Inpired by fear

A week ago, I sat down at my desk at work and found this:

I dropped a container of special pie filling in the freezer for you. Use it well.
Maida
P.S. Love the blog!

A note from Maida herself! Who knew she was a fan?!?

I raced to the fridge in the break room and opened the freezer to find pure gold: a huge container of tart Door County cherries.

Holy crap. The Pie Queen herself wants me to bake a cherry pie -- using the most delicious, succulent, amazing cherries on the planet.

After my initial wave of excitement, anxiety crept in. OK. It wasn't anxiety. It was bone-chilling, mind-numbing fear.

Having just underbaked a berry pie two days earlier, my confidence in being able to master pie making by The Fourth was shot. These cherries are too good, too perfect. The thought of blowing several pints of Door County cherries in a mediocre test pie made me nauseous.

"I can't risk screwing these up," I thought.

And so as I tucked the precious gift deep into my freezer at home, I began thinking about my pie making technique and the learning process.

Up to that point, I'd been following recipes and throwing raw, chopped fruit into pie dough, tossing it in the oven, and then crossing my fingers that they'd taste good and not have the consistency of a melted slushie.

That's a time-consuming and expensive proposition -- and one with unreliable results. I'd already blown whole pies with poorly baked/seasoned filling.

And so I wondered: Could someone make their pie filling on the stove where they're better able to monitor and adjust the consistency and flavor?

Think of it like spaghetti sauce. You simmer and stir, adding a pinch of this or that, constantly tasting and adjusting to get the perfect mix. Would it work with pie too?

I set out to find stove-top pie recipes and found relatively few. I did come across the advice that cooking the filling on the stove allows the fruit to cook down some before baking -- a technique that prevents the gap between top crust and fruit from forming.

I figured it was worth a try -- especially like a beginner for me.

I pulled out my biggest skillet and began melting butter and brown sugar. I adding loads of apples, combining Granny Smith and Golden Delicious for a nice sweet/tart contrast. I added a pinch of cinnamon and even a splash of bourbon (an interesting ingredient I saw in a cook book once) and thickened the mixture with apple juice and instant tapioca. I simmered everything over low heat and inhaled the heavenly aroma.

Once I was satisfied with the flavor and consistency, I let it cool some and then poured it into a pie plate.

The results were delicious. (Although I learned to only partially cook the fruit on the stove, otherwise it'll be too mushy after baking in the oven.)

I'm sure I won't use the stove-top method exclusively, it'll certainly come in handy as I try to develop my own, original recipes for the contest.

So far I've made two apple pies using the stove-top method and I've been really pleased with the results. My confidence is restored and I'm feeling eager to forge ahead.

And so I need to thank my mystery Maida.

Thank you for inspiring me -- by scaring the hell out of me -- to try something new.