Two pie gadgets from Williams-Sonoma make even a novice seem like a sophisticated pie baker.

LATTICE PIE CRUST CUTTER

Like lattice crusts but lack the time or patience to make them?

Williams-Sonoma offers this solution: a lattice pie crust cutter. It quickly and easily cuts a lattice-like crust from rolled-out dough.

You simply place the lattice insert in the bottom of the gadget’s frame, then lay a sheet of rolled dough on top. To create the pattern, use a rolling pin to press the cutter into the dough. Lift off the insert and invert the latticed dough onto the pie.

It’s not as dramatic as a hand-woven lattice, but it’s certainly more interesting than a solid top crust!

Press a lattice-style pie crust in 1-2-3. Photo courtesy Williams-Sonoma.

Get yours at Williams-Sonoma.com, $19.95.

AMERICAN FLAG PIE CRUST CUTTER

What we really love is this American flag pie crust cutter, also from Williams-Sonoma and also $19.95.

While we try to avoid bringing single-use gadgets into our small kitchen, we made an exception for this one. Now, a patriotic pie will be our annual contribution to July 4th festivities.

Get yours at Williams-Sonoma.com.

Both inserts are designed for use with a 12″ diameter pastry crust.

This recipe from the Williams-Sonoma Test Kitchen was so breathtaking, we traipsed through three different farmers markets to hunt down the beautiful heirloom carrots (and finally found them at Trader Joe’s).

The recipe gave us an excuse to purchase sumac, a slightly tart and fruity spice popular in North African and Middle Eastern cooking. We’d never worked with it, and we like lemony tartness. (More ways to use it are below.)
 
 
RECIPE: SPICED ROASTED CARROTS

Ingredients For 4-6 Servings

Who could refuse to eat their vegetables? Photo courtesy Williams-Sonoma.

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 425°F (220°C).

2. STIR together the sumac, cumin, coriander, red pepper flakes and salt in a small bowl.

3. TOSS the carrots with the olive oil in a large bowl. Sprinkle the spice blend on top of the carrots and toss until the spices are evenly distributed.

4. HEAT a frying pan over medium heat until warm. Add the carrots and toss two or three times. Transfer to the oven and roast until the carrots are just tender, 25 to 30 minutes.

5. TRANSFER to a serving dish and finish with a sprinkle of sea salt. Serve immediately.
 

Find more terrific recipes at Blog.Williams-Sonoma.com.

Sumac, a popular spice in the Middle East. Photo courtesy The Silk Road Spice Merchant.

Sumac comprises some 35 species of flowering plants that grow in subtropical and temperate regions throughout the world. If you were a Boy Scout or Girl Scout, you likely learned to spot one of the varieties, the poison sumac shrub, in the woods. (Like poison ivy and poison oak, skin contact generates a nasty rash.)

The fruits of the bush form in dense clusters of what we might call little round red berries—like holly berries—but are actually drupes. The dried drupes of some species are ground to produce a tangy, crimson spice; the word “sumac” comes from the old Syriac Aramaic summaq, meaning red.

The spice is also a component of the popular spice blend, za’atar.

In Middle Eastern cuisine, sumac is used to add a lemony taste to meats and salads. It is used to garnish meze like hummus, and rice.

You can find sumac online or at Middle Eastern markets. If you can’t get hold of any, add some lemon juice. Its tart flavor is an alternative to the tart-sour sumac profile.

Melon and prosciutto (Parma ham) are a classic Italian first course. Chef Ethan Stowell takes a big step beyond, combining the two ingredients into delicious summer soup.

It’s a savory rather than a sweet soup; so if you bring home a cantaloupe that’s disappointing in its lack of sweetness, make soup!
RECIPE: CANTALOUPE SOUP WITH PROSCIUTTO DI PARMA

Ingredients For 4 Servings

Preparation

1. HEAT 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the fennel and onion; cook without browning, about 5 to 7 minutes until transparent.

2. ADD half of the cantaloupe; cook about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the cantaloupe is cooked through.

3. TRANSFER the mixture into a food processor. Add remaining cantaloupe and, with processor running, slowly add the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Process until the mixture is completely smooth, 2 to 3 minutes. Season to taste with lemon juice and salt.

4. POUR the soup into four shallow soup bowls (yield: 3 cups). Top each with prosciutto, chives and pepper.

VARIATION: We tried crisping/frizzling the prosciutto in a hot pan. While prosciutto connoisseurs would call this sacrilege, we liked it.

Prosciutto is the Italian word for ham. The term prosciutto is almost always used for a dry-cured ham that is usually sliced thinly and served uncooked; this style is called prosciutto crudo in Italian and is distinguished from cooked ham, prosciutto cotto.

The word derives from the Latin pro (before) and exsuctus (past participle of exsugere “to suck out”), and refers to the sucking out of the moisture in the ham by the mountain winds, which whipped through the sheds where the hams were hanging. The modern Italian verb prosciugare means “to dry thoroughly.”

The finest prosciuttos are PDO-protected: Prosciutto di Parma (Parma ham) is made only in the Parma* region of Italy. It is considered a “sweet” ham, cured only with salt but not too salty, and aged for 400 days. Most prosciutto is pressed by a machine to achieve the flat shape.
 
*Prosciutto San Daniele, which is also PDO-protected, is made in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region of Italy.

Check out the different types of ham.