Whether you’re baking summer pies or getting ready for holiday baking it’s important to have some key information about pie dough.
Blind Baking
Blind baking is prebaking a crust before you add an unbaked or especially wet filling. To ensure that your crust turns out crisp while blind baking, you can either dock it or use pie weights.
Docking
Docking is pricking the dough all over with the tines of a fork. The tiny holes allow steam to escape, so that the crust doesn’t puff up. After rolling out your dough and pressing it into the pan, gently prick it, leaving an inch or two between each mark. Be sure to check your crust several times throughout its bake time. If you notice it puffing up in any way, simply prick the puffy spots a few times and keep baking.
Pie Weights
Pie weights are tiny ceramic or metal balls or a thin metal chain that prevent the bottom of your crust from forming air pockets and bubbling up while baking. While docking is less fussy than using pie weights, I prefer pie weights because of the additional support they give the crust. Line your unbaked crust with parchment paper or aluminum foil before adding the weights to keep them from baking into the dough. I prefer parchment paper because its permeable structure allows the crust to breathe and brown more evenly. If you don’t own pie weights, dried beans work just as well.
Blind Bake Ahead
You can blind bake a crust up to three days ahead of time. Allow the crust to cool completely in the pan, wrap with plastic wrap, and store at room temperature until you are ready to fill and serve.
Happy Pie Baking!
“Work With What You Got!”
© Victoria Hart Glavin Tiny New York Kitchen © 2017 All Rights Reserved
When storing cheese, keep in mind that it is a living organism. In most cases, it should be wrapped in special cheese paper, waxed paper or aluminum foil so that it can “breath” without drying out. Cheeses that need to retain moisture, such as fresh mozzarella, can be wrapped in plastic wrap.
In general, you can keep different kinds of cheeses together. The exceptions are those with strong aromas, such as blue cheeses, which should be stored in an airtight container so the other cheeses don’t pick up their sharp smells. Store cheese in the lowest part of the refrigerator, where there is less chance of accidental freezing. The vegetable bin, with its high humidity, is the perfect storage place.
Before shredding semisoft cheese on the large holes of a grater, spritz the grater with cooking oil spray so the cheese doesn’t stick. Freezing the cheese slightly makes it easier to grate, but freeze only the amount you need for the recipe.
Don’t throw away the rind from Parmesan cheese. Toss it into soup (especially chicken or bean soups or minestrone) or tomato sauce, and let it simmer for 30 minutes or so to soften and impart its flavor.
Even cheese that is fine to eat may sport a bit of mold. Trim off the blue, green, or fuzzy mold. If the mold is pink or black, then the cheese is spoiled and must be discarded. Also, if the cheese smells of ammonia, toss it out.
“Work With What You Got!”
© Victoria Hart Glavin Tiny New York Kitchen © 2017 All Rights Reserved
