The Pat Conroy Cookbook by Pat Conroy Read Free Book Online

was so happy there, I have never been back to New Bern, not once in my life.
    GOOSEBERRY PIE My lifelong love of pies got an upgrade when I used to take my children to spend part of the summer with my sister Carol on the North Shore of Lake Superior. My sister told me it was beautiful at the North Shore, but she did not tell me it was a spectacular landscape with rivers pouring out of the Mesabi range that were wild and tumbling and so pure you could drink the water fresh in your cupped hands. The Temperance River was one of the most beautiful bodies of water in which I have ever swum. I let it take me out into Lake Superior because I was curious when the famous cold water of Superior would overwhelm the warm-watered river—I found the exact spot and was lucky to get back to the shore alive. A local fisherman told me, after I asked him why his boat lacked a life preserver, that Lake Superior killed you after fifteen minutes’ submersion in its icy waters, so they had no need for life preservers on the lake.
    But what my girls and I take from that summer is our love of the pies made by Minnesota women. Restaurants stretch from Duluth to the Canadian border, and every one we entered boasted homemade pies that loom large in our collective memory of those wonderful summers. It was in Minnesota that I first tasted a gooseberry pie. It is easy to make and will put you on a fast track to heaven.
    The method for rolling and shaping the pie crust is the same for each recipe in this chapter.      • SERVES 8
    1 recipe Pie Dough (page 7)
    FOR THE FILLING
    4 cups gooseberries
    3 tablespoons cornstarch
    ¾ cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
    Pinch of salt
    1. Top and tail each gooseberry by pinching off the small stemswith your fingers or clipping them with scissors. Preparing the gooseberries takes time, but this tart pie is spectacular.
    2. Combine the gooseberries, cornstarch, ¾ cup sugar, and salt in a bowl and set aside.
    3. Roll the larger piece of dough into a 12-inch circle. It is easiest to roll the dough using plastic wrap. Place a large sheet of plastic on the counter and put the dough in the center. Flatten the dough into a disk, place a second sheet of wrap on top, and roll with a wooden rolling pin. Remove the top plastic sheet and use the bottom sheet to help invert the dough into a 9-inch glass pie pan. Cover with plastic wrap and place the pie pan in the refrigerator while rolling the smaller top piece.
    4. Using the same technique, roll the smaller piece of dough into a 10-inch circle. Keeping it covered with plastic wrap, put the top dough circle in the refrigerator.
    5. Take the prepared pie pan out of the refrigerator and remove the plastic wrap. Transfer the gooseberries to the pie shell.
    6. Remove top circle of crust from the refrigerator and lay it over the filling. Press the edges of the dough together and trim away the excess, leaving a ½-inch overhang. Press the top and bottom crusts between your finger and thumb to make a decorative border.
    7. Cut four slits in the top pie crust (like spokes on a wheel). Cover the pie with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
    8. While the pie is resting in the refrigerator, place a large piece of foil on the bottom floor of the oven to catch any pie drippings.
    9. Set a baking sheet on the foil. The pie pan will go directly on the baking sheet, so the bottom crust will get cooked all the way through and brown nicely. It is also easier to remove the baked pie from the oven when it is sitting on the baking sheet.
    10. Preheat the oven to 425°F.
    11. Remove the pie from the refrigerator and brush a little water on the pie crust, then sprinkle with the 1 tablespoon sugar.
    12. Bake the pie on the baking sheet for 40 to 50 minutes, until the top crust is golden brown.
    13. Cool the pie on a rack for 2 to 4 hours before cutting.

    FOUR RED FRUITS PIE             • SERVES 8
    1 recipe Pie Dough (page 7)
    FOR THE FILLING
    ¾ pound rhubarb stalks
    ½ pint red