Pie is a
tradition
Me Ma's Pie Crust*
An extra flaky pie crust recipe taught to me by my maternal grandmother, Margaret Eshem, who was famous for her flaky pies.
For pies that will have sweet fillings, I add a 1/4 cup sugar to the flour mixture before cutting in the Crisco. For a more buttery crust, you can use butter flavored Crisco.
For each crust, mix together:
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
Cut in with a chilled pastry blender (or pinch in, using only your fingertips)
1/3 cup Crisco--heaping
Add:
Ice water to make soft dough
Handling as little as possible, begin with a ball of dough and roll into a circle a bit bigger than your pie plate with a floured rolling pin on a floured surface, fold the circle of dough in half and in half again and lift into a greased pie plate, putting the center tip of the circle of dough at the center of the pie plate. Unfold the circle of dough and gently mold it into the pie plate. Do not stretch the dough. Trim edges even an inch or so beyond the edge of the pie plate. Turn under the edges and cnmp.
If you need a baked pie shell, prick the dough all over the bottom and sides with the tines of a fork. This helps keep the piecrust from shrinking during baking. Pie weights are also good. You can make a temporary pie weight by lining the unbaked, pricked crust with a clean dish towel which you then fill with dried beans. Fold the towel edges over the beans (keep the cloth away from the sides and rack of the oven) and bake the crust until the crust edges are lightly browned.
If making a double crust pie, double the recipe and cut vents in top crust before placing over filling, seal crust edges together, then trim, tum under, and crimp. Torn dough can be mended with cold water and a scrap of extra dough.
If the edges of the pie start to brown too quickly before the pie is finished, cover the edges with strips of aluminum foil.
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*Recipe recorded by my mother, Marcia Ann Sullivan Mullins.
How I do it:
I always get all the items I need ready before I bake. For pies I use the yellow bowl my mother gave me.
I always use my fingers to combine the Crisco because my mother and grandmother did.
Make sure you use ice cold water. Then pour enough in so when you mix it together the mixture is a little wet. It will get flour on it when you roll it out.
Work dough as little as possible. But all dough is different. This one I had to try again to get it to roll out properly.
I tuck any extra crust up and under the edges. Make sure the crust is all the way to the edge.
I use a fork to make the edges crinkled but you can get creative. It's now ready for filling! If you are doing top layer on top of the filling wait to crinkle the edges till you put it on, and cut 2-3 small slits in the middle top to allow it to bake evenly.
