Pie Crust

I don't know why I've had such a problem with pie crusts over the years. In particular, I had problems with one for a Chocolate/White Chocolate/Raspberry tart. A long time back, I just gave up in general. Whenever I had to make something with a crust, I would just buy the Pilllsbury pre-made, pre-rolled frozen crusts (they come folded in quarters).

I tried the basic recipe in the Joy of Cooking and, lo and behold, they came out perfect. I don't know what magic words in their suggestions made a difference, but something did. I used the "happy medium" recipe of shortening and butter and I could tell from the first batch of dough that it was just right, so I immediately made a second one to freeze.

The instructions for rolling the dough in the book, plus some of the hands-on instruction for the paratha worked out pretty well. My two big changes on technique were: 1) I erred on the side of too much flour, as suggested, and dusted the top of the dough, rather than the rolling pin. 2) When rolling, I worked to keep the pressure horizontal, rather then vertical as usual.

Recipe to be posted soon