Let The Rock tell you a little story about pie...
okay, so I have recently had a lot of time on my hands and in order to fill it with something productive (rather than watch netflix and eat ramen all day) I started baking again. last week, i planned to make pumpkin pie, but the store bought crust I had was no good. so, i looked up pie crust online to see how difficult it would be and found a recipe I thought looked good. you can find it here: http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/perfect_pie_crust/ I used the all butter variation.
last night, I mixed up the dough and let it chill in the fridge over night. this morning I made pie and photo-documented it as it was my first attempt. (please excuse the poor photo quality as I am working with camera phone pics)
This is what I pulled out of the fridge this morning and let me tell you it was hard as a ROCK! I had to let it sit out almost an hour before I was able to move it at all.
So, after I started working with it, I realized it was much too dry and had to remix some stuff to get it to stay together. I probably should have re-chilled it at that point but instead I just rolled it out.
This took me like half an hour and my hands, arms and back are still upset about it. However, pie is always worth it. And if you look carefully at the top right corner you can see my awesome new rolling pin. It needs a name. It is (shamefully) a Paula Deen branded roller so it has PD stamped on the ends. Because of this I am considering Patty Duke. Ideas would be appreciated.
Anyway so I think I rolled it out too thin because I was worried it wouldn't fit into the pie pan. However, as you can see by the excess here, my worries were for naught.
Next came trimming and I have to say that I think I trimmed a little too short but, you know, rookie mistake, will make sure I have more edge to work with in future. It turned out like so.
Not bad, if I do say so myself. Next I mixed up the pie filling. It is my mom's pumpkin pie recipe that I modified (as most of my recipes are) to make more spicy. It's pretty delish usually. So, I whipped that up real quick and filled up the crust.
This is where I started to freak out slightly. It was a little overfull and I had poured it into the shell on the table. So I had to get it to the oven, get the oven open, and get the pie into the oven without spilling any. It was touch and go for a while. But I managed to pull it off (mostly, through sheer willpower and awesome).
I had to wait for a while and then it was time to tent the edges to keep the crust from burning.
This is sometimes known by it alternate name "the reason burn salve was invented" In related news, I apparently have baby skin, so this supposedly quick process took almost fifteen minutes. Boo. Then I cleaned the kitchen, treated my burns and waited...
Finally, it was ready!! Behold...
Looks good! But...how is the crust?
Looks super flaky to me. Looking forward to eating it as soon as it cools. Visitors to help me not eat the whole thing myself are welcome.
Overall, how would I rate the whole experience?
A++ Would crust again. (please excuse my chipped polish. My nails did not realize they would be making a cameo.)
okay that's all for now. I will make sure to keep you updated with more culinary adventures. if i remember.
xoxo
-b
ETA: JUST ATE SOME AND OMG! OMG! OMG! THIS IS BEST EVS!! Seriously, I am gloating so hard right now, it's a good thing there is no one around to witness it. So, yay me, etc.
last night, I mixed up the dough and let it chill in the fridge over night. this morning I made pie and photo-documented it as it was my first attempt. (please excuse the poor photo quality as I am working with camera phone pics)
This is what I pulled out of the fridge this morning and let me tell you it was hard as a ROCK! I had to let it sit out almost an hour before I was able to move it at all.
So, after I started working with it, I realized it was much too dry and had to remix some stuff to get it to stay together. I probably should have re-chilled it at that point but instead I just rolled it out.
This took me like half an hour and my hands, arms and back are still upset about it. However, pie is always worth it. And if you look carefully at the top right corner you can see my awesome new rolling pin. It needs a name. It is (shamefully) a Paula Deen branded roller so it has PD stamped on the ends. Because of this I am considering Patty Duke. Ideas would be appreciated.
Anyway so I think I rolled it out too thin because I was worried it wouldn't fit into the pie pan. However, as you can see by the excess here, my worries were for naught.
Next came trimming and I have to say that I think I trimmed a little too short but, you know, rookie mistake, will make sure I have more edge to work with in future. It turned out like so.
Not bad, if I do say so myself. Next I mixed up the pie filling. It is my mom's pumpkin pie recipe that I modified (as most of my recipes are) to make more spicy. It's pretty delish usually. So, I whipped that up real quick and filled up the crust.
This is where I started to freak out slightly. It was a little overfull and I had poured it into the shell on the table. So I had to get it to the oven, get the oven open, and get the pie into the oven without spilling any. It was touch and go for a while. But I managed to pull it off (mostly, through sheer willpower and awesome).
I had to wait for a while and then it was time to tent the edges to keep the crust from burning.
This is sometimes known by it alternate name "the reason burn salve was invented" In related news, I apparently have baby skin, so this supposedly quick process took almost fifteen minutes. Boo. Then I cleaned the kitchen, treated my burns and waited...
Finally, it was ready!! Behold...
Looks good! But...how is the crust?
Looks super flaky to me. Looking forward to eating it as soon as it cools. Visitors to help me not eat the whole thing myself are welcome.
Overall, how would I rate the whole experience?
A++ Would crust again. (please excuse my chipped polish. My nails did not realize they would be making a cameo.)
okay that's all for now. I will make sure to keep you updated with more culinary adventures. if i remember.
xoxo
-b
ETA: JUST ATE SOME AND OMG! OMG! OMG! THIS IS BEST EVS!! Seriously, I am gloating so hard right now, it's a good thing there is no one around to witness it. So, yay me, etc.