Jun 24 Fresh Cherry Pie

Oven 450°

• pie crust for a double-crusted pie
• 4 cups fresh, pitted bing cherries
• 2 tablespoons sliced almonds, finely ground (preferably using one of those small electric spice/coffee grinders)
• 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons quick-cooking tapioca
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• pinch of kosher salt
• milk and additional sugar for topping crust

I fairly recently was given my mother’s 1974 copy of the Joy of Cooking. I particularly love editions from right around this era. Not only was this the version of the cookbook I had grown up with, but I think it’s truly one of the special incarnations of the book’s many forms. By this time it had become a large, two-volume work. While some of the recipes might seem a bit dubious by today’s standards (I will probably not be making the “Cheese Carrots” – grated Velveta and salad dressing molded into carrot-like shapes), it is still replete with some absolute gems.

My favorite parts are primarily of two varieties. It is an excellent source of knowledge that may be difficult to find elsewhere. For example, it contains instructions on how to skin a squirrel, tells you which types of squirrel are best for eating, and gives advice on how to cook a beaver. I am not exaggerating. Wild rodent may not exactly be what you had planned for your next dinner party, but someone might want to know that information, and, let’s face it, Martha Stewart may be a guide to many things, but I wouldn’t expect her to cook up an opossum any time soon.

The other part of the book I adore are the tidbits of narrative you just can’t find in modern cookbooks. My favorite of all can be found in the introduction to “Canning, Salting, and Smoking”:

It is a thrill to possess shelves well stocked with home-canned food. In fact, you will find their inspection – often surreptitious – and the pleasure of serving the fruits of your labor comparable only to a clear conscience or a very becoming hat.

Yes, there is truly little I love as much as a very becoming hat.

Some of the more arcane bits in Joy aside, it is a really good source of information on traditional dishes and how cooks have historically both prepared and thought about them. So, when I wanted to make a straight-forward cherry pie, it was a natural starting point to turn to.

The cherry pie recipe in Joy uses tart pie cherries, which is great if you happen to have some, but they’re more than a little difficult to come by these days. A slightly better resource was the general formula for berry pies it provides. In a nutshell, you begin with a thickening agent of either 2 2/3 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca or a slurry made from 2 tablespoons cornstarch and 1/4 cup water or juice. You combine the thickening agent with 2/3 to 1 cup sugar and 4 cups of berries and season it with 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice or 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon. You let that sit for fifteen minutes, pour it into a pie shell, dot it with butter, top with another crust or lattice top, and bake it at 450 for 10 minutes, then 350 for another 40 to 45.

The pie I baked was a pretty straightforward adaptation of that formula. I prepared enough pie crust for a double-crusted pie. I combined the cherries, ground almonds, tapioca, sugar, lemon juice, and salt in a large bowl and let it rest for 15 minutes. I lined my pie plate with the bottom crust, poured in the cherry mixture, topped it with a second crust in which I had cut four slits for ventilation, then brushed the top with milk and sprinkled it with sugar. I baked it at 450 for 10 minutes, then lowered the temperature to 350 for another 45 to 50 minutes until the crust was nicely browned.

Without a doubt, this was absolutely the best cherry pie I had ever tasted. I don’t know if it was just dumb luck, but the crust was flaky and delicious, and the cherries were flavorful and perfectly cooked, but not overly sweet. We’re at about the peak of the cherry season now, which was part of my motivation for wanting to make a pie in the first place. So, undoubtedly, having some excellent cherries as a starting point helped more than a little.

In many ways, this pie captures so much of what motivates me in cooking. My afternoon began with raw materials – a pile of just-purchased, ripe cherries – and ended with a classic and amazingly tasty pie. The pie itself was not overly complex; it was mostly just cherries, sugar, and a pie crust. Yet, as simple as it was, it’s hard to beat a slice of this pie as the perfect cap to a tasty meal with friends.