“I KNOW HOW TO BOIL WATER; I JUST DON'T KNOW WHEN IT'S DONE": Beve's Flaky Pie Crust with Vodka

Monday, December 23, 2013

Beve's Flaky Pie Crust with Vodka

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
4 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
6 tablespoons chilled shortening, cut into pieces
2 tablespoons vodka, cold
2 tablespoons cold water

Combine flour, salt, and sugar. Cut in butter and shortening with pastry blender until mixture forms pea-sized lumps. Sprinkle in cold water and vodka evenly over surface, Stir with a fork until all dry ingredients are moistened. DO NOT OVERWORK AT THIS POINT.
Shape into 1" thick disk and cover with plastic wrap.
Chill for at least 45 minutes in refrigerator. (I make mine the night before and refrigerate until the next day

***Actually any alcohol can be used. If you don't want to use alcohol, you can use vinegar. I have used apple cider vinegar years ago...but mostly I use the vodka.

Roll disk about 1/8" thick on a well-floured surface to fit into a 9 or 10" pie plate. Place the formed pie crust in pie plate and flute it.(Make a decorative pattern in the top edge of a pie crust). Place the formed pie crust in the refrigerator for 45 if needing an unfilled pie crust).

***For an unfilled pie crust, while the crust is chilling, preheat oven to 400°F. After rolling out your pie crust, prick holes all around the bottom crust with a fork. (This is docking the crust).

I weigh down the pie crust with something so it doesn’t puff up in the center or shrink down the sides. You can carefully line the pie dough with parchment paper first, then add some weight. (You can use dry beans). I use a smaller tin pie pan, cover the bottom with parchment paper, and lay that inside my 10" pie crust. Bake on the lowest rack for 15 minutes, remove pie from the oven and carefully lift the parchment paper (with the beans) out of the pie. Return the pie crust to the oven on the center rack for an additional 13-15 minutes or until bottom of crust is golden brown.. Please check at 13 minutes!

***Recipe can be doubled for a double-crusted pie and can be baked according to the times for each specific pie.

Enjoy! Élvez! Piacere! Gustirati! Radosť!

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Natural Resource

Beginnings

It was tradition in my family that soup was served almost every Sunday. There were only a handful of Sundays where soup wasn't part of the menu. On those days, we probably took a trip to Rivesville, West Virginia to visit with my Grandma, who usually had her own pot of soup on, and homemade bread to sink our teeth into. Sundays started with Mass, and after returning home, we would have breakfast. One of my favorite morning dishes was palachintas (yum). Mom would already have soup on the stovetop, and between noon and 2 o'clock it was time for the "soup feast." You could tell time at our house by the Sunday meal plan. A lot of them were based on the time of the football game, or other sporting event. Soup was always served as the noon time meal, followed by a hearty meatloaf, roast beef, stuffed cabbage, chicken paprikas, or the like, at suppertime (usually around 4 o’clock). It seemed like all we did on Sunday was eat and relax. You would wonder how you could be hungry for supper at 4 or 5 o’clock. Amazingly, you were. There were times I would remember that if there wasn’t enough roast beef to make you content, Mom would give you a slice of bread on your plate and cover it with gravy (Gravy Bread). What an added feast we thought we were getting. Little did we know, there probably wasn't enough meat for seconds, and who cared, because there was always plenty of gravy for that "oh so special" Gravy Bread. I really don’t remember a lot of desserts. I know we probably had them from time to time, but even if there were, I don’t know how one would find, or want to find, the room to fit it in. Well, all this talk is making me hungry. Go turn on the water and let’s get started!

Dedication

I dedicate this website to the 4 best cooks I know: My mother, who nourished me from the day of my first breath, both physically and spiritually; my mother-in-law, introducing me to her family favorites and customs; my husband’s grandmother, who had a unique, physical and verbal way of teaching me all her different techniques, to pass on traditional dishes; and last, and foremost, my heavenly mother, Mary, who is always by my side guiding me with spiritual intervention every step, and ingredient, of the way. It is with a deep love of my heritage that I also dedicate this collection of recipes to all the cooks who are just starting out and continuing the tradition of using recipes that are "family recipes." I hope that this website will serve to preserve some of my "family recipes" and to kindle an interest in traditional cooking among the younger families in a not always traditional way.

Enjoy!
With much love, Beve