Not Enough Time

This summer I'd become a little obsessed with the idea of making this recipe from Smitten Kitchen. I hadn't done it, in part because Ryan and I had a small spat at the Farmer's Market. I asked him if he wanted to come to the market, he said yes, and then when we got there, he refused to have an opinion about anything.

Me: "Should I get some more of the delicious tomatoes?"

Ry: "I don't care. What would you make?"

Me: "Do I need to know now? They're tomatoes!"

Me: "Would you like some peaches?" Peaches are Ryan's favorite fruit.

Ry: "I don't know. Did you want to get them?"

Me: "Is there anything here you want?"

Ry: "I just don't care."

I didn't get the peaches.

Then last week my dad called and told me he had an excess of peaches and would I please do something about that. I did not have to be asked twice. It was time for bourbon peach hand pies. Right. Time. This recipe takes hours. All day kind of hours. You better not have anything else you want to do hours. I thought they were delicious, but I don't know that the end result justified the work. Ryan reports they are "pretty good." Which really does not justify the work.

THERE'S NOT ENOUGH TIME FOR THESE PEACH HAND PIES
adapted from SmittenKitchen

INGREDIENTS:
for the dough
All right folks, the dough is what causes this to be too much work. It's a delicious soft dough, but after it's been out of the oven for awhile it loses some of it's light flakiness - think of how a croissant wilts slightly after it's been out a bit. Smitten says this is the only dough that will work properly, but as I've used my standard dough for empanaditas, I can tell you it will fold easily too. It will not be as light and flaky, but you also won't spend the whole day doing it.

2 1/2 C all purpose flour
1/2 t salt
2 sticks of butter cut into small pieces
1/2 C sour cream
4 t fresh lemon juice (honestly I felt the lemon flavor came out too much, but I don't know if it's needed to tenderize the dough or some such)
1/2 C ice water

for the filling
2 pounds of peaches
1/4 C flour
1/4 C salt
1 t bourbon
1/2 t vanilla
pinch cinnamon
pinch nutmeg

for topping
one egg yolk beaten with a bit of water

DIRECTIONS:
Clear your agenda for the whole day. Mix the flour and salt together in one bowl. Stick the chopped up butter in the other. Put in the freezer for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, cut the butter into the flour mixture using a pastry cutter and muscles the size of The Rock's. You should do this until the texture resembles coarse meal. I ended up busting out a pair of steak knives and cutting the butter in that way. Whisk together the sour cream, water and lemon juice. Make a well in the center of your flour/butter and add half of this mixture. Use your fingers to smoosh this into the the flour mixture. Keep pressing it all together. Get another bowl. Transfer out the doughy parts to the new bowl, so you just have crumbly flour butter meal in your first bowl. Then add the rest of the sour cream/water/lemon stuff and repeat. Then put all the doughy parts together and pat it all into a ball, trying to get up all the flour bits, but not overworking the dough! Refrigerate the dough for an hour.

Divide the dough in half. Roll out half the dough and cut it into circles using a 5 1/2" cutter. I used the metal top of a cookie jar. Place the circles on a parchment covered cookie sheet and stick back in the fridge (I made layers of parchment/dough circles). The unused scraps can be reused, but they'll need to be refrigerated again first, because this dough will be so soft by the time you're done it will be melting into your counter. Repeat with the second half of the dough. Chill the circles for 30 minutes. I don't think I chilled them that long. Maybe 10-15? It depends on how hot it is in your kitchen.

Preheat your oven to 375 F. Make the filling. Chop the peaches into 1/2" dice. Mix with flour, sugar, bourbon, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Spoon the filling onto the circles. Use a bit of ice water around the edge of the circle to help create a seal when you fold it over. Use the tines of a fork to seal the edge in a pretty design. If needed refrigerate for another 30 minutes (I definitely skipped this). Baste the top with egg wash. Cut a small slit in the top of each. Bake for 20 minutes until lightly browned and cracked.

You could cut out a lot of trouble by using a dough that did not need constant refrigeration, I promise.

Power of Suggestion

As soon as I saw Ina Garten make this on her show, I knew I wanted it. Right now, right now. Luckily enough, it was a Saturday, so I could rush out, gather up the ingredients and make my own dreams come true. The pizza is topped with goat cheese, fontina and mozzarella and is creamy and rich and delicious. Then you top it with a lemony salad to balance all that cheesy goodness. So freakin' good. Also, major props to Ina for a pizza dough that only needs a half hour rise. That is something I can get behind.

WHITE PIZZAS WITH LEMONY GREENS
from Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics

INGREDIENTS:
for the dough:
1 1/4 C warm water (110 to 115 F)
2 packages dry yeast
1 T honey
4 C all purpose flour
olive oil
2 t Kosher Salt
for the cheesy topping:
1/2 C olive oil (you can probably get away with a 1/3 C)
4 sliced garlic cloves
5 springs fresh thyme
1/4 t red pepper flakes
fresh black pepper
3 C grated Fontina
1 1/2 C grate fresh mozzarella
1 small package cream goat cheese crumbled
for salad:
1/2 C olive oil (again, you can probably get away with less)
1/4 C fresh lemon juice
8 oz baby arugula (I used fresh spinach, since it's what Ryan prefers. It was also delicous).

DIRECTIONS:
for the dough:
Combine the water, yeast, honey and 3 T olive oil in the bowl of your stand mixer with dough hook attached. When the yeast is dissolved add 3 C of flour and then 2 t of Kosher salt and mix on medium low. Add up to 1 more cup of flour, enough to make a soft dough. Knead until smooth, about 10 minutes. Then turn the dough out onto a cutting board and knead by hand until smooth and elastic. Put in a well-oiled bowl and cover with a damp towel. Leave to rise for 30 minutes.

for garlic oil:
In a small saucepan, combine 1/2 C olive oil, the garlic, thyme and red pepper flakes. Cook on low heat for 10 minutes. Watch carefully that the garlic doesn't burn. Set aside for later.

back to the dough:
Preheat your (clean) oven to 500F. Cut the dough in as many pieces as you would like pizzas. We make 6 as Ina suggests, but you could just make maybe 4? I don't know about getting a whole one on one cooking sheet. Feel free to try it and report back. Place your dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment and cover again with the towel and let rise/rest for 10 minutes. If you're not using immediately, refrigerate for up to 4 hours. If you do refrigerate, allow dough to come back to room temperature before working with it. Press and stretch your dough balls into small pizza-y shapes and place on baking sheets.


pizzamaking time:
Brush the dough of each mini pizza with the garlic oil. Sprinkle each pizza with equal amounts of mozzarella, fontina and goat cheese. Bake for 10-15 minutes until the crust crips and the cheese is delicious and melty. SEE?

salad topping:
Mix the olive oil and lemon juice together with a pinch of salt and pepper. Dress only the greens you're using right away then place them on on hot pizza and enjoy!!

Dough

Let's be honest. Dough is not for everyone. Yesterday, I sat reading Nora Ephron's I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman, and right there in the middle of the chapter What I Wish I'd Known is: There is no point in making piecrust from scratch. Now Nora Ephron is a very rich and reasonably famous woman. She wrote When Harry Met Sally and has written and directed quite a few similar movies. Perhaps for Nora Ephron there is no point in making pie crust from scratch. I mean, if I had that kind of money, I could commission pie crusts to be made for me, regular doughs, pate brisees, pate sucres, magical shrink-proof tart shells. But I am not Nora Ephron. And for me, the alternative to making my own pie crust is some the stuff I can purchase in the refrigerated section of my grocery store. And I firmly believe that I can do better than that. And you can too. And it isn't even that hard. You can skip all those new-fangled fancy recipes that invite you to spritz the crust with vodka. All you need is your mother's oldest, most well-loved cookbook. You can borrow my mother's if you like. It doesn't have a binding anymore, and I can't say as I've ever needed to make Liver Sausage Balls or Crab Spaghetti Casserole, but the Culinary Arts Institute Encyclopedic Cookbook sure knows it's dough.

PLAIN PASTRY
adapted from pg. 565 of the 1964 edition of the Culinary Arts Institute Encyclopedia Cookbook

INGREDIENTS:
2 C all-purpose flour
pinch salt
2/3 C butter - chilled and sliced
4 to 6 (or more) T of ice water

DIRECTIONS:
Mix together the salt and flour in the bowl part of your stand mixer. Add the slices of butter and mix together until it reaches a sandy or pebbly texture. Add the water, only a small portion at a time, mixing in between until the dough holds together well. I don't measure my water anymore, just pour small bits from the pitcher. How much water you need will depend on so many factors, including the weather, that it's impossible for anyone to give you exact information on how much you'll need. So go slow (because it's harder to add flour back in, although it can be done), and when the dough becomes a nice ball, take it out of the mixer. Cut the dough in two and shape into flattened disks. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to roll out. When rolling out the dough, flour your surface well and move the dough frequently. I use 90 degree turns every few rolls to keep it from sticking, you can also flip sides.