Battle Scars

 This pie project is a marathon. 20 is a large number. There's going to be a lot of butter in my future. And each recipe is its own tiny battle. This week was pretty much Waterloo.

As I was contemplating which recipe to knock out this week, two things stuck out to me:

1. It is too damn hot.
2. Peaches are currently at their peak.

I was afraid if I waited too long I would have a peach pie recipe to make with peaches no longer in season. So I headed to Madison's at Findlay Market, whose peach selection is practically taking up half of their tiny store. I didn't want to turn on the oven, so the obvious solution: DEEP FRY!


This recipe yields delicious results. Flaky pastry, a boozy, delectable filling; but it's not for the faint of heart. If you're a pro at handling high stress situations, juggling multiple deadlines, not collapsing under pressure, and rolling with the punches (and working with hot oil) - by all means, be my guest.You've been warned.

I got my first kitchen injury of the challenge this week - a small welt on my hand from some bouncing oil as I was transferring a cooked pie from the pot to the paper towels. As my friends and colleagues with Cincinnatians For Progress will agree - it was totally worth it.


#PROTIPS:
 * Don't be a hero with the filling. The picture to the left has too much filling, and consequently got drippy and broke the seal of the pie.
* Flour and the fridge are your friends. Adequately chill both the filling and the pastry so the pies won't leak before you fry them. Use a ton of flour on the rolling surface - both sides, and use more flour after sealing the pastry to help solidify drips.
* The NYT picture makes these guys look like empanadas, but by the end I was treating them more like dumplings. This made them easier to construct.
* Don't freak out! They're going to break, you will make a giant mess all over your kitchen. It's worth it. Keep going!

Fried Peach Pies with Bourbon and Cinnamon - adapted from this recipe

takes about 1.5 hours with proper chill time
best served hot and fresh
technically serves 10 but I made 12

Here's what you need:

(For Crust)

• 2 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), chilled and cubed
• 1 large egg, whisked with enough ice-cold water to make 1/2 cup

 (For Filling)

• 1 1/4 pounds ripe peaches
• 2 1/2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon tapioca starch (find it at Asian markets)
• 2 tablespoons bourbon
• 3/4 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Vegetable oil, for frying
• Cinnamon sugar (see note), for sprinkling. 

5chw4r7z tested, mother approved

Here's what you do with it:

• In a food processor, pulse together flour, sugar and salt. Add butter and pulse until mixture forms pea-size crumbs. Pulse in egg mixture a tablespoon at a time, until dough just comes together (you may not need all the egg mixture). Divide dough into 10 (or 12) equal pieces. Flatten into disks with your palm, wrap in plastic and chill for at least 45 minutes.- I used a plastic produce bag and layered the disks on top of each other. Use this time to clean your kitchen, play Candy Crush, and feel really good about your kitchen skills so far.
  
• Meanwhile, make filling: Using a paring knife, peel and pit peaches (I didn't peel); slice into quarters or eighths, if they're giant peaches. Transfer peaches to a large skillet. Stir in sugar, tapioca starch, bourbon (and bourbon vanilla, if you've got it), lemon juice and cinnamon. Let sit for 10 minutes, then bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Cook until sugar dissolves, 2 to 3 minutes. - I think I wandered off at some point, and when I came back the mixture had REALLY cooked down, so I deglazed my pan with a 1/2 cup of water, which ended up making more of a sauce. So do that. Transfer mixture to a bowl, preferably metal, and freeze for at least 20 minutes to cool, stirring once or twice. Stirring is important. You want both the pastry and the filling to be cold. It's cool to still feel good about your skills at this point. You awesome cook, you.
  
• Fill a medium pot with 4 inches of oil and heat to 375 degrees. On an extremely floured surface, roll out dough into 6-inch rounds - or so. Don't make the pastry so thin you can see your counter top through it. Use lots of flour. Put the pastry in your hand, and place a spoonful of filling in center of each round. Don't overdo it. Using a pastry brush, lightly moisten edges of each circle with water. Wrap the pastry around and seal. Flip the pastry over in your hand to ensure the seal, also because having a bunch of pastry on the bottom will hold the seal better. Don't make too many at once. How ya feeling now, hot shot?
  
• Okay, now it's go time. Make a pie, put it (gently) in the oil. While it's frying, make another. Flip the first one over, put the second one in. While that one's frying, make a third. When you're done with the third, take out the first, put it on a paper-towel plate, put cinnamon sugar on it, flip the second, put in the third. Check your oil temperature. Curse at the pies that are exploding in your hands. Try not to freak out. It will be over soon. Here's the point where your formerly clean kitchen is a flour-covered disaster zone, your hand is burnt, your pies have oozed and exploded a hundred times, and you have to be somewhere in a half an hour. This is what humility feels like. Savor it.

Note: If you don't know how to make cinnamon sugar, you should maybe re-think making this recipe.