Peach Pie - Freezing Peach Pie Filling

Peach pie is something I wouldn't be having in April had I not frozen some of the luscious organic peaches I got last summer. If you've been reading Delightful Repast for very long, you know I love peaches but refuse to buy the out-of-season imports no matter how much I'm craving a peach.

Last July and August I enjoyed flavorful organic peaches every way I could think of -- peach pie, peach shortcake, peach jam, peach cobbler, peach crumble, just plain peaches. I imagined how wonderful it would be to have a peach pie in the middle of winter, so I froze them pie-ready.

When I was young (decades ago!), my parents had an apple tree. And one day when we were drowning in apples, my mother and I got the brilliant idea of freezing them pie-ready. We had four pie plates and we lined each with a big piece of foil, then stirred up four batches of apple pie filling and poured them into the foil-lined pie plates, folded the foil over the apples and set the pie plates in the freezer. Once the pie filling was frozen, we removed the foil-wrapped filling from the pie plates and stacked the tidy packages in the freezer. And repeated the procedure many times!

So last August I did the same with peaches, but on a much smaller scale, of course. Then any time I wanted peach pie, I just stirred up some pie dough and got the pie filling out of the freezer. It's been wonderful, but now I'm down to the last two and it will probably be another fourteen weeks before I can get my hands on some really good peaches. Wish I'd frozen a couple more!

If you're a peach pie aficionado like me, be sure to do this next peach season. Here's the recipe for Peach Pie with Lattice Crust. And here's the pastry (below). Or try my Gluten-Free Pie Crust. Just scroll down for the recipe and double it for a two-crust pie.

Pastry for Double-Crust 9-Inch Pie (food processor* method)

2 1/2 packed cups (12.5 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes and frozen for 10 minutes
2 tablespoons lemon juice or cider vinegar
Ice water to make 3/4 cup liquid

1 With metal blade in place, add flour, salt and baking powder to work bowl of food processor. Turn on for three seconds to combine. Add half the frozen butter and process for 10 seconds or until mixture has the consistency of coarse meal. Add remaining butter and pulse for six 1-second pulses, or until the frozen butter is the size of small peas.

2 In 3/4-cup measure, combine lemon juice and ice water. Pour over all of flour mixture; pulse for six 1-second pulses or just until dough forms large clumps; do not over-process. (The amount of water you will need depends on your climate and the moisture content of your flour. You may not need to use quite as much water as I do.)

3 Turn dough out onto work surface. Divide dough into two balls. Place each ball on a piece of plastic wrap and flatten slightly into a 4-inch round disk; double wrap; refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to three days. (Let thoroughly chilled dough stand at room temperature for 15 minutes before rolling.)

* I have the DLC-10E, which (understandably after all this time--I've had it since I was very young) is no longer available. See Cuisinart DLC-2009CHB Prep 9 9-Cup Food Processor, Brushed Stainless and other currently available models.