BAKING MICHIGAN RED HAVEN PEACH PIES

Even in Michigan they sometimes lie and tell you they are selling you Red Haven peaches and then the axe falls as you peel and slice peaches that are not cling-free. You cut around or wrestle with the pit knowing that you don't have the BEST.

Tonight my sister and I made a double crust 9" peach pie (to take home for my pie-loving honey), an 8" peach pie with crumb topping, a darling 4" double crust pie for tomorrow's breakfast, and prepared filling for two future pies--freezing the filling in individual 9" glass pie pans. We will be able to recall the waning days of summer and the bountiful harvest and cooling nights while enjoying those Red Haven pie at Thanksgiving and Christmas.

For the double crusted pies, we used glass pie pans and then prepared Martha Stewart's pate brisée and added bit of extra sugar--not as much as the pate sucré requires, but we did sweeten it up a bit. We mixed 5 cups of peaches for the big pie with about 1/4 cup of flour, 1/3 cup of sugar, and a dash of cinnamon--sprinkling a bit of tapioca since the peaches were really juicy.

Here's the secret--we microwaved the the 9" pie for 8 - 10 minutes, or until the filling just started bubbling. Then we baked the pie at 400 degrees for 15 - 20 minutes until the crust was golden. We should have brushed the top crust with beaten egg whites for good looks, but she was still a mighty attractive pie!

NOTE: I ended up staying an extra day, so we didn't cut into that pie for 48 hours, but it was the freshest and most delicious peach pie I have ever tasted. Don't know if it was the superior peaches or the microwaving, but those peaches were solid and had dynamite flavor. The crust was almost like shortbread, but not quite as rich.

Martha's pate brisée calls for 2-1/2 cups of flour with 1 cup of butter and I have always followed her recipe. Next time around, I am going to use 3 cups of flour and see how she goes...