FLEISCHIG PIE CRUST

FLEISCHIG PIE CRUST

For shortening; use drippings and mix with goose, duck or chicken fat.
In the fall and winter, when poultry is plentiful and fat, save all
drippings of poultry fat for pie-crust. If you have neither, use
rendered beef fat.

Take one-half cup of shortening, one and one-half cups of flour. Sifted
pastry flour is best. If you have none at hand take two tablespoons of
flour off each cup after sifting; add a pinch of salt. With two knives
cut the fat into the sifted flour until the shortening is in pieces as
small as peas. Then pour in six or eight tablespoons of cold water; in
summer use ice-water; work with the knife until well mixed (never use
the hand). Flour a board or marble slab, roll the dough out thin,
sprinkle with a little flour and put dabs of soft drippings here and
there, fold the dough over and roll out thin again and spread with fat
and sprinkle with flour, repeat this and then roll out not too thin and
line a pie-plate with this dough. Always cut dough for lower crust a
little larger than the upper dough and do not stretch the dough when
lining pie-pan or plate.

If fruit is to be used for the filling, brush over top of the dough with
white of egg slightly beaten, or sprinkle with one tablespoon of bread
crumbs to prevent the dough from becoming soggy.

Put in the filling, brush over the edge of pastry with cold water, lay
the second round of paste loosely over the filling; press the edges
together lightly, and trim, if needed. Cut several slits in the top
crust or prick it with a fork before putting it in place.

Bake from thirty-five to forty-five minutes until crust is a nice brown.

A gas stove is more satisfactory for baking pies than a coal stove as
pies require the greatest heat at the bottom.

The recipe given above makes two crusts. Bake pies having a cooked
filling in a quick oven and those with an uncooked filling in a
moderate oven. Let pies cool upon plates on which they were made because
slipping them onto cold plates develops moisture which always destroys
the crispness of the lower crust.