Pie Crust (Rolled)

I'll start by saying that I'm not crazy about making rolled pie crust. It's not that it's any more work than anything else. There's just something about it that makes me have a tiny bit of "ugh, I have to make a real crust for this." Maybe, it's because it's a bit messy. I'm not really sure. But I finally worked it out so my crust comes out decently now. I used to overmix the dough terribly and now that I've been a little more patient, I seem to do o.k.

I start by weighing the butter. A one crust pie calls for 1/3cup plus 1 tablespoon of butter. More easily is to weigh out 3.2 ounces. Here is what 3.2 ounces of butter looks like (above).


In a bowl, mix 1 cup of flour with 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Cut up your butter into chunks and sprinkle into the flour/salt mix tossing the pieces as you go.

Using a pastry blender (or two knives criss-crossed), cut the butter into the flour.

Most recipe books will tell you to cut the butter in until the pieces are the size of peas. I don't know about the rest of you but I've never ended up with nice neat "pea sized" bits of flour coated butter in my dough. I usually get uneven, variously sized bits. And that's been o.k. This is just about what it looks like when I get to the "I'm done cutting in the butter" stage. (above)

Most recipe books also tell you to sprinkle 2-3 tablespoons of cold water onto the mix one tablespoon at a time. Fluff with a fork until the dough "just" starts to leave the side of the pan. I've never gotten by with only 3 tablespoons. If I don't add at least 4 tablespoons, my dough doesn't gather. This isn't a good picture, but what I do is after the 3-4 tablespoons I try to see if I can press the dough into a ball with my hand and move it as one lump. This is what I consider done.

I get the best results when I stick the bowl and dough in the fridge for 30 minutes. It makes it easier to roll out. It's not a requirement but it really does help.

My dining room table is one slap of wood and it makes the surface nice and large to roll out a crust. I liberally flour the table and the dough and start working on it with the rolling pin. If it starts to break along the edges, you can patch it with end pieces as they stick out. It takes quite a bit of flour and a couple of flips for me to keep it from sticking to the pin and the table. If you don't flour enough, you might find that big hunks of butter pull out of the dough, and that's a pain to work back in (you usually can't)

My fully rolled crust, ready for putting into a 9" pan, with some extra bits to make some little treats with.

For a two crust pie, double the recipe and split the dough into two batches before chilling.

Vegetable Pot Pie

Wow did this come out good. Even our niece Christine said that you couldn't tell that the gravy wasn't meat gravy. A few tweaks to add more green veggies and less potatos and I think we're good. Since this meal was lacking a bit in the protein area we also served it with both vegetarian "meatballs" and regular meatballs (for those of us who are still a little bit carnivore).

The Crust (makes two medium sized pies or one pie of traditional size):

2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 stick plus 2 TBS butter

1/4 cup to 6 TBS cold water

Mix together flour and salt. Cut butter into small cubes and toss with the flour to coat cubes. Using a pastry blender (or two knives) cut butter into flour until bits are about the size of a pea or even a bit smaller. Sprinkle cold water 2 TBS at a time onto the mix and fluff until it is coated and when pressed will stick together. Mixture should not feel wet but it should stick together.

Refrigerate dough for at least 20 minutes.

Divide into the number of crusts you need (no more than four) and roll out each section on a well floured surface. Add crust to pan and press into bottom and sides if air pockets puff it up. Fill with vegetables and gravy(etc) and then cover with top crust. Press and roll in the sides. Remember that it doesn't have to be perfect. The best pie crusts are the ones that look kind of funky.

The gravy:

1 TBS paste style vegetable boullion

3 cups water

3 TBS clarified butter (you can use regular butter)

3-5 TBS flour

Mix boullion into 3 cups warm water until dissolved completely. Set aside. In a saucepan, make a roux by melting clarified butter on medium-low heat and whisking in the flour to make a semi wet paste. When paste forms, add broth and turn heat to medium-high. Whisk steadily until gravy thickens. If gravy does not form to your liking, you can add a pit more flour pre-mixed with water slowly to thicken it.

Pies should bake at 425. Start checking after 25 minutes. This pie took about 35 minutes but I like my crust slightly on the darker side.

If you do try this, let me know how you make out with it. Usually our vegetarian meal substitutes are tasty and passable (like shepherdless pie) but this one we all devoured and we honestly were hard pressed to tell the difference in flavor between this and a meat pot pie.