I met someone recently in a bar who is a caterer and cooks for herself all the time. I don’t anymore. But she asked me how I became a cookbook editor.
This is the story I told her: I was a regular production editor and copyeditor and one day we were discussing that book Fried Green Tomatoes, and I went and said you could make a green tomato pie just like you make an apple pie.
Everyone stopped talking and stared at me like I was crazy, and then someone said, “So make one, and bring it in.”
My bar friend said, Why did that make you a cookbook editor? And I said because I make a really great pie crust.
Right at the bar, she wanted to know exactly how I did it, so here it is:
Everything must be ice cold, to start. The butter, your hands, the knives (I did it with two knives, not a pastry blender), the bowl, everything. Including the tiny bit of ice water you add at the end. You don’t have to measure. Just put about two cups of flour in a bowl (doesn’t have to sifted, since we’re not measuring) and add the cold butter with two knives until it looks right, like very coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle the 2 tablespoons or so of ice cold water that you have waiting in a cup, and mix in a bit at a time, and add a tiny bit more if it is not adhering properly.
When it can be made into a ball, make it into two balls, possibly one a bit bigger than the other. Wrap in wax paper and refrigerate for hours, even overnight.
Rolling it out takes infinite patience. You don’t want to press too hard all at once. A little at a time. But you have to keep pace with it as it warms a bit and becomes a tiny bit spreadable. As slow and gentle as possible, but as quickly as the dough will let you, because overworking makes the dough tough.
The same is true when you finally get it to pie pan size. You don’t want it to start breaking in pieces, because then you will have to overwork it to get it back together and it may be hard to stick it together.
It wants to be a pie. You have to be in tune with it and give it what it wants.
I used to use two spatulas to lift it up and onto the pie pan. Then you are home free, because the second one is not as big and so it’s easier to lift it and get it on top of the filling.
My mother used to use Crisco and a little bit of salt. I use only freshly bought sweet butter, and no salt or sugar. You can always depend on the filling for those two ingredients.
Maybe everyone knows this, but my new caterer friend was all ears.
Remember, patience, but don’t take too long, and that middle road only comes with experience. If it breaks up into pieces, you can make pie crust cookies out of it and try again next time.
The ‘everything cold’ method is what we always use; but we roll it out between sheets of wax or parchment paper.
Have you ever tried the addition of vodka for pie crust?
Making good pie crust is a real talent - the rest of the pie is easy, but pie crust is an art.