Making Pies

I've made several pies over the last few weeks. I first made a couple of rhubarb pies late last summer using Julia Childs's recipe for flakey pie dough. Her recipe is perfect, and if you follow her directions you can't screw up the dough. I tried making pie dough once later in the fall and it was a total disaster. The dough did not take and it never adhered. I now realize that I failed to use enough water to provide a base for the flour, butter and shortening to stick together. I'm embaressed to say that I think I used only a few teaspoons of water instead of the full cup of water called for in the recipe. Duh! Anyway, having made that mistake, I feel like I've now got the hang of it. I also learned to follow the recipe.

I made a couple of cherry pies in March, and then I made a strawberry-rhubarb pie on Saturday and a plain rhubarb pie on Sunday. I added some orange zest to the rhubarb pies, and I loved the hint of orange flavoring. The zest mellowed the tartness of the rhubarb, especially the less than fully ripened rhubarb I bought at the store. I served the pies with a sauternes, which pulled out the flavor of the orange zest in particular.

Here's a slice of the cherry pie.

Strawberry-rhubarb pie: filling, fresh from the oven and a slice with homemade vanilla bean ice cream.



And, the rhubarb pie--see the green, not-totally-ripened pieces of rhubard through the vents? It tasted amazing!