Monday, October 25, 2010

Perfecting the Pie



I've been working on my pie crust recently, and I think I'm close. I recently combined a few recipes, including my future mother-in-law's crust and the spices from the green tomato pie recipe, and I was really happy with the results. AND it's the first time I rolled out enough dough to cover the whole top of the pie without having to resort to a lattice, score!



Crust:
  • 2 c flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 c shortening
  • 1/2 c cold water

I often use Crisco and mash it into the flour with a fork until "pea-sized", which works fine. You can also use unsalted butter and cut it into pea-size pieces, then mix into flour. Add water a little bit at a time until dough holds together in a ball. Refrigerate (for several hours, if possible).

Filling:
  • 6-7 tart apples
  • 1/2 c sugar
  • 1 T flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/8 tsp allspice
  • 2 T butter

Sift dry ingredients. Peel and thinly slice apples and combine with dry ingredients. Roll out 1/2 of the dough (a good trick is to sprinkle some water on the counter and lay down some parchment paper, then roll the dough out on that - when ready, just flip the parchment paper over onto the pie dish). Fill pie and dot with butter. Cover and went the top crust. Bake at 425 for 10 mins, then lower to 350 for 50 mins.

2 comments:

Rosemary/sonrie said...

that looks delicious! I've never tried to make a pie crust, though I know from my mom that they are tricky.

Carol said...

I use a pastry cloth, which give me great results without even bothering with iced water, etc. Use the cloth to fold the crumbly edges over to roll them in, as well as to rotate the crust: makes great layering and an easy way to flip the crust over the pin to place it. I keep the cloth in the freezer until the next pie.