PAgent’s Progress

The groundswell of enthusiasm in Portland for the approaching Pie-Off has me thinking about pies. Pies were always the dessert of choice in our family, cake coming a distant second, and usually only on birthdays. Important holidays typically required two or three pies, like pecan, pumpkin, lemon meringue, rhubarb, blackberry. It should be easily understood, then, that the ability to actually make a pie would be an important skill in my family.

In my opinion, the challenge of making a delicious pie filling pales in comparison with the task of making a good crust. The crust is more than merely the holder for the filling. A good pie crust is a study in contrasts. It has to be strong enough to support and contain the filling, and yet also be tender and flaky. And it must be tasty. To make matters worse, the recipes that turn out the best pie crusts are usually the most difficult to roll out without splitting, cracking, and falling apart when you try to transfer them to the pie pan. And yet if you work them a little longer, to make them a little stronger, you get a tough crust with none of the flaky goodness that you hoped for.

It can be utterly, utterly frustrating for a beginning piemaker.

When I started trying to make my own pies, my mother handed me a recipe titled “Perfect Pie Crust”, but she referred to it as “Idiot-Proof Pie Crust”. This recipe makes 5 single crusts, and the dough has a consistency similar to Play-Doh. They roll out easily, and if you screw up the crust, you can wad it all back up and roll it out again. No, really. They can even be frozen and thawed to use later. And the best part is, it makes a pretty good crust. It won’t be as tender as a true pastry crust, but it’s pretty darn good, and the benefit of being easy to use makes this a perfectly acceptable trade-off for a beginner.

IDIOT-PROOF PIE CRUST

4 cups unsifted flour, lightly spooned in cup
1 Tbsp sugar
2 tsps salt
1 3/4 cups solid vegetable shortening (not oil, lard, margarine, or butter)
1 Tbsp white or cider vinegar
1 large egg

– Put the first 3 ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.
– Add shortening and mix with a fork until the mixture is crumbly.
– In a small bowl, beat together 1/2 cup water, the vinegar, and egg.
– Combine the two mixtures, stirring with a fork until all ingredients are moistened.
– Divide dough into five portions, and using your hands shape each portion into a flat, round patty ready for rolling.
– Wrap each patty in plastic or waxed paper and chill for at least half an hour.
– When ready to roll out a crust, lightly flour both sides of a patty, and put it on a lightly floured board or pastry cloth.
– Cover rolling pin with stockinette and rub in a little flour. Keeping the pastry round, roll from the center to a thickness of 1/8 inch, and a size that’s 2 inches larger than the inverted pie pan.
– Fold in halves or quarters, then transfer to the pie pan, unfold and fit loosely in the pie pan. Press with fingers to remove air pockets.

Note: I have never bothered with a pastry cloth, or a stockinette, and it works just fine.