Given our 70+ degree temperatures, I was going to make banana ice cream today, but after reading a Southern Living article yesterday about Pie Shop in Buckhead, I felt ambitious enough to answer my resultant craving for a good old-fashioned pie. Pie crust and I have a checkered past together, but unlike some other techniques that I have officially given up on (e.g. whipping egg whites, if you can believe it), I am actually improving with each attempt at rolling out pie dough, and so I continue to do it. I think what helps me most is using plenty of flour on the pin and the work surface---not letting it get to that frustrating point where it is sticking, and I add more flour, and it sticks anyway---and using lard as 1/4 of the fat (butter for the rest, of course). This makes a malleable, easy to work with and incredibly flaky crust every time, even though I probably overwork the dough a bit because I always misjudge if I've added enough water and push it around a lot to try and tell.
I made something inspired by a recipe I found in a Cooking Light back issue, black bottom banana cream pie. Unfortunately, my first time making this pie, I was trying to halve a crust recipe (I think Smitten Kitchen's all butter crust, which is quite good when made correctly) and forgot to halve the water. Don't ever add too much water to your pie crust. It is a fast and easy way to make it completely inedible. Anyway, we ate around the crust that time and M in particular loved the rest of it, so I wanted to make it again, crust and all.
I used a basic Gourmet pastry crust recipe, subbing my lard for the vegetable shortening and adding just a small amount of sugar (theirs had none). Instead of CL's weird cornstarch-cocoa powder mixture, I use ganache to provide the thin layer of dark chocolate at the bottom of the pie. I follow their vanilla custard/pudding recipe almost exactly, except I refuse to touch fat free cream cheese and used regular. Even though it's made with 1% milk, it is plenty rich and creamy and makes a great stand-alone vanilla pudding if you're looking for one. And that's really all there is to this pie. Thinly slice a couple of bananas and place however you want on top of the chilled ganache, then top with the custard. If desired you spread whipped cream all over the top of that (though I have to refrain, because the weirdo with whom I live happens not to love whipped cream), then top with chocolate shavings. Voila. Now I am fighting the urge to have pie for dinner.
Not going to win any beauty competitions, as usual...
2 comments:
I imagine your egg white issue is living in the humidity of GA rather than any defect on your part. I assume you tried bringing the eggs to room temperature first? One day I went through two dozen eggs trying to make meringues. My mother-in-law (who dislikes cooking but makes wonderful meringue pies) gave me that little tip, and I've never had trouble with egg whites since. :) Have you ever tried a rye flour crust? I saw a recipe for a berry pie with a rye flour crust, and the combination sounded a little inspired. I'll have to make it sometime when I am either have guests or I'm prepared to eat the whole thing by myself, since rye flour is sadly gluten-filled.
Wow, I thought I had tried all the excuses for my egg white failures, but that's a new one. I would never have the stamina or patience to go through more than two batches of failed egg whites. I'd love to believe the humidity is to blame--I was always careful about using very clean metal or glass bowls and utensils, even wiping them off with vinegar like Julia Child said. Maybe I'll try again on the next low-humidity day when I'm feeling ambitious...
I am finally, finally getting around to making rye bread this week. I found a recipe that uses a simple sponge rather than sourdough (speaking of repeated failures)...I think the rye crust sounds interesting. We should definitely try that and any other sort of gluten-filled goodie when you're here. :)
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