There's a Pie in My Skillet

That's right! A pie in my skillet. And oh, does that pie look good.

Ok, actually, I've already eaten about half of it. It tasted good, too.

I was leery about cooking a pie in a skillet. You see, I'm a pie-maker (www.straightfromthepiehole.blogspot.com). I've always used pie pans. I have pie pans in red, in blue, in green. I've got them in aluminum, glass, and ceramic. I've got pie-birds, and pie-covers, and even a pie-carrying contraption. So, never in my life, did I think I would use something other than a pie pan to actually make a pie.

Well, since I'm new to the magical ways of the skillet, I wanted to try it out. I've seen recipes for pineapple upside-down cake, pizza, and even chocolate chip cookies for the skillet, so I figured a pie - simple.

Now, I bet you're expecting me to tell you how difficult it turned out to be, and how I should have known that  a skillet wasn't the correct vessel for pie-making.

But I'm not. It was simple. It cooked beautifully. The crust is perfectly browned, but light and flaky. The fruit inside was the best part though, but that could just be because I used peaches, and peach pie tends to be my favorite (and chess pie, and vanilla cream...I could go on).

But here comes the crazy part. I'm going to share the recipe.

I don't take the decision to do this lightly. In fact I really don't want to give away the recipe for my crust. I sell my pies. So the problem arises with your being able to make something that I actually sell. But, alas, the nature of the skillet blog is to share, so I'm putting my ego aside and throwing you a bone. Or, rather, a crust. ...Something like that.

Chrissy's Pie Crust and Peach Pie

For Crust : I can't believe I'm doing this...
2 c. Flour
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 c. Vegetable Oil
6 tbsp COLD Water

1. Sift flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Add oil and cold water. Mix until able to form a ball of dough (should not flake or be too sticky - if flakey, add tiny bit more water; if too sticky, add bit more flour).
2. On floured parchment paper, roll entire ball of dough into a large circle. Make sure it's large enough to cover the bottom and sides of the skillet.
***Since it's made with oil, there is no need to refrigerate the dough before rolling it out.***

For Filling: this part isn't so hard to part with...
4 or 5 (I used 5 for my 12" skillet) large peaches; peeled, pitted, sliced
2 tbsp Lemon Juice
1/2 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon (I like to add a little more though; I love cinnamon)
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 c milk
Sugar, for sprinkling

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Place peaches in a large bowl and add lemon juice. In separate bowl, mix flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Add to peach bowl. Mix gently, but coat well. Pour into crust.
3. Fold sides of crust over peaches (since it's in the skillet, you're not doing a top crust).
4. Using a pastry brush, brush milk over the crust and sprinkle liberally with sugar.
5. Bake at 400 for 1 hour, turning the pie halfway after 30 minutes. Cool on wire rack before serving.

Now, the only problem I ran into was that the peach juice bubbled up and caused the crust to stick to the skillet. Being new at the skillet, and not really sure what to do, I soaked the skillet in water for about 20 minutes, then used a plastic scrubber to remove the stuck on bites. This did slightly undue the seasoning I had on the surface of the pan. So I will be doing a re-seasoning tomorrow.

Also, you want to eat the pie as soon as possible. Leaving food to sit in an iron skillet, can slightly alter the taste of the food. I removed my pie to a large plate and have it hanging out, counter-top-style.