Cooking School-Pie Crust

"I love the leaves I do not know why. Is it their colors or how they fly? They crunch and crinkle Under my feet; I pile them up And take a leap!"

Author: Beth Paulsen

Labor Day is a bittersweet holiday. I don't care what the calendar says, it officially marks the last day of summer. School is in full swing, which means my planner is bursting with new music students, practices have begun for the annual Christmas cantata, and I have to seriously start planning my recital. Production is in full swing for my mom's annual holiday boutique and the birthday parade has begun: Mine in September, my mom's, niece's, and husband's in October, my dad's, brother's, and son's in November, my sister's in December, and my son's in January.
For me, this is officially the beginning of the Christmas season. With all these special practices for recital and cantata, Christmas music is now constantly being reviewed, scrutinized, and chosen. Holiday-themed fabrics are out, names are chosen for the Christmas exchange, and plans are being made with relatives for these special days. The chilly nights make my fingers itch to get out the sweaters, scarves, and shawls. But best of all, soon it will be enjoyable to spend the day in the kitchen, again. Decorating cookies, trips to coffee shops in the rain, and taking the kids to the park to play in the leaves are things to look forward to in the cooling weather. That, and pie-making. I would be totally fine if we changed the name of the season from 'Fall', to 'Pie'. It just has a nice ring to it. You would see signs that greet passers-by, "Happy Pie!". It would bring a smile to my face. Spring, Summer, Pie, Winter. It definitely fits. But best of all, it would be a whole season dedicated to the art of Pie-Making!
Now, I know some of you don't share my fervor, and I have to think that a contributing factor to your lack of enthusiasm is the fact that you don't like your pie crust. Pie is the one thing we all have in common, whether you enjoy making French pastries or your holidays include tamales, pie is American. The problem is the crust. I know a lot of people who just don't like theirs, it won't work for them, or they don't know how to manage it. If this is you, try again. I sampled several crusts before I found one that worked for me, and I still play around with others, just to see if I find something I like more. I have said this before, my mom and I don't use the same crust. She uses a shortening crust that I can't do anything with.
Shortening crusts are a little denser, so they hold up really well to fillings. The problem with them is, well, they are denser. You don't really want a heavy crust, so you have to be really careful. Butter crusts, on the other hand are very flaky, but they can be crumbly, too. I have to problem with crumbly. Supposedly, a mixture of butter and shortening can yield a fantastic crust, that can hold up to its fillings and still be very flaky. I guess I should try it.
I have never had a problem with my butter crust, and it comes together in a snap in the food processor. Sounds like a winner, right? Well, here are recipes for four different pie crusts, starting with my butter crust. After that, its a cinch. Well, not all the time. I have outlined step by step instructions for rolling out the dough and baking blind (which is baking before a filling is in your pie-pecan, any fresh fruit, chocolate).
Your pie recipe will give you instructions for baking a filled pie.
Looking for a pie? Here are my recipes for pumpkin, my caramel apple pie, strawberry cream cheese, and this amazing pecan.

 After making your pie dough, refrigerate for forty minutes, then leave out for twenty minutes. (This is essential to your dough. It will keep it from shrinking)

1. Flour your work surface and rolling pin.

2. Place your dough on surface and lightly flour that also.

 3. Roll out the dough north south, east west, northeast southwest, northwest southeast, and repeat. Continue until your crust is about 1/4 larger than your pie dish.



4. Lightly flour then fold in half.





5. Lightly flour again, then fold in half again.

 6. Lay quartered crust into your pie dish, and unfold.







7. Trim with a knife to about 1-inch over the edge of the plate.


 


 8. Fold the edge of the crust by pinching it between your thumbs and forefingers, as pictured.






9. Continue around the edge.

 10. Preheat the oven to 400.







11. Fold parchment in half over and over, holding the center, until you have a small piece. Cut this to fit the inside of the pie plate.





12. Place inside unbaked crust.







13. Fill with pie weights or beans.







14. Bake for 20 minutes, then remove weights. If crust is browning too quickly, cover with foil.
If you need a completely cooked shell, keep cooking for 20-30 minutes more. Otherwise, follow the directions for the pie you are making.



Remember these rules when making crust:

• keep all your ingredients cold
• never knead the dough
• handle as little as possible
• always let it rest
• don't be timid. Quickly handle the dough

Quiche

I love parties. I love eating at parties, I love making food for parties, and I love having people over for parties. There is something I don't quite understand, though. When people talk about party food, they always try to find quick and easy things that don't require much work. Like assembly-only dishes. I, on the other hand, look for something that I have been dying to make. Like some crazy cake that would be way too much for just my family, but perfect for a group of friends. Or maybe a new appetizer. Again, that is not something I am going to make for a weeknight dinner, but something I would love to try out. So, I end up inviting people over, and cooking. Half of it is for them, but the other half of it is for my personal enjoyment. Selfish, I know. But, in my defense, some people don't mind being my guinea pigs.
I just recently hatched another idea for a party,

Easy as Pie

Part of my original purpose for creating this blog was to have a place where I could write and record my favorite recipes. Instead of having magazines, recipe cards, recipe books, and boxes, I wanted to be able to keep all of my recipes in one place, that I could access at any time (which, actually, has turned out to be quite helpful).
I also wanted a resource, as I have mentioned in the past, where people could find simple recipes for everyday items.
An extremely common household recipe that people seem to need is pie crust. I find it interesting that most recipes call for ready made pie crusts, and many people I know do not like their own pie crust recipe. I started making my own crust as a teenager, and the recipe I found that worked for me had egg and vinegar. I had tried my mom's shortening crust and it was just horrendous for me. It worked great for her, but when I tried it, it was a dry lump of dough that I couldn't get to do what I wanted.
After a bit I lost my pie crust recipe. I searched high and low and couldn't find the same recipe. I tried to recreate it from memory, but it ended up quite vinegar-y tasting. I tried my mom's again, and I tried to experiment with some other crusts. I wasn't happy with mine for about a year and a half.

I received a copy of Bon Appetit's cookbook for Christmas one year. It had a pie crust recipe that was made entirely out of butter, so I decided to give it a try. It came together in the food processor, and worked like a charm. I really, really loved the texture. If you didn't know this, shortening makes crusts short, like shortbread cookies. They crumble in your mouth. Butter makes pie crust flaky, because the pockets of butter in the crust melt while its baking and the resulting steam creates little air pockets. Anyway, I really love it. I've won a couple of bake-offs with it, too!

Just a little side note, if you have a hard time with crust, try empanada dough, also called cream cheese dough. It is less finicky than butter, and seems to work like a breeze. The texture is a bit different but its still great, and its great to start with. So, I have included both, here:

Easy Cream Cheese Pie Dough

(from the Art and Soul of Baking)

1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon sugar (omit for savory crust)

Pinch of salt

1 stick cold butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1 package cold cream cheese, cut into 9 pieces

Place flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of the food processor and process for 10 seconds. Add the cold butter pieces and process for 8 to 10 seconds, until the mixture looks like bread crumbs. Add the cream cheese and pulse 30 times (1-second pulses) or until large, shaggy clumps of dough form.

Turn the shaggy mass out onto a work surface and knead gently 2 or 3 times to create a cohesive dough. Flatten into a disk, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes, or until you are ready to use it.

Butter Pie Crust Dough

(from Bon Appetit)

2 1/4 cups flour

1 Tablespoon sugar (omit for savory crust)

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) chilled butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

6 Tablespoons (or more)  ice water

Blend flour, sugar, and salt in processor. Add butter, using on/off turns, cut in until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 6 Tablespoons water. Using on/off turns, blend just until moist clumps form, adding more water by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry. Gather dough into ball; divide dough in half. Flatten each piece into disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate 1 hour, or up to 2 days.

Pie Crust (from Amish Cooking pg. 182 - This is, by the way, the BEST pie crust recipe you'll ever find anywhere)
3 c. sifted all-purpose flour
1 c. shortening
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg, slightly beaten
5 tbsp. ice water
1 tsp. vinegar
Mix flour and salt. Using a pastry cutter or two knives, cut in shortening. Combine egg, water and vinegar. Stir egg mixture into flour mixture until a soft dough forms. (If necessary add more ice water 1/2 tsp. at a time). Divide dough into two or three equal portions.

Pie Crust (adapted from pg. 182, Amish Cooking by Pathway Publishers)
Yield: 2 single crust pies OR 1 double crust pie
2 c. all purpose flour
1 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. vegetable shortening
1 egg
5 Tbls. ice cold water
1 tsp. white vinegar

Sift the flours, spices and salt into a medium sized bowl. Cut the shortening into the flour mixture until mixture forms course crumbs. Beat the egg; add the water and vinegar. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture. Stir with a fork until a soft dough forms. Turn the dough out onto a floured pastry cloth. Gently kneed the dough, 3-4 times (DO NOT knead the dough excessively). Divide the dough in half. Form the halves into disks and roll out, using a cloth covered rolling pin