I put this in my notes on Facebook last year. There are pictures on that side, but this site didn't post them with the note. Oh well! I was reading Gourmet Magazine's blog this morning and a lady from Philadelphia came to Georgia to learn to make Fried Pies. It's wonderful to share our food heritage with others!
Monday, April 26, 2010 at 7:21am.This is at least a two day project. I keep all my peach peelings from all the peaches that I cut through the year...You could use fresh peaches and just chunk them up with the peelings on. The peach peeling is what has all the flavor in it. If you use only peelings these pies will have the most concentrated peach flavor you have ever tasted. Of course, it takes me over a year to get that many peelings. I just keep them in a zipper style freezer bag and add to them through the year.
1/2 Gallon of peach peelings or fresh peaches with their skins left on
3 cups Sugar
2 Tablespoons White Vinegar
2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
1 teaspoon Vanilla
Place everything in a heavy bottomed pot. Bring to a boil then reduce to very low and simmer until peaches are a deep golden brown and thickens up. This will take quite some time, maybe an hour or so. Low and slow is the way to go. After peaches thicken up, cool slightly, place in storage bowl or zipper bag and put in the refrigerator at least over night. You cannot place hot filling in the dough or you will have a mess on your hands and no pies in the end!
Bisquits
2 1/2 cup self-rising flour or plain flour with 1 tsp. salt and 1 Tablespoon baking soda added to it.
2/3 cup of Butter
1 cup Buttermilk (If you don't have buttermilk, clabber your own milk by putting either 1 teaspoon of vinegar or lemon juice in the bottom of the measuring cup and wait just a few minutes, the milk will thicken up and have the same taste of buttermilk.)
Put flour in a bowl and cut the butter in with a pastry blender until it resembles English Pea size. Add milk all at once and mix with a fork until dough forms a ball. Dust counter with flour an kneed until dough becomes a nice round ball. Pat out until dough is about 1/2" thick. Cut with a two inch biscuit cutter. Take scraps and roll into a log, pat out and you can get two or three more biscuits. At this point you could put the biscuits on a pan and bake at 450 degrees until golden and have biscuits!
Place biscuits, one at a time into the flour cannister, take out and roll out to about 1/8" thick on the counter. Place 1-1/2 Tablespoons of the chilled peach filling in the center of the dough. Wet around half the circle of dough with water. Fold dough over and seal shut with your fingers. Then take a fork and go back around the edges. With a sharp paring knife, trip excess edges off. A 1/2 inch edge is enough.
Place pies on a plate covered with parchment paper. If you have more than one layer, place parchment paper between the layers to prevent sticking. Put finished pies in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
Heat a heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat for at least 5 minutes, spray with Pam and add just a little butter. Put two or three pies in the skillet and cook until you can see that the bottom of the pies is golden brown. Turn and cook the other side. Place on a platter and keep in a warm oven while the others cook. Enjoy! This recipe makes about 12-14 pies. Check out the photos below!Multimedia messageMultimedia messageMultimedia messageMultimedia messageMultimedia messageMultimedia message
