Green tomato pie

Chef Travis Milton shares a recipe for an previous-fashioned dessert

by Jed Portman and Jessica Mischner

photo: Peter Frank Edwards

“Green tomato pie was one thing I often heard about when I was developing up, but we in no way manufactured it,” says chef de cuisine Travis Milton. “Then 1 day, I cracked open Housekeeping in Outdated Virginia, and there was a detail-totally free recipe.” More analysis into the particulars of the nearly extinct dessert unveiled that nineteenth-century Southerners had prepared it as a summertime substitute for apple pie. Milton, whose repertoire is heavy with heirloom recipes inspired by his assortment of vintage cookbooks, made the decision to give it a consider. He devised his very own recipe after weeks of trial and error. With an outdated-fashioned buttermilk crust baked in a layer of smoky bacon excess fat, and a sweet, jammy filling, it’s a throwback pie with character—and far more than satisfying adequate to hold you over until apple season.

Substances

5 cups all-goal flour

1 two/three cup butter, chilled and cut into little pieces

eight oz. chilled buttermilk

2 tsp. apple cider vinegar

Filling and Assembly

two slices smoked bacon

6 green tomatoes

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

one/4 tsp. kosher salt

5 tbsp. all-goal flour

1 one/2 tbsp. melted butter

1/two tsp. lemon juice

one tsp. grated lemon peel

one/two tbsp. apple cider vinegar

one one/two tbsp. sorghum or molasses

13-oz ball of pie dough (from preceding recipe)

Planning

Pour flour into a massive bowl. Add sugar, salt, and butter to the flour, combine nicely, and transfer the mixture to a foods processor. Pulse the substances with each other 3 to 4 times at about four seconds per pulse, until the mixture is the texture of coarse meal.

Return it to the mixing bowl, add buttermilk and vinegar, and function them into the dry substances with your hands. As a dough commences to kind, fold it over itself. The method will produce layers, making certain a flaky crust.

Once the dough has come with each other, transfer it to a floured surface and, with a rolling pin, roll about half the dough into a circle 12 to 13 inches in diameter and a minor far more than eight-inch thick. Lightly flour the side of the dough facing up and area the rolling pin centered on the edge closest to you. Place your thumbs below the edge of the pie dough and roll it up onto the pin. Reserve the remainder of the dough for the lattice on top of the pie. Refrigerate each till ready to use.

Filling and assembly:

Spot a ten-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Add bacon to the skillet and cook until fat is rendered. Eliminate skillet from heat take away bacon. Place skillet in a amazing spot and let it sit right up until excess fat has solidified.

Meanwhile, slice the green tomatoes into eighths. Location tomato wedges into a big mixing bowl with cinnamon, salt, sugar, and flour. Toss to coat. Then include butter, lemon juice and peel, vinegar, and sorghum or molasses, and toss again to make confident all elements are mixed completely and the flour isn’t clumping.

When the skillet is great, spread the bacon body fat above the bottom and sides of the pan and leading with the prepared piecrust. Crimp the edges and dot the center with a knife. Layer the tomato wedges within the crust and pour the remaining liquid in excess of them.

Then roll out the remaining dough and minimize it into strips. Fashion the strips more than the prime of the pie in a lattice, and brush with egg wash. Bake at 350 degrees for forty to 45 minutes, or until finally crust is golden brown and tomatoes are cooked.

Recipe from Travis Milton of Comfort in Richmond, Virginia.