Cherry Crumble Pie

File this pie under things you can still learn about your husband after 25+ years of marriage.  

I always knew that cherries wouldn't be his first choice in a fruit but I never imagined he wouldn't even eat them in a PIE!  I mean he doesn't sit around all day gnawing on lemons either, but slap a lemon meringue pie in front of him and that bitch is GONE.  I figured the same philosophy applied to cherries.  (And speaking of lemon meringue pie....the one at FOODBAR in Cahaba Heights might be the best I've had.  Get you some of that.)

Anyhoo....this recipe was a hint more than my deep dish pie plate could hold so I squeezed out an addition "side pie" if you will.  Which is what I served to Mr. Picky after dinner the other night and received that reaction all significant others recognize as "I'm just not that into this but damned if I'm saying that OUT LOUD!"  So, I'm like, "Geez, I know you aren't a huge fan of cherries, but NOT EVEN IN A PIE?"  And because he values his life, he says, "No, No....I want the pie.  I'm sure it's fabulous."  So he eats the pie and when he's done, it's all gone, BUT THE CHERRIES.  He ate around them.  WHO does that? 

So he basically at a pie crust crumble??  He missed out on some really great cherry pie.  The cherries are perfect this time of year and I loved the crumble topping versus a double crust pie.  I should have made this a few weeks ago when my mother was in town.  She loves cherry pie.  Unlike MY HUSBAND.

Here's the recipe:

Cherry Crumble Pie

adapted from Bon Appetit

Ingredients:

Crust:

1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

2 tablespoons (or more) ice water

1 large egg yolk

Topping:

1 cups plus 2 tablespoons old-fashioned oats

3/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour

3/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar

1/2 cup slivered almonds

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Filling:

6 cups fresh cherries pitted, or 2 pounds frozen pitted sweet cherries thawed, juices reserved

1 cup sugar

2 1/2 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca

1 tablespoon cognac, kirch, or brandy

Pinch of salt

Directions:

Crust:

Blend flour, sugar and salt in processor 5 seconds.  Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal.  Beat 2 tablespoons ice water and egg yolk in small bowl to blend  Add to processor, pulsing until clumps form, adding more ice water by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry.  Gather dough into ball flatten into disk.  Wrap in plastic and chill at least 30 minutes.

Topping:

Blend oats, flour, sugar, almonds, cinnamon, and salt in medium bowl.  Add butter.  Rub in with fingertips, pressing mixture together until moist clumps form.  Chill at least 30 minutes.

Filling:

Mix cherries with any juices, sugar, tapioca, cognac, and salt in large bowl.  Let stand until tapioca looks translucent, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 425 deg. F.  Roll out dough disk on lightly flour surface to 13 to 14" round.  Transfer to 9-inch deep-dish glass pie dish.  Trim dough overhang to 3/4 inch.  Fold edge under and crimp decoratively.  Spoon filling into crust.  Sprinkle with topping.

Bake pie 30 minutes.  Reduce oven temperature to 400 deg F.  Continue to bake until filling is bubbling thickly and tipping is brown and crisp, covering edges with foil collar if browning too quickly, about 25 minutes longer.  Cool pie on rack at least 30 minutes.  Serve warm or at room temperature.