Pie crust

recipes

Ingredients

  • 5 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 pound lard (or shortening I guess)
  • 1 Simerville Farm egg
  • 1 tbsp white vinegar
  • Vodka (optional)

Instructions

  1. Put flour and lard in bowl.  Using a pastry cuter cut the lard into the flour until you have little clumps of flour/lard the size of small peas.
  2. Gently mix egg and vinegar together then add either a 50/50 mix of vodka and water or just water to bring the level up to 1 cup.  The vodka does help make the crust extra flaky but it is not required by any stretch of the imagination.  I only use vodka in my crust when I am doing a more delicate desert.
  3. Slowly add the liquid to the flour/lard mix and stir with a wooden spoon.  It is very important to not be to rough with the dough at this point, the rougher you are now the tougher the crust will be so use “soft hands”.
  4. Wrap your pie crust dough in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for an hour or two.  The dough can stay in the fridge for up to 4 days or in the freezer indefinitely.
  5. Remove the pie crust dough from the fridge and place a portion of it on a lightly floured counter top to roll out.  Remember to be gentle when dealing with the raw crust or you will have a tough finished product.  The goal is to leave small granules of lard to create a light and fluffy crust.  I prefer a thin crust to a thick crust but it is all personal preference, you do you.