Don’t think for a minute you haven’t the time to bake a pie.
"I made every pie for the photos in the book in about six days," said Tamasin Day-Lewis recently, interviewed in Manhattan about her new book, "Tarts With Tops On: Or How to Make the Perfect Pie" ($24.95).
The book is a collection of about 95 recipes, perhaps half of them shown in color photos with the homemade look Day-Lewis wanted.
And don’t take it for granted you know what is under that pie’s top. Pies for Day-Lewis begin with apple pie, and her recipes include luscious sweet versions. But they include chicken pot pie, game pie and hunter’s pie; in fact, just over half her recipes are for savory pies, plus instructions for pie crusts.
Day-Lewis included the option of using bought, ready-made pastry so as not to intimidate people, she said. "But pastry you make yourself is worth it. It’s relatively quick. Most of the time it takes far longer to make the filling for the pie than the pastry."
It’s not really difficult either, she added encouragingly. "It may not be a complete success the first time you try, but we all learn by trial and error. Everyone can bake a crust, so try to make your own."
When it comes to what’s under the crust, Day-Lewis’ recipes offer wide variety. A respected food writer in Britain and host of her own food television program, she divides her time between western England and Ireland, but has traveled widely.
Her choices show her relish for diverse cuisines, both European and beyond, with recipes adapted from different traditions and other cooks. Readers will find steak and kidney pie and Lancashire potato pie, alternating with a French tourte, an Italian torta, Linzer torte and grouse en croute. A chapter on American pies includes pecan and Key lime pies.
The book, which follows her previous "The Art of the Tart" ($24.95), is written for cooks in general, not professionals, Day-Lewis said, "for people who appreciate good food … for people of all skills." There are plenty of basics, for the beginners.
For Day-Lewis, pie baking is an all-season pastime. "I go for seasonal things. I bake pies with what’s in season. In summer there’s the fruit, the berries. Into autumn, we gradually get to heavier things."
Whatever the time of year, pies don’t need to be extravagant. "I try to be imaginative with leftovers," Day-Lewis said. "You can always vary the recipe according to what you have in the kitchen, or any local variants. Good cooks will understand — you can experiment." It doesn’t have to matter if you haven’t exactly what a recipe calls for, use what you have, she said.
An important tip: Quality is important. Buy the best produce, even though you can mix fruits if you want. And: "Don’t ever try to use margarine instead of butter. You’d never get the lovely buttery flavor."
Her preferences are for organic vegetables and meat from local sources, good cream and apples. Her favorite apple is the British Cox’s, which she calls a good sharp eating apple, preferable to a "cooker."
She learned to cook when she first left home as a student and had to fend for herself, then from watching, and from experience, she said. She collects recipes when she travels, "when I go to people’s homes and little restaurants, trying the food. Wherever you are, food is a link with people."
A lot of research led to the varied selection of recipes in the book. She wanted a balance, Day-Lewis said. "I even included a chapter on other people’s tarts. There had to be apple, there had to be traditional tarts. But I didn’t want the whole book to be traditional.
"The way into the book had to be comfort food, the first home food you remember — chicken pot pie is the way in." After that, she wanted to give people plenty of surprises, to share her own discoveries.
Among her favorites?
It’s basically simple, and it looks like a party piece, but the first time you make it, she warns, you could rip the phyllo. "When you come to turn it out it could be a horrific moment, but you just try again another time."
Cheddar cheese and onion pie
If you’re using a food processor: Sift the flour and a pinch of salt into a food processor, then cut the cold butter into small pieces on top of it. Process it for 20 to 30 seconds, then add ice-cold water through the top, a tablespoon at a time — 2 to 2 1/2 should be enough for about 10 ounces of dough — with the machine running. If the paste is still in crumbly little bits after a minute or two, add a tablespoon more water, but remember, the more water you use, the more the crust will shrink if you bake it blind. One solution is to use a bit of cream or egg yolk instead of water. The moment the dough has cohered into a single ball, stop, remove it, wrap it in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
If you’re making pastry dough by hand: Sift the flour into a large bowl with the salt, add the chopped butter, and work as briskly as you can to rub the fat into the flour. Use the tips of your fingers only, rather like running grains of hot sand through your fingers. Add the water bit by bit as before; wrap and chill the dough.
If you’re making a double-crust pie, divide the dough into roughly two-thirds and one-third. Then scatter a bit of flour on your work surface, roll your rolling pin in it, dust the palms of your hands, and start rolling. Always roll away from yourself, turning the dough as you go, and keep the rolling pin and work surface floured to prevent sticking.
Day-Lewis explained that she has added her own touches to the torta di porri (leek pie) recipe — some lemon zest and juice, and a longer soaking time to ensure the rice begins leaching into the oil and softens and swells.
She thinks the dish is best served warm, but it can also be made a day in advance and served it at room temperature.
La torta di porri
Sour cream apple and walnut pie
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