Pie Redux

A while back we made apple pie. In fact, it was our very first twobrowngirls entry. We've learned a lot about cooking since then, and about blogging (though you wouldn't know it from the frequency of our postings), and it seems that we've been teaching a bit too. What follows is an Apple Pie Redux -- a series of conversations between myself and Keerthi's little brother detailing the many vagaries of apple pie baking. Enjoy!

Kiran wrote
at 8:47pm May 31st, 2006
Poonam, my sister said you had a really great apple pie recipe. She's totally shafting me on it and not helping me out. Do you have some magical recipe you could share?

Poonam wrote
at 11:53pm May 31st, 2006
see: twobrowngirls.blogspot.com for apple pie joy (enjoy!)

Editor's Note: The Apple Pie Recipe can be found in the September 2005 Archives

Kiran wrote
at 12:16am June 2nd, 2006
Thanks very much - I'll be making it very soon. How many did you guys make for Piefest '05? Or was it early '06?

Poonam wrote
at 5:15am June 2nd, 2006
it was '05... tips: 1. the apples from your backyard are totally fab for this, just make sure to weigh them out after you peel/core them not before. 2. the recipe really gives a lot more filling/crust than necc. we made (i believe) 2 large pies (one with a proper closed bottom and top crust and another with a bottom crust and a crunchy topping -- the closed one tasted better) and then a series of smaller "apple pot pies" in ramekins (which were basically surplus filling topped with a bit of dough). Everyone liked the potpies a lot, if i did this again i might just make like a dozen of those. If you want whole pies though, I'm pretty sure the recipe will give you enough crust for 2 bottom and top pies.

Kiran wrote
at 10:37am June 2nd, 2006
Sweet. I recall that the pie you all made was delish. Then again, I don't know if i ended up having any. Maybe I'm hallucinating again.

Kiran wrote
at 11:22pm June 4th, 2006
Yo, sorry I'm bombarding you with pie questions, but you're basically my only resource. First, I need to store the dough for more than 2 days, so I should freeze it, yeah? Then what thawing shit do I do? Also, if I'm only baking one of the 2 large pies at a time, what settings do I do differently?

Poonam wrote
at 5:41am June 5th, 2006
yes, wrap the dough tightly in clingfilm and freeze it. to defrost, just bring it out onto the counter an hour or so before youre planning to use it (more, if the kitchen is air conditioned/cold). theres all that fat (i.e. butter, shortening) in it, so it'll defrost pretty quickly. and don't put it in the microwave! the dough will seize and taste icky and just be kind of ew. here's a tip, though, i'd say divide it into 4 portions even if you're planning on making 2 double crusts -- the dough will defrost more quickly in the smaller portion size, and its easier to work with. once your dough is defrosted, put it into the fridge to keep it chilled. if you leave it out for too long its going to get all mushy and thats bad. once you've defrosted dough it (in theory) acts just like fresh dough, so from defrosting you have at least 2 days of fridge-time. as to baking one pie at a time, i wouldn't worry about that affecting baking times and things.

Poonam wrote
at 5:44am June 5th, 2006
oops. maxed out the character limit. anyways, we baked 1 pie first as a "test subject" and then baked the rest together, and the temps/times seemed to hold true regardless. don't just leave the pie though, check on it when you reduce the temp (after 20 mins) and then again about 15 mins later, and then again about 15 mins after that. you'd be suprised a) what 5 or 10 mins of overbaking can do and b) how many ovens don't actually heat up to the temps that they say they are (they get hotter or cooler). so check on the pie. ummm. yeah. i think thats about it.

Kiran wrote
at 9:11am June 5th, 2006
Awesome, muchisimas gracias. I'll photodocument.

Poonam wrote
at 5:51am June 7th, 2006
photo-documentation would be greatly appreciated, as your sister and i are both far too lazy to come up with new foodblog material.

Kiran wrote
at 1:30pm June 7th, 2006
For sure. I'm trying to figure out if I can make 'rum apple' pie.

Kiran wrote
at 1:30pm June 7th, 2006
Which basically means rum with a pie chaser.

Kiran wrote
at 11:32pm June 8th, 2006
There is pieful glory updated.

Editor's Note: What follows is Kiran's pictures and commentary on his Adventures in Pie

I make decent pie, even when janked thanks to lack of rolling pinnage. Imagine what I could do with proper tools.What I mean to say is - I didn't have a rolling pin to roll out the crust. I used a metal lid and lots (and I mean lots) of flour. Those and my hands.Yeah, my hands were useful in making this pie.

I realized it looks un poco sketch. It tastes better than it looks.
Location: My Kitchen Table



And here, it must be mentioned, the ever elusive Keerthi appears to make a comment...

Keerthi wrote
at 11:40pm June 8th, 2006
ur pie es més que un poc sketch, és MOLT sketch. encara t'estimo xoxoxoxoxo

I concur. Then again, I don't speak/read/write Spanish; I base my concurment on the appearance of the words "pie" and "sketch" in that sentence. This is a pie and it is sketch. But I have a strong feeling that it was delish, especially with the addition of ice cream!



So YAY KIRAN for being brave enough to try one of our recipes! Post-pie discussion follows...

Poonam wrote
at 6:03am June 9th, 2006
hint --
lacking rolling pin?
use wine bottle. or vodka bottle. or random whole foods brand sparkling water bottle. basically use a glass bottle. it works well.

Kiran wrote
at 10:13am June 9th, 2006
Another problem was that I added too much water in the beginning, since I was impatient with the stirrage. I ended up compensating witih flour. I'm making a second pie today; I'll be rolling pinning it and adding more flour beforehand.


Hopefully we'll have some more photos and/or words of baking wisdom from Kiran in the near future re: PIE.

And keep watching this space kids -- there will be further guest posts in the near future.