2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
3/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp sugar
5 tbsp cold salted butter
6 1/2 tbsp cold unsalted butter
3 tbsp vegetable shortening
3 tbsp ice water, plus
1 tsp ice water
Directions
This is a good basic pie crust recipe from Lindsey Shere at Chez
Panisse. It is flaky and has a good butter flavor.
MIX THE FLOUR, SALT AND SUGAR in a bowl. Cut the salted butter in
pieces 1/3-inch thick and quickly cut them into the flour mixture
until it is the texture of cornmeal. You can do this with a pastry
blender, with your hands by rubbing quickly and lightly between your
fingers, or in an electric mixer or food processor. Cut in the
unsalted butter and the vegetable shortening until they are in larger
pieces, about 1/8- to 1/4-inch in diameter. This helps to make the
dough flaky. Sprinkle in the 3 tablespoons ice water, tossing the
dough lightly with a fork to moisten it evenly. Use another teaspoon
of water if necessary to make the dough hold together. Stir the dough
with the fork until it has come together in small lumps and there is
no dry flour left. Divide the dough in half and press it into two
balls. Be careful not to knead it--just squeeze it together. Kneading
activates the gluten, which makes the dough tough. However, if the
dough is crumbly, knead it together very briefly. Wrap tightly in
plastic and chill for at least 4 hours. During this time, the enzymes
in the flour will mellow the gluten to permit the water to be
absorbed completely; this conditioning will help to prevent shrinkage
and toughness later. Makes enough for two 9-inch pie shells.
Servings: 2 servings
Chez Panisse Pastry Crust Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Dessert
The History of Recipes
We are able to track the history of meal recipes far back into distant history, in fact as far as ancient Egypt, and quite possibly further than that. Having said that, these, early records were just very simple hieroglyphic or cunieform recipes for food preparation.
The truth of the matter is, the most ancient recipe discovered, according to experts in ancient history are some ancient tablets in the Sumerian language which describe the baking of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as having made drinkers feel exhilarated. Later on, in The time of the roman empire around 25BC a roman called Apicius wrote a collection of documents showing how to cook the recipes prepared by the Romans. He tells us how the roman meals were divided into starters, main course and afters, something we still use today. Aspicius also informs us how the ancient chefs made use of a good variety of aromatic flavours, including some familiar names like bay, rue and asafoetida. During the following few hundred years, the powerful and wealthy strove to lay on the most exotic meals, and consequentially the best chefs and their recipes increased in prestige. Notwithstanding that, it was during the nineteenth century the formal cooking and recipe collections reached a high level of popularity. Mrs Isabella Beeton in the UK, and the equally famous Fannie Merritt Farmer in the USA, dedicated years of their lives to collecting, trying out, and writing down recipes to allow everyone to enjoy them. The arrival of television gave us celebrity TV chefs and the recipe books that accompanied them. Which brings us neatly to the present day and the invention of the internet, permitting us all to search through massive numbers of recipes such as those found on our site. |
We hope you enjoy this Chez Panisse Pastry Crust recipe.
