You will think twice about making a plain shell in the future!
The holidays are coming, nows the time to think about dough!
I qualify that because we all have bad baking days.
Rosemary and Lemon Pastry Crust
It will still taste good!
Its still homemade pie.
Read the label on pre-made crusts.
Rosemary and Lemon Pastry Crust
You have control of your ingredients when you make your own, and the flavor is always superior.
Really, just moments after you grab gathered your handful of ingredients and chilled them.
In fact, theres a whole world of ingredients waiting to participate in your pastry.
Canning jar of pie weights!
Basil, rosemary, tarragon, all work well in a crust.
How about a tomato tart with a rosemary crust?
Experiment with what you like.
Quiche with a curry pastry?
Let your imagination wander.
Of course, the basic is pretty wonderful too!
Once mixed in, the butter will still have some visible pieces. You want this.
If you want to make this dough plain, omit the zest and the rosemary.
You will still use the lemon juice or vinegar because my mother did.
The acid helps to cut down on gluten formation which helps to keep the dough tender.
Once all the ingredients are added, pulse only until they start to come together. You don’t want it to turn into a full ball, there will still be some flour visible.
it’s possible for you to also substitute vodka.
You will taste none of these ingredients.
A short note:This crust uses equal parts butter and shortening.
use the sides of the plastic to bring the dough together.
In general, I do not like using shortening because it is loaded with trans fats.
I found a trans-fat free shortening several years ago, but havent seen it since!
For a simple pie with no enhancements, this would work fine.
Ready for their naps.
I make the choice pie by pie, but usually dont use the shortening.
salt
Zest of two lemons
1 heaping tbsp.
Measure out the shortening and place it in the refrigerator as well.
I know it looks funny, but you can roll it out on the plastic it was wrapped in, or just lightly flour a board, whatever works best for you. I do it both ways!
Measure out more water than you need and add ice cubes to chill it.
Pulse so that everything is combined.
This also lightens up the flour.
Using an large piece of parchment means easy extraction when it’s time to get these hot beans out of the pie crust!
Add the chilled butter and oil and pulse quickly six or seven times.
It will look like coarse sand with some big clumps of butter in it.
This is what you want.
Measure out your water, dont let any ice cubes sneak in, and add the lemon juice.
Drizzle almost all of it over the dough and pulse again, quickly, six or seven times.
If it falls apart, add the rest of the water and pulse once or twice.
The dough will still look craggy and unmixed.
This keeps your warm fingers off the dough.
Wrap it up, and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
This is an important step.
Chill for a half hour, but longer is fine too.
If it is rock hard, take it out a few minutes before you plan to roll out.
it’s possible for you to also freeze it at this step.
Do not roll over the outside edge or you will end up with really thin edges.
If it sticks to the board, run a long strip of dental floss under it to loosen.
Center it, and trim off any excess, leaving a little over hang.
it’s possible for you to also just roll it under, and leave it rustic.
This is another important step that helps keep the definition in the decorative edge.
Some recipes ask for a pre-baked shell, so you will have to blind bake it before filling.
Blind baking prevents the pastry from bubbling up or cracking on the bottom.
My mixture of several types of beans and a few ceramic weights have been reused for over 20 years!
I keep them in an old canning jar on the kitchen shelf.
Add the weights and bake as the recipe directs, usually 15 to 20 minutes.
Then you will remove the parchment and weights and continue to bake the shell, usually until lightly browned.
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