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Sunday, September 22, 2013

Quick Single or Double Pie Crust Recipe

Whenever I need pie crust, I just pull a cup out from the bulk Crisco pie crust recipe my Mother-in-law taught me and I keep on hand.  Today I needed a single crust and didn't have any more of the bulk on hand, so I searched and found Crisco's single/double recipe because I needed a single crust for my quiche recipe I made for breakfast today.  It's nice to have each recipe on hand  at home or when visiting someone else's home. 

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  • SINGLE CRUST
  • 1 1/3 cups Pillsbury BEST® All Purpose Flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 stick well-chilled Crisco® Baking Sticks All-Vegetable Shortening
  • OR 1/2 cup well-chilled Crisco® All-Vegetable Shortening
  • 3 to 6 tablespoons ice cold water
  • DOUBLE CRUST
  • 2 cups Pillsbury BEST® All Purpose Flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 stick well-chilled Crisco® Baking Sticks All-Vegetable Shortening
  • OR 3/4 cup well-chilled Crisco® All-Vegetable Shortening
  • 4 to 8 tablespoons ice cold water
  • DEEP DISH DOUBLE CRUST
  • 2 2/3 cups Pillsbury BEST® All Purpose Flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 stick well-chilled Crisco® Baking Sticks All-Vegetable Shortening
  • OR 1 cup well-chilled Crisco® All-Vegetable Shortening
  • 6 to 10 tablespoons ice cold water

DIRECTIONS:

  1. BLEND flour and salt in medium mixing bowl.

  2. CUT chilled shortening into 1/2-inch cubes. Cut in chilled shortening cubes into flour mixture, using a pastry blender, in an up and down chopping motion, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some small pea-sized pieces remaining.

  3. SPRINKLE half the maximum recommended amount of ice cold water over the flour mixture. Using a fork, stir and draw flour from bottom of bowl to the top, distributing moisture evenly into flour. Press chunks down to bottom of bowl with fork. Add more water by the tablespoon, until dough is moist enough to hold together when pressed together.

  4. TIP
    Test dough for proper moistness by squeezing a marble-sized ball of dough in your hand. If it holds together firmly, do not add any additional water. If the dough crumbles, add more water by the tablespoonful, until dough is moist enough to form a smooth ball when pressed together.

  5. SHAPE dough into a ball for single pie crust. Divide dough in two for double crust or double deep dish crust, one ball slightly larger than the other. Flatten ball(s) into 1/2-inch thick round disk(s).

  6. TIP
    For ease in rolling, wrap dough in plastic wrap. Chill for 30 minutes or up to 2 days.

  7. ROLL dough (larger ball of dough for double crust pie) from center outward with steady pressure on a lightly floured work surface (or between two sheets of wax or parchment paper) into a circle 2-inches wider than pie plate for the bottom crust. Transfer dough to pie plate by loosely rolling around rolling pin. Center the rolling pin over the pie plate, and then unroll, easing dough into pie plate.


  8. For a SINGLE pie crust, trim edges of dough leaving a 3/4-inch overhang. Fold edge under. Flute dough as desired. Bake according to specific recipe directions.

  9. For a DOUBLE pie crust, roll larger disk for bottom crust, trimming edges of dough even with outer edge of pie plate. Fill unbaked pie crust according to recipe directions. Roll out smaller dough disk. Transfer dough carefully onto filled pie. Trim edges of dough leaving a 3/4-inch overhang. Fold top edge under bottom crust. Press edges together to seal and flute as desired. Cut slits in top crust or prick with fork to vent steam. Bake according to specific recipe directions.

  10. Two Methods for Pre-baking Pie Crusts (Cream Pies)

  11. Pre-baking without weights: Thoroughly prick bottom and sides of unbaked pie dough with fork (50 times) to prevent it from blistering or rising. Bake crust in lower third of oven, at 425°F, 10-12 minutes or until edges and bottom are golden brown.

  12. Pre-baking with weights: Thoroughly prick bottom and sides of unbaked pie dough with fork (50 times) to prevent it from blistering or rising. Chill or freeze for 30 minutes. Line pie dough snugly with foil or parchment paper. Fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake at 375°F for 20 minutes. Remove foil and weights. Reduce oven to 350°F. Bake 5-10 minutes or until edges and bottom are golden brown.

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION PER SERVING:

Serving Size (1/8 of crust), Calories 190 (Calories from Fat 110), Total Fat 12g (Saturated Fat 3g), Cholesterol 0mg, Sodium 150mg, Total Carbohydrate 16g (Dietary Fiber 1g, Sugars 0g), Protein 2g; Percent Daily Value*: Vitamin A 0%, Vitamin C 0%, Calcium 0%, Iron 6%.
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Veggie Tails and Flowers for Fancy Veggie Basket

My Mother began making fancy cut veggie baskets for special occasions after I left home, so I didn't have the chance to watch or help her much. Veggie Tails and Veggie Flowers for Veggie BasketNow that she's passed to the other side of the veil I had to recall, search for photos of her vegetable basket and online to "see" how to make various veggie tails and flowers.  In addition I asked myself questions.  I began to get some inspiration of my own--possibly from her whispering suggestions in my ear.  I felt her nearby as I thought of her, which made for a priceless time.   
What follows is how I make radish roses, green onion tails and stems, carrot crinkles and flowers, jagged cucumber circles, celery tails and turnip flowers. 

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Pretty Pavlova

Pavlova was served to us in Estonia and Finland then I made it for a Relief Society meeting dessert and now make it at home.  It's been requested in place of birthday cake by our youngest.  Here is the Pavlova recipe I use.


Saturday, July 21, 2012

Milk Can Dinner

MILK CAN DINNER
My brother made a "milk can dinner" during our Family reunion July 4th!  
It was such a fun meal and an easy way to serve a crowd. 
I decided the girls at Young Women's ward camp would like it too.   
They DID!  
Our 3rd year campers prepared this evening meal for our special guest speaker, 
Olympian Werner Hoeger and his wife Sharon.   
We served 30 people and several went back for seconds.  
 To make a
MILK CAN DINNER you will need to . . .

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Norwegian Christmas Cookies

We just love our exchange student daughter from Norway!   Last night she and the other Scandavian girls in our town shared their Christmas traditions with their host families at a Christmas party.  I made these "thumb print" cookies.  She'd never seen or heard of them before, but I know they make thumbprint cookies in Finland.  They were tasty, but who can go wrong with butter and sugar?

Norwegian Butter Cookies
1 cup butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 cups cake flour
1/2 tsp. salt
Any flavor jam or jelly (raspberry is my favorite, pictured here with strawberry jam)

Norwegian Christmas Cookies with Red Jam in Thumbprint IMG_1444
Cream butter and sugar well.  Add sifted flour and salt.  Mix until dough forms a ball.  Chill overnight.  Shape into 1/2 inch balls.  Press an indentation into each cookie ball with your thumb.  Bake at 350 degrees for ten minutes.  Take out of the oven, let cool.  Fill each indentation with jam or jelly.

By the time they finished baking they'd spread and my son asked, "Did a giant make these thumbprints?"

I also made Finnish gingerbread cookies and Finnish Christmas tarts to share.  She and another Norwegian girl made cookies with potato starch flour.

Norwegian Christmas Cookies
1 1/2 cups potato starch flour
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla sugar (I get mine at IKEA.  I imagine you can just use vanilla.)

My husband and I looked at each other and said, "There can't be that much potato starch flour in the recipe, but there is and they are delicious!  They crumble in your mouth and leave it feeling a bit sandy.