In the kitchen with Jonah Munson, chef of the Walnut Room: Peach pie

In this week's Chef and Tell interview, I chat with Jonah Munson, chef of the Walnut Room, a restaurant and bar that's popular for its pizzas. Munson, who makes his own dough, also bakes desserts, a skill he learned at an early age, when he started baking cakes from scratch, forgoing the boxed cakes, he says, because they were too expensive to buy. "From what I remember, it was way better than a box cake, and good enough that I figured I'd make baking my hobby," Munson told me.

In his spare time, he bakes pies, too, including this peach pie that he recently created at home with his daughter Abigail. "I love peach pies, and we made the dough from scratch from my favorite Betty Crocker cookbook," says Munson, who shares the recipe -- photos included -- on the following page. Palisade peaches are perfect for this recipe and available at markets and fruit stands across the Front Range.

See also: - Jonah Munson, exec chef of the Walnut Room, on yard sales and mixers - Jonah Munson of the Walnut Room: "You're no better than your kitchen staff" - First look: Humble Pie opens in Baker

Peach pie

For the pie crust

2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons shortening 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt 4 to 5 tablespoons ice water

Directions

In a mixing bowl, combine shortening, flour and salt and mix until clumps are the size of small peas. Sprinkle in water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and mix with a fork until flour is moistened and pastry almost cleans side of bowl (1 to 2 additional teaspoons of water can be added if necessary). Divide dough into two balls and flatten into disks. Wrap dough balls in plastic and refrigerate for thirty minutes.

Filling

5 cups Palisade peaches, sliced 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice 1 cup sugar ¼ cup all-purpose flour ¼ teaspoon cinnamon 2 tablespoons butter

Assembly Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

1. Add peaches and lemon juice to a bowl and toss gently. 2. Add sugar, flour and cinnamon to the peaches and blend. 3. Roll out 1 dough disk on a floured surface until it's 12 inches in diameter. Trim dough overhang to 1/2 inch. Roll out second dough on floured surface to 12-inch round. Using a large knife with a fluted edge, make slits in the dough. Transfer filling to dough-lined pie dish and dot with butter. 4. Cover with top crust that has slits cut into it, seal and flute. You can cover the edge with a 2-inch strip of aluminum foil to prevent excessive browning on the edges. Remove foil during last 15 minutes of baking. 5. Bake until crust is golden and juice begins to bubble through the slits in crust, 35 to 45 minutes. If you want a shiny top crust, brush with an egg and milk mixture.