Perfect Peach Pie

from The Pie and Pastry Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum

Ingredients

 Flaky Cream Cheese Pie Crust for a 2-crust 9-inch pie.

1 2/4 pounds peaches, peeled, pitted, and sliced into 16ths: about 8 medium or 6 cups.  I use under-ripe peaches that are still firm.

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1/2 cup sugar

a pinch of salt

4 tsp corn starch (I'm usually generous)

1/2 tsp pure almond extract (again, I'm generous)

Directions:

1. Mix sliced peaches with lemon juice, sugar, salt.  Allow to macerate for a minimum of 30 minutes.

2.  Drain and transfer peach juice (about 1 cup)  into a small non-stick saucepan.  Over medium high heat boil down the liquid until it has reduced to about 1/3 cup, or until syrupy and lightly carmelized.  Swirl pan, don't stir while doing this. (my peaches don't generate as much juice because they aren't all the way ripe.)

3.  Meanwhile toss the cornstarch and almond extract in with the peaches.  Then pour the sypup over the peaches, tossing gently.  

4. Pour filling into pie shell, and then cover with top crust.  Preheat oven to 425*and set a baking stone on the lowest oven rack.   Cover Pie loosely with plastic wrap then chill pie for at least 20 minutes - 1 hr.  

5. Place chilled pie directly on the baking stone and bake 40-50 minutes or until the juice bubble thickly.  After 30 minutes, protect the edges from overbrowning with a foil ring.

6. Cool pie on rack for at least 3 hours before cutting.  

Fruit Leather

Basic Instructions
Cut parchment or freezer-wrap paper (glossy side up) into the shapes of your cookie sheets or Pyrex cake pans (do not use plastic wrap or waxed paper – they will melt and stick). For fruit leather, cut the paper to overlap up the sides of the pan. It's helpful if you lightly spray (and wipe to spread) a little vegetable oil spray to coat the paper. The dried food doesn't store as long, though, if you use oil. [In a pinch, when I didn't have any paper to line my trays with, I've used vegetable spray directly on the cookie sheet. The leather didn't peel off neatly, though.] Thinly slice fruit or vegetables or puree for leather (recipe below). Place slices or fruit puree onto the trays and place in your car or in the dehydrator (see below for instructions).

Easy Fruit Roll-Ups
Blend any combination of fruit in blender.

Optional:
berries (for color)
applesauce (for sweetness or to extend your fruit)
lemon juice (to keep fruit from browning)
honey (to balance the tartness of the lemon juice or to add sweetness)

Pour into pan or trays (at least ¼ inch thick). You want it to be thicker than you think! Wrap finished fruit leather in plastic wrap. Store in a dark, cool place. (Mine never makes it to storage – my family loves it!)

Car Drying Method
Trent thought I was crazy the first time that I did this – but he’s a believer now. He laughed as I made apricot fruit leather and carried the trays out to place in the back of our old yellow Toyota Celica. He laughed until I carried beautiful trays of perfectly dried apricot leather into our house the next day. I remember Mom doing this in our old brown Subaru. It MUST be a completely sunny, warm day to do this (85 or above). If it is overcast at all, it won’t work. Move your car out into a sunny place on your driveway or in the street. If your car has tinted windows, then make sure you put the trays in the front seats. The trays do not have to be in the sun. Leave your windows up and leave the trays alone. I've even driven around town with trays in the back. Your car will smell wonderful! It can take up to 2 days for items to dry. If after 2 days, items are not done, then move to oven method to “finish.” This method doesn't work in very humid climates.

Oven Drying
Set your oven on the lowest temperature. The ideal temperature is 130 to 150 – any higher will cook it more than dehydrate it. Open your oven door slightly. Place oven-safe trays inside oven and check regularly. Oven drying can take many hours. Several times I've had to turn my oven off while I go to bed and turn it back on the next morning. I only use this method to “finish” dehydrating if weather turns overcast with other methods.

Dehydrator
Mine cost about $45 and came with 4 trays. I have added trays and have purchased “fruit roll trays” because we use them so much. Instructions are included. This is an easy method – but has more upfront cost.

Puree any variety of fruit in your blender. Spray or wipe fruit roll-up trays with Pam or vegetable oil. Pour fruit into trays until full. Turn on dehydrator to recommended temperature. It takes about 24 hours until they are dry. Don't bother to roll and wrap with plastic wrap if your house is like mine. I made my first batch two days ago and it's already gone.

These trays have (clockwise from the top) peaches mixed with applesauce, only peaches, and strawberries mixed with applesauce. I added 1 T. of lemon juice per blender-full of puree to help slow browning. Applesauce is a great extender. I buy it in #10 cans at Costco for about $4.

I dried this batch too long and it crackled apart. It still tastes good, but is harder to roll onto plastic wrap.

Frog Eye Salad

1 c. sugar
2 T flour
½ tsp salt
1 ¾ c. Pineapple juice from cans
2 beaten eggs
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice

1 box small bag acini de pepe pasta
2 tsp. Salt
1 Tbsp oil

3 cans mandarin orange, drained
2 (20 ox.) cans pineapple chunks, drained
1 (20 ox) can crushed pineapple drained
9 oz cool whip
1 c. miniature marshmallows
1 c. coconut (optional)

Combine and cook until thick the sugar, flour, salt, pineapple juice, and eggs. Cool this, then add lemon juice.

Cook pasta with salt and oil. Drain, rinse, and cool pasta. Add mandarin oranges, pineapple chunks, and crushed pineapple. Add sauce to fruit and pasta mixture, then add cool whip, marshmallows, and coconut.

My Roommate Lindsay Payne

Orange Julius

6 oz. frozen orange juice concentrate
1 1/2 c. of water
1 tray of ice cubes
2 T. sugar
1/4 c. powdered milk
1/2 t. vanilla

Steam-Canned Peaches

First a disclaimer: Experts do NOT recommend canning using a steam canner. Utah State Extension advises to only bottle high acid foods using a steam canner.  (More information HERE.)

Buy freestone peaches. Clingstone pits are difficult to get out of the peach.

1) Clean the bottles with soap and water (or sanitize in the dishwasher).
2) Bring a pot of water to boil. Mom said, "You can also put ½ c. to 2/3 c. of water inside the clean bottle and microwave them to heat the water. I put 4 in at a time and by putting them in for 2 minutes, the water was hot enough then for me to add the sugar and dissolve it. This is probably faster than the boiling water UNLESS you are preparing lots of bottles."
3) Pour about 2/3 c. of hot water into the bottom of the glass jars.
4) Add 1/4 c. of sugar into jar (swirl to dissolve sugar). You can use additional amounts of sugar according to your preference. Mom said "old days used 1 c. Then I went to ½ and then to 1/3 and then to ¼ - your preference, but it does need sugar."
5) Boil several peaches for 1 to 2 minutes (depending upon hardness). Mom said, "This is called scalding the peach. I did mine for 1 ½ minutes. I think it depends more on the size. You shouldn’t do those that are not ripe yet. . . The peach needs to be completely covered with water when in the scalding bath."
6) Peel and cut peaches. Mom said, "After scalding the peach, cut in half, pull of the skin. A melon “baller” will help get the pit out. (I tried this after I stuck the sharp end of a pit under my fingernail. It worked really well)."
7) Shake jar occasionally to help peaches settle into the jar. Mom said, "when jar appears full, juggle or shake the bottle to settle the peaches and then finish filling the bottle."
8) After jar is full of peaches (fill to jar neck), add water to fill (also up to neck).
9) Wipe rim with clean towel. Mom said, "You do this to get off any sugar or peach remnants so the flats will seal. This is not to wipe dry but to clean off."
10) Place flats on top and secure with lid. Mom said, "Screw tightly. Tightly is the key. They will loosen a little while cooking, but if they are not tight, some of the juices will boil out."
11) Fill steamer base with water (so boiling water does not touch jar bottoms). You'll need to refill the base each time even if water is already hot/full. This allows the jars to heat up more slowly, thus reducing breakage.
12) Place jars into steamer, put on the lid and turn the temperature to high.
13) Reduce temperature to medium or medium-high once steam is consistently blowing from the vent (after about 8 minutes). Set timer for 20 minutes.
14) When timer goes off, remove lid. Lift the jars out with a wet washcloth (on top) and hold bottoms with a hot pad (or two). Twist to tighten lids.
15) Set jars onto counter (on a towel) and leave them alone until they are cool and the flats have all popped. Mom said, "If you press down in the middle of the lid, they will not make a popping sound. They have all popped down and will not put up again until the jar is open. When you set the jars on the towel, set them close together. It helps them to maintain their heat while they are sealing."
16) If the lid doesn't pop, put those jars into the fridge and use immediately.

Mom added: "Place the hole in the lid that lets the steam out above or within a inch of the hole in the plate bottom. Watching the clock is absolutely essential. As soon as it starts to send steam out of the holes – 8 to 10 minutes, turn down to medium or slightly above and set clock for 20 min. After about 3 minutes of turning down, check to see that steam is still coming out. Adjust temperature as necessary. It does not have to be a powerful burst of steam, just a steady steam release. Don’t over cook! When steam is too powerful it can crack the bottles.

Notes from Wendy:  Typical processing as recommended by Utah State is 40 minutes instead of 20 for quarts.  One extra-large heaping bowl full of peaches does about 6 quarts.

(Mom and Wendy)