Recently my Ed and I went to Mount Pleasant to visit our daughter Catherine and her husband Mark, but especially to see our newest grandson and their first child, Tillman. Of course, he is the cutest child in the world. We stayed a few days, and I was supposed to help the new mother.
I was totally useless.
I couldn’t operate any of her appliances.
The ovens had as many controls as the average intercontinental airliner. The dishwasher had a dozen pushing places, and I never did learn how to answer the telephone. When it rang, it had more lights than a village at Christmas.
The best parts of the visit were holding the baby, seeing Catherine and Mark, and thinking about the apple pie I was going to make when I got home to a familiar stove.
Almost everyone likes pies, and most cooks frequently use the purchased frozen pie shells, which is certainly all right. Having these stashed in the freezer is convenient, but today I am offering you three pastry-shell recipes. Any can be used for a baked pie, or baked for a pastry shell and used for a non-baked pie.
They all use lard, which usually results in a flakier crust than one made with vegetable shortening. You can also use a combination with butter, as does one of the recipes.
The Boiling Water Pie Crust is the easiest, but give it plenty of time to chill. It isn’t quite as flaky as some others, but it’s good. The thing that makes a crust flaky is leaving the fat in pieces about the size of a match tip. As the pie bakes, the fat melts and spaces are left, hence the flakiness. The Cheese Crust is good for an apple pie, but don’t overbake because it browns faster than the usual crust.
Maybe you’ll try one of these and have a flaky-crusted, homemade pie for your next … Sunday Dinner.
Boiling Water Pie Crust (double crust)
1½ cups bread flour or all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ cup soft lard
¼ cup boiling water
Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder, and set aside. Measure the lard into a mixing bowl.
Measure the water in a small pot, bring to a boil, then pour on the lard. Stir until smooth, using the back of the spoon to press out the lumps. Add the flour mixture and stir until blended. Form into a ball, wrap in waxed paper and refrigerate until well chilled.
Basic Pie Crust (double crust)
2 cups sifted cake or all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup lard
Ice water
If the lard is at room temperature, measure and put in freezer or refrigerator for a short time to harden. Measure flour and salt into mixing bowl, and cut in the cold lard. Leave the pieces about pea size.
Add water a tablespoon at a time, and mix only until the dough will stay together. Form into a ball, wrap in waxed paper, and chill to handle more easily.
Cheese Crust (double crust)
1⅓ cups all-purpose flour
⅓ cup cold lard
⅓ cup cold butter
½ cup ice water
1 teaspoon salt
¾ to 1 cup grated cheese
Using two knives or a pastry blender, cut the lard and butter into the flour. Then stir in the cheese.
Dissolve the salt in the water and add to flour mixture a small amount at the time until flour mixture will stay together. Form into a ball, wrap in waxed paper and chill.