Just chill

Hangdog put himself down to bring pie to his workplace holiday potluck.  So that means I’m elected.  And after being asked for a pie crust tutorial, I seized the opportunity to take photos (or make Ruthless do it) and try to document how I make pie.  

 

Many pies ago

That’s me on the right left, with my beloved home ec teacher.  It’s scary to think I have been baking pie for that many years.  Geez what an outfit, but what can I say?  Dial back the Way Back machine to 1975!  High School yearbooks are a wealth of memories… .  I tied for first place and had to participate in a bake-off.  I won – and it was nerve-wracking, since we had to bake the pie in front of the judges, (twice) and were judged for the whole process.  It was Home Economics, so keeping a neat work space, and timeliness were taken into account in our score in addition to taste.

So if nothing else, you will be getting instructions from a pie baker who is set in her ways, even if those ways are “wrong” and don’t go by the rules.  First piece of advice, just chill and don’t be scared to make a pie crust, practice makes perfect.  Some will turn out the way you want, some won’t – they will all be tasty.  My family likes me to practice! 

 

When I don’t want to think about making a pie, I make apple, it’s a no-brainer.  I make lots of fruit pies, and they do boil over and make a mess.  I don’t want to embarrass Hangdog, so I can count on apple to keep that from happening – since they aren’t so juicy 😉  

So apple it is, I prepared my filling first so the apples can juice a little.  The pie filling can be set aside while I make my crust. 

 

I’m kind of a hands-on gal, so the tool of choice for blending the flour, salt, and butter is my hand.  I don’t use shortening anymore, but it will give you a flakier crust.  We’re flaky enough, so butter it is.  Lard works well too, but I have more butter, and I like the taste.  Mix until the butter is in pea size balls, for the most part anyway.  

Then I add cold tap water, and stir with a fork until the mixture will hold together in a ball.  Don’t over-mix.  I usually make two crust pies, so I don’t try to incorporate all the crumbs in the bottom.  I can always add a few drops of water, but I can’t take it out.  When the dough is mixed well enough to pull out half for one crust, I stop mixing.  Over-mixing will can make your crust tough. 

 

I take out enough dough for one crust and then add a few drops of water to the remaining half and mix it into a ball.  A couple tosses with a fork and this dough will form a nice ball. 

 

Nothing fancy here – plain ol’ rolling pin, and our cutting board that has a worn spot on one side, so I use the back for dough projects. It’s still flat and smooth.  If only that Douglas fir board could talk, having meals prepared on it since our kitchen was remodeled in 1926, it has seen lots of pie crusts!! 

 

I smash the ball of dough down with my hand, less rolling that way. 

 

Then I kind of crimp the edges to make sure when I roll it out, cracks don’t develop at the edges.  As I roll the dough, I check for cracks and crimp more if needed. 

 

Then I roll it out, no cracks. 

 

Repeat for the top crust.  I know the “rules” say to chill the dough, but I never do.  Maybe because our house is on the cool side, winter or summer, it seems like an unnecessary step to me.  

 

Add filling, dot with butter.  

Place top crust on filling and trim to size with scissors.  We like thick fluted crusts, so if you don’t, trim a little harder than I did.  Or, like a french seam in sewing, cut one crust even with the edge of the pie pan, and leave the other one large enough to fold over or under.
 

 

Another “rule” dispensed with – I bring the crust from the bottom and fold over.  But you can fold the top under the bottom crust if you want.  It really makes no difference.   

 

Then flute the crust, or not.  Fluting is easy and makes it look like you spent some time on the pie.  Really though it takes just seconds to do this. 

 

Just for an added touch, you can add a cinnamon/sugar mix on top before baking.  Make sure to slice a few vent holes and slip the puppy into the oven.  Then you can leave for a while.  That’s what I like about pies!  Not much prep, and once the pie is baking I can do something else for about an hour. 

 

Done!

For this pie I used the Basic Pastry recipe from my Fannie Farmer Cookbook.  Usually I just wing it, but I didn’t want to send poor ol’ Hangdog off with a clunky pie 😉

BASIC PASTRY  9-inch two-crust pie

2 ½ cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup shortening (I used butter)
6 – 7 Tablespoons cold water   (or a tiny bit more)

Mix flour and salt.  Cut in shortening with a pastry blender or 2 knives.  Combine lightly until the mixture resembles coarse meal or very tiny peas, the texture will not be uniform but will contain crumbs and small bits and pieces.  Sprinkle water over flour mixture a tablespoon at a time and mix lightly with a fork, using only enough water so the pastry will hold together.

Note:  Don’t handle this pastry dough any more than necessary or it will be tough:  treat it firmly, not timidly, but don’t fuss with it.  The flour and shortening should not be blended too well:  it is the bits of shortening left in the dough that will puff and expand during the baking and give the pastry its flaky identity.  For that reason this dough cannot be mixed as successfully in a food processor.  Fannie Farmer.

My notes:  Using butter will not give you as flaky a crust as shortening, but it is still pretty good.  I have a tart crust recipe I use for pot pie that uses butter that is flaky but I will have to make a pot pie first!  So that will have to be another post.