Parker County Peach Pie

I spent last Saturday afternoon in Weatherford, TX at the First Monday shindig. Also stopped at the Hutton Peach Farm and the Farmer's Market downtown. Parker County has some of the tastiest peaches in the world. And I came home with a 1/2 bushel. That's a lot when you live by yourself.

They say heaven is better than a fresh peach pie, as well as everything else. But you have to wonder if that is possible.

You are gonna need a crust. I used the one I found by Googling "America's Test Kitchen Pie Crust Vodka" and replacing the vodka with inexpensive bourbon. (Since Peach and Bourbon have complimentary tastes.)

This makes a 9" deep dish (a bit over 1" deep) pie. It also leaves the kitchen a mess and uses lots of utensils and pans and such, leaving them all dirty.

Skip this part if you are using a pre-made pie crust.

The basic ingredients for the crust are put together several hours ahead of time (or overnight) so they have time to cool properly. I am listing them here in case I want to drop by the grocery store and pick up whatever I need for a pie crust.

• 2 1/2 c flour

• 1 tsp salt

• 2 T sugar

• 3/4 c unsalted butter (1.5 sticks/12 T)

• 1/4 c Crisco all-vegetable shortening

• 1/4 c cold 80 proof bourbon (this cooks off leaving flakey places in the crust)

• 1/4 c cold water

Mix according to the directions you find when you search. The actual recipe is behind a paywall and I suggest you sign up. Divide in half, one for the bottom, one for the lattice on top, wrap each half in plastic wrap and leave in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. (Note: You can make this work without cooling but its really hard. You have to spread the 1st half onto the pie pan sort of like icing.

Make the bottom half of the pie crust in a 9" deep dish pie plate. Mine is glass.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

I saw this peach baking procedure on some cooking show in a hotel room in Little Rock, Arkansas. It evaporates some of the peach juice leaving the flavor. It also carmelizes some of the juices and sugar, adding a rich taste. The pie will be less watery if you do this.

• 8-10 med-large peaches

Peel. Cut the peaches in half and remove the seeds. Place peach halves face up on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle with

• granulated sugar.

Put the peels and seeds in a saucepan. (Back to those in a minute.)

Put the pie crust on a rack in the bottom half of the oven and the cookie sheet on a rack in the top half. If the oven isn't preheated, the pie crust may burn.

Bake for 15-20 minutes. Don't let it burn.
Turn the peach halves over. Sprinkle with sugar.
Bake for 15-20 minutes. Again, don't let it burn.(Watch the crust and remove it if it starts to brown.)
Remove both the peaches and crust from the oven.

Change the temperature to 450 degrees for the cooking the pie.

Cut the peach halves into 3 or 4 slices each and put them in a bowl.

Back to that saucepan with the peels and seeds in it. Pour the juice out of the cookie sheet, any juice that collects in the bowl of peaches and 1/3 cup white wine (or white grape juice) in the saucepan. Heat low-medium with a lid until the peels begin to surrender their juice.
Strain the peels out and return the juice to the pan. Add the following to create a tangy, tasty, fruity, thickened syrupy sauce.

• 1 c sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 14 tsp ground nutmeg
• 2 T lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 T butter
• 1/4 c bourbon (again, the alcohol will evaporate leaving that bourbon flavor)

Heat on high stirring heartily to reduce by 1/2. Do not leave unattended and do not burn. (These mean the same thing.)

Add

• 3 T powdered fruit pectin (about 1/2 package of Sure-Jell)

Boil for 1 minute and remove from the heat.

Assemble the pie starting with the crust.
Add the peach slices without any of the juice that leaked out at the last minute.
Pour in the thickened, spiced and lemoned sauce that you prepared in the saucepan. Do not overfill.
If there is room in the shell without overflowing, add some of the extra juice you didn't add a moment ago.
Add the lattice crust on top. (Roll it out and cut 1 inch strips. Put them on top of the pie in alternating directions.)
Sprinkle liberally with

• granulated sugar.

Cook the pie for 10 minutes in the preheated 450 degree oven.
Reduce the temperature to 350 and bake for 25-30 more minutes.
If the rim of the crust starts to overbrown, add strips of aluminum foil around the edge when half cooked.
Remove from the heat and cool 15 minutes before eating.