Last Chance (Almost)

As fall comes we are nearing our last chance to enjoy some of those traditional summer foods...until next year, at least. This awareness spurred me on to test out a peach pie recipe last weekend with some wonderful peaches from a local produce market. I chose a recipe for crust that I've made before and enjoyed and I used a recipe for filling that I picked up when I bought the peaches. They worked well together, but then again with pastry and fresh peaches, how could you go wrong?

Peach Pie

All Butter Pie Pastry
2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 t. salt
1 T. sugar
16 T. (2 sticks) cold, unsalted butter cut into 1/2" pieces and frozen for 10 minutes
3T. sour cream
1/3 - 1/2 c. ice water

1. Process the flour, salt, and sugar in food processor until combined, about 3 seconds. Add butter and pulse until butter is the size of large peas, about 10 second pulses.
2. Using a fork, mix sour cream and 1/3 c. ice water in small bowl. Add half of the mixture to the flour mixture. Pulse for 3 1-second pulses. Repeat with remaining sour cream mixture. Pinch dough with fingers; if the dough is floury, dry, and does not hold together, add 1-2 T. ice water and process.
3. Turn dough onto work surface. Divide dough into halves, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour.
4. Roll out dough onto parchment paper. Fill bottom of pie pan and refrigerate 20-30 minutes or until cold. Fill pie plate with peach mixture (see below). Roll out top crust, place on pie and seal edges. Cut 4 2-inch slits and brush with beaten egg white. Sprinkle a little sugar on top and bake 40-50 minutes @ 400.

Peach Filling
4 c. sliced fresh peaches (about 6)
1 t. lemon juice
2/3 c. sugar
3 T. flour
1/4 t. cinnamon

Slice peeled peaches and mix in lemon juice. (I blanched them to make them easy to peel.) Mix sugar, flour, and cinnamon and pour over peaches. Mix gently.

I mixed up the dough and refrigerated it while making the filling. I learned that one key to good pie crust is making sure the butter stays cold. So, if the crust gets difficult to work with, refrigerate it for a few minutes to let the butter firm up.