We planted a cherry tree in our front yard 12 years ago, and it's been producing fruit for about 7. We've used the fruit to make a grappa-like concoction, but this year I had to have pie. This simple recipe from Everyday Food delivered, but I hit some road bumps along the way. First, I made the dough, but then couldn't find my cherry pitter. Project shelved for a day before I could borrow one from work, and this went from a Sunday afternoon activity to workday evening one. Then my pie plate went MIA, so I had to experiment with a casserole dish (it worked!). My son helped make the pie, but it was still in the oven when he went to bed, so I made a wild promise: Pie for breakfast! Just like having fruit and bread, right? Here's a slideshow of the steps.
1 Harvesting the tree. We got about 5 pounds this year; the birds get everything we can't reach.
2 Dough disks.
3 Life is a bowl of . . .
4 I manned the pitter while my 7-year-old cut the cherries in half. Most time-consuming part.
5 I read in our very own magazine that if you press the edge of the dough down with your knuckles, it will help prevent the edges from tearing while you roll. So, I tried it and it worked!
6 Couldn't find my pie plate. Did I ever have one? Who knows. Made it work with this oval casserole dish.
7 The cherries, corn starch, sugar and lemon juice for the filling.
8 Adding the filling.
9 Ready for lattice top.
10 I added the lattice strips, tucked under, pressed, and crimped with a fork.
11 Brushed with egg was and sprinkled with turbinado sugar.
12 Out of the oven.
13 It's got a deep-dish vibe.
14 Pie for breakfast!
15 He only ate the crust. Go figure.
16
17 I've never actually known what type of cherry tree we have—the colors range from golden yellow to almost Bing-red, but the flesh is pale. Anyone know?
From: Callie | 6/17/11 at 7:42 pm
The May/June issue of Cook's Illustrated offered a slick alternative to using a cherry-pitter in their Quick Tips section:
Place a cherry over the mouth of a clean, empty glass bottle with a small mouth (such as a wine or soda bottle.)
Using the blunt end of a chopstick, pierce through the center of the cherry, pushing the pit through the flesh and skin and into the bottle.