Fig and Plum Pie

That's right.

PIE.

I have been obsessing over pie for the past few weeks. It all started when I read my friend's lovely blog about a pear pie that she made using her grandmother's crust and pears from the farmer's market. I die. I yearn. I crave. Teach me!

Luckily, she did. On Labor Day the girls in our small group came over to the The Freckled Key's house where she taught us her grandmother's pie crust recipe. We filled it with seasonal figs and plums and then giggled with delight at the results.

"Wait", you say, "Kate, aren't you supposed to be reviewing recipes from that crazy healthy food magazine, Clean Eating? Isn't that the 'September Challenge'? This doesn't sound like it came from a health food magazine. After all, there are seven whole tablespoons of butter in the crust."

Yes yes, you are right. I have not forgotten. Here's the deal: in the back of Clean Eating's August issue, there is an intriguing and controversial article that challenges readers to "re-think" butter. Since there are seven tablespoons of butter in this delicious pie crust, I decided that I could incorporate my lessons learned from Clean Eating with this delectable recipe.

A certain doctor Bowden who has a PhD., is a certified nutritionist, and the author of several books, says that butter is not as bad as we think it is... especially if it comes from organic, grass-fed cows.

Maybe you're not like me, maybe you don't scoff at Paula Deen every time she ruins a perfectly healthy vegetable by throwing it in a vat of melted butter,and maybe you don't try to make a beschemel sauce with olive oil instead of the golden fatty substance that makes a beschemel a beschemel. Maybe you're sane. I, however, cower in fear at the very mention of butter in a recipe. I run, I hide, and I swap butter for olive oil any chance I get.

So, doctor Bowden says that health nuts have been avoiding butter because of the high saturated fat content. We avoid saturated fat because it contributes to high cholesterol, which we don't want because it causes heart disease. He goes through a lot of scientific jibber jabber that sounds really impressive and convincing but that I truthfully don't understand. Basically, he says scientists haven't really connected high cholesterol to death from heart disease... half of the people that die from heart disease don't have high cholesterol. Also, butter is a good source of vitamin A, which is important for a healthy immune system and eyesight. Plus, if your butter comes from healthy happy cows who have been fed organic grass rather than processed grain, your butter will have elevated levels of omega-3s, which is the HEALTHY fat that we make such a big deal about in fish.

Clean Eating says that, even with this new information, we shouldn't use butter in every meal. And we should limit our consumption to one-two tablespoons per recipe.

Weeeeeeellll, this pie crust has seven tablespoons of butter in it. And it's delicious. And I'm not sorry. Because pie is a rare little treasure that we enjoy on occassion and it is OK. Say that to yourself: "It. Is. Ok."



Enough of me talking. Here's Hannah's grandmother's pie crust recipe that she so generously gave me permission to post:

INGREDIENTS:

Crust:
- 1 1/4 cup of all-purpose flour
- 7 tablespoons of butter
- 3-4 tablespoons of ice water
- 1 tablespoon of sugar
- 1 teaspoon of salt
Filling:
- 1 lb plums
- 1 lb figs
- 2 tablespoons of sugar
- 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons of lemon juice

DIRECTIONS:

Crust:

1. Combine the dry ingreditns until it resembles cornmeal
2. Add the ice water one tblespoon at a time until th e dough just starts to come together
3. Roll the dough into a five inch disk and wrap in plastic wrap
4. Refrigerate for one hour
5. Roll the crust out, starting in the center and rolling to the outside
6. Give the dough a quarter turn every so often
7. If the seams tear, just mash them back together :)
8. Make a 13 inch crust if you are using a 9 inch pie plate
9. Transfer the dough to the plate and tuck whatever hangs over the edge underneath to form a lip. Pinch the edges to make a pretty little rustic design. (Ok, is it obvious that I am not a baker? I realize that this description is despicable.)

Filling:

1. Mix all the filling ingredients in a bowl.
2. Pour them over the crust (which you have already put in the pan)
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes

*** If you are my mother and you love tart things, you will love this pie. If you are me and you love sweet things, I would suggest adding some more sugar or a drizzle of honey.


This is not the pie in the picture, but let's pretend.