Wednesday, February 04, 2009
Let the flakes fall where they may
This post is part of Randi's Recipe Box Swap!
After you're done here, go check out some of the other great recipes!
Over on the GSCI post, Dy suggested that perhaps I left out a unit on lard. I totally get that Dy is embracing the whole Alabama thing, and that shortening or lard is often used to make a nice flaky pie crust.
But we don't do lard around here. We just don't do lard.
I'm sorry, Dy.
Like Dy, though, I did have my concerns about the whole pie crust thing. You want it flaky, not crumbly, and lard or vegetable shortening are a surefire way of making it flake.
The thing is they don't taste like butter. And if you want to know my philosophy of cooking it goes something like this:
Make it taste like butter.
So, if you are like me, and not prepared to forgo the butter for the flake, I present to you the Best Pie Crust Evah, in which you shall have both.
When you make pastry with butter, the key is keeping it cold. When rolled out, the cold butter makes layers of sheets between the dry ingredients. Like little sheets of happiness. If you let the butter get warm, it will just melt into the dry ingredients and you'll have a tough crumbly crust. Keep your butter cold!
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into smallish cubes and chilled
6 tablespoons sour cream
In a mixer with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder, and combine till mixed. Add the butter, and mix until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Now you want to chill your mixture for about 15 minutes to keep that butter cold.
Add the sour cream to the mixture and mix until the dough comes together in the bowl. Gather the dough into a ball and knead it several times on a lightly floured surface. Divide into two pieces and form each into a disk about an inch or so thick.
Now wrap it up and chill it for 30 minutes up to a few days.
You can make this in a food processor, being careful not to over process the mixture - stop at that coarse meal stage. You can also do it by hand with a pastry cutter thing or two knives. I can't do that. I stink at that.
This makes two pie crusts. So you should make two pies and send one to me.
After you're done here, go check out some of the other great recipes!
Over on the GSCI post, Dy suggested that perhaps I left out a unit on lard. I totally get that Dy is embracing the whole Alabama thing, and that shortening or lard is often used to make a nice flaky pie crust.
But we don't do lard around here. We just don't do lard.
I'm sorry, Dy.
Like Dy, though, I did have my concerns about the whole pie crust thing. You want it flaky, not crumbly, and lard or vegetable shortening are a surefire way of making it flake.
The thing is they don't taste like butter. And if you want to know my philosophy of cooking it goes something like this:
Make it taste like butter.
So, if you are like me, and not prepared to forgo the butter for the flake, I present to you the Best Pie Crust Evah, in which you shall have both.
When you make pastry with butter, the key is keeping it cold. When rolled out, the cold butter makes layers of sheets between the dry ingredients. Like little sheets of happiness. If you let the butter get warm, it will just melt into the dry ingredients and you'll have a tough crumbly crust. Keep your butter cold!
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into smallish cubes and chilled
6 tablespoons sour cream
In a mixer with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder, and combine till mixed. Add the butter, and mix until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Now you want to chill your mixture for about 15 minutes to keep that butter cold.
Add the sour cream to the mixture and mix until the dough comes together in the bowl. Gather the dough into a ball and knead it several times on a lightly floured surface. Divide into two pieces and form each into a disk about an inch or so thick.
Now wrap it up and chill it for 30 minutes up to a few days.
You can make this in a food processor, being careful not to over process the mixture - stop at that coarse meal stage. You can also do it by hand with a pastry cutter thing or two knives. I can't do that. I stink at that.
This makes two pie crusts. So you should make two pies and send one to me.
7 Comments:
Although, in a sense of full disclosure, our lard use comes from our somewhat Mexican heritage. I think the locals here rely more on bacon grease, which I cannot bring myself to keep in an old coffee can on my stove. Just. Can't. Do it. My mother would be ashamed, but that's just a burden I'll have to bear.
But not do lard... *shaking head in wonder*... weird.
;-)
The recipe does sound yummy, though!
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