Pie crust; the ultimate challenge. The making of pie crust in my family when I was growing up used to lie somewhere between grasping the proverbial carrot and an epic event (marked by marginal success or abject failure in the result). Every, and I mean every holiday, was marked by the success or failure to produce the perfect flaky pie crust and is the sole reason that I never attempted to make a "real" pie crust until I was in my mid forties. Life literally balanced on it's wings until the pie crust was securely nestled in its pie plate and full of filling. Seeing the abject agony of pie crust failure, I vowed early on that good pie crust was beyond the power of modern woman and simply not worth the effort to produce.
Time changes everything, or so they say. Anytime I made a pie over the years (pecan being the favorite), my mother would ask me if I was going to make my own crust...talk about poking the bear! "Hell no", was my typical answer...her response always suggested somehow that "store-bought" pie crust hinted of a fishy flavor...oh yeah that make me want to serve it to guests!
But then, after years of baiting me, she set the hook. She began to brag of "the perfect pie crust recipe". As far as I was concerned those words were mutually exclusive. But instead of hearing of consistent and dismal failure in the end result, she raved about success with this one particular recipe. (You would think we were mining uranium to hear us talk about it!)
Never to be outdone when it comes to a food challenge, I finally succumbed to her baiting and took the hook. She kindly shared "the perfect pie crust recipe" with me. Misery loves company was what I was thinking, but I was astonished to find, it consistently came out, while not perfect (pretty close unless I really need it to be perfect), at least as good as I could hope for given my low level of expectation of pie crust.
This recipe ended a legacy of "crust failure" that marred my otherwise delightful childhood and sent every holiday into a frantic search for an open bakery. I kindly share it with you so that the trauma of "crust failure" is not passed on as your family legacy. Thanks to my Mom for breaking the cycle!
KitchenAid Pastry Crust (from the KitchenAid Cookbook)
Makes Two Crusts
2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 t salt
1/2 cup shortening (I replace this with cold butter because I don't like shortening particularly)
3 T cold butter
5-7 T ice water
Position your multipurpose blade in your food processor bowl. Add flour and salt. Process until mixed, about 2 seconds. Add shortening and butter. Pulse 3-4 times, about 2-3 seconds each time, until crumbly. Sprinkle minimum amount of water, evenly over mixture. Pulse 1-3 times, about 2-3 seconds each time, until mixture pulls away from sides of bowl and forms a loose ball. (if necessary, add a little more water, not more than 7 T total…just enough to form a loose ball)
Form into a ball (2 balls for 2-crust pie). On lightly floured surface, roll each ball to a circle 2 inches larger than inverted pie plate. Fit into pie plate. Proceed as directed in pie recipe.
Time changes everything, or so they say. Anytime I made a pie over the years (pecan being the favorite), my mother would ask me if I was going to make my own crust...talk about poking the bear! "Hell no", was my typical answer...her response always suggested somehow that "store-bought" pie crust hinted of a fishy flavor...oh yeah that make me want to serve it to guests!
But then, after years of baiting me, she set the hook. She began to brag of "the perfect pie crust recipe". As far as I was concerned those words were mutually exclusive. But instead of hearing of consistent and dismal failure in the end result, she raved about success with this one particular recipe. (You would think we were mining uranium to hear us talk about it!)
Never to be outdone when it comes to a food challenge, I finally succumbed to her baiting and took the hook. She kindly shared "the perfect pie crust recipe" with me. Misery loves company was what I was thinking, but I was astonished to find, it consistently came out, while not perfect (pretty close unless I really need it to be perfect), at least as good as I could hope for given my low level of expectation of pie crust.
This recipe ended a legacy of "crust failure" that marred my otherwise delightful childhood and sent every holiday into a frantic search for an open bakery. I kindly share it with you so that the trauma of "crust failure" is not passed on as your family legacy. Thanks to my Mom for breaking the cycle!
KitchenAid Pastry Crust (from the KitchenAid Cookbook)
Makes Two Crusts
2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 t salt
1/2 cup shortening (I replace this with cold butter because I don't like shortening particularly)
3 T cold butter
5-7 T ice water
Position your multipurpose blade in your food processor bowl. Add flour and salt. Process until mixed, about 2 seconds. Add shortening and butter. Pulse 3-4 times, about 2-3 seconds each time, until crumbly. Sprinkle minimum amount of water, evenly over mixture. Pulse 1-3 times, about 2-3 seconds each time, until mixture pulls away from sides of bowl and forms a loose ball. (if necessary, add a little more water, not more than 7 T total…just enough to form a loose ball)
Form into a ball (2 balls for 2-crust pie). On lightly floured surface, roll each ball to a circle 2 inches larger than inverted pie plate. Fit into pie plate. Proceed as directed in pie recipe.
3 comments:
Oh my - Pie crust nagging and Bill's Spaghetti. Brings back a lot of memories - some of them recent (about the pie crust nagger/gloater). Love M
Dear Liza,
I loved the piecrust blog. Actually it was your Aunt Sal that put out an SOS to all bakeries in New England on Thanksgiving. I would never admit to defeat. Please make that clear in the future.
Love,
Mom
Just for kicks and giggles, I made this pie crust night before last for a chicken pot pie (2 crusts). The only difference is that I substituted 1 of the cups of white flour for whole wheat flour. Otherwise I made no other changes. It was delicious; flaky, nutty, buttery uhhhmmmm...
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