If you have been following my blog you will remember that before our home was completed we had lived in a hotel for one month, then a lovely rental with a small kitchen (finally I could cook again), where we stayed for 6 weeks.
Due to a previous booking at that time, and our home still not ready, we found ourselves looking for yet another rental.
Every cloud has a silver lining and ours came in the form of an amazing studio apartment above a garage that I found in the rental listings I had been scouring for availability.
I immediately emailed the owner who immediately called me back. He responded to our plight of needing a place to live for an indeterminate amount of time by saying he would love to help us out, and we should come by and take a look at the apartment.
It was a really great space with a state of the art kitchen you would rarely find in a studio above a garage!
The owner generously offered to allow us to stay there for as long as we needed to which freed us from the burden of possibly having to find a 3rd rental at some point.
So he agreed to not accept any other renters until we let him know our actual moving date! I know I mentioned it before, but the nicest people really do live here in San Luis Obispo!
He and his two children came for dinner last night.
After showing them our home we sat down to a dinner of Caesar salad, grilled pork loin with herbs and garlic, sauteed apples, roasted carrots with onions and twice baked potatoes.
His son who will be going into sixth grade, and his daughter, who will be going into fifth, were a pleasure to have at our table.
Their social skills, and sophisticated palates surprised both my husband and me. They can dine with us any day. I would be happy to cook for them!
Dessert was this Sour Cherry Pie.
The cover of the June issue of Bon Appetit magazine featured a fresh sour cherry pie.
I had hoped to try that recipe, but was unable to find fresh sour cherries. I know there is a small window for finding them and I had apparently just missed it.
But the photo of the pastry crust was calling my name. I decided to make that crust and fill it with a delicious tart cherry filling I’ve made before that uses canned sour cherries.
These canned tart cherries sometimes known as “pie cherries” are not to be mistaken for that awful bright red artificial goopy pie filling you see on the grocery shelves!
The consensus at dessert last night was they make a really delicious cherry pie with just the right amount of tartness! And the buttery crust was the perfect vehicle for them. And a scoop of good vanilla ice cream will put it over the top. Here’s how to make it…
Sour Cherry Pie
Crust (Sour Cherry Pie,Bon Appetit, June 2014)
1/3 cup almond flour
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 and1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for surface
1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 large egg yolks
Crust
Pulse almond flour, granulated sugar, salt and 2 and ½ cups all-purpose flour in a food processor. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.
Whisk egg yolks and ¼ cup ice water in a small bowl and drizzle over the flour mixture. Pulse, drizzling in more ice water as needed, until dough just comes together(a few dry spots are okay).
Gently knead dough on a lightly floured surface until no dry spots remain, about 1 minute.
Divide dough in half, and pat each piece into a disk; wrap in plastic. Chill at least 2 hours. (Dough can be made 3 days ahead. Keep chilled).
Filling and Assembly
Filling (adapted from a source unknown)
Note: the following is for 1 and ½ x the original recipe because I like lots of cherries
1 and ½ cups sugar
4 and ½ tablespoons cornstarch
generous pinch of kosher salt
3 – 14.5 ounce cans pitted tart red cherries in water, and ¼ juice reserved
1 and ½ teaspoon fresh lemon juice
¼ teaspoon almond extract (optional)
In a large bowl combine sugar, cornstarch, and salt and stir til well blended. Add the drained cherries, reserved juice and lemon juice and stir til thoroughly combined. Set aside at room temperature.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Let dough sit at room temperature to soften slightly, about 5 minutes.
Roll out 1 disk of dough on a lightly floured surface to a 12 inch round. Transfer to a parchment- lined baking sheet and chill. Repeat with remaining disk of dough.
Carefully transfer 1 crust to a 9 inch pie dish. Lift up edges and allow dough to slump down into dish. Trim edges to even out crust if needed. Scrape in cherry filling.
Using a ¾" diameter pastry tip or cookie cutter, punch out holes in remaining crust, covering an area just smaller than the diameter of the pie dish.
Place over filling. Fold edge of top crust underneath edge of bottom crust and press together to seal. Crimp as desired. (Alternatively, assemble pie, then cut X’s or slits into crust.)
Brush crust with egg and sprinkle with sugar. Chill pie until crust is firm, 20-30 minutes.
Place pie on a parchment-or foil-lined baking sheet. Bake until crust is golden, about 30 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake, tenting with foil if crust is browning too quickly, until juices are bubbling and crust is golden brown, 50-60 minutes longer. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool at least 4 hours before slicing.
Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream…
Do Ahead: Pie can be baked 1 day ahead. Store tightly wrapped at room temperature.