Friday, July 19, 2013

Rosie Makes A Georgia Peach Queen Pie.

 


 Step back.
You're in for a treat today.
I'm about to give you the recipe
for my Georgia Peach Queen Pie.
This is the Queen of Peach Pies.
You may thank me later.
I gladly accept comments and/or money.

Recently, Youngest Hawthorne came home from school
and brought us a box of Georgia peaches.
I've been making all sorts of peach stuff.
My column in the Outer Banks Voice
was just published and it was all about peaches -
I've made Peach Cobbler,

Youngest Hawthorne wanted me to make the cobbler again
-That's how good it was.-
but I wanted to make a Peach Pie.
I wanted to create the Queen of Peach Pies.
I wanted the Peach to be Queen.
And it was.


Rosie's Georgia Peach Queen Pie
2 pie crust doughs (Recipe to follow.)
10 peaches, peeled and sliced
juice of one lemon
2 - 3 TB cornstarch
1/2 tsp cinnamon
fresh nutmeg, grated -  Just a bit.  You don't want the nutmeg to overpower the cinnamon.
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 brown sugar
Egg wash (1 egg mixed with a little water)

Turbinado sugar, for sprinkling over the lattice work.

Heat oven to 425°.
As you slice the peaches, add them to the lemon juice, tossing to coat.
Mix the cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, and white and brown sugars in a small bowl.  Add to the peaches and mix well.
Let sit for about 30 minutes, then taste test and adjust seasoning if necessary.

Place first pie dough in a deep dish pie pan, leaving about an inch overhang.  Refrigerate while you make the lattice strips.
Prepare the second pie dough for the lattice strips by cutting the pastry into 1/2 - 1 inch strips.

Pour the peaches and syrup into the refrigerated pie crust.  Arrange the lattice strips over top.  And kinda/sorta crimp the edges.
Brush the lattice with the egg wash and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.


Bake at 425° for 20 minutes.
Reduce heat to 375° and continue to bake 40-45 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and pie is bubbly.  Check to see if you need to tent the crust if it's browning too much.

As I told you at the beginning, you are in for a treat today.  Not only do you get my recipe for Georgia Peach Queen Pie, you're also getting my Foolproof Pie Crust Recipe.

Rosie's Foolproof Pie Crust 
(Makes 2 crusts, with probably some extra to make a small tart or a peach beehive, which is what I did with the excess.)
4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 TB sugar
3/4 cup butter, chilled
3/4 cup Crisco, chilled
1 egg, beaten
1 TB distilled white vinegar
1/2 cup water, chilled

Whisk flour, salt, and sugar.
Cube the chilled butter and Crisco.
Add in the cubes a little bit at a time, working it in with your fingers first, then a pastry blender.  I use my fingers first to get it going, then I switch to a pastry blender.  You want to keep the dough cool.  Process the dough with the pastry blender until you have various sizes of crumbs from small peas to coarse meal. This makes for a tender and flaky crust.
Mix the egg, vinegar, and water.
Add in the egg mixture and work the dough into a ball.
Halve the dough.  Flatten each half into a disc.  Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for an hour.
Lightly flour your work surface and, starting at the center, lightly roll the dough outward, starting at 12 o'clock, and working around the clock so you get a nice circle. Turn the dough 1/4 turn and continue as before.  Turn a quarter.  Repeat.  Turn a quarter.  Repeat.  Flour as necessary.
Turn dough over and go through this process again.  Keep rolling until you have a 13-inch diameter circle.  Flour as needed.  Roll up the dough over your rolling pin and transfer to your pie dish.  Leave about a 1-inch overhang, cutting off the excess, which you might need to patch areas where you didn't get the 1-inch overhang.  Not that that happened to me or anything.
Keep the pie dish refrigerated while you make the lattice strips.

Roll out the second pie dough as you did the first, then cut into 1/2 - 1 inch strips



Cut the chilled butter and Crisco into small cubes.


I work it with my fingers first
because it's quicker.
Then I work it with my pastry blender until... 

... you have a crumbly mix of different-sized meal.

Add in the egg, water, and vinegar.

Fork it.

Always flour your work surface.

I turned the dough onto my board and,
using a pastry scraper,
I lifted up the edges and folded over to the center.
Keep going around the edges like this until... 

... you have a nice cohesive ball.

Halve, flatten, wrap, and refrigerate for at least an hour.

I chose 10 peaches for the filling.


Before you go to peeling and slicing,
have your lemon juice ready.
Add the peach slices to the lemon juice,
tossing to coat.

Add in the dry ingredients.
Mix well.
Let sit to develop the flavors and the syrup.

Flour your work surface.

Add flour as needed and roll dough out.
About a 13 inch diameter.


Carefully roll dough up over rolling pin.

Unroll dough over a pie dish.

Leave about an inch overhang.
Refrigerate while you roll out
the second disc of dough and cut out the lattice strips.

1/2 - 1 inch strips
I used 1 inch strips since I'm not a good latticer.

Pour the peaches and syrup into your pie crust.


Good luck with the latticing!
As you can see,
I'm not a very good crimper either.
I need to work on that.

Brush the egg wash over the crust and lattice.

Sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
Place on a pan to catch any juices that might escape.
Put in a 425° oven for 15 minutes.
Reduce heat to 375° and bake about 40-45 minutes,
until golden brown and bubbly.


While my Georgia Peach Queen Pie 
happily bubbled and gurgled away,
I took my excess dough and rolled it out.
I'm making one lonely little Peach Beehive.

Cut the pastry into 1/2-inch strips.

Using an unpeeled, washed, and still damp peach,
and starting at the bottom,
start rolling the strips around the peach.

If you like, decorate sloppily
with a rose, stem, and leaves.
Bake bottom side up.

Brush with the egg wash.

Sprinkle on some turbinado sugar.

Give some cinnamon lovin'.

Some shavings of nutmeg.

This went into a 375° oven for about 40 minutes.

Melt some butter on it.

Dee-vine.

And here's my Georgia Peach Queen Pie.

Oh no!
Would you look at that?
Some of the edge "accidentally" broke off.

Quite simply,
this is the best crust I've eaten.















 
Minutes later.
Literally, minutes.


2 comments:

Lori K said...

I am officially declaring today...
Queen of the Peach, Rosie Day!!!
Looks so good...the peach is it :)
Lori

Rosie Hawthorne said...

It was good, Lori!
Making a Peach Clafouti now.
I'm on a roll!