Karen's Favorite Pie Crust

INGREDIENTS

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup chilled lard
2 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon extra water

PREPARATION

Sift flour and salt together.

In separate bowl, measure and combine chilled lard and butter.

Cut half of the lard/butter mixture into the flour mixture with a pastry blender, or wor it in lightly with your fingers until it has the grain of cornmeal. Cut the remaining half coarsely into the dough until it is pea-sized. Sprinkle the dough with 4 tablespoons water and blend this lightly into the dough. You may lift the ingredients with a fork, allowing the moisture to spread. If needed to hold the ingredients together, add 1 teaspoon to tablespoon more water.

When you can gather the dough into a tidy ball, stop handling it. Fill and bake as per your pie recipe (typically 450 degrees, about half an hour)

This recipe is for a double crust 9″ pie. Simply cut recipe in half for one crust. This works wonderfully for quiche or chicken pot pie, too. I make dough ahead of time and freeze so I can pull it out for an unbelievably quick, gourmet meal!

Important points: I’m lazy and even though this is a very simple, quick recipe, I have still tried shortcuts. What I’ve discovered is that if you want a perfect, flakey, melt-in-your-mouth crust, DO combine the butter and lard separately first, and DO make sure they are chilled. If you want a crumbly melt-in-your-mouth crust, you can combine them in the bowl with the flour, but they work better when chilled.