A Berry Delicious Pie

I forgot how much I love pie. The only time I eat and sometimes even make it is at which happens to be my all time favorite holiday. I also forgot how much I love making pies. Most people probably buy the pre made frozen pie crust but don't realize how much better a homemade one is. Yes, it can be a bit of a pain in the ass and is an extra step but how impressive is it to be able to present a perfectly crimped pie crust that tastes even better than it looks.
Thanksgiving...

I got my pie baking skills...sorry in advance mom...from cooking class in high school. My teacher was a bit of a Martha Stewart meets Hitler.  We had to do over our crusts til we got it right. Luckily it didn't take me too long and I became pretty good at it...until I met my husband. He's a bit of a perfectionist and he would definitely beat out my pie primping skills, after a few tedious hours of getting it just right. :)

So I had all these berries...some were fresh, some were frozen. I was supposed to make jelly but just never got around to it, plus my Noni keeps giving me hers so why make my own!  I've been thinking about pie since the summer. Everyday I would pass a Sixpence Pie Company and never got the chance to go in. Got some good berries from the grocery store on sale, so those mixed with the ones I froze a few weeks earlier will be my quadruple berry pie...strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries. I just love berries, especially since I'm allergic to mostly every other fruit that has skin.

This is a super easy recipe so taking the extra step to make the pie crust is definitely doable. And it only takes 4 ingredients and a little bit of elbow grease.

Four Berry Pie

Makes one 9 inch lattice top pie

Pie crust:

• 2 1/3 cups all purpose unbleached flour

• 1 1/2 sticks of butter, salted

• 2 tsp sugar

• 8-10 teaspoons ice water 

Combine your flour and sugar in a bowl. Cut up your sticks of butter into smaller chunks. They should be almost right out of the fridge, not softened!


Using a pastry cutter, "cut" your butter into the flour until it is broken down into pea sized bits. The mixture should be crumbly. If you don't have a pastry cutter, you can also use a fork or even your food processor. I like to get my hands directly in the dough so I can feel how big the chunks of butter are...not too big, not too small. This is the most important part in making a light and flaky pie crust!

When you have your desired consistency, slowly add a few teaspoons of water at a time and incorporate into your flour. As soon as the dough begins to stick together, dump it out on a large wooden board and form your balls!

I separated mine into two, one larger for the crust and one smaller for the lattice top. Secure in saran wrap and refrigerate for about 20 minutes while you prep the filling.


Filling:

• 5 cups berries...I think I used about 2 cups of strawberries, 1 1/2 cups blueberries and maybe 3/4 cup each of raspberries and blackberries. I'm terrible with measuring but amazing when it comes to "eyeing it."
• 1/2 cup flour... I altered this from the original recipe in my trusty ole Betty Crocker cookbook since I used more strawberries. They have a bit more moisture so I increased the flour.
• 3/4 cup sugar
• Sprinkle of cinnamon
• Juice of half a lemon

Now throw all your ingredients in a bowl and combine. That's it!  Back to the pie dough...

Assembly:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

When you're ready to put your pie together, place your dough on a lightly floured wooden board. Flour up your rolling pin. Roll out your dough, constantly rotating it to get a nice size circle. Your dough should be about 1/4 inch thick. Use your pie dish to help figure out if the circle is big enough.

 To transfer your dough to the pie dish, roll it up half way around your rolling pin. Carefully hover over your dish and unroll it. Although I love ceramic dishes since they're so pretty, I use a glass one because you can see through the bottom and check how done your pie is.

Gently push the edges into the bottom of the pie dish. Trim off excess leaving about 1/2 inch hanging over the edge of the dish. Save the scraps for later!

Fold and tuck it underneath to give it smooth edge. Then crimp away! One thumb should be on the inside part of the crust and your opposing thumb and pointer finger should be on the outside.  Gently push them towards each other making an indent in the dough, all the way around the pie. I tend to do it at a little bit of angle.

Use a fork to poke some holes in the bottom of your crust. This will allow any steam to escape and result in a cooked bottom instead of a soggy one.

Dump your filling in the crust and spread around evenly.

Roll out your second pie crust for the lattice top. I have a neat little cutter I use to make a nice edge but a pizza cutter works too! I cut mine about 1 inch thick.

Lay about 4 or 5 of them across the top of your pie. You want to weave the other ones in the opposite direction, alternating over/under.

Trim off the excess and fold and tuck the edges into the crust the best you can.

To get a nice golden top, you can brush it with milk or an egg wash. Sprinkle a little bit of cinnamon and sugar on top if you'd like and pop it in the oven with a pan underneath to catch drippings.

I leave the crust uncovered for the first twenty minutes, then wrap it in foil so it doesn't burn. I peak on it constantly and remove the foil towards the end of baking. I also bumped up the temp to 400 degrees after about 40 minutes. Baking times will vary but that's why it helps to have a glass bottom dish.  You want a light golden top.

Oh and those scraps from the pie crust! Sprinkle with some cinnamon and sugar and throw on a cookie sheet and bake too! Put them on ice cream or just eat as they are!

The only thing this pie is missing is whipped cream...

While it's baking, whip up some fresh whipped cream. I use my hand held immersion blender or my kitchen aid...about a cup of heavy cream and a cup or so of powdered sugar with a squirt of vanilla.

You're Welcome.

The Perfect Pizza

I can't tell you how many times I cooked pizza before I finally found the best way to make it...on the grill.  We don't make it any other way. The grill is the only way and it comes out amazing and done in less than ten minutes. I do have to warn you that it is not easy and might take a few tries to get it down perfectly. We've been grilling pizza for a few years now but still screw it up every once in a while...mostly due to my lack of patience for waiting for the dough to rise. 
 

I usually start with making my own dough. My husband scolded me one time we messed up the pizza blaming it one the store bought dough.  Homemade dough just tastes better and has a little bit more elasticity...that is if you let it rise completely.

Pizza Dough Recipe 

Makes 1 large pizza about 14" or two 8" pizzas

Combine about 2 1/2 cups of flour, a tablespoon of sugar, sprinkle of salt and a teaspoon of garlic powder in a bowl. I say approximate measurements especially with the flour because you'll be using more when you go to stretch it out.

**Super important next step... get one cup of water to a temperature of 120 degrees.  You definitely need a thermometer for this. If it's too hot the yeast will die and result in your dough not rising at all. If it's not hot enough, the yeast won't activate and make your dough nice and stretchy either.  Once you have the perfect temp, dump in your yeast and whisk until it's dissolved.

I drizzle a tablespoon or two of oil olive into the yeast water. Pour that into your flour mixture and dig in. Hands are the best tools for this. When everything is incorporated, dump your dough out and knead for at least 8 minutes...another super important step! I'm so used to baking where you combine ingredients until they are just mixed so for a while I wasn't kneading enough. My dough would come out flat, dense and chewy.

Not the waiting begins. Even if you buy dough at the store, you still have to wait.  I make my dough first thing in the morning and leave it out on the counter, oiled up, always tightly covered and under a towel all day. Or if it's a sunny day, I put it outside.  It should take a few hours. The perfect temperature for dough to rise is 82 degrees.  The dough should just about double in size by the time it's ready.

Here's a good link to describe and show how to properly stretch your dough...

Some tips for stretching dough:

• Don't play with it too much. If you overwork your dough, it'll pretty much get tired and not wanna work anymore
• If you're using a wooden board, place a moist towel underneath it so it doesn't slide all around.
• Use enough flour so it's not sticky but not too much so it dries it out.
• Try to make it even thickness, about 1/2 inch.
• Small holes can be fixed with a little pinching

Fire up the grill...

While you wait for your grill to get up to 450, get all your ingredients in order...mise en place.  This is another really important part because once you get the dough on the grill, you're not gonna have time to walk away and grab everything.

We made two pizzas. It's a little easier to flip a small one then one really big one...and we both like different toppings.   Mine had homemade sauce, which I usually keep on hand in the freezer, homemade pesto made with fresh basil from my garden, plum tomatoes and red onion, both from the garden too! My husband's pizza had chicken, cherry peppers and jalapeno peppers from the garden.

Once you've got everything in place, preferably next to your grill, and the grill is hot and ready, oil up your dough with some olive oil. This is when my husband takes over cooking. The dough has to be totally brushed with oil so there is no chance of it sticking. If you add an excessive amount of oil, it will taste like fried dough, but has the possibility of catching on fire... I'd chance it! We put our dough on a big pizza board with a handle so its really easy to flip and move around. Makes my husband feel like a pro. You can use a wooden cutting board though.  Before you flip your pizza dough onto the grill, make sure it's not stuck to the surface by sliding it around. One of the first times we made grilled pizza, it stuck and folded up on the grill. It was impossible to spread out again. We made the best of it and just ended up with bite size pieces we dipped in sauce and threw toppings on.

When you have successfully flipped it onto the grill, close it for about three minutes. To test if it's done, peek under the dough to look for nice grill marks. It should lift off pretty easily. If it's about done, start brushing it with oil again for the next side to cook.  *Some people choose not to flip their dough and most likely cook it on a lower temp. We've tried that but prefer both sides cooked so you're not left with any raw dough.

  

As soon as you flip your pizza, start adding your toppings.  We usually end with the cheese so it sandwiches the toppings inside. Close up the grill and let it cook another four or five minutes until the cheese is melted. If you find that your pizza is done but the cheese hasn't melted yet, you can throw it under the broiler in your oven for a few minutes.

Let the pizza sit for a few minutes...if you can wait that long...before you cut it. 

 

It's seriously the best pizza you will ever make and maybe even eat.

 

Perfect for summer.  And for your husband to make.

You're Welcome :)