Posted by The Denver Post, CO on June 19, 2008 at 07:58:50:
81-year-old’s pie recipe always wins
By Kristen Browning-Blas - The Denver Post - 06/18/08
The first cooking contest Tony Fields won was in her senior year of high school, for a cherry pie. It was 1945.
The second was at a Denver farmers market two years ago, for her cherry pie.
Since then, Fields, 81, has won every pie contest at the farmers market — except one. She was out of town last August, so her daughter, Cindy King, entered with her apple pie recipe. She won.
Fields thanks two people for her pie prowess: her mother and a college neighbor named Nellie Ward. Fields grew up on a farm in Lawrence County, Ind., and moved to West Lafayette after she got married. Her husband attended Purdue University and they lived in the converted-barracks dorms, where they met a neighbor who made a good pie. ‘‘Nellie Ward gave me her recipe and I’ve never used any other ever since,’’ says the grandmother of five.
Although she’s won prizes for rhubarb and cherry, asking her to pick a favorite pie is like asking a mother to pick a favorite child. She ticks off her repertoire: ‘‘pumpkin, banana, coconut, apple, chocolate. But I think my cherry is my favorite.’’
‘‘I’ve always baked pies when I have guests in the house and they seemed to disappear,’’ she says, presumably referring to the pie, not the guests. ‘‘It’s the quickest dessert I can make. It only takes me a half-hour.’’
Her dough recipe is the simplest possible — flour, salt, shortening and water. So the secret’s got to be in the preparation. What does she do in that half-hour?
• Uses a pastry blender. This is a half-moon-shaped tool that cuts the shortening into little pieces that mix with the flour.
• Keeps it cool. She puts ice in the water so it’s very cold when she adds it to the flour-shortening mixture. This keeps the fat from melting until the pie goes into the oven, making a flaky crust.
• Uses a light touch. Don’t overmix the dough, she says, because that will make it tough and not flaky.
‘‘We talk about opening a little pastry shop,’’ says her daughter, but for now, they will concentrate on winning more contests and paying off medical bills from two breast cancer surgeries and 35 radiation treatments.
‘‘My granddaughter wanted an apron, so I made her one. She took it to work and everybody started wanting me to make an apron for them, so I started selling them for $25,’’ Fields says.
She’s hoping to sell them at the farmers market this summer and online at thecreativeowl.com.
She’s already won the market’s first pie contest this year but plans to take July off to ‘‘let somebody else have a chance.’’
Tony Fields’ Prize-Winning Cherry Pie
Tony has been making this simple crust for 50 years. She won blue ribbons at the 2007 Manatee County Fair in Palmetto, Fla., as well as 2006 and 2007 farmers market pie-baking contests with this recipe. Makes top and bottom crust and filling for one 9-inch pie.
Ingredients:
CRUST
1-1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cups shortening
5-1/2 tablespoons ice-cold water
FILLING
1 can pitted sour cherries
1-1/4 cups sugar
1-1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
Lemon juice
2 tablespoons butter
Directions:
Crust: Put flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. Cut in shortening using a pastry blender or fork. Add water and mix lightly with a fork. Roll half of dough on a well-floured surface. Place in 9-inch pie pan.
Filling: In a large bowl, mix cherries, sugar and cornstarch. Place mixture on top of crust in pie pan. Squeeze a little lemon juice over cherry mixture and dot with butter.
Roll out other half of dough and place over filling. Crimp edges together. Cut slits in top to allow steam to escape. Brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar. Bake 15 minutes at 425 degrees. Reduce heat to 375 and bake 45 minutes. Cover edges with aluminum foil if it browns too much.
Tony Fields’ First Place Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie This pie won the blue ribbon at the January Manatee County Fair in Palmetto, Fla., and one of the 2007 farmers market pie-baking contests in Denver. Makes one 9-inch pie.
Tony Fields’ First Place Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie
Ingredients:
3 cups strawberries (fresh or frozen)
1-1/2 cups sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 cups rhubarb, sliced (fresh or frozen unsweetened)
1/2 teaspoon finely shredded lemon peel
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Top and bottom crusts for 9-inch pie
1-1/2 tablespoons half-and-half or milk
1 tablespoon cinnamon sugar
Directions:
In a large bowl, mix strawberries, sugar, cornstarch, rhubarb, lemon peel and lemon juice. For fresh fruit, let stand 15 minutes. For frozen, let stand 60 minutes.
Roll out both crusts; place one in a pie pan or an iron skillet. Top with fruit mixture. Place remaining crust over fruit and crimp the edges. Cut slits in top to allow steam to escape. Brush with half-and-half and dust with cinnamon sugar.
Bake in a 400-degree oven for 10 minutes, then lower temperature to 375. Bake for 45 minutes. Cover the crust with aluminum foil if it browns too much. Cool before serving.
Cindy King’s Award-Winning Apple Pie
Tony Fields’ daughter, Cindy, won the Denver farmers market contest last year with this recipe, which makes one 9-inch pie.
Ingredients:
6-7 cups apples, cut into thin slices
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
Bottom and top crust for 9-inch pie
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
1 tablespoon cinnamon sugar, blended half-and-half
Directions:
In a medium bowl, combine apples and sugars. Add flour and cinnamon and mix until well-blended.
Roll half of dough on a well-floured surface. Place in pie pan. Top with apple mixture. Dot with butter. Roll out other half of dough and place over apples. Trim and crimp the edges, cut slits to allow steam to escape, and dust with cinnamon sugar.
Cover edges with foil. Bake 20 minutes at 425 degrees. Remove foil and bake another 20-25 minutes at 375.
Let cool before serving.