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Crust, Strange and Easy (P, TNT)
Source: "I Hate to Cook Almanack," by Peg Bracken
Yield: Pastry for one double-crust pie

1 cup flour
1/2 cup shortening
1/4 cup water
Additional flour

Cut shortening into measured flour, using two butter knives or a pastry blender, until mixture looks like small pebbles. Add water--"cold, warm, or luke, as long as it's wet," Miss Bracken says.

Mix it with your hands until it comes together into a sticky ball. Stop kneading, wash the sticky bits of your hands, and start rolling out the dough. Use lots of flour to roll it out.

Poster's Notes:
I chill the flour and use cold water.

I use oil instead of shortening, and toss it into the flour with a fork to get the pea meal appearance. You need a lot of extra flour in the rolling out--I think I used a whole other cup this time.

I also throw in a shake or two or salt, and a teaspoon of sugar.

And I chill it for 1/2 an hour before rolling, while I prep the filling. With the oil, you get a more shortbreadish than flaky pastry, but it's still pretty yummy. As Miss Bracken points out, this is an expandable and retractable recipe. What matters is the ratio of flour to shortening to water.

Posted by Shayna Kravetz

Nutritional Info Per Serving: N/A