a little taste of thai

I’m kind of having a love affair with my electric mixer. It pulls through when the recipe says “food processor” and for that I love it unconditionally. Definitely one of my favorite appliances. 

The recipe for sweet pie crust comes from Food to live by, which has a really helpful section at the back for tasty basics like pie crust and soup stock. Stuff like that. You know, for those of us like me who are just sort of blundering their way along this whole “learning to cook” thing. The recipe calls for butter but I usually use shortening. It works just as well and though I may be compromising the taste, butter is a little on the pricey side to be using it for pie crust as often as I like to make pies. 

- 1 cup shortening, cut into small cubes (I usually take it out of the fridge and let it warm up for 10 minutes or so)
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2.5 cups flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup ice water

In your electric mixer (the original recipe does use a food processor, so if you have one of those, knock yourself out) blend the flour, salt and sugar. Add shortening and mix until it looks like coarse meal. 

Slowly add the water, mixing until the dough can be molded into a ball. If it’s still too dry you can add a little more water a tablespoon at a time, but don’t over-do it. 

Divide the dough in two, forming it into two flat disks. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator for at least an hour. (If it stays in there longer, let it warm up a little bit on the counter when you take it out.)

Lightly dust your work surface and rolling pin with flour.

Unwrap the dough and turn out onto board. Roll the dough into a round about 1/4 inch thick and 2 inches larger than your pie plate.

Fold the dough in half or drape it over the rolling pin and transfer it to the pie plate. If there are holes or cracks, patch them with small bits of the overhanging dough or press the dough back together. (A little water works great as glue.)

For a single crust pie, trim the dough with a knife or pair of kitchen scissors, leaving a 1/4 inch overhang. Fold the edge under to form a double layer and then crimp or flute it. For a double-crust pie, fir the dough for the bottom crust into the pie plate and trim the dough even with the rim. Roll out the second disk of dough. Place the filling in the bottom crust and place the dough for the second crust on top. Trim the top crust, leaving a 1/2 inch overhang. Fold the top crust under the edge of the bottom crust, and crimp or flute it to seal. Cut 3 slits (I like fun shapes like a diamond or a heart) in the center of the top crust with a sharp knife to allow steam to vent as the pie bakes.