Greg Henry - Savory Pies: Delicious Recipes for Seasoned Meats, Vegetables and Cheeses Baked in Perfectly Flaky Pie Crusts

It takes a villagea pie-eating, pie-making, pie-loving village. Fortunately, the blogosphere is just such a village. So many talented people came to the rescue all throughout this pie-makers journey.

Many of the props you see in this book are way too swanky to be mine. Friends and extended family all contributed key pieces. Their good taste was so important in giving this book some of its visual appeal. Most particularly, I would like to thank Jackie Dodd/The Beeroness; Erika Penzer Kerekes/In Erikas Kitchen; Miyoshi Barosh; Laura Pangrazio; Rocco Vienhage; and my neighbors Laura Smith and Michael Doret, who showed up at the doorvintage fork in handwhenever I rang.

I cant forget the cooks in my life, called upon to test recipes at various stages in this process. They neither pulled punches nor sugarcoated a single savory pie. Im grateful to Tori Avey/The Shiksa in the Kitchen; Kris Bingham; Jane Bonacci/The Heritage Cook; Kim Burnell/Rustic Garden Bistro; Steven Dunn/Oui, Chef; Allison Guinn; Jenny Johnson/Vintage Sugarcube; Renee Joslyn/Flamingo Musings; Trevor Kensey/sis.boom.[blog!]; Liz Lees; Suzanne Morrell; Dorothy Reinhold/Shockingly Delicious; Elizabeth Schmitt/Liz the Chef; Janis Tester/Bite Me New England; Amy Torres; and Svetlana Watkins/Bibberche.

Of course, I cant forget the Big Cheese. Everything I know about cheese I learned because of Barrie Lynn, the Cheese Impresario. Well always have Wisconsin.

Finally, special thanks to Nathan Hazard and Andy Windak, who ate pie and listened to me talk late into the nighteven after listening to my blather all through a recording session of The Table Set.

GREG HENRY began to write the food blog Sippity SupSerious Fun Food as a break from a career as an entertainment industry photographer, and was surprised by its hold on him. He now writes a Friday column on entertaining for The Back Burner at Key Ingredient (www.keyingredient.com) and is active in the food blogging community. Hes led cooking demonstrations in Panama and Costa Rica and has journeyed as far afield as Norway to promote culinary travel. Hes been featured in Food & Wine magazine, the Los Angeles Times, More magazine, the Today show online, the Huffington Post, and Saveur magazines Best of the Web. Greg also cohosts The Table Set (downloadable on iTunes or at Homefries.com), named by LA Weekly as one of five favorite podcasts for food lovers. He and Grant are brothers, and this is their first book.

GRANT HENRY is a graduate of the French Culinary Institute (now the International Culinary Center) in New York City. He is recognized as a Certified Specialist of Wine by the Society of Wine Educators. Currently living in his hometown of St. Petersburg, Florida, Grant is a sales rep for a small wine distributor specializing in boutique wineries from around the world. When not selling wine, making delicious dinners for his friends and family, or entertaining his son, Grant puts the Sip in Sippity Sup. His three favorite wine words are dirt, acid, and gravel.

Crisp, flaky, and just salty enough. Creating a crust with tooth that melts instantly on your tongue is the key to any great pie. But opinions and controversies abound. What combination or ratio is best? Well, Ive tried them all. The all-butter crust remains my favorite for its rich, savory flavor. Its four simple ingredients are always on hand at my house, so in my opinion, this is the one to master.

MAKES TWO 8 TO 10-INCH PIE CRUSTS OR ONE 8 TO 10-INCH DOUBLE-CRUST SHELL

2- cups (390 grams) all-purpose flour, scooped and leveled, plus more as needed

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 sticks (1 cup) plus 2 tablespoons very cold European-style (high-fat) unsalted butter, cut into -inch dice

2 or 3 ice cubes

cup cold water (plus 2 tablespoons, if needed)

In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the 2-3/4 cups flour with the salt 5 or 6 times until well combined. If a specific recipe calls for additional spices, herbs, cheese, vinegar, or lemon juice, this is the time to add them.

Add the butter and pulse 10 or 12 more times until the mixture is crumbly and coarse, with various-size chunks of butter visible throughout. Wedge 2 or 3 ice cubes, broken up if necessary, in the processors feed tube. With the machine running, pour up to 1/3 cup cold water over the ice in the ice-filled feed tube a tablespoon at a time, until the dough just comes together and begins to pull cleanly away from the sides of the bowl in jagged clumps. Dont let the machine run too long, and dont worry if you dont use all the water. Overworked dough and/or too much water are the main culprits in making pastry tough or dense. However, in warm weather or dry climates you may need up to 2 tablespoons more cold water. Youll learn to recognize the right balance of wet and dry.

Move the dough to a lightly floured work surface and gently knead it 2 or 3 times. If it seems quite sticky or at all wet, sprinkle in another few teaspoons flour. Give it a couple more quick, gentle kneads. Divide the dough in half and shape into 2 discs about 5 inches in diameter and 3/4 inch thick, or as indicated in the individual recipe. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 1 hour (or up to 2 days) to distribute the moisture evenly, or freeze for up to 1 month.

I promise you theres no great secret to making good pastry dough. Once youve done it a few times youll recognize the right balance of wet to dry and the elasticity that makes dough easy to work without being too dense. But no matter how many times I make that promise, I still see fear in the eyes of the novice baker. I usually try to talk them down from the pie precipice with this recipe, because its so forgiving. Its easy as pie! (I couldnt write this whole book and let that lowball pass by.)

MAKES TWO 8 TO 10-INCH PIE CRUSTS OR ONE 8 TO 10-INCH DOUBLE-CRUST SHELL

6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

1 stick ( cup) plus 2 tablespoons European-style (high-fat) unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 tablespoons heavy cream, or more as needed

2- cups (390 grams) all-purpose flour, scooped and leveled, plus more as needed

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Place the cream cheese, butter, and cream in the bowl of a food processor and process until well combined and fluffy, about 20 seconds. Add the 2-3/4 cups flour and the salt; pulse 5 or 6 times. Scrape the sides with a rubber spatula and process another 15 to 20 seconds, until the dough just comes together and begins to pull cleanly away from the sides in jagged clumps. If this doesnt happen, add another few teaspoons of cream, as needed.