An afternoon at home with such summery weather had me torn between staying in and writing recipes (like I promised I would!) or getting out in this beautiful sunshine! I managed a bit of both and while I was contemplating which next formula to tackle, I remembered the great post on Michael Ruhlman's blog about pie dough from his new book Ratio. It made me go back and revisit our formula, just to see if it could use a little tweaking. In the end, I reduced the butter by a smidge, but other than that I think we have a winner. Pie crust purists may scoff at the addition of an egg yolk and sugar, but it adds a tenderness to the crust that we really enjoy! Since the rhubarb is still looking like an alien we have to turn to the freezer to use up the rest of the berries.
For the crust:
2 1/2 cup unbleached flour
7 ounces cold butter, cut into little pieces
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup ice cold water
1 egg yolk
splash lemon juice
Cut cold butter into flour, working the mixture with your hands and rubbing between your fingers in a sheeting motion. When it is well combined add sugar and salt and mix together wet ingredients... Add to flour mix and work to form a ball of dough, using more flour or water as needed to keep it from being too dry or too sticky. Wrap tightly and refridgerate for an hour or up to a week. Will freeze for one month.
Berry filling;
5 cups IQF frozen Berries- thawed just slightly
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup corn starch
toss all ingredients together in a bowl and set aside
To Assemble:
On a well floured surface roll out 1/2 the ball of dough to about a 12" circle, Place this into a 9 inch deep dish pie plate.
Fill the center with the berries. Roll out the other half of dough into a rectangle this time, about 14" x 10". cut 1 1/2" strips the short way...about 10 strips total. Lay 5 strips across berry-filled pie, folding back the two alternate ones from the middle. Lay one strip down perpendicular to these across the middle of the pie. lay the two strips back into place and pulling back the three alternating ones, lay another strip down and repeat process on other side until all 5 remaining are used. Tuck the ends up under the edge of the pie plate and crimp around the edges. At this point, I like to guild the lily even more by brushing with egg wash and sprinkling with a little sugar. place on parchment lined sheet pan in a 375 degree oven. Bake one hour or until bubbly in the center.
