Buttermilk pie

A year ago, a very good friend told me that he wanted a buttermilk pie for Thanksgiving. He had always enjoyed them as a child, but hadn't had one in years. So I made one to take to his family in 2018. He said that it reminded him of the buttermilk pies of his youth.

This year, we were with some other friends and again, I took a buttermilk pie, and again it was very well received. So, with thanks to Stella Parks (aka Bravetart) and Debbie Lang-Caldwell here's what I did.

Of course, I made the crust - but I could have bought one. I so like the easy crust that Bravetart has in her book and here. I strongly recommend that you go the serious eats site and follow her recipe and technique.

I also did something a little unconventional - I didn't fully blind bake the crust. I gave it a start, but knowing how long the pie would bake, I didn't want to risk the edges of the crust burning. The filling recipe (below) calls for an unbaked crust, but that did leave a bit of a soggy bottom. And we all know that soggy bottoms are quite undesirable. So I compromised and blind baked the crust for 20 minutes.

And most approaches don't call for browned butter, but I have recently found that browning the butter first adds some extra flavor depth.

Ingredients - Filling

1/2 cup butter (browned)

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup buttermilk

3T Flour

1t Vanilla

1/4 t nutmeg finely grated

Method

Heat the oven to 400F. Brown the butter carefully over medium heat and allow to cool. Meanwhile in a stand mixer combine the eggs and sugar, and then add the buttermilk and browned butter, mix gently and add the flour, vanilla and nutmeg.

Pour into the 9" shell and bake for 10 minutes at 400F. Reduce the heat to 350F and bake for a further 40 or so minutes - until a skewer comes out clean. I recommend checking after around 35 minutes to make sure you don't overbake.

Allow to cool and serve at room temperature. 

This will keep for 3 or 4 days (maybe longer, but I have never had one that survived that long)

Pie Dough

Like all dishes this one starts with a story - and a little known secret. First the secret. Cartons of 18 eggs (in the US) are usually fresher than 12s - at least in my local supermarket. Yesterday was no exception. A whole week fresher.
So, with convenient storage for 12, a carton of 18 looked to be inconvenient. Then it hit me. Quiche would take care of the rest. But I needed a pie crust. Not to worry, Milk Street came through. Erika Bruce took ideas from a variety of places to come up with the genius recipe below.

Ingredients

2t Corn Starch

3T cold water

1 Cup + 2T  All purpose flour

pinch salt

10 oz butter, cut into 1/2" cubes and chilled (If using unsalted, up the amount of salt to 4 pinches)

2T Full Fat sour cream

Method

Whisk together the corn starch and water. Microwave on high for 30-45 seconds. Until a clear gel is formed. Chill the cornstarch/water gel.

Measure the flour into the food processor. Add the salt and run the food processor to incorporate and aerate. Add the cornstarch gel. Pulse 5 or 6 times (1 second pulses) to incorporate.

Add the butter and sour cream. Run the food processor continuously until the dough mass forms a mass,

Remove the dough mass from the bowl, wrap in cling wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 2 days.

To use the dough, roll it out as normal. Not the dough is smooth, but not elastic.

Seabirdskitchen visits Sustenio

Last weekend madame and I drove down to San Antonio to visit our good friend Chef David Gilbert (@beyondthekit on twitter) in his new adventure as the Executive Chef at Sustenio - the inspired restaurant at the Eilan resort in the North Western suburbs of San Antonio. And what a treat.

Even with all that magic, that wasn't the only high point! The resort and hotel are themselves fabulous. Great staff, wonderful place. But there's more. As many know, I am an avid baker. I was delighted when I was offered the chance to spend time with the brilliant bread maker Kelly Wiltshire in the pastry kitchen. The catch? Oh he starts at 4am. So at about 04:00 on the Saturday morning, I rocked up to the kitchen to find Kelly and get the training.

Intense. Fascinating to work with larger batches and the industrial sized Hobart mixers. Fresh yeast too.  So what did I learn (but come nowhere near mastering)?

• That I am too nice to my dough. 
• That shaping rolls has a rhythm and skill that I have yet to master, but am now on the way.
• That doughs are more forgiving than I realized
• The real importance of high gluten flours - and their ability to withstand jostling during transfer from making to baking
• That you can (should) double bake artisinal breads to get extra crust
• That it is even harder work than I expected!
• That there is equipment I can only dream about 

Now That's a mixer!

 I also got to watch a Ernest, a pastry chef do some incredibly detailed work - and best of all let me taste some of the results. How do pastry chefs stay thin? beats me!