You want to make a better pie, right? (January 27)

You've probably already read on the forum about the Peterson Garden Project cooking series. Well, in just under two weeks I'm teaching a class about pies, focused mostly on crusts. $25 to a great cause (the Peterson Garden Project) and you'll eat well (sweet & savory).


What you'll learn: Tips and tricks to make your own all butter, flaky pie crusts at home. I'll talk about ingredients, techniques, baking, etc. And we'll make dough and bake a pie during the class.








What else: I'll come armed with sweet and savory pies for you to eat while you learn (I'm thinking an Alsatian Onion Tart, Lamb Picadillo Empanadas, a fruit pie (cherry or apple) and a sweet Pine Nut-Rosemary Tart. And I'll send you home with some recipes and dough for you to make your own crust at home. The idea is to help you get over your fears of making your own crusts, but I definitely plan to feed you right from the get go!

More details and sign-up:

https://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/50363/p/ ... _KEY=80462


Location: Fearless Food Kitchen, 5917 N. Broadway St.
January 27: 7-9pm


I hope to see some LTH'ers there . . . we'll have fun, we'll eat, all for a good cause.

Holy crap BR--those look AMAZING! Can't imagine why anyone would want to miss this class. See you there!

This is an answer to my prayers. I am dissatisfied with my crusts, which are too often a bit tough and/or shrink and do not hold their shape well. I also make all-butter crusts and was looking into taking a class. This comes at just the right time!

The Chow Poodle and I will both be there. Sounds like fun.

So glad to see you guys will be there . . . hope to see a few more familiar faces there.

Bumping this because it's one week from tonight. $25 will not only get you many valuable pie-making tips, but plenty of good food and a crust to take home (see original post) and your money goes to a great cause. I hope to see more of you there.

BR wrote:I hope to see more of you there.

IN!
Sounds fun and educational, plus I love pie!

I'm in also!

Great - glad you guys can make it.

Just signed up! Can't wait, maybe this will give me the confidence to make my own, rather than using the sad looking frozen ones. Thanks, BR!

Glad you can make it.

The menu is set: Caramelized Onion Tart, Lamb Empanadas, Pine Nut Tart (sweet) and Cherry Pie with a Lattice Crust. And everyone will get to take home a crust (unbaked). There's still some room if people want to sign up and it's only $25.

I wouldn't wait long--I saw the sign up list and this is one of the most popular classes PGP has offered. Now that the menu is published, I'm guessing the remaining spots will go fast! Hope to see many of you there

Does anyone know what the parking is like over there? I was thinking of dropping off the car in the morning so I could drive home after.

Pie Lady wrote:Does anyone know what the parking is like over there? I was thinking of dropping off the car in the morning so I could drive home after.

Broadway is metered as are the the east/west streets, at least up the alleys west of Broadway. You should be able to find parking on side streets west of Broadway.

There's also a large metered lot adjacent to the Armory on the corner of Broadway and Thorndale--entrance is on Thorndale. Obviously, that would make for a fairly expensive ride home if you had to pay the meters all day but thought that might be helpful for other participants to know. There's also a Red line stop at Thorndale.

That's the thing; I wanted to park at 7am, take the red line to work and back to class, then drive home. But if there's no free parking I'll skip that idea.

Pie Lady-

I'm sure you could find free street parking nearby and you'd be a block or two from the Red Line stop.

In case anyone is wondering about what goes on in these classes, have a look at the deliciousness that the lucky folks got to enjoy tonight at the Fearless Food Kitchen (and thanks to all of the LTHers for signing up!!)

Brad--you knocked it out of the park!!

1st up--onion tart.



Next were some of the very best empanadas I've ever had. No pics unfortunately!

And then we were on to the sweets!

First, two different versions of a pine nut tart--both delicious though I know one was a "mistake"!


Next--the gorgeous Cherry pie with lattice crust--the class got to do the lattice with a few great tips on technique from Brad.


And last but not least, a passion fruit curd tart with meringue. A perfect finale.

boudreaulicious wrote:Brad--you knocked it out of the park!!

Fun, educational and delicious!

Happy that it went well. The mistake Jen mentions is that I made a pine nut tart, only to realize after I was done that it didn't look at all like the ones I previously made . . . only to realize that it was a different recipe. I then found my preferred recipe (darker, and includes infused rosemary) and made that too . . . so, two different pine nut tarts. But nobody was complaining about having to eat more pie!

Thanks for a great class, and stuffing us with pie! I did prefer the darker pine nut tart because there was more rosemary, but both were delightful. Now I just want to go home and make a ton of crust.

I wish I had a pic of the "right" one but apparently I dont. Need to check what I posted directly to Facebook. If I find it, I'll post so people can see the difference!

Finally, the seemingly unattainable mystery of tender flaky pie crust has been unraveled, elementary, my dears, says Brad. He made it look so simple, and oh so delicious!

3 simple steps:
1. Making the dough took barely 10 mins with secret ingredients for a tender and flaky dough
2. Allow it to rest in fridge for 1 hour or more - hardest part of the process
3. Roll out the crust without breaking and a floury mess. Brilliant!

Hard to choose my favorite among a standout lineup of pies, but I am a sucker for passion fruit, so the passion fruit meringue rose to top of my list. Then again, who doesn't love a sour cherry pie with lattice weave crust, so very pretty, and simple to do. That rosemary nut pie was unexpectedly complex and satisfying. I could so go on about each pie, but better get back to work now, after I dry out my keyboard.

Bravo, Brad!!! You spoiled us with a great selection of pies and techniques, AND provide each with a pie crust to take home, too!

Wow! Really flattered guys -- thank you so much. And I'm glad you enjoyed the pies and hopefully picked up some tips to improve your own pie-making. I'm always happy to share my own tricks of the trade as others have always done for me.