How great is vacation? How great is the idea of having an entire afternoon dedicated to tracking down shrimp in a 200-year-old Spanish-moss draped Lowcountry town on the Edisto River? Only to discover that the dock is closed for business on Mondays so could you come back tomorrow? The thing is, we can! (What else is there to do?) And Monday’s pursuit of shrimp ended up detouring left, down a dirt road, around the rickety fence, following hand-written U-Pick signs to 10 acres and seemingly millions of strawberry bushes begging to be harvested. So what was going to be shrimp and grits [1] or easy shrimp tacos [2] with some lime and jalapeno ended up here, at strawberry pie. And I can’t say that anyone complained.
Jackpot! Would you look at this place. An entire farm to ourselves.
Now that’s a strawberry.
How red are these? How freaking long was winter?
The pie was Phoebe’s idea and she was extremely proud. My only regret is not showing you the finished product sliced open with fresh whipped cream on top. We brought it to friend’s house and it was devoured too quickly to snap a photo.
Spring Strawberry Pie
About 2 cups strawberries, washed and de-stemmed, enough to create a nice round mound in the middle of a 9-inch pie dish
2 teaspoons cornstarch (could use flour)
2 teaspoons sugar, plus extra for sprinkling crust
juice from 1/2 juicy lemon
2 9-inch crusts, storebought or one ball pate brisee [3]
1 egg
Preheat oven to 425°F. In a large bowl, mix together strawberries, cornstarch, sugar, and lemon juice until there is not a hint of dustiness left in flour. Pour into prepared pie crust bottom. Cover with pie crust top.
In a small bowl, whisk one egg. Using a pastry brush, paint the top of the crust with the egg wash. Cut a few slits in the top so strawberries can bubble through. (Extra credit for sand-dollar design.) Sprinkle with a little sugar if desired.
Bake for 30-40 minutes until crust is golden and strawberries are bubbling through slits. (Start checking at 30 minutes.) Sorry for the wide range in baking time — we went for a quick bike ride when it was in the oven and I lost track of how long it was in there. Please don’t mistake this for an extreme act of hubris — it’s in fact the opposite. I am not a baker and pies are one of the few forgiving baked goods I can make without screwing up.
Serve with freshly whipped cream.
