PIE 8 - SHOW ME THE DOUGH!

You need no innuenDOUGH to see that this blog entry is all about DOUGH and borders on DOUGHpiness.

I grew up in the shaDOUGH of an accomplished cook. My mom was a DOUGHmestic goddess way before Martha Stewart boasted the title. She was an avid gardener, seamstress and cook and kept our home as neat as a pin. She loved the color purple!

As a teenager none of my mom's stellar homemaking skills rubbed off on me, , but as a young bride I was motivated to master DOUGHmesticity. The kitchen became my favored DOUGHmain and my creDOUGH was “All or Nothing”. With great passion I tackled complicated recipes and procedures, mastering a few but failing spectacularly at others.

Pie DOUGH, for instance. Last week’s crust failure left me feeling like a DOUGH-DOUGH brain! You’d think after 40 years of cooking for my family, I could bake a basic pie crust. It's apparent I’m just a pseuDOUGH pie maker pretending to know all about DOUGH.

Thank goodness for Marian, the DOUGHyenne of DOUGH! I got to know Marian last year during our church’s trip to the Holy Land (Marian is front row right in the photo). She’s fun and sassy and exudes a joie de vivre that I admire. She offered to give me a crust tutorial and I gratefully accepted this winDOUGH of opportunity to receive guidance!

Upon arriving at Marian’s home, she let me choose an apron to wear. Her charming collection has sentimental value. She has an apron that belonged to her mom and another that belonged to her grandmother. I chose to wear a purple gingham one in remembrance of my mom’s favorite color. 

Marian then pulled out her pie crust recipe that a high school friend shared years ago. The 3 x 5 card had stains and smudges, proof positive of a tried-and-true go-to recipe. After gathering the ingredients, Marian assembled the necessary implements for pie making: pastry mat, marble rolling pin, whisk, DOUGH scraper, pastry blender, large bowl and measuring cups and spoons.

Then we got down to business. Flour and salt were whisked together. Shortening was cut-in using the pastry blender until coarsely integrated. Egg, water and vinegar were whisked together then added to the bowl. Marian demonstrated how to lightly knead the DOUGH just until it held together, adding water if necessary to achieve the proper consistency.

The DOUGH was then shaped into a log, cut in half (this recipe makes two crusts), wrapped in plastic wrap and chilled for half an hour. One DOUGH ball was placed on a floured pastry mat and gently rolled using the mat’s circle template as a guide. Using a knife, excess DOUGH that had rolled past the circle was trimmed. The DOUGH was then gently folded into quarters and placed into a 9-inch pie plate. The procedure was repeated for the second crust.

Any filling that requires baking can be used in this recipe. I chose to keep things simple and used canned cherry pie filling. Marian dotted the filling with ¼ cup butter for a flavor and texture boost. The second crust went atop the filled pie plate. Marian demonstrated how to crimp the DOUGH edge and seal it. She cut slits in the top of the crust to allow heat to vent as the pie baked. She mentioned she likes to get creative and sometimes etches the letter “M” into the crust. And how perfect is that - “M for Marian my marvelous friend and “M” in memory of my mom.

I toted the pie home and baked it the next day (400 degrees for 40 minutes) and am thrilled to say Marian’s crust recipe was a success! Talk about a rush of DOUGHpamine! Even though we inadvertently used whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose, the end product was well-liked by Joe who happens to prefer whole grains anyway.

I am a big aficionaDOUGH of this recipe and so very grateful Marian DOUGHnated her time to teach me. And now that my weirDOUGH word play has reached a crescenDOUGH, I close with this:

Knock knock!
Who’s there?
DOUGH.
DOUGH who?
DOUGHn’t ever give up trying!