Susan's Daily Tips

When my mother finally took the plunge, she couldn't crib from my grandmother's recipe because Grandma didn't have one. My mother used a recipe from a cookbook, bolstered by one tip from my grandmother: "Add a little extra shortening to make the crust easier to handle."

But my mother's pies tasted and looked like Grandma's did and I never for an instant suspected she had once battled pie phobia.

I made my first pie in my early 20s, soon after I married. Sometimes I got it; sometimes I didn't. That's still true, even after decades of baking pies. My reaction to disasters has often been less than admirable, I have been known to scream, stomp and, on occasion, hurl a recalcitrant piece of dough against the wall.

I used to feel guilty about those outbursts. But a few years ago, my mother, who rarely loses her temper, eased my conscience. "I've thrown out lots of crusts," she said airily, after hearing my confession.

I share these mishaps not to prove that pie baking is difficult - because it's not - but to prove that the source of the problem is in our heads, not in our mixing bowls.

What my mother and I have learned about disasters is that they don't really matter to anyone but the cook.

A "real" pie crust, even in less than perfect form, is a delicacy whose flavor can't be matched. That's probably more true now, when so few people prepare meals from scratch, than in my grandmother's day.

If we can accept the fact that what counts is the pie's flavor, not its appearance, the stress evaporates and pie baking becomes downright easy.

Pie Crust
Makes three 9-inch crusts

3 cups sifted flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons Crisco shortening
6 tablespoons ice water

Sift the flour and salt into the bowl you will be using and let it chill a while. Measure the Crisco and chill it, too. (I usually do this the night before I bake my pie.)

Cut the Crisco into the flour with two knives or a pastry blender until the mixture looks like small peas. Slowly sprinkle in the cold water, tossing the mixture with a fork. The dough should be just moist enough to hold together when pressed with a fork. If it's too sticky, the crust will be tough.

Shape the dough into three balls. Don't worry if it looks a little crumbly. You can patch it together in the pie plate, and nobody will know the difference.

Generously flour a tightly woven cloth (I use a clean dish towel), place one ball of dough on the cloth and use a rolling pin to make the dough evenly flat. Use a light touch and don't work the dough longer than you have to. And don't try to roll a perfect circle - only Martha can do that.

Lap the dough over the rolling pin and unroll it onto the pie plate. Patch any holes with bits of dough you pull off the sides where there's too much.

For a one-crust pie, use your fingers and make little ridges and valleys around the edge. If it's not pretty, don't worry. It will still taste good.

If your recipe calls for a baked crust, prick it all over with a fork (make the pricks about 1/4 to 1/2 inch apart) and chill it for half an hour. Then bake in preheated 450-degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes.

For a two-crust pie, add the filling, then roll out a top crust, lap it over your rolling pin and spread it across the top. Again, you'll probably have holes. Fill them as best you can and keep going.

Make the little ridges around the edges again, cut some slits in the top to let the steam escape, and bake according to your recipe. For an extra treat, put any bits of leftover crust on an oven-proof plate, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and bake until lightly browned.

That third pie crust?

Roll it into a ball, drop into a freezer bag (or two sandwich bags) and stick it in the freezer for the next time you are in the mood for pie.

(From "Farm Journal's Best-Ever Pies.")

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February 22, 2006