Best Grammy Becs Vinegar Pie Recipes

VINEGAR PIE

Steps:

• Serving Suggestion: Pint of fresh strawberries; or 1/2 pint raspberries or blackberries, for garnish
• In a medium bowl, whisk the cornstarch into the cream. Let rest for 1 minute, then whisk again. Whisk in the yolks, eggs, and vanilla.
• In a medium saucepan, bring the water, sugar, vinegar, and butter to a boil.
• While whisking constantly, slowly drizzle the hot liquid into the egg mixture. Return to the saucepan and, while whisking constantly and scraping the bottom of the pot, cook until tiny bubbles boil up, about 10 seconds. Strain the curd into a bowl and let cool to room temperature. Spread the cooled filling in the pie shell, then refrigerate for 2 hours.
• Decorate with berries, if you like.
• Pie Shell:
• 3 tablespoons solid vegetable shortening
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into pea-size bits
• 2 to 3 tablespoons ice water
• Nonstick vegetable spray, for coating pan
• Between 2 sheets of waxed paper, flatten the shortening out to 1/8-inch thickness. With a butter knife, score it into 1/2-inch squares. Freeze for 30 minutes, until stiff.
• Put the flour in a large bowl. Using an electric mixer, pastry blender, or your fingertips, work in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. In the same manner, mix in the shortening squares. While sprinkling in the ice water, mix with your fingers just until the dough comes together in a ball. Pat it into a 3/4-inch-thick disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
• Set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F.
• Lightly coat a 9-inch pie pan with nonstick vegetable spray.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into an 11 1/2-inch circle about 1/8 inch thick. Fit it into a 9-inch pie plate. Trim the dough, leaving about a 1-inch overhang, then fold the overhang under itself and decoratively crimp it against the rim of the plate. Prick the dough all over with a fork. Freeze for 20 minutes.
• Line the pie shell with aluminum foil and weight down with dried beans or pie weights. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove the foil with the weights, lower the temperature to 350 degrees F and bake for 8 minutes longer, or until lightly tanned. Set on a rack to cool.
• When lemons were out of season, or just too expensive, millions of bakers figured out how to make a tart "curd-style" pie filling with vinegar. Cheap and always available, it turned out to be just the right stuff for adding some pucker to a pie. Jerry Lewis (yes, that Jerry Lewis) often reminisced about the wonderful vinegar pie that his grandma used to bake.
• O.K., this pie may sound a little...er, different, but don't be deterred. It was a real favorite a hundred years ago and if there ever was a pie that was deserving of re-discovery, this scrumptious old-time favorite is it. Of course Grandma Lewis didn't know about fancy-pant balsamic vinegar but that won't stop us from going upscale. Try it and get ready for a new-fangled flavor surprise. On its own, vinegar pie is truly amazing. Topped with fresh berries, it's the eighth wonder of the world.

VINEGAR PIE I

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
• Mix the flour with 1/2 cup of sugar. Add the water gradually and cook on top of a double boiler for 15 minutes, stirring constantly, or until thickened.
• Combine the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar with the yolks and salt and mix well with a whisk until the sugar is dissolved. Add the hot flour mixture to the yolk mixture gradually, mixing all the time. Return to the double boiler and cook for about 3 minutes more or until the mixture is thick and smooth.
• Add the butter, extract, and vinegar. Mix well and remove from heat. Place a piece of plastic on top of this custard.
• Meanwhile, beat the egg whites until foamy and gradually add the 6 tablespoons sugar. Beat until a stiff, glossy peak is achieved.
• Pour the custard filling into the prebaked shell ( the custard should still be hot, if not, heat up a again before adding to shell). Top with the meringue. Spread the meringue all over the top of the pie, sealing to the edges of the crust. Place into the oven and bake until the meringue is a nice nut brown, about 15 minutes. Traditionally, this pie is served hot.

GRANDMA PRUIT'S VINEGAR PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450°. Whisk together sugar, flour and nutmeg; set aside. On a lightly floured surface, roll one-third of pie dough to a 1/8-in.-thick circle; cut into 2x1-in. strips. Layer a deep 12-in. enamel-coated cast-iron skillet or ovenproof casserole with half the strips; sprinkle with half the sugar mixture. Dot with half the butter. Repeat sugar and butter layers., Roll remaining two-thirds of pie dough to a 1/8-in.-thick circle. Place over filling, pressing against sides of skillet or casserole. Cut a slit in top. Add vinegar to hot water; slowly pour vinegar mixture through slit. Liquid may bubble up through crust; this is normal. To catch spills, line an oven rack with foil., Bake until crust is golden brown, about 1 hour. Cover edge loosely with foil during the last 15-20 minutes if needed to prevent overbrowning. Remove foil. Cool on a wire rack.

VINEGAR PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, combine eggs, sugar, butter, vinegar and vanilla. Mix well. Pour into pie shell. Bake at 350° for 45-50 minutes.