Let’s take a moment and think about pie.

I actually took way more than a moment to think about, bake, and research, this outstanding, American culinary tradition. I took about a year.

Maybe you guys have noticed the image on the right-hand side of your computer screen. I put the picture of a book cover up awhile back, and left it at that. Well, that friends, is my new cookbook, United States of Pie. And, it’s out today!

As with virtually all books, this too has a back story.

When my husband and I moved to Connecticut four years ago, I was homesick. We had been living in Manhattan for two years, and although we had forged a new life for ourselves on the East Coast, I brutally missed my family, and our life in California. I started to cook rather obsessively. And with the all of this cooking, I did something new for me, I started to bake.

Now, I grew up with pie. My grandma was the pie baker in my family, and we had a pie at every holiday and every family get together. I always had my favorites, and Grandma was generous with her sugar– if I had a hankering for a slice of pie, I need only to ask. This generosity can actually be a disadvantage. I never baked my own pie until I lived in Connecticut. But when I finally did (and it took a bit of practice), I was hooked.

My husband works at Yale, and in those first months in New Haven, when he would go off to teach, I would go to campus too, wandering the quads, and getting lost in the vast libraries. One day, Brian suggested I look at Yale’s cookbook collection– just to see what it was like. And that’s where the story of my cookbook really begins. The collection at Yale was interesting, and old, very old, spanning the country, telling a story of how we cooked and baked in the near and distant past. These were the sorts of books I could (and did) get lost in. In short, I was fascinated by these cookbooks– and thought that other readers might be too.

The recipes I found were from housekeeping guides, farm manuals, restaurant cookbooks, and mimeographed pamphlets from church dinners, and community bake sales from around the country. Many of these recipes were rough, to say the least– they lacked precise measurements, baking times and temperatures– but I had a feeling that they were culinary gold.

I brought these books home, and I began to bake, sometimes taking inspiration from just the title. I made a lot of pie over the last year, and I savored every bite. I loved the work, and I hope that you love this book. Some of the recipes are new, others reimagined classics, but each pie offers a glimpse into what Americans were eating for dessert throughout this country.

The book is set up by region, and the pie that I offer you today is Rhubarb Pie or Pie Plant Pie. It hails from the Midwest. Although rhubarb is grown throughout this country, it lays special claim to this region. The winters may be tough in the Midwest, but this hardy perennial keeps growing with little care. Pie Plant got its moniker because there really is no more delicious thing to do with a few stalks of rhubarb than make a pie with it.

Standard Pie Dough
from United States of Pie

2 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into ½ inch cubes
6 tablespoons vegetable shortening, chilled and cut into ½ inch cubes
6-10 tablespoons ice water

Makes enough for one 9-inch double-crusted pie, or two 9-inch pie shells.

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt until well blended and free of lumps. Add the butter and the shortening to the flour mixture and toss gently to coat. With your fingertips, blend until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Work the fats into the flour, rubbing the larger pieces of butter and shortening between your fingers until the mixture resembles gravel.

Sprinkle on the water, one tablespoon at a time, starting with 3 tablespoons, then gradually adding more water if needed. Blend with your fingertips, as little as possible, pulling the meal together and creating a dough. The dough will become less sticky, and more of a mass when enough water has been added. Finally, knead minimally in the bowl to make sure the dough has just enough moisture.

Separate the dough in half. (One mound of dough should weigh approximately 10½ ounces.) Place each half on a sheet of plastic wrap and seal. Gently form into a disk, roughly ¾ inch tall. Place the wrapped dough in the refrigerator for at least one hour or up to two days before rolling out. Dough can be frozen for up to 1 month, and defrosted in the refrigerator before using.

Rhubarb (Pie Plant) Pie

1 recipe Standard Pie Dough

1 lb. (4 cups) rhubarb, cut into ¼ inch slices
1¼ cups sugar
¼ cup all purpose flour
½ teaspoon orange zest
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
pinch of kosher salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into ¼ inch cubes

optional:

1 tablespoon cream
1 tablespoon turbinado or sanding sugar

Preheat oven to 425°.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the rhubarb, sugar, flour, orange zest, nutmeg, and salt, and toss well to coat.

Roll out one portion of the dough on a well-floured surface until it is about 1/8 of an inch thick, and will fit a 9-inch pie plate. Gently pick up the dough and center it over the pie plate. Ease the dough into the inner ring of the plate. Pour in the rhubarb filling and shake pie gently to spread evenly. Dot the surface of the pie with the butter.

Roll out the second portion of the dough, to equal proportions as the first. Lay the dough over the filling. Trim the sides of dough to leave a one-inch overhang. Fold the two pieces under and together, and then decoratively crimp the perimeter. With a sharp knife cut 5 vents into the surface of the pie.

If using, with a pastry brush paint the surface of the pie with cream, and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for the pie for 15 minutes then reduce the heat to 375°. Continue to bake the pie for another 40-45 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown. Allow the pie to cool to room temperature before enjoying.