Friday, July 20, 2012

Honey Lemon Peach Pie


Ahhhhhhh, summer. 

As a busy college student, it's so nice to actually be able to sit back and say that, since the summer break at my school isn't exactly what you would call "traditional"
You see, at the Culinary Institute, we only get three weeks off for summer break, due to the nature of our classes and scheduling, so naturally I LOVE to take advantage of those three weeks!
When it came time to pack for home, I threw together a huge pile of my tools, because you neverrrrr know what you could bake in three weeks of time (especially when I have my Mother's entire pantry at my disposal!). 
My scale and knife kit were a given, but somehow some Madeline pans and chocolate transfer sheets made it in there too... like I said, you never know!


One of the first things my Mom and I did was to go to Root's, an amazing Amish Market about 10 minutes from my house. All of the Amish farmers (and then some) come here to sell their fresh produce, poultry, meat, baked goods, and don't even get me started on the stands full of clothing, toys, sunglasses, socks, and other fun things. It was there that we picked up these beautiful peaches! 



What else could I do but make a pie. Local peach goodness, some lemon zest and honey (one of my favorite things to use in ANY dish), all wrapped up in flakey buttery pie crust? Yes please. 




Honey Lemon Peach Pie:


****Instead of explaining how to make the crust myself, I'd rather direct you to one of my favorite Lady Chefs of all time, so you can see for yourself. I must warn you though, this crust takes a lot of patience. You need to make sure that your dough is always well-chilled when working with it, or your hands and your countertop will become a greasy mess (it's loaded with butter!). 
Make sure the pie is also chilled in the fridge for at least 10-15 minutes before baking.
Also, DO NOT make the mistake I did and use salted butter (I know, my education only goes so far sometimes, I reached for the wrong kind in the fridge). Make sure you use UNSALTED butter, or you will end up with a salty pie and a drooping crust in the oven!****




Crust
4 c. AP flour, sifted
16 ounces cold butter, cubed
2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar

See above link for written/video directions.

Honey Lemon Peach Filling
7-9 medium ripe peaches (I got mine from the farmer's market, yay local!)
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 Tbsp honey
Juice and Zest of 1/2 a lemon


- Set a large pot of water on the stove and bring to a simmer. Have a large bowl with ice water and a slotted spoon waiting next to it. These will be used to blanch your peaches, making the skin come right off, and avoiding 30 minutes of wrestling with a peeler and losing 1/4 of your peach!

- With a paring knife, score an X into the top and bottom of each peach. This will help the skin to loosen

- Once the water is at a simmer, drop about three peaches in, letting them sit in the simmering water for at least 30 seconds. Then, lift the peaches out with the slotted spoon and gently place them in the ice water. Repeat in 3-peach batches.
- Once all of the peaches have been blanched, remove them from the ice water and peel off the skins. The peaches should be shiny and glistening. If it is difficult to remove the skins, simply return them to the water and the ice bath once more, and that should do the trick.

- Cut the peach flesh away from the pit. You can choose to dice the peaches, like I did, or leave them in long slices. Whatever makes you happy!
- Mix the peach slices in a bowl along with the sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, honey, lemon juice, and lemon zest. This filling doesn't thicken too terribly much, so if you prefer a thicker filling, I would suggest adding more flour, or a teaspoon of cornstarch.

Pie Assembly



- Preheat your oven to 350F
- Cut the dough in half and roll out each half between two sheets of wax paper. Be sure to refrigerate the sheets before continuing on in the process, or the dough will stick to the wax paper.
- When dough is chilled, remove one sheet. Peel off the top layer of wax paper and flip that end onto your pie plate, arranging it how you wish. Peel off the new top layer of wax paper (now you should have a completely paper-free bottom pie-crust)
- Place the peach filling inside the crust.
- Remove the second crust from the fridge, and repeat the wax paper method the same way you did with the first. Once all of the paper is removed and the crust is on top of the pie, trim the pies edges and flute or decorate any way you wish. Be sure to cut some holes in the top to allow the steam to escape.
- This next step is important. I didn't do this because I was in a hurry, and I was forced to cut the fluted edges off of my pie because they drooped (the butter was too soft before the crust could set, so everything melted!). Place your FINISHED pie in the fridge for 10 minutes or so, just so all of that buttery goodness can firm up!
- Bake for at least an hour, or until your desired pie color is achieved, covering the crust's edges with foil or a pie guard if necessary.
- Enjoy!!!!!


I hope you take some time to kick back and enjoy this summer treat!

Stay hungry and curious,

Blayre



2 comments:

  1. Yummy looking pie! I found your blog via the comments at the new Foodbuzz site. I totally agree that the old format was a great resource for getting new readers to your blog. I am going to add you to my reading list on Blogger so that I automatically get your new posts.

    I have yet to find a new resource that functions the same as the old Foodbuzz but I'll come back to let you know if I do.

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  2. Thank you so much for the comment and for the add :))

    And yes, please let me know if you find another resource like Foodbuzz. I'm trying to become Certified Yummly, but it still isn't the same!

    ReplyDelete