle the dough.
• Pie dough is the one time when I use shortening instead of butter--the texture really does make a difference.
• Shortening is not hard to measure--you can buy the pre-marked cubes (they keep well in the freezer) or you can use water displacement--get a 2c measuring cup and put in 1c of water, then put in blobs of shortening until the water level moves up to indicate that you have enough shortening (1 1/2c water level for 1/2 c shortening, etc). No sticky greasy measuring cups, just one sticky spoon and some slightly damp shortening...but you'll be adding water to the dough in a second anyway so it's ok! ☺
  
• Did I mention to touch it as little as possible?!

TOO MUCH/TOO LITTLE DOUGH?

• Leftover crust dough always gets snitched around here, either raw, or made into pastry goodies.
• Another option for extra crust is to use a small cookie cutter and use the little cutouts to decorate the top of your pie.
• If you're shy on the amount of dough you need for a top crust, try cutting it into strips and making a lattice (make the spaces as wide as you need to so that there are enough strips). Alternately, use a small cookie cutter in a simple shape such as a star and cut out a bunch of those. Lay them together around the top of the pie with the edges touching--voila, a top crust!
  

PUTTING IT TOGETHER

• There are two main ways to get the crust from the counter to the dish: first, gently fold it into quarters then lift it over and unfold it into the pan...this is what I do for bottom crusts (and if it gets a little wrinkled or cracked it's ok because it will be covered!). For top crusts, I gently roll the pie crust up onto the rolling pin, then move that over to the pan and unroll the crust right across the filling.
• If you get your finger wet with water and run it around the edge of the pie before putting on the top crust it will help the two layers stick together. It's not such a big deal with a full top crust, but it will hold the pie together if you're making a lattice-top or doing the cookie cutter top.
• One area of pie making that I have always struggled with is making a pretty crimped edge. After years of simply pressing it with fork tines (which works fine for single-crust pies but not so well for two-crust pies) I have finally learned to make a nice crimp. My mom always used the tips of her thumbs and forefingers, but I can't get that to work. What does work for me is to use the first knuckles of my first two fingers. So play around a bit, see what works for you!
  

FRUIT PIES
Put a cookie sheet under them because pretty much every fruit pie I know of will overflow and drip juices over the edge of the pie dish and you don't want to have to scrub that sticky goompy mess off the inside of your oven! I like to line the cookie sheet with foil because then the cookie sheet doesn't become a sticky goompy mess either.


PIES WITH PRECOOKED SHELLS
Use pie weights in the bottom of the shell to keep it from puffing up as you bake it. If you don't have pie weights, a small oven-safe plate or saucer works, or you can lay in 2-3 spoons (be careful when they come out, they'll be really really hot!!)
Make sure the shell is fully cooled before you try to put the filling in. Yes, this means waiting a while, but trust me, it's not worth the runny pie that you'll get if you don't wait. ☺

Some Notes on Beans

Here are a few basic tips about cooking with beans (specifically dry beans):

Beans are very easy to prepare, so long as you allow enough time and use enough water. Don't be scared of them!

There are a lot of kinds of beans, but most of them are pretty interchangable. For example the classic "beans and rice" that is served in most of Central/South America is prepared similarly in most areas, but different regions use different beans, according to what grows locally. In Sao Paulo they use pink beans, but I've used the exact same recipe with pinto beans, and my sister prefers it with black beans. SO, if the recipe calls for one kind of bean and you don't have it, get adventurous and substitute in something that you do have!

Use LOTS of water. Having a bit extra won't hurt anything, but having too little can make a scorched, stinky mess. The recipes rarely give specific measurments, so I just put in the beans, then water to twice the height of the beans, then check in on them every so often, and add more water if it gets below the level of the beans.

Beans take a loooong time to cook. I prefer to cook them overnight in the crockpot, but if you want to do them in one day make sure you allow at LEAST 3 hours for preparation. I still recommend letting them soak overnight beforehand, but there are "quick preparation" methods which can be done in just a few hours.

Beans grow a lot when cooked--the average bean (or lentil) will more than double in size...so 1 cup of dry beans will go a long way!

The average bean is fairly bland, which is why you can get away with making them into foods ranging from a main dish to a dip to even pie! As a main dish, I like to serve them with something more flavorful--either some kind of sauce, or something cooked in a good bone broth. When I make beans and rice, I cook the rice in broth which adds flavor to it. I suppose you could cook the beans in broth but I've never tried it.

I do hope to learn a bit more about the various types of beans, and when I do I will add those specifics to this post (which ones are best for various recipes, etc)

Finally, it IS on my blogroll, but if you're interested in more bean recipes, visit my friend Katie's Beans & Rice blog. ☺

Bread-Making Secrets

Here are a few bread-making tips to help the aspiring bread maker!

Yeast needs a warm safe place to grow--most recipes call for putting yeast in warm water for a bit before adding it to the rest of the ingredients. The water should be just warmer than skin temperature, but not hot. Too hot will kill the yeast, but too cold will not stimulate it. This is one reason why most recipes call for warm water or milk--it warms the whole dough so that it can accept the yeast.

Add just a pinch of sugar to the yeast as it sits there--yeast loves sugar, and will grow fast and bubbly for you! (Do take care, as I've had it bubble right over onto the counter more than once!!) Happy yeast helps make a nice airy bread though.

Yeast is inhibited (or even killed) by fats and salts. So don't put yeast with butter/oil or salt until after it's growing well. (This is one reason that many recipes call for adding at least some flour before adding the yeast, and also why many recipes say to scald the milk--scalding the milk helps destroy its natural enzymes which would battle with the yeast.)

When you are kneading, put flour on the counter, but get your hands wet with water (rather than flouring them also). I was skeptical of this at first, but it has worked well for me. Basically if you add flour from both the counter and your hands, then it is making the dough stiffer as you work...however if you balance the counter-flour by having water on your hands, it helps maintain the texture of the dough. And no, I don't get sticker hands--if anything, they seem to be less-sticky when I do it this way!


and...
Here is the great secret about kneading. One of my friends told me this, and she heard it from her grandmother...it's certainly a married woman's secret, but I have found it to be perfectly accurate! How do you know when you've kneaded the dough enough? When it feels like the family jewels! ☺