Meal Monday: best pie EVER

I'm posting a recipe for which I cannot take any credit.  The crust is all The Beeroness and the filling is a mix of a couple different recipes based on a suggestion by one of my friends.

I've always failed at pie crust.  Never have I had one turn out even remotely flakey or tasty, so I've always used those refridgerated crusts from Pillsbury.  They aren't awful, but let's face it.  They aren't that great either.  When I saw The Beeroness's blog last week, I knew I needed to try this recipe.  I wasn't sure what type of beer to use (yes, the crust is made with beer) so I sent out some tweets and requests on Facebook for ideas.  Jackie, The Beeroness herself, even responded and suggested a higher alcohol IPA and that if it's one with a high IBU (bitterness) content, to just add an extra tablespoon of sugar.

Here's what I did for the Pale Ale Pie Dough.  This is The Beeroness's recipe but I really think you should visit her blog. Add her to your reader.  Plus, she has the ziplist and Pinterest plugins so you can save the crust recipe. 

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 12 tbs cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• 8 tbs vegetable shortening (I used butter-flavored Crisco sticks)
• 1/3 cup ice cold high ABV pale ale (I used Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale - 6.8% alc and 65 IBU - no extra sugar needed)

Directions

• Add 1 ½ cups of flour, salt and sugar to a food processor, pulse once or twice to combine. Add the butter and shortening, close the openings or you will have flour all over your kitchen not that I have any experience with that then process until well combined and dough gathers around the blade. You might have to stop and push the dough back into place a few times depending on your food processor.
• Add the remaining flour and pulse 6-8 times or until all the flour has been coated. It will look a little bit crumbly. 
• Put the dough in a bowl and use a rubber spatula to stir in the beer.  The dough will be very soft and a little sticky.  This is fine.  The Beeroness says "don’t add the beer in the food processor or your dough will turn into a cracker". 
• Lay two long sheets of plastic wrap on your counter and divide the dough between the two sheets.  Mold them into flat disks and wrap them each with the plastic wrap.
• Place the disks into a freezer bag and put in the refridgerator or the freezer depending on how soon you want to use it. I kept mine in the fridge for a little over 2 hours.
• Freeze for up to 3 weeks. (If you want to use the dough the day of, place the wrapped disks in the refrigerator for 2 hours and up to 3 days)
• 24 hours before use, put the dough in the refrigerator to thaw.
• When ready to roll out the dough, roll out the first disk between 2 pieces of wax paper.  Do NOT roll it out on a floured surface.  The dough will be really soft and a little sticky but this is totally ok.  Put the first crust into your pie plate and add the filling (recipe below).  Put it in the fridge while you roll out the top crust.  You can then use the top crust however you want - lattice, whole with slits or you can make 2 single-crust pies.

Notes from The Beeroness

If the dough breaks easily when you try to roll it out, gently knead it with your hands until it comes together. Roll it out, line a pie pan and refrigerator to chill, about 30 minutes. *This recipe also works with all butter, or all shortening, if you prefer.

Filling: Peach Blueberry Pie

Ingredients:

• 5 cups frozen (partially thawed) sliced peaches
• 2 cups frozen blueberries
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup quick-cooking tapioca (I added a bit more after filling the pie shell)
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• dash cinnamon
• dough for double crust pie
• milk or egg and sugar for top of pie

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 425*
• In a large bowl, combine fruit, sugar, tapioca, cornstarch, lemon juice and cinnamon.  Let sit for 15 min, stirring occasionally. 
• Roll out first pie crust as directed above and line pie plate.  Spoon the fruit mixture into the crust. If there is a lot of juice in the bowl (there was with mine), use a slotted spoon and leave almost all of the juice in the bowl because you don't want a watery pie.  I thought I still had too much juice so I sprinkled a bit more tapioca on top of the fruit mixture.
• Refridgerate while you roll out the top crust.
• Gently place the top crust over the fruit and make prettier edges than I did.  Cut a few slices in the top crust to let the steam escape.
• Bake for 20 minutes.  Remove from oven and brush with milk or egg then sprinkle with sugar.  Cover edges with foil to prevent over browning.  Bake another 20-30 min or until golden brown.
• Let cool for about 2 hours so the juices in the pie set, otherwise it will be runny.
• You can reheat slices for a few seconds in the microwave if you want them warm.
• Serve with vanilla ice cream.

This was, by far, the best pie I have ever made.  The crust is super flaky and buttery tasting, plus I LOVED the peach and blueberry combination.  Some version of this pie will grace my Thanksgiving table for sure.

What's your favorite flavor pie?