[Kimmie]

Thanks girls!

[Isa]

Kimmie: Tous les gouts sont dans la nature....


If 30 months old cheddar in your pie makes you happy, go for it! Me? I'll pass.

[Anneke]

Isa, what would you use?

[Isa]

In my apple pie? Nothing except apple and spices: cinnamon, a pinch of ginger, a touch of nutmeg and asmidgen of all spice. Serve with an ice cold glass of milk.


Lately I've been craving cinnamon ice cream, no idea why I've never even tasted cinnamon ice cream. Who knows if I had some maybe I'd have some with the aple pie....

[Anneke]

Isa, there's this really great ice cream place here called Greg's Ice Cream, especially known for their ultimate super-dreamy roasted marshmallow ice cream. (Yuuuummmmmmmm..Campfire in a cone...)
They make cinnamon ice cream once in a while. Frankly, I'm not sure I like it all that much. It has a bit of a grainy feel to it, and because both cinnamon and ice are known for numbing your taste buds, in the end you onkly get texture and very little flavour.
I think cinnamon really works best on something warm...

[Isa]

Good point Anneke. I do wonder if they use real cinnamon or cassia in their ice cream? It might make a difference in the end product.

[Anneke]

Aha! Also a good point!
Greg's only uses the real stuff....

[W.DeBord]

There's several published recipes for pie crusts with cheese them. They sound interesting, but I alway thought it would ruin the crumb of the pastry....


You can add cinnamon to vanilla ice cream to make cinnamon ice cream. It's quite good. Better yet... freeze layers of cinnamon ice cream with layered vanilla ice cream. Then scoop through both layers so you get a marbled scoop, yum. Lot's you can do with that, incuding add some sugared pecans in your cin. ice cream. That would be nice with you crisp Anneke....

[Rue]

I don't add any kind of thickening to apple pie, depending on the pectin in the apple to create its own thickening. I dust it with sugar and cinnamon. I limit the sugar as much as possible, between 1/4 to 1/2 cup per 9 inch pie. I don't precook the apples.

This is kind of late but I had found a location on the web last week. I had asked the question of whether some apples had more pectin than others. This is the ans. I received:

"Thank you for visiting our site.

According to the text "Processed Apple Products," reported pectic constituents in apples varied during maturation, which may be due to use of different cultivars and growing conditions. While pectin is found mostly in the peel, pectin also can be linked with various sugars found in the apple flesh (e.g., arabinose, xylose)

We do not have any recent information on the pectin content of various apples, however. You may want to check with universities like Cornell that do research or organizations that deal primarily with fresh apples (www.usapple.org)."


If any one wishes to investigate further maybe this site would be of help.

Rue

[Marzoli]

W. deBord: Thanks for the pie recipe. Can't wait to try it out!

[Rue]

just dropped in for a few seconds and noticed the discussion of leaf lard. When butchering a hog, leaf lard is generally just under the skin and comes off in slabs of almost pure lard. It will render out almost with out cracklings. The other lard that is pulled off of the organs and meat and should not be mixed with the leaf lard but rendered separately. As was stated, the leaf will not carry the flavor of the meat. Any lard that is rendered with meat or connective tissue around the organs etc. will naturally have some of the flavoring and will inbue that to whatever it is cooked with. Lard is still the best for pie crust and fried chicken.

Rue

[angrychef]

i usually make about 60-75 10-in. pies come Thanksgiving. I finally got down with my formula and here's what works for me:

1. combination of Granny Smith and Golden Delicious apples.
2. flaky pie crust using 1/2 butter 1/2 shortening. The shortening really helps the piecrust crimping stay in shape, the butter provides wonderful flavor. I only use all shortening for parve pies.
3. I find it easier to do it the old-fashioned way(no pre-cooking the apples) because of time constraints. I make sure the apples are chopped small(more surface area, so they can be packed with less air gaps into the pie shell) and I use cornstarch. Flour is fine but I like the clear juices with cornstarch.
4. I melt the butter and mix it in with the filling instead of dotting the pie with cold butter cubes. More even distribution.
5. Bake at 400F(convection, with a sheet pan underneath) first 15 minutes then lower to 350 for 45 minutes.
6. Sometimes instead of lemon juice I use orange juice concentrate.

I certainly have found some useful tips in this thread and hope to try them this coming month.
Wendy, I'm glad Pro Baking(the new edition) is helpful.

[W.DeBord]

I'm working on my recipe file and realize my best baking powder biscuits use lemon juice for tenderness. Then I came across another recipe from a southern cook who uses lemon juice in her pie crusts. So I remember someone (I think Momoreg?) here mentioned they use lemon juice also in their crust.

So I was wondering if whom ever would share that point and how much lemon they use...also where did you learn that? I haven't seen any other reference to it in baking books with pie dough?

P.S. Tell me you don't have to roll all those crusts out by hand at the same time Angry? Yuk.

P. S. What's everyones thoughts about storing their baked pies? With or with-out plastic on top and room temp. or the cooler? I'm not sure if I've noticed any differences over the years with how they keep. Seems they last nicely for about 2 day and then they break down regardless of method.?

[angrychef]

Wendy, the addition of an acid(vinegar, lemon juice, sour cream) helps tenderize the gluten strands in the pie dough. In the Pie and Pastry Bible(Rose Levy B.) she explains this. I don't add an acid to my pie dough since I use pastry flour, but I will try it sometime.
It is tiring to roll out the pie crusts, but I do it a couple of days ahead of time(with my assistant) and stack them between parchment so they don't dry out.
I cool the pies to room temp., then they go in the walk-in in cake boxes.

[Isa]

I'm a pie freezer. Why? Because I like them to last. To preserve my pie I cut them into pieces than put the pie and the plate in the freezer. Once the pie is frozen I individually wrap each piece individually. When I have a pie craving I just oopen my frezer and choose a nice piece.