Pie, Oh My!

Pie embodies the essence of home cooking!  Almost anything you can think of--fruits, vegetables, meats, nuts, even eggs--are at home in the embrace of a good crust.  Everything we associate with pie begins, of course, with the pastry, so I will start there.

On a personal note, it took me many years to learn to create consistently good pie crust.  The essential technique involves  a) cold fat; b) fresh flour; c) cold water; and d) minimal handling.  So here is the recipe for

Basic Butter Pie Crust
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup old fashioned oats (optional)
scant 1 tsp salt
2/3 cups cold butter, 1/2 inch diced
2 tbs olive oil
4-6 tbs cold water
Plastic wrap
Wax paper!

Place flour, fats, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment. Mix on the slow setting about 5 minutes, or until it looks like coarse meal.  If you prefer a food processor, pulse it for only a few seconds at a time for the same result.  It comes out better if you still have a few pebbles of butter remaining.

With the mixer running, add the cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough just begins to come together.  Dump it on a large piece of plastic wrap and compress it into a disk, using the plastic wrap to bring the dough together; avoid touching the dough with your hands.  Refrigerate until ready to use, at least 1/2 hour.

Divide as needed, and roll out between several sheets of wax paper.  Do not use additional flour, as it makes the crust less tender. Transfer the rolled out dough to your pie pan by stripping off the top layers of wax paper and placing the dough, dough side down, on the pie pan.  Strip off the remaining paper and add the filling.  Then roll out the remaining dough, cut a few slits, and place it on top of the filling.

Depending on how much crust you like, either cut the overhanging ends off and use a fork to seal the edge, or roll it under the filling and flute. (I like lots of crust, so I use the latter technique)