Ever since I was young, I've associated August with fresh, juicy, mouth watering sweet peaches. When I was a kid growing up just outside of Manhattan, we used to stop by a roadside farm stand, Mrs. Ramsey's, where Mrs. Ramsey herself sold her home grown fruits and vegetables. As a kid, I thought she had hundreds of acres of land; as an adult, I realize she probably got all that produce from just a handful of urban acres.
OK, ready to make pie?
First, get your hands on organic peaches - the flavor is better than you can imagine. Next, wash them and dunk them in boiling water and let them cool. This will make peeling the skin much easier. Some folks like to leave the skin on, it does change the overall texture of the pie - for this one, I removed skins.
Next, remove the pit and slice the peach into even sectors - the slices should be uniform so that as it bakes, all the slices bake at the same rate.
I'm a bit of a purist, so I don't like to add too much sugar or spice to a pie made with succulent, fresh, ripe fruit. Once you've got your peaches sliced (about 2 cups worth or enough to fill whatever sized pie pan you have), put them in a large saute pan with 1/2 cup of organic cane sugar, 2 TBS of butter, 1 TBS. of fresh lemon juice, the zest of one lemon, and 1/4 tsp. of cinnamon. If you like exotic flavors, try a 1/4 tsp. of cardamom or nutmeg. To go really wild, give it a dash of white pepper.
Heat the mixture so that all the flavors have melded together and the sugar has melted and is starting to thicken.
From here you can either pour it into a pie crust (more on that in a moment) or make a crisp out of it by making a crumble for the top and baking in a buttered ramekin.
The peach pie shown above is made with Guisto's organic Baker's Choice flour. For my money, there is no better flour on the planet - unless you happen to have a grist mill on your organic wheat farm somewhere in the midwestern US.
I'll set you up with the perfect pie crust recipe in another post - but here's how to do the lattice top.
Roll out your dough, make sure it's cold and make sure your surface has enough flour so the dough won't stick (but don't over-flour your dough, it will be tough). Make sure the dough is a consistent thickness - not too thick and not too thin - though personal preference plays a role here.
Cut your dough into strips using a sharp knife. Then, take your longest strip and lay it across the pie just left (or right) of center. Take your next longest strip and put it cross-wise to the first strip, also just left (or right) of center. Take your next strip and continue to weave them together. If you start from the middle, it's much easier to weave it together without anything falling apart.
Once you have your pie lid on, sprinkle it evenly with sugar and pop it in the over - 425 degrees for about 10 minutes then 350 for about 30 minutes should do it. If the edge start to brown too fast, put aluminum foil around the perimeter before it burns to a crisp.
Let it cool completely or you'll burn your mouth and miss the mouthwatering flavor. Serve with a southern favorite sweet tea and you'll feel like you're on summer vacation in your mouth.
And, if you're looking for the finest organic baking ingredients at great prices with world class customer service, head over to shopOrganic.com and use coupon code BAKING4GEEKS to save 10% on your first order. Tell 'em I sent you!
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