The "Damrosch" Buckwheat Crust

Ingredients

I tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature

¾ cup (125 g) uncooked buckwheat groats

Directions

Spread the butter all over the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch (23 cm) pie plate (glass works best for this, but metal or ceramic is fine)

Pour the buckwheat into the center of the pie plate and then shake and turn the plate to encourage the buckwheat to spread out into an even layer, with no holes. Use your fingertips if needed to get even coverage . You won't be able to fill every tiny hole with a buckwheat groat, but take your time and do yourbest.

Proceed with the filling for your recipe, which you can either bake in the crust or (depending on the recipe) add to a blind-baked crust.

To blind-bake, heat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and bake the unfilled crust until lightly toasted, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool, taking care not to dislodge any buckwheat, then add the filling of your choice and continue with your recipe

Notes

I learned to make this pie crust from Barbara Damrosch, the

owner, with her husband, Eliot Coleman, of Four Season Farm

in Maine. (Barbara published this recipe in their book, The Four

Season Farm Gardener's Cookbook.) I worked at the farm for a couple of life-changing seasons earlier in my career, and Barbara and Eliot have been my heroes ever since. This crust, which is like a not-sweet, slightly crunchy graham cracker crust, couldn't be simpler; it works best with a custardy filling, such as a quiche. Or try the salted honey filling on page 82, courtesy of pastry chef and cool dude David Lebovitz. —Makes one 9-inch

(23 cm) pie crust