Switching gears here for a minute from All the Proteins!! Week, I wanted to show you these “overthought” hand pies. You see, today is of course Juneteenth. I must admit that until I attended grad school some 25 years ago in someplace other than New England or Germany, I never really paid much attention to a whole lot of Black history — a fault that I will admit and have hopefully rectified. I’ll spare you the details of my grad school work except to say that it was eye-opening. In addition, I think that most of you know that I find cultural meaning and shared common beliefs through food — yes, for me, almost everything comes back to the food, whether it be Independence Day or Christmas. I did some more details research on the food traditions of Juneteenth, which is often celebrated with a menu of red foods to represent the perseverance of the enslaved. No, these Blackberry Peach Hand Pies aren’t red – there will be red on the menu soon as Strawberry week starts on Monday (and I have taken the day off to go Strawberry picking) — but they are a combination of ideas: Pies, and hand pies, a commonality between North and South, though these are inspired by a recipe from a little Georgia bakery. Peaches are common to both GA and TX. And I will always go back to Breaking Bread with family and friends as an important part of community building.
Ingredients
for the pie pastry
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/3 cup chilled solid vegetable shortening, diced
6 tablespoons (or more) ice water
for the filling
1 1/2 cups peaches, sliced (about 3 small peaches)
1/2 cup blackberries
3 tablespoons granulated sugar, plus additional for topping the pies
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 egg, mixed with one tablespoon water for egg wash
Directions
Blend flour, sugar and salt in processor. Add butter and shortening and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 6 tablespoons ice water and process until moist clumps form, adding more water by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry. Gather into ball; divide into 2 pieces. Flatten each into disk. Wrap each in plastic; chill 2 hours.
When the dough is done refrigerating, measure out the sliced peaches and blackberries in a medium-sized bowl. Add the sugar and cornstarch. Toss until combined, then set aside.
Heat the oven to 350F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or silpat. Set aside.
Lightly flour a clean, flat surface, and roll out the pie crust. Using a 4 1/2″ to 5″ round cookie cutter (or a plate of a similar size), cut rounds into the dough for the individual pies. Transfer the dough rounds to the prepared baking sheet, then measure out about 2 tablespoons of the filling into them. Brush egg around the edges of half the round, then seal with your fingers or a fork. Repeat the process until all 10 pies have been made. Brush the tops of the hand pies with the egg, then gently cut two vents in the top of each. Transfer the baking sheet to the oven, and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown. When cooled, remove from the oven, and let cool for 5 minutes before devouring!
