Red, White and Blue Pie… A Month Late

I’ve been in Paziols. This was supposed to be a 4th of July post, but the 4th of July, like pretty much every day, kind of just flew by, until suddenly, it was time to pack up and head back to Paris.

It’s a bit easier being here in the cold… it feels kind of like fall here, not like summer, which makes it easier to forget that I’m not in Paziols, where I’d like to be. This year, more than any other year, the days just flew by. I almost feel as though I was never there, though the memories and rhythms are hard to break. I still wake up at 8 am, though I go back to sleep when I remember that there are no girls to wake, no bread to send for, no milk to heat for chocolat chaud.

Paziols is a place that exists hors du temps, out of time itself. The outside world doesn’t infiltrate into our month, and every year, going back feels like we’ve never left. But we have left. There are lives away from Paziols, lives that, though it’s hard to remember when we’re still there, we want to get back to. But it’s still hard to leave.

This year, I tell myself, this year will be the year I find the time to get down there during the year, the year that I see the leaves change color, the grapes go black, the sun set early and understand the reason for the thick stone walls throughout the village that keep out the Tramontagne wind. But part of me knows that I won’t, that Paris will catch up with me, and that it won’t be a blink before it’s time to head down for summer again. Another summer, another four weeks of continuous and unrelenting exhaustion, but also of laughter and inside jokes and stories to tell to one another when we meet here, in Paris, strange to see one another in our winter clothes, to share a glass of rosé even though the weather doesn’t call for it, to look at photos and feel like we’re there again.

I’m back in my life again, and part of that involves you, dear reader. I know that this recipe is a month late, and perhaps you’ll put it away and forget about it for a year, as I may well do. Or maybe, if you still have fresh strawberries and blueberries, and you don’t mind making a red-white-and-blue recipe when the season doesn’t call for it, you don’t mind pretending, just for a moment, that time as it exists for others doesn’t exist for you, you’ll whip this up before summer’s end, before real fall arrives. Maybe I’ll do just that this week in the States… only time — real time — will tell.

Red, White and Blue Pie (recipe originally developed for and posted at OrganicAuthority.com)

Serves 6

For the crust:
125 grams (1 stick plus 1 teaspoon) butter
3 egg yolks
225 grams (1 cup) sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
250 grams (1 cup) all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder

For the strawberry filling:
50 grams (scant 1/4 cup) sugar
500 grams (1 pound) strawberries
1/2 envelope gelatin, dissolved in 1 tablespoon warm water (optional)

For the whipped cream:
1 cup heavy cream
1/8 cup sugar

For garnish:
fresh blueberries and strawberries

First, make the crust. Cut the butter into cubes, and allow to come to room temperature. Meanwhile, using an electric mixer, combine the egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and butter.

Sprinkle the flour and baking powder over the mixture, and use your fingers to work it into a sandy texture. Form into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill half an hour.

Wash and hull the strawberries and dice. Combine with sugar in a saucepan, and heat over low heat, stirring occasionally, about half an hour or until the strawberries are cooked down and have released a thick syrup. Stir in the gelatin, if using, and allow to cool.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Remove the dough from the fridge. The dough may fall apart easily, so instead of rolling it out, press it into a springform pie pan with your fingertips, or press equal parts into six mini tart pans for individual pies. For a large pie, bake for 50 minutes; for mini pies, bake about 20 minutes, until the crust has puffed up and turned golden brown. Remove and immediately press down with the back of a metal spoon. Cool.

When ready to serve, beat the cream with an electric whisk until it forms small peaks. Gently encorporate the sugar. Spread the strawberry filling over the crust, and then dollop the whipped cream into the center. Garnish with slices of fresh strawberries and blueberries.