Every year, hundreds of amateur chefs cook, can, bake, and of course, fry their entries for the State Fair’s annual cooking contests that take place at the Creative Arts Building at Fair Park.
Morning Edition host Andrew Garcia and I wanted to learn more about the contests, so this year, instead of eating our way across the fairgrounds, we took a closer look at the Farm to Fork competition, where home cooks create a sweet or savory dish using fresh, local produce, not frozen or canned vegetables. There are 12 different categories within the competition--which include everything from eggplant to nuts. We decided to take a deep (fried) dive into the world of fried pies.
To help us understand more about fried pies and what’s involved when you enter a cooking competition, we enlisted the help of Sally Muhl.
A piece of family history
Muhl is a lifetime fair goer and a veteran of the cooking contests at the State Fair of Texas. She did her first entry in 2011, with her jams and jellies, and has participated every year since. She invited us to her house in Sunnyvale where she gave us a demonstration on how she makes her fried pies.
As Muhl welcomed us into her kitchen with glasses of sweet tea, the first thing we noticed were the many first-place and best-in-show ribbons lining her walls.
“Let's see. Cobbler was my first one. That was my first best in show,” Muhl said as she pointed at the framed ribbon.
“Are these all your ribbons?” I asked.
“Oh, no. I have a box of ribbons,” Muhl replied.
During this year’s run of the fair, Muhl has been busy with the cooking competitions and has entered dishes in over 34 categories.
But it’s her recipe for fried pies that has a sentimental history.
While cleaning out her father’s desk a few years ago, Muhl’s mother came across a bit of family culinary history. On a tattered piece of paper, she found Muhl’s fraternal grandmother’s recipe for fried pies. And what made the find even sweeter was that the recipe was written in her Muhl’s father’s handwriting.
“I don't remember my grandmother,” Muhl said. “She died when I was young, and my dad died young.”
Muhl saw it as a sign.
“It's my dad's handwriting. And it's my grandma,” Muhl said. “This is Delia Davis Fried Pies, and I'm going to do it--I'm going to make fried pies and take them to the fair.”
Pie-making time
The three of us gathered around Muhl’s kitchen island as she read off the ingredients.
“Three cups of all-purpose flour. A half a tablespoon of soda. One tablespoon of baking powder. A third of a cup of shortening. One egg. One cup of buttermilk,” she read. “Combine dry ingredients. Cut in the shortening, add the egg and buttermilk. Knead until smooth.”
The Cuisinart whirled, jars of preserved cherries popped open, and in what seemed like no time at all, the pies were ready to be filled. Muhl finished them off with a little water around the edge of the dough, folded them over and then sealed them closed with the press of a fork.
Into the fryer they went, and after a few minutes of cooking (and cooling) we were ready for a taste test.
To say they were delicious is an understatement.
Andrew and I both marveled at how flaky the crust was, understanding full well how difficult making pie crust is. But for me, it was her homemade cherry preserves that really made the pie a winner. I told her that if I were the judge, these little pockets of heaven would win hands down.
But we’re not the judges, so we tagged along with Muhl to see how she fared at the fair.
And the winner is…
Competitors began arriving at Creative Arts Building with their entries at 9 a.m. for the Farm to Fork Cooking Contest on Monday, Sept. 29. In addition to her grandmother’s recipe for fried pies, Muhl also entered a honey apple crisp, a zucchini pie and a pecan log.
Once the entries were turned in it became a waiting game. Competitors passed the time by catching up and trying their best to read the judges.
“They pretty much have poker faces,” Muhl remarked. “But sometimes you can read their lips if they say something.”
After about three hours of deliberation, the judges finally had a decision…
“Fried pies. Third place, Sally Muhl,” came the announcement from the judge over the speaker.
We thought she deserved a blue ribbon--I mean, those pies were awesome. But even though she didn't come in first, Sally was more than happy with her third-place win.
“I'm excited,” Muhl exclaimed. I'm really excited that I won anything. I wrote on the bottom of my recipe, ‘this one's for you, Dad.’
