French Fridays with Dorie
I’m not one to back away from a cooking challenge but the one skill that continues to vex me is crust. No matter how many times I make it I just never really warm up to the task. I suppose I would do just about anything not to have to make it. Its messy, forces me to dig up the food processor out of the back of the cabinet, and you have to plan way in advance since dough needs to be chilled to some perfect yet unattainable temperature for optimum shaping. For these reasons you will rarely ever get a pie at my house unless it by a very special request or I am especially driven to make a certain pie or tart I’ve seen in a magazine or on a blog. It is a rarity. Just how many crusts have you seen on this blog? None! For those occasions where a pi would be the perfect ending to meal I would certainly talk myself into a crumble or crisp instead to avoid this crust making chore. It is quite unfortunate that store bought crust is pretty easy to detect because I would certainly use it and hide the boxes in the trash and be done with it. Now that I’m doing the French Friday’s with Dorie, I know I will be called upon to make it a few dozen times so I’m trying to psych myself up for it. I don’t have a very large kitchen and I just always imagine the best crusts come from large kitchens with huge marble counters that can be floured in order to roll out perfect crusts. (Right Ina?)
This week we are making a savory tart for French Friday’s with Dorie and that means I have to step up once more and make one. On paper, the directions seem easy enough and I do have all the right crust making equipment. Food processor, rolling pin, high priced non stick tart pans. I even have a fancy silicon crust pad to prevent sticking while it measures out the proper diameter. (It works but its also kinda creepy if you ask me.) What would Ina think? In practice my crusts never seem to go perfectly and my perfectionist nature just can’t be appeased with my doughy crust output. The latest result is presented here for your examination even thought I would hardly call it blog worthy. Perhaps you crust mavens out there can chime in and tell me what it is I should be doing ? I pulsed, mixed, chilled, and rolled but my crust still turned into a patchwork of pieces. Is it supposed to pull away from the pan like this? Our tart calls for the crust to be ‘partially cooked’ but that process shrunk up the diameter and left a few glaring imperfections. Next time I will increase the ingredient amounts and make a bit thicker dough round until I the hang of it. Despite my bitching, it did taste great!
Crust
In the end I always know that a crust can be very forgiving once you get it filled with whatever delight you are intending for it. I just wish I didn’t have to count on that so much.
Ugh…I have such a hard time with crust too. If I am doing a gluten free crust I just buy one at Whole Foods and be done with it. But…thanksgiving is coming, I may have to go buy a crust pad. Where did you buy yours?
I would not consider myself a baker by any stretch of the imagination. But I think it was Dorie that said “whatever you stretch before you place the tart in the pan will shrink when you cook it” Like you said It all tastes good in the end…
Kate the matt came from Sur la Table. So far so good. I have a tile counter and not enough space for a good board or slab so this was the only thing I could think of short of Pillsbury. Hi Beth! I’m anxious to get over my crustophobia. I must have missed where Big D warned us. Alls well that ends well and this did ok. Like I said all is forgiven when it’s filled.
Sis. Boom
I love making crusts!! It’s a lot of fun. I never use a processor. It’s no fun if you can’t use your hands. I don’t use a pad either or anything fancy. I lightly flour the clean area I’m using.
All I need is a bowl (for the pastry) and a fork ( to very lightly mix), and my eyes ( to note the subtle change in color when I know the flour, salt(1 tsp.) and shortening ( 3/4 c.) are just tossed and become coarse crumbs. The only prep I do is place water with ice in the fridge ahead of time, so the little water I use to make the pastry is very icy cold for the flakiest of crust. I never have to put the pastry in the fridge.
I only use one Tablespoon of water at a time and lightly toss with the fork until pastry is just moist enough to hold together. For 2 c. of flour, I may use 5-6 T. water depending on the humidity in the house, I may use less water. It makes a difference. I’ve been making every kind of pie for years. I can tell just by looking at the pastry if I need more. Then I just lightly gather into a ball and it’s nice and soft and pliable. Ready to roll with my old wooden lightly floured rolling pin.
If you, notice I use the word “lightly” often. Too much handling and you end up with a tough crust and one that splits when you try to roll it. For a two crust pie, I divide the dough in half. One half slightly larger than the other.
Flatten the larger piece a little with the palm of your hand and start rolling gently from the center out and do this all around, remember gently. Roll about 1/8 inch thick and 2 inches larger than pie plate. The rolling pin just glides and the dough just spreads beautifully without splitting and remains pliable. At this point, I can just fold it in fourths and lift it with my hands and place it in the pie pan with point in center. Unfold and ease into pan, lifting towards center so it won’t stretch, shrink during baking. Trim edges with scissors leaving 1/2 inch overhang. Ready for the filling, a few pats of butter and the top crust. For the top crust, when I fold it in half or fourths I cut a design in it for the steam to escape. Place the crust over the filling, unfold it to cover the pie, fold top pastry over and under bottom pasty and crimp the edges. I always do an egg wash (egg & milk) to brush the top, for a golden glow on the finished pie. I cover the edges with foil before baking in a very hot preheated oven. Remove the foil 15 minutes before the pie is done.
For extra cash around the Holidays, I use to take orders from friends and friends of friends for pies. They loved the flaky crust and the filling combos I did. It was always fun to make pies, turnovers and little pastries with leftover dough. Some people call these “rugelach”.
I’m off fat and sugar now, so I miss making my pies!
Sis.Boom,
Yours looks very good and you said it tasted great…so that’s all that matters in the end. The PLEASURE of eating pie!! My oh my!!
Oh OH!! Sis, Boom, I didn’t know my comment was this long until it was published. Please excuse me. You may delete it. I’m sorry!
Gorgeous crust! I realized at the last moment all I had was an 11” tart pan instead of a 9”. My crust was a bit thin and didn’t go all the way up the sides which resulted in some spillage, but it did taste good. I’m envious of your gorgeous crust!
I really enjoyed reading this Trevor. I have one of those silicone pie mats as well, I would imagine Ina would laugh at us! I’m a huge Ina fan. Her recipes are the only ones I feel great about making for company without a test run. I always get compliments when I make her Pan Fried Onion Dip and my family always loves when I make her gravy with Cognac liquor, I do it with beef stock and serve it with roasted beef tenderloin and potatoes.. Yummy….
The mat scares me. I am not that precise. I didn’t have issues with shrinkage, but would have no idea why. I was fairly aggressive with pricking with the fork and chilling.
But in the end, the taste is key. No one studies the crust.