Anita Westsmith's Tomato Pie

As related by her granddaughter, Sarah Davis...

I just got back from my grandma's, and I've ascertained the true tomato pie recipe.
My grandmother insists that the crust be a pie shell, and not a thick biscuit dough as I had previously thought. Funny, isn't it? That's exactly what I said defined it! But no, now it makes sense. The pie crust is another family staple, and of course it was part of everything- quiches, and pies. I first learned it from my mother and here is how she made it.

For the Pie Shell..

• Sift 2 cups of white flour (variation: 1 cup whole wheat 1 cup white) with 2 generous teaspoons of salt and a scant tablespoon of brown sugar

• Chop a cold stick and 2/3 stick of butter into tablespoon-size chunks

• Have ready a cup of water with a few ice cubes floating in it, and a large spoon.

• Put the butter and flour into a food processor and chop till they make a consistent sandy texture.

• Leaving the blade running, drop one spoonful of water at a time into the swirling mixture, leaving a few seconds between each, observing changes as the dough clumps together. After 6 to 8 tablespoons, it will suddenly coalesce into one great ball, and clump off balance around the food prcessor.
• Turn the machine off right away.

• Wrap the dough in wax paper, and put it in the fridge.

My grandmother prefers lard, or half lard half butter.
That's the crust!

The rest is easy!

The Filling...

• Peel and cut 3 large, or 4-5 small, tomatoes into wheels.

• Mix a cup of mayonnaise and a cup of grated sharp cheese, like a good aged cheddar.
  
• Add about 5 basil leaves, cut to ribbons. Maybe some scallions.

Take the dough out of the fridge and roll it on a floured board, handling it as little as possible. Spread it across a 10" pie pan, and pop it into the oven at 350F for 3-5 minutes.

My grandmother says that if you use lard, you can skip pre-cooking the crust.

Cover the bottom of the crust with a layer of tomatoes, and spread half the cheese mixture over them. Then layer the rest of the tomatoes over that. Finish with the rest of the cheese mixture, and put it in the 350F oven. Bake for about 25 minutes, the top should turn golden brown.

Thank you for getting specific, it gave me a nice thing to remember and talk about with my grandmother.


A note about her kitchen window...
The kitchen window looks out over the driveway, and she is almost always framed in it when you drive up, bright light filling the room behind her. A little flagstone walk leading to the front door passes under the window on the left, and on the right a bird feeder perches askew on a pole, seeds covering the ground where they've been tossed by the birds. The window sill is full of violets and tomatoes and she calls over them as you pass. Once you're inside the first place you go is the kitchen, and as you are mixed a drink and offered a little blue cheese, and mixed nuts, you can look out of the window yourself, as you draw a fresh glass of water from the tap. It is hung with colored glass ornaments, and through them you can see the birds resettle themselves at the feeder. She creates this wherever she goes, it was the same in the old farm.

Pearl Swift's Orange Cake

Edward Swift, son of Pearl, was just over this evening to help me re-create his mother's famous orange cake, a much desired treat in Woodville, Texas back in the day. Edward says that its origin may have come from a magazine clipping. Despite where she found it, Pearl clearly made it entirely her own with generous portions of each ingredient ("more is always better," she was known to say) and by never tiring of making it for friends and her community over many, many years.
According to Edward, sometimes she would run off to the county line at the last minute to get that "special kick" she liked to add just as the cake came out of the oven. What that special kick was is still a mystery to Edward despite his trial and errors. We were thinking that gin might be a good possibility.
Some of the secrets to her specialty include using the large-holed grates of a box grater to get big chunks of orange rind with the pith (she liked the bitter taste of the pith). Another crucial step is to pour a hot, liquid-y orange and pith syrup slowly onto the freshly-baked cake while still hot in its mold. Then, the cake is to sit overnight (at least) so it can drink all of the golden syrup and cool down into an elixir of bitter and sweet orange in a nutty butter form.
Pearl was quite particular about letting the cake sit out for a time before cutting into it. Edward says it could sit on the dining table for a whole week leaving admirers to savor the very idea of it. And, once she cut into it, she would only dish it out in thin slices saying that "that way, people will always come back for more."
Edward published the recipe in his memoir of his East Texas family entitled, "My Grandfather's Finger," an excellent thread of yarns about life growing up in the Big Thicket with many a kitchen treasure woven throughtout the book.
Now that he's gone home, I've been left alone, just me and the orange cake, to rest and repose for this one night. Together alone. How will I ever know when it's ready...?

Pearl Swift's Orange Cake
2 cups white sugar
1 cup butter, softened
2 heaping tablespoons of orange rind (grated on a box grater with some pith)
4 eggs, slightly beaten
1 1/3 buttermilk* (to which 1 teaspoon of baking soda will be added just before using)
4 cups of sifted white flour
1 cup of chopped nuts (smaller than peas) combined with 2 tablespoons of flour
(Pearl says that if the nuts are lightly floured, they don't drop to the bottom.)
She used hickery nuts from nearby trees. Walnuts or almonds will suffice.

Orange glaze
2 cups white sugar
1 generous cup of freshly squeezed orange juice
1 teaspoon of lime juice
2 heaping tablespoons to a handful, if you feel like it, of grated orange rind

Preheat oven to 350F and grease and lightly flour a bundt mold. Set aside. Cream the butter with the sugar. Mix in the orange rind and then the eggs until all is combined. Alternate adding the buttermilk and then the sifted flour in thirds. Gently fold in the nuts. Do not overmix. Pour the cake in the mold and let it bake for 1 hour or until it is golden in color, slightly cracked on the surface and a slim knife inserted comes out clean.

While the cake is in the oven, prepare the syrup. Combine the orange juice, sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan and cook over medium heat. Keep an eye on it and stir frequently. After about ten minutes, the syrup will begin to bubble and foam. When it darkens slightly in color and coats the back of a spoon (still a bit runny, however) add the orange rind and turn off the heat and let it sit until the cake is out of the oven. Just before removing the cake from the oven, reheat the syrup so that it is hot for pouring.

When the cake is out of the oven, gradually pour the hot syrup letting the cake absorb it little by little. When all the syrup is poured, the cake should pull away from the sides and the orange rind pieces will sit and glaze over the top. Let the cake sit in its mold overnight and then when unmolding do not turn over and serve in a traditional bundt form but rather, unmold and let the crusty orange rind glaze be presented as the top of the cake.

Serve when you think it's ready and, if you like, add a little kick when adding the syrup to the cake.

* if buttermilk is not available, add 1 1/2 tablespoons of lemon juice to whole milk and let it sit for 5 minutes.