Cooking the Alphabet: P is for Pie

Longer ago than I care to admit, a dear friend asked me about making pie crust. And since today is that person’s birthday, I figured evidence that I hadn’t forgotten that request might make a suitable birthday gift.

When done well, pie crust is a deep brown, delectable testament to the near-miraculous effect of heat on a few simple ingredients. Tender and flaky, it serves as a perfect embrace for fresh fruits, pudding, or whatever tasty filling a cook can devise. Pie crust can also be intimidating as hell to make, because the quality of those simple ingredients really matters. So does the cook’s handling of them. I am by no means an expert pie baker, but I am adequate and if I had regular practice, I’m confident I could become an expert one. So could you; and here are my tips and an excellent recipe for starting down that path. Let’s head into the kitchen!

First, some words on equipment. One doesn’t need a fancy food processor or other expensive machinery to get a good pie crust—in fact, I’d guess that such tools would make it easy to overmix the dough, which is the numero uno problem for many pie crust novices. Some very helpful, relatively inexpensive tools are: a pastry blender, that handheld gadget that will cut the fat into the flour mixture quickly and efficiently; a bench knife, for maneuvering the rolled-out dough; and a good (simple) rolling pin. I’ve heard Silpats are great for rolling out dough, but I’ve never owned one (and likely won’t any time soon, as they’re pricey). And that’s it!

Again, since there are few ingredients, quality is important for best flavor. Use real butter (I hear high-fat varieties are best, but again, I’m not willing to pay the prices I’ve seen on Plugra and the like); and if you have access to it, good lard. If the thought of using lard squicks you, or you can’t find any, use fresh vegetable shortening. If it’s old or has gotten too warm, it will taste off, or be completely rancid. These flavors will be intensified by baking, so err on the side of caution when in doubt. Same goes for the flour: if it’s old, the oils in it will start to go bad, imparting a flat taste to whatever you make with it. In my experience, any good brand of all-purpose flour (some store brands have been all right, but others are unacceptable, so I don’t take chances any more) will work just fine. Cake flour has too low a protein content; bread flours have too high a protein content.

Temperature of the ingredients is crucial, too. The butter and shortening should be cold; and the water should be ice-cold. I am possibly overly anal about this, but I find that it helps make better crusts, so it’s worth it. I cut the butter into small pieces, then put them—along with the measured shortening or lard—into the freezer to stay cold until I add them to the flour mixture. For ice water, take a couple of freshly made ice cubes and place them in a clean container to melt while you start gathering other ingredients and tools. If the water sits out too long before you use it, put it in the freezer for a quick cooldown.

And last, handling the dough is an important element of its final character. Overmixed and/or over-rolled pie dough will be tough, not flaky and tender. To get a flaky crust, a cook must fight the urge to add too much water to the dough. It should just hold together. Yes, this means rolling it out will be a bitch; but if done properly, it’ll only require two–four passes with the rolling pin. Patching is easy with pie crust—and patches also tends to disappear into the baked crust, so don’t worry about how messy it might look going in to the oven.

Single Pie Crust Recipe (8–9 inch pie)

Preheat oven to temperature called for in recipe

1 1/4 C. all purpose flour, plus extra for dusting work surface
1/2 tsp. salt
1 T. sugar
6 T. cold butter, cut into quarter-inch pieces
4 T. cold vegetable shortening or lard
3–4 T. ice water

Mix flour, salt, and sugar in mixing bowl. Remove butter from refrigerator or freezer and scatter over flour mixture. Cut butter into flour mix until the pieces are about the size of dimes. Add cold shortening or lard; continue to cut the mixture until the butter and shortening are about the size of small peas. Do not overmix. (You should see largish chunks of butter in the dough.)

Sprinkle half the water over the mixture, and with a wooden spoon or plastic spoonula, stir and press the mixture against the sides of the bowl. Add more water if necessary, but just enough to barely hold the dough together. Stray bits of dry mixture are okay. Waterlogged, gluey dough is right out. Watch, and remember how your pastry comes out each time you make it, and you'll start to get a good eye and feel for the dough. Shape the dough into a rough disc, then cover with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator while preparing the filling.

To roll out the dough, sprinkle flour generously over the work surface. Remove the dough from the refrigerator; unwrap it and set it on the work surface. With a light hand, quickly roll the dough once or twice with a back-and-forth motion right in front of you (parallel to your body only) so that it's long enough to fit into the pie plate. Lift and turn the dough 90°; repeat the rolling process. (The bench knife is extremely useful for lifting the dough.) Lift the dough and roll it loosely over the rolling pin; ease it into the pie pan. Gently and quickly, pat the dough snugly into the pan, bottom first and then the sides. If there are any places where the dough doesn't come up to the rim of the pan, pull off some from where there’s excess and patch the dough.

If the rolling and patching has taken enough time for the dough to start to warm up, place it back in the refrigerator for a few minutes before filling the crust. The dough should be as cold as possible going in to the hot oven—as I understand the science/magic of pastry, the cold butter doesn’t melt into the crust, but rather, it sort of explodes and that’s what creates the flakiness of a good crust.

If you’re making a double crust pie, cut steam vents into the top crust. If desired, brush pastry with beaten egg, or milk; one can also sprinkle sugar atop the wash if desired. Bake as directed in the pie recipe; let cool and serve and store as directed.

If you cannot eat wheat, don’t despair of ever having good pie again! I discovered a very good gluten-free pie crust mix: Gluten-Free Pantry’s Perfect Pie Crust Mix (scroll down to see it). It is suitable for sweet or savory crusts, and is pretty simple to make. The primary drawback is that the instructions are for the entire box, which means four pie crusts—and which also means that it isn’t easy to make half those crusts sweet and half savory. I’ve served their crusts to friends who can eat gluten, and they didn’t know it wasn’t a regular crust.

And a bonus recipe for a pie filling, for slogging through all my pie idiosyncrasies: I developed this cranberry-raspberry pie filling several weeks ago, and it was a big hit. The two berries interplay very nicely ... and a good vanilla ice cream is a divine topping for a warm slice.

Cranberry-Raspberry Pie Filling

Preheat oven to 400° F.

2 12-oz. bags of cranberries (fresh or frozen), picked over, washed, and chopped
1 12-oz. bag of unsweetened frozen cranberries, thawed
Juice of 1 orange
1 T. orange zest (if desired)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 C. sugar (or more, to taste—part of this can be brown sugar if desired)
1/4 C. corn starch or arrowroot starch
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. nutmeg
1/4 t. ground cloves (or to taste)
Pastry for 8 or 9-inch single or double-crust pie (your preference)

Pour fruits into large mixing bowl. Add orange juice and zest, if using; stir in egg and mix well. Add remaining ingredients and stir well.

Pour into prepared pie crust; top with crust if desired. Bake at 400° F. for 10 minutes; then reduce heat to 350° F. and bake 35 minutes longer, or until filling is bubbly and pastry is deep brown. Best served warm.