November 2008

This weekend, Mike and I put together a little video tutorial for you on how to make a pie crust. We wanted to have it up before Thanksgiving. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that it’s a little bit too lengthy, but due to our lack of video editing skills, it’s the best that we could do. We’ll work on acquiring better video editing skills in the future. For now, if you have a good 20 minutes to invest, learn how to make a pie crust!

When I was 17, I was lucky enough to have my grandparents living in our home. They had a downstairs apartment. My dad told me that it was time I learned how to make a pie from my grandma, and sent me downstairs for instructions. Grandma taught me her technique. The next Wednesday, I was doing homework in my room. My dad came and found me and said, “Alma. What are you doing?” I said, “I am doing my homework.” He said, “It’s Wednesday. Wednesday is pie night. You should be making pies.” I told him, “I’m doing my homework.” The next week, he came and found me again and asked, “Alma. What are you doing?” I said, “I’m studying for a test.” He said, “It’s Wednesday. It’s pie night. You should be making pies.” I said, “I’m studying for a test dad. And besides, I’ve never made a pie on a Wednesday before. What ever got it into your head that Wednesday was pie night?” He said, “It’s a good idea, though, don’t you think?”

From then on, Wednesday was pie night. It was a tradition that I even carried on once my brothers and I all made it out to college. We’d get together every Wednesday and make pies together. Until we all gained weight, that is, and decided that maybe pie night was a tradition that didn’t have to be carried on every week. But those years of practice helped me to really perfect my grandma’s technique, and I’m happy to share her secrets with you.

If you would rather speed through the tutorial, here’s a written version of the recipe:

Ingredients:

flour
shortening
1 egg
2 tbsp lemon juice
water

Instructions:

1) Blend flour and shortening together with a pastry blender. Use about 1 cup of flour per pie crust. Add shortening in small amounts and blend until mixture is pebbly. To test if you have the right ratio, squeeze the mixture together in your fist. It should stick together. Run your thumb over it lightly. It should crumble back into the bowl. (This is the most important part—see video 2 for a demonstration.) Make a well in the middle of the bowl.

2) Crack one egg into a liquid measuring cup. Add 2 tbsp of lemon juice. Add water to bring the total mixture up to 1 cup. Blend thoroughly.

3) Add the liquid to the flour mixture slowly and carefully, stirring with a fork. If you have used only one cup of flour, you will not be using much of this liquid. If you have used 5 cups of flour, you will likely use all of the liquid. Mix flour and liquid until it becomes a dough. (If you’ve added too much liquid, feel free to add a little more flour to compensate. If there’s not enough liquid, add a little more plain water to compensate.) Do not overmix dough.

4) Separate your dough into the number of crusts you would like. Pat each section into a disc.

5) Spread flour on the counter. Flour both sides of your first disc and flour your rolling pin. Starting from the CENTER of your disc, roll out to the sides, increasing the disc size by double. Your disc should be very thick still. Pick it up, spread the flour on the counter again, and flip over your disc. Now roll out to the size of your pie plate, always rolling from the center outwards. It’s okay if your dough isn’t a perfect circle.

6) To transfer the crust to the plate, first fold your dough in half, and then in half to the side. This allows you to pick up the dough without it breaking. Position it in one quarter of your pie plate, then unfold to fill the entire pie plate.

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS: These never made it into the video because I really botched it. For a fruit pie, you want to cook your pie at 425F for 15 minutes. Then, without opening the oven, reduce the heat to 350F and cook an additional 30 minutes. This will yield a perfectly golden crust. Pumpkin pies need an additional 40-50 minutes.

TROUBLE SHOOTING: If your crust breaks apart very easily, it is either too dry or has too much shortening. If your crust is very durable, you have too much flour and it will be very tough.

Good luck pie making this year! I guarantee that as you practice, you’ll get pretty good. It might take weekly practice for a few years, though. Join a gym.

(A special thanks to Mike and all of his work in helping me to get these videos ready for this morning. I’m letting him sleep in a little.)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TO0u05doAg0]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZZ7Bhg0ApY]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4Fk1y4RJrw]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ee3bVQ8HskM]

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