Can you make a pie? Neither can I.
The domestic tranquility in our household is ensured by a reasonable number of rules. Very high on the list is: one chef in the kitchen at a time. Not zero. Two is right out. The number of the chefs shall be one.
This lesson was learned the hard way, but is not actually a hard lesson. We both like to cook; we can each follow the other's lead. Each of us has certain specialties, which helps. Herself is better at desserts and ethnic cuisines; I have the edge on Southern style and breakfast cooking.
Or so I thought.
Pastry has never been a strong suit for either of us. I'm reasonably OK with this. A man's got to know his limitations. Unfortunately for Herself, the Platonic Ideal Crust looms out there like a golden brown and delicious Mount Everest, taunting her, tempting her, mocking her. She makes great pie, which I think actually makes it more painful to use a store-bought crust.
Last weekend, we found ourselves with a fantastic mock apple pie filling and the detritus of another attempted expedition up Mount Pie Crust. Just as things looked their darkest, a beam of light shined the way... we had fruit. We had flour and shortening and milk.
We had cobbler.
Into the cast iron dutch oven went the filling. While it heated, Herself mixed together some biscuit dough. Spooned it over the top, baked for half an hour, and mmmm-MMMM what a green tomato cobbler we had!
Sunday night dinner was chicken and pan gravy. And everybody knows what goes with chicken and gravy... biscuits. Those biscuits from the cobbler were very promising indeed. So she made up another batch of biscuit dough, rolled them out and cut them, and mmm-boy were they good.
Waitaminnit. Biscuits are Southern. And breakfast food.
But I've never made a rolled biscuit in my life. I make drop biscuits. They're easy, they're reliable, and I like the crumbly texture. You don't worry about over-working them, it's OK if they're not the same size, the tops turn out all cool and craggy-like.
Dammit, she made some good biscuits. Both times. The second batch were almost picture-perfect.
If y'all will excuse me, I have to go hide my secret Maryland fried chicken recipe. This aggression will not stand, man.
------------
PS: I don't care what Alton says. (This time.) If it's got hot fruit on the bottom and biscuit dough on the top, that's cobbler.
This lesson was learned the hard way, but is not actually a hard lesson. We both like to cook; we can each follow the other's lead. Each of us has certain specialties, which helps. Herself is better at desserts and ethnic cuisines; I have the edge on Southern style and breakfast cooking.
Or so I thought.
Pastry has never been a strong suit for either of us. I'm reasonably OK with this. A man's got to know his limitations. Unfortunately for Herself, the Platonic Ideal Crust looms out there like a golden brown and delicious Mount Everest, taunting her, tempting her, mocking her. She makes great pie, which I think actually makes it more painful to use a store-bought crust.
Last weekend, we found ourselves with a fantastic mock apple pie filling and the detritus of another attempted expedition up Mount Pie Crust. Just as things looked their darkest, a beam of light shined the way... we had fruit. We had flour and shortening and milk.
We had cobbler.
Into the cast iron dutch oven went the filling. While it heated, Herself mixed together some biscuit dough. Spooned it over the top, baked for half an hour, and mmmm-MMMM what a green tomato cobbler we had!
Sunday night dinner was chicken and pan gravy. And everybody knows what goes with chicken and gravy... biscuits. Those biscuits from the cobbler were very promising indeed. So she made up another batch of biscuit dough, rolled them out and cut them, and mmm-boy were they good.
Waitaminnit. Biscuits are Southern. And breakfast food.
But I've never made a rolled biscuit in my life. I make drop biscuits. They're easy, they're reliable, and I like the crumbly texture. You don't worry about over-working them, it's OK if they're not the same size, the tops turn out all cool and craggy-like.
Dammit, she made some good biscuits. Both times. The second batch were almost picture-perfect.
If y'all will excuse me, I have to go hide my secret Maryland fried chicken recipe. This aggression will not stand, man.
------------
PS: I don't care what Alton says. (This time.) If it's got hot fruit on the bottom and biscuit dough on the top, that's cobbler.
posted by Joe at 8:51 PM
5 Comments:
After securing literally 10 pounds (and by "literally", I mean literally) of blueberries, we had some amazing cobbler -- amazing how easy it was.
I can knit a sweater
but I cannot make reliable pie crust.
Consider this proof of your good influence rubbing off on the Beautiful Herself.
This may well have been already tried, but the biggest secret to good pie dough is to make sure all ingredients are bone-chillingly cold at every step along the way.
I'm not an expert of pie dough yet, but I also do most of my pies in a 12" round by 2" deep dish (rather than the standard 9" by 1"), which adds several layers of challenge to the equation.
Using my grandmother recipie I can make a greatoatmeal cookie. Will trade with reggie for good pie crust, Swankpoet as judge.
Reggie - remember the night we made an apple "pie" in the Campus Ministry house? And by "pie", I mean something a lot more like a gargantuan cookie, because I put about 3 times too much sugar in the crust...
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