This spring my husband and I visited Asheville, NC. This town, situated in the midst of Appalachia, is experiencing a renaissance of arts, crafts, and locally grown, stone-ground and cold-milled wheat. Asheville is best known as the site of Biltmore, the grand home of George Vanderbilt (the upper crust!), but we were interested in finding a good pie crust!
Knowing that we were going to Asheville, I was intrigued by an article in the New York Times about a
(pizza) pie crust (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/27/dining/asheville-all-souls-pizza-david-bauer.html?smprod=nytcore-ipad&smid=nytcore-ipad-share). The promise of the crusty goodness of that stone-ground flour called us to eat our first crust at All Souls Pizza. Here, the chef uses freshly ground and milled heirloom grains to make the crust and bakes it in a wood-fired oven to a temperature that reveals the varied colors of the crust. We had the country ham and egg pizza…perfection!
OK, so we started with a pizza pie crust, but we quickly moved on for the dessert pies at Buxton Hall BBQ. This restaurant in the Arts District of Asheville is housed in an old high-ceilinged multi-use building. Ashley, the dessert chef, also uses the local stone-ground flour. We ordered her strawberry-rhubarb pie with a crust made with a blend of rye and all-purpose flours. The server told us the crust was made from “hog fat;” Ashley called it “leaf lard from pasture-raised pigs!” This crust has the familiar texture of a regular flour crust, but the flavor is unique; the rye flour gives the crust a tasty tang that lingers long after eating the pie. The rhubarb was spring-fresh and the sweetness of the filling paired well with the crust.
So many sweet choices here, but next we tried a slice of the banana 
cream pie. The crust is made from house-made vanilla wafers and brown butter. This pie was yummy, too.
People to meet:
• Ashley, the dessert chef at Buxton Hall BBQ. She is a young and innovative chef and part of the ingredient-driven cooking movement in Asheville and environs. She fills the shelves at Buxton Hall with her pies; her fans remove them from her shelves as fast as she can make them.
Places to eat:
• All Souls Pizza, 175 Clingman Ave., Asheville, NC. http://www.allsoulspizza.com/
• Buxton Hall BBQ, 32 Banks Ave., South Slope, Asheville, NC http://www.buxtonhall.com/
Places to visit:
• The Biltmore Estate, http://www.biltmore.com/ The house is incredible, but do visit the gardens and farms, originally designed by Fredrick Law Olmstead (http://www.biltmore.com/media/newsarticle/biltmores-farm-and-culinary-history) as a working estate that provided meat and produce for the house and later for the community.
Places to stay:
• The Biltmore. Stay at the hotel, inns or cottages. http://www.biltmore.com/stay
Pie to make: Strawberry Rhubarb in a rye-flour blend crust
You can purchase the rye flour directly online from Carolina Ground (http://carolinaground.com/) and blend it to taste with your favorite all-purpose flour. I used my trusty strawberry-rhubarb pie recipe from Joy of Cooking for the filling with a bit more rhubarb than strawberries. Since I am once again recommending a pinot noir to enjoy with this pie, I am now wondering if I am just making pies so I can drink my favorite wine!
- For the crust
- Crust for a double crust pie (artofthepie.com) If desired, use part rye flour with part all-purpose flour
- For the filling
- 2 ½ cups rhubarb, cut in 1 inch lengths
- 2 ½ strawberries, hulled and halved
- 1 cup sugar or to taste
- ¼ cup quick-cooking tapioca
- ¼ tsp salt
- For the crust
- Roll half of the dough into a 13 inch round and place in a 9 inch pie plate; trim the overhang and refrigerate. Roll the other half of dough and refrigerate.
- For the filling
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees
- Mix filling ingredients and let stand for 15 minutes
- Pour into bottom crust and dot with 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut in small pieces
- Cover with top crust, trim edges, crimp or flute
- Brush top with milk or cream
- Sprinkle with 2 tsp sugar; cut slits to vent
- Bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes; reduce temperature to 350 degrees and bake 25-30 more minutes until the juices bubble through the vents. Cool on a rack. Enjoy!
