Full disclosure: I didn’t like “Ms. American Pie.” In the introduction, author Beth Howard claims she’s not a big fan of recipes. This was evident in her instruction: no mention of preheating an oven, inexact time estimates and her insistence that chilling dough before rolling is an unnecessary time suck. More experienced home cooks can handle these vague instructions, but Howard touts this book as a guide for those afraid to bake pies at home.
All that said, this messy BLT pie was delicious: A half-shortening, half-butter crust filled with local tomatoes, a full pound of Geisert Farms bacon, Marcoot Jersey Creamery cheese and fresh backyard basil, topped with more cheese and mayo. I nixed the optional lettuce garnish, since I’d just pick off the warm wilted iceberg anyway.
However, as I was patching up holes in my warm crust on a humid August afternoon, I grumbled at how much easier it would have been with chilled dough. When the finished filling soaked through the bottom of the pie, I knew a thicker crust could stand up to so much liquid. Sometimes those “fussy pie rules” make the difference between great and phenomenal.
Skill level: Intermediate. Explore all the fillings available, but stick to your favorite pie crust recipe.
This book is for: Experienced pie bakers looking for new ideas
Other recipes to try: Pulled-pork hand pies, Atlantic Beach Pie, Shaker Orange
The verdict: Despite poor instruction, quality ingredients took this pie to the top.
BLT Pie
Crust
Blind-Baked Crust (recipe follows)
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Filling
4 large tomatoes (Romas are OK), sliced and de-seeded but not peeled
½ to 1 lb. bacon (or more if you love it), fried till crisp, drained and chopped
½ cup chopped fresh basil
3 green onions (i.e. scallions) thinly sliced
½ tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. dried oregano
½ tsp. crushed red pepper
¾ cup Parmesan cheese
¾ cup shredded cheddar cheese
¼ cup mayonnaise
Topping
Shredded lettuce (optional)
• Prepare the Blind Baked Crust: Before baking, poke the bottom of the crust with a fork, then sprinkle Parmesan on the bottom and baked uncovered at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.
• Prepare the Filling: In the pre-baked pie crust, layer the tomatoes, fried bacon pieces, basil, green onions, garlic powder, oregano, red pepper and ½ cup Parmesan.
• In a small bowl, mix the cheddar and mayo, then spread over top of pie.
• Sprinkle remaining Parmesan on top.
• Cover loosely with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
• Remove foil and bake an additional 30 minutes.
• Serve warm or cold. For the real BLT experience, top with shredded lettuce.
Basic Pie Dough (For a Single-Crust Pie)
¼ cup (½ stick) butter, chilled and cut into large chunks
¼ cup vegetable shortening, chilled
1 ¼ cups flour, plus at least ¼ extra for rolling
Dash of salt
Ice water (fill a ½ cup but only use enough to moisten dough)
• In a deep, large bowl, work the butter and shortening into the flour and salt with your hands until you have almond- and pea-sized lumps of butter.
• Then, drizzling in ice water a little at a time, “toss” the water around with your fingers spread, as if the flour were a salad and your hand were the salad tongs. Don’t spend a lot of time mixing the dough, just focus on getting it moistened. Translation: With each addition of water, toss about four times and then STOP, add more water, and repeat.
• When the dough holds together on its own (and with enough water it will), do a “squeeze test.” If it falls apart, you need to add more water. If it is soggy and sticky, you might need to sprinkle flour onto it until the wetness is balanced out. The key is to not overwork the dough! It takes very little time and you’ll be tempted to keep touching it, but don’t!
• Now divide the dough into two balls (or three, if your pie dishes are smaller) and form each into a disk shape.
• Sprinkle flour under and on top of your dough to keep it from sticking to your rolling surface. Roll to a thinness where the dough seems almost transparent.
• Measure the size of the dough by holding your pie plate above it. It’s big enough if you have enough extra width to compensate for the depth and width of your dish, plus 1 to 2 inches overhang.
• Slowly and gently – SERIOUSLY TAKE YOUR TIME! – lift the dough off the rolling surface, nudging flour under with the scraper as you lift, and fold the dough back. When you are sure your dough is 100 percent free and clear from the surface, bring your pie dish close to it and then drag your dough over to your dish. (Holding the folded edge will give you a better grip and keep your dough from tearing.
• Place the folded edge halfway across your dish, allowing the dough of the covered half to drape over the side. Slowly and carefully unfold the dough until it lies full across the pie dish.
• Life the edges and let gravity ease the dough down to sit snuggly in the dish, using the light touch of a finger if you need to push any remaining air space out of the corners as you go.
• Trim excess dough to about 1 inch from the dish edge (I use scissors), leaving ample dough to make crimped, fluted edges.
Blind-Baked Crust
• Prepare Basic Pie Dough recipe for a single-crust pie, then roll and crimp the edges.
• Prick the bottom and sides of the pie crust with a fork.
• Lay a large piece of foil over the top and fill with pie weights (or beans, rice, coins, chains, screws – anything to weight down the crust to keep it from puffing up or shrinking.)
• Bake at 425 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.
• Remove the weights and foil, turn oven down to 375 degrees, and continue baking for another 5 minutes or more, to brown the bottom of the crust.
Note: The weights hold the crust in place as it bakes, keeping it from shrinking as the moisture evaporates. If it does shrink, it, it will rattle around in your pie dish, and thought it will be smaller than you had hoped, it will still taste good.
Reprinted with permission from MBI Publishing
This article appears in August 2016.