In Honor of Gourmet: Pear Butterscotch Pie

Having worked all day on law school related projects I decided to unwind with some red wine and a baking project. After flipping though my trusty cookbooks and coming up with nothing I turned to my stack of Gourmets. I've been avoiding them and the news of their departure from the newsstand. After all, what can really replace Gourmet? Sure, enough there behind the glossy September 2009 issue was the answer to my debate. Pear Butterscotch Pie. Why have I never thought of using pears instead of apples, what an obvious choice? I suppose that is why Ruth Reichl is an incredible editor and why I will miss her magazine so very much. I served my Pear Butterscotch Pie with Häagen-Dazs Dulce de Leche ice cream and it was everybit as good as it sounds.

Serves 8 Active Time 45 Minutes

Ingredients:
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 1/2 lb firm ripe Bartlett or Anjou Pears (about 5), peeled each cut into 6 wedges and cored (I have a slightly larger le creuset pie dish so I doubled the number of pears in the recipe and used 10)
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into bits
1 large egg beaten with 1 tbsp warm water
1 tbsp granulated sugar

Directions: 1) Put a baking sheet in the oven and preheat overn to 425F 2) Whisk together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt then whisk in brown sugar breaking up any lumps. 3) Gently toss pears with brown sugar mix, lemon juice, and vanilla let stand for 15min to macerate fruit 4) Roll out 1 piece of dough (keep remaing disk chilled) on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pun into 13 inch round. 5) Fit into a 9-inch pie plate. 6)Roll out remaining piece of dough into a 13-inch round. Reserve scraps. 7) Transfer filling into shell and dot with butter 8) Using a pasta cutter, cut dough into strips and arrange in a lattice pattern over the pie. 9) Lightly brush top crust with egg wash 10)Roll out dough scraps about 1/8 inch thick and cut out leaf shapes with cutters (or a knife). Arrange decoratively on top of pie, sprinkle the entire top of pie with granulated sugar 11) Bake pie on hot baking sheet 20 minutes. Reduce oven to 375 and bake until crust is golden and filling is bubbling, 40 to 45 minutes more 12) Cool to warm or room temperature, 2 to 3 hours 13) Serve with ice cream (dulce de leche)