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Wednesday, September 3, 2003
Pie's Secret Is in the Crust, Prize-Winning Baker Says
By Polly SummarPhotographs by Drew McDaniel
Of the Journal
Why is it that so many men ask for pie for their birthdays instead of cake? Could it be that pie is a man thing?
"Oh, definitely," says Patricia Aaron, home economist for Bernalillo County Cooperative Extension Service and a frequent judge of pies, cakes and more at the New Mexico State Fair.
"At the Creative Arts Building at the State Fair, all the women will be gathered around the candy and cakes, and all the men will be looking at the pies," says Aaron.
She doesn't know why. So we decided to ask a man; specifically, John Saunders, 45, a man who makes pies for the best reason— just because he likes to. And still, he's managed to pick up some State Fair ribbons along the way.
Pies are special, he explains. "It's hard to find a good pie 'out' '' Saunders says, meaning at a restaurant. "You can find a good cake. But even at those places that are supposed to have good pies, the crust is sort of tough."
Making a pie crust is an art. You can mix all the ingredients correctly and still ruin the crust if you haven't developed the right "touch" in the shaping, rolling and crimping. But if you've got a strong stirring hand or an electric mixer, making a cake is ... a piece of cake: Measure, mix and pour. That's why pies are special.
For love of that crust, Saunders has even been known to take his homemade pie to one of those restaurants known for pretty good pies. "My dad asked me to bring it, so I did," he says. "They didn't say anything, so I guess they didn't mind."
And just what is pie crust dough supposed to be like? "It's pretty much the consistency of your ear lobe," Saunders says. "That's what my mom says."
His mom is the person who made Saunders think about making pies. Two of her specialties were lemon meringue and apple, and when Saunders ended up living in a different town than she did, he figured he'd have to learn how to make them himself. "I was used to them and wanted to keep havin' them," he says.
Luckily, his grandmother lived nearby. "But she said, 'I'm only gonna show you once,' '' he recalls. So he paid special attention.
Saunders is not one of those kids who grew up in the kitchen. "My mom did all the cooking," he says, "but you always have to try baking a cake or making cookies."
Although Saunders was born in Albuquerque and graduated from Rio Grande High School, the family traveled because of his father's careers. Dave Saunders played Red Ryder for 40 years at events throughout the country. (Red Ryder was the redheaded cowboy hero of a newspaper comic strip called "Red Ryder and Little Beaver" and a slew of Hollywood movies.)
But today, John Saunders spends his days in a cozy, low-ceilinged house tucked away on a deadend street in the North Valley— either in his studio where he makes Western art, or at the other end of the house, where he makes pies. He and his wife, Mary Schoolcraft Saunders, an origami artist and teacher, live with their dogs, Blanca and Journey, and cats, Biscuit and Nutmeg.
The only thing about the fair that's hard for him is the time. "I'm a night owl. I go to bed about 2 a.m. But for the fair, I have to have my pie there by about noon, so I have to get up a little earlier."
As Saunders worked on the meringue for a pie recently, he lamented that the contest is getting a little fancy.
"There are folks there now who measure by grams," says Saunders, as he taps cream of tartar into a measuring spoon situated right over the mixing bowl (doesn't he know about accidental spills?).
"And some people have their peaches shipped in just for the contest."
Not Saunders. No special measures for him. "One year, the judges said my apple pie was too strong," he says, explaining that he adds 1 tablespoon brandy, 1 tablespoon vanilla and 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar. "But I'm not going to compromise. I'm not going to change my recipe just to win a prize. My family likes my apple pie just fine."
So far, he's gotten a blue ribbon— for that strong apple pie— and blue, red and white ribbons (first, second and third) for his lemon meringue. One year, he tried a berry pie and got a white ribbon.
Even though he's a prize winner, he still makes mistakes. The year he got a blue ribbon for his lemon meringue, the judge pronounced it "a perfect pie." But Saunders had forgotten to put the butter in the filling and had to stir it in carefully while the filling was already in the crust. And he had to scrape the meringue off the top because it was "weeping" too badly (leaking clear liquid) and make another meringue.
Still, he acts as if making a pie is simple. The ingredients for his lemon meringue pie are scrawled on the back of an envelope, but for a novice, they might be a bit hard to follow: They include items like "more lemon juice" and "[ plus 1/16 teaspoon salt" that he doesn't appear to follow anyway.
Saunders uses an old Hamilton Beach mixer from the '30s or '40s and swears it's better than the new ones. "These mixers today— they don't get after it," he says. "It has to whip fast enough."
Saunders says he's probably made more than a hundred lemon meringue pies. "I take pies to my gallery openings," he says. "It's a good ice breaker."
But mostly, he says, "I'm just baking pies because it's fun. And if I happen to win a ribbon, that's fine."
This recipe is from Betty Crocker's Cookbook, a copy of which sits in John Saunders' kitchen. He swears he just doctors up recipes from regular cookbooks. But even if you and Saunders were making pies side by side using the same recipe, he'd be adding and subtracting this and that, depending on how he felt that day. He offered his list of ingredients, but the Journal food staff believes you might be safer with Betty Crocker.
LEMON MERINGUE PIE
9-inch Baked Pie Shell (recipe below)
1-1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon cornstarch
1-1/2 cups water
3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 drops yellow food color, if desired
Meringue (recipe follows)
Bake pie shell. Heat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix sugar and cornstarch in medium saucepan. Gradually stir in water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir 1 minute.
Gradually stir at least half the hot mixture into the egg yolks. Then blend that into hot mixture in pan. Boil and stir 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in butter, lemon peel, lemon juice and food color. Pour into baked pie shell.
Heap meringue onto hot pie filling; spread over filling, carefully sealing meringue to edge of crust to prevent shrinking or weeping.
Bake about 10 minutes or until a delicate brown. Cool away from draft.
ONE 9-INCH CRUST
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon shortening or 1/3 cup lard
2 or 3 tablespoons cold water
Measure flour and salt into bowl. Cut in shortening thoroughly. Sprinkle in water, 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing until all flour is moistened and dough almost cleans side of bowl (1 to 2 teaspoons water can be added if needed).
Gather dough into ball; shape into flattened round on lightly floured cloth-covered board. With floured rolling pin, roll dough 2 inches larger than inverted pie pan. Gently fold pastry into quarters; unfold and ease into pan.
Trim overhanging edge of pastry 1 inch from rim of pan. Fold and roll pastry under, even with pan; flute. Fill and bake as directed in recipe.
Prick bottom and side thoroughly with fork. Bake at 475 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes.
MERINGUE FOR 9-INCH PIE
3 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
6 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Beat egg whites and cream of tartar until foamy. Beat in sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time; continue beating until stiff and glossy. Beat in vanilla.
Try your luck
The pie contest at the New Mexico State Fair is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 11. Contestants must bring their pies between 9 a.m. and noon to the Creative Arts building. There are 13 categories: Apple, Dutch apple, cherry, blueberry, peach, pecan, chocolate, rhubarb, lemon meringue, fruit, coconut cream, pumpkin and "pie, any other." Bring your pie and the recipe you used.