The Book on Pie: Week Two
Juice, Juice, Baby!
I am now the owner of a juicer, an appliance that evokes inspiration and daydreams about how I’ll wake up an hour early every morning and make fresh green juice. Maybe one day I could make a sincere post on Instagram falsely claiming that celery juice cured my IBS or acid reflux or whatever... So far I’ve only used it once to make apple juice. But the hope is still there!!! And that’s what matters.
I won this juicer on an eBay auction and now I have flashbacks to 2012 when my best friend and I watched the documentary Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. We were so influenced that we cleared our fridge that night, ran to Walmart to buy a juicer, then to the grocery store to buy a week worth of fruits and vegetables. To no one’s surprise, we lasted about two days and had a fridge full of brown apples.
I seriously have not touched a juicer since. But, this little cutie caught my eye. Of course, I did not pay nearly $400 for it because that is simply not the lifestyle I live. Instead, I spent months hunting for one on eBay/Mercari/Poshmark/FB Marketplace and was able to find one - BRAND NEW IN BOX - for half the price. Nothing excites me more than a deal. Now the hard part – actually using the juicer. I figured it would be a good way to use up any fruits and vegetables that I have trouble finishing.
Do you have a favorite juice combination that I should try?
November Cookbook: The Book on Pie: Everything You Need to Know to Bake Perfect Pies by Erin Jeanne McDowell
This week I made the earl grey custard pie (pg. 216) with a gingersnap crumb crust (pg. 66) and salted caramel sauce (pg. 126). I used the BEST gingersnaps for the base – these from World Market! This press-in crust turned out a lot better than last week’s attempt at the flaky dough. (As in, it was edible.) The custard turned out perfectly – not exactly picture-perfect, but neither was the photo in the book. This is where the salted caramel sauce and the whipped cream come in.
My first attempt at the caramel sauce was, in a word, disastrous. I was trying to multi-task and accidentally let the caramel burn. The caramel literally looked like bubbling tar! It was obviously unusable, but more so I was panicking over how I was going to get this sticky, black tar-looking burnt sugar off of my Le Creuset pot!!! 😭 Seriously, if it were in a cheaper pot I would have thrown it away. After a couple of minutes of panic, I came to my senses and started boiling water to dissolve the sugar. After about 30 minutes, the pan was clean. A little bruised, but clean.
I tried the caramel again (and didn’t take my eyes off of it) and it turned out great. Then I topped the pie with some decorative whipped cream and chocolate shavings. Eating a slice of this pie transported me to ~* holiday *~ vibes!! Delish.
So this week I did make two pies. But the avocado galette (pg. 307) is really more like a pie-ified avocado toast. I tried making it with the pumpernickel pie dough (pg. 55) but again, I struggled with the crust. 😔 It wasn’t flakey at all and burnt around the edges. Time to revisit Erin’s YouTube channel! I took a few bites, but ultimately scrapped the avocado in a bowl and ate it with tortilla chips. So far this month I am losing 1:2 at this pie game. Fingers crossed for better luck next week!
And ‘tis the season for baked apple cider doughnuts! These are a must each year. This was my first time making Erin’s version and it won’t be the last! Yum.
Thanks for reading, sweeties! 🍎