Entries from The Amateur Gourmet tagged with 'pie'
How To Make An Apple Pie
Some of us have Oedipal complexes, others have Electra complexes, but very few of us have a complex based on apple pie. Allow me to lay on your therapist's couch for a moment: I have a serious pie issue. My apple pie is inadequate--it comes from Martha Stewart--and though it often inspires a happy nod and a fleeting smile, it rarely induces the kind of exaltation that comes when Craig's dad--who we'll call "Steve" because that's his name--makes his signature apple pie. What is it that makes his pie so good? Why do my pies never measure up? On a recent visit to Bellingham, Washington--home of "Steve"--I decided to solve this mystery once and for all. What follows are the closely-guarded secrets of Steve's Signature Apple Pie; a pie that I finally recreated at home to much acclaim--so much acclaim that I don't need this therapy anymore. How much do I owe you?...
From The Desk of The A.G. (A Day of Letters)
Dear Craig Claiborne, I am greatly enjoying your somewhat notorious autobiography, "A Feast Made For Laughter." Sure, it's a little creepy when you talk about touching your dad's erect penis while sharing a bed, but I appreciate your zeal for people and food. Case in point: early in the book, you tell a story involving Parker House rolls. Your brother passes you a basket of them and instead of taking the basket from him, you start to reach your hand in and take one out and your brother, appalled, drops the basket to the floor saying: "When anyone passes you a basket of bread, you take the basket. Or at least you touch it as a gesture of thoughtfulness." This passage amused me because it's a good story, but mostly it made me hungry--hungry for Parker House rolls. I cracked open "The Joy of Cooking" and found the most basic recipe in the world; a recipe that required only yeast, butter, flour, sugar, salt and milk. I'd write out the recipe here, but it's so standard any internet search will suffice. And those rolls--which took a few hours to rise--were quaint and comforting, the kind of food you want an American food icon to eat. Thank you for inspiring me to make them; I look forward to the rest of your book....
