Making My First Pie! (What am I Getting Myself Into?)

[RealLifeMama]

My children have been wanting me to make pumpkin pie with them for two years now. I have always found some way to get out of it with some other yummy pumpkin concoction instead. This Thanksgiving, though, they really, really want to make pumpkin Pie with me, and they want to help roll out the crust and everything!
I have never, ever made a pie that did not have a graham cracker crust and that didn't sit in the refrigerator!
I thought of just making a no bake pumpkin pie, but I did buy a lovely Pampered Chef Deep Dish Pie plate so I might as well try to use it!

I could probably find a recipe for filling, but I really need a deep dish crust recipe *and* tips on how to make a good pie crust.
Also, how to modify the recipe for a deep dish pie. That is the only pie plate I have.
Thanks!

Oh, did I mention my "Oh, I just don't really like sweets " MIL is coming for dinner?

[ArmsOfLove]

I happen to consider pies one of the best desserts and one of the easiest to make

[The Tickle Momster]

Super easy! You'll be fine! If you have the Joy of Cooking, it has great directions for pie crusts. The LIbby's pumpkin cans have a recipe. Not sure about adapting for deep dish, but you can just do a normal recipe even in a deep dish pan. We made my first pumpkin pie last week, at dd1's insistence. It turned out great, if you like pumpkin pie.

I second Joy of Cooking. I am a lousy cook, but my pie comes out awesome using JoC. If you want the JoC recipe and directions, let me know and I will type it for you.

[RealLifeMama]

Originally Posted by loveberry

I second Joy of Cooking. I am a lousy cook, but my pie comes out awesome using JoC. If you want the JoC recipe and directions, let me know and I will type it for you.

I do not have that book. If you have the time and inclination to type it out, that would be fabulous, or maybe I can search to see if I can find it online somewhere.
Thanks

Ok I don't know anything about the deep dish part, but the recipe is for two 9 inch pies or 1 double crust 9 inch.

Sift together:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt

Measure and combine:
2/3 cup chilled leaf lard or shortening
2 tablespoons chilled butter

Cut half the shortening into the flour mixture with a pasty blender, or work it in lightly with the tips of your fingers until it has the grain of cornmeal. Cut the remaining half coarsely into the dough until it is pea size. Spring the dough with 4 tablespoons water.

Blend the water lightly into the dough. You may lift the ingredients with a fork, allowing the moisture to spread. If needed to hold the ingredients together, add 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon water. If you are high-altitude you might need a smidge more water.

When you can gather the dough into a tidy ball, stop handling it. (Edited to add, make sure not to over-mix. As soon as everything is sticking together, stop mixing. The dough should be more like lots of bits of ingredients stuck together than one smooth mixture. It comes out better that way.)

Roll the dough on either a pastry cloth or wooden board. (You can roll it out on any floured surface in a pinch.) If there are tears, it's better to patch them than to re-roll. It should roll out to 1/8 inch thickness or less. (I actually don't have a rolling pin so I just smash it with my hands.)

Cut the dough in a circle about two inches larger than the pan dimensions to account for shrinkage. put it in the pan gently, and then press it a bit to get all the air bubbles out. Trim and shape your edge until it's how you like it.

I think you bake it with the filling already in it, but check your filling recipe to be sure. Also, if you notice your edges getting burned when the pie needs to cook longer, you can cover them with aluminum foil and they will cook slower than everything else.

I hope that's helpful, good luck!

can you sub anything for the lard? I have EArth Balance I'd sub for the butter... is that going to ruin the pie?

(I'm also making my first pie this year... probably tonight!)

Thank for the recipe!

[Close2MyHeart]

Misti,

That will change it a bit and pie crust can be picky. You could try it and see what happens... but I don't think it would be as good.

Amy... I pumpkin pie. I just made one a few weeks ago since DH begged. I have a pie crust in my fridge I could give you if we lived closer. If you are heading to the store for anything, they make rolled pie crusts, so all you have to do is put them in the pie plate. They also make mixes where all you do is stir in some water and roll it out.

[cheri]

There are recipes for butter crusts, too. If you put shortening in it, it's more flaky, but the butter gives it a better flavor. Or you can do half and half.

Martha Stewart has a really easy pie crust recipe. I've also used the recipe in the big Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. The key with the crust, IMO, is that you want it everything to be very cold. Your butter needs to be cold, if you use shortening, stick it in the freezer for a bit, your bowl, pastry blender (or forks) all need to be super cold to get better results.

I was intimidated by crusts for the longest time and would either buy the frozen or refrigerated ones... and then I tried making my own once and couldn't believe how easy it was. The recipe on the can of Libby's is good, and I just made this one a couple of weeks ago: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Perfect...ie/Detail.aspx and I liked the sweetened condensed milk better than evaporated (which is what's in the Libby's recipe) wholefoods.com also has a pie recipe that uses milk or cream (I can't remember)

Thanks for this...I'm making my first crust today too...

[Soliloquy]

I have a super easy, super fabulous pie crust recipe that uses a food processor. I got it from an episode of Martha Stewart.

2 1/2 cups flour
2 sticks of butter (or 1 cup Earth Balance) well chilled
1/2 cup ice water (don't let the ice get into the dough )

1) Cut the butter into little cubes. Put flour and butter into food processor. Pulse several times and then let it run for 30 seconds or so until the butter and flour are well mixed.

2) With the motor running, add the ice water. You may need to alternate between "pulse" and "on" to get it mixed. Avoid over mixing.

3) Take the dough out and put on a floured cutting board. Shape it into a ball. Cut the ball in half. Flatten each side into round discs, wrap well w/ plastic wrap or waxed paper and chill 1 hour (or more--but if you let it chill overnight you may have to let it warm up a bit).

4) Place on a lightly floured board and sprinkle the top w/ flour before rolling to prevent sticking.

This makes 2 crusts. You can freeze the extra one (wrap it well and put in a zip lock) or just make two pies--it's Thanksgiving, after all!

Oh, and for a really easy pumpkin pie filling, the recipe on the can of Libby's pumpkin puree is delicious!!! (make sure you don't buy canned pumpkin pie filling--buy canned pumpkin where you mix in your own igredients. It's very simple. ) There's a a very similar recipe on our can of organic pumpkin as well

You can do this! Post a pic of your finished creation when you're done and don't forget to make HOMEMADE WHIPPED CREAM!!

[Soliloquy]

Oh my, and I almost forgot the best part! You will have little shnibbles of dough left over. (Put the rolled dough into the pie plate and trim the edges w/ a knife.)

When you have all of your left over dough, you can make pie crust pinwheels. I learned this from my Grandmother.

Roll out the dough into an oblong shape. Sprinkle well w/ cinnamon and sugar. You can dot w/ butter also, if you like. Roll it up the short way (roll up the long edge--does that make sense?) and then cut into 1-inch pieces. Lay like cinnamon rolls in a pan and bake for 10-20 minutes. Yum!

[The Tickle Momster]

I use only butter in the JoC recipe. It comes out fine!

Have fun!!!!

Thanks for the Martha Stewart recipe with the Earth Balance sub!

We can't have dairy... what a bummer it would be to bake a pie that we couldn't eat!!!!!!

[Soliloquy]

Originally Posted by MtnMama

Thanks for the Martha Stewart recipe with the Earth Balance sub!

We can't have dairy... what a bummer it would be to bake a pie that we couldn't eat!!!!!!

You're very welcome! I've found that Earth Balance substitutes perfectly. Have you seen the non-dairy, non-hydrogenated whipped topping at Whole Foods? That'd be great for a DF pie!