|
Pate Brisee:
In a food processor, place the flour, salt, and sugar and process
until combined. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse
meal (about 15 seconds). Pour 1/4 cup (60 ml) water in a slow, steady stream,
through the feed tube until the dough just holds together when pinched. If
necessary, add more water. Do not process more than 30 seconds.
Turn the dough onto your work surface and gather into a ball. Divide the dough in half, flattening
each half into a disk, cover with plastic
wrap, and refrigerate for about one hour before using. This will chill the butter and relax the gluten in the flour.
After the dough has chilled sufficiently,
remove one portion of the dough from the fridge and
place it on a lightly floured surface.
Roll the pastry into a
12 inch (30 cm) circle. (To prevent the
pastry from sticking to the counter and to ensure uniform thickness, keep
lifting up and turning the pastry a quarter turn as you roll (always roll from
the center of the pastry outwards).)
Fold
the dough in half and gently transfer to a 9 inch (23 cm)
pie pan. Brush off any excess flour and trim any overhanging
pastry to an edge of 1/2 inch (1.5 cm). Refrigerate the pastry,
covered with plastic wrap, while you make the filling.
Remove the second round of
pastry and roll it into a 13 inch (30 cm) circle. Using a pastry wheel or pizza
cutter, cut the pastry into 3/4 inch (2 cm) strips. Place
the strips of pastry on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, cover with plastic
wrap, and place in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 400
degrees F (205 degrees C)
and place the oven rack in the lower third of the oven. Put a baking
sheet on the oven rack. (The pie plate will be placed on the hot baking
sheet to catch any spills.)
Make the Strawberry Rhubarb
Filling: Place the
cut strawberries and rhubarb in a large bowl. In a
small bowl mix together the cornstarch, sugar, and ground cinnamon.
Remove the
chilled pie crust from the fridge.
Sprinkle about 2 tablespoons of the sugar mixture over the bottom of
the pastry crust. Add the remaining sugar mixture to the strawberries
and rhubarb and gently toss to combine.
Pour the fruit mixture into the prepared pie shell.
Sprinkle the fruit with about 1 teaspoon of lemon juice and dot with 2
tablespoons of butter.
Remove the lattice
pastry from the refrigerator and, starting at the center with the longest
strips and working outwards, space the strips about 3/4 inch (2 cm)
apart. Use the shortest pastry strips at the outer edges. Then, rotate
pie plate a quarter turn, and repeat the process with the rest of the
strips. Weave the top strips over and under the bottom strips. Trim
the edges of the strips, leaving a 1 inch (2.5 cm) overhang. Seal the
edges of the pastry strips by folding them under the bottom pastry
crust and flute the edges of the pastry. Brush the lattice pastry with
milk and sprinkle with a little sugar.
Place the pie
plate on the hot baking sheet and bake the pie for
about 35 minutes and then, if the edges of the pie are browning too
much, cover with a foil ring. Continue to bake the pie for
another 10 minutes or until the crust is a golden brown color and the
fruit juices begin to bubble.
Remove the pie from the oven and place on a wire rack
to cool for several hours. Serve at room temperature with softly
whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Leftovers can be stored in
the refrigerator for about
3 days. Reheat before serving. This pie can be
frozen.
Makes one 9 inch (23 cm) pie.
Sources:
Editors of Cook's
Illustrated. Baking Illustrated. America's Test Kitchen. Brookline MA:
2004.
Sax, Richard.
Classic Home Desserts. Houghton Mifflin Company. New York: 1994.
Walter, Carole. Great
Pies & Tarts. Clarkson/Potter Publishers. New York: 1998. |
Page loading ... Please wait.
