Pie Crust

 We are all about pies around our house at Thanksgiving and Christmas . . . and just about every other holiday as well.  This is my Mother-In-Law's Pie Crust Recipe & it works great in Ethiopia 100% of the time.  This recipe makes two pie crusts or one pie that has a top and bottom crust.

Ingredients:

2 Cups of flour (take 1/4 Cup out and set it aside)

1 teaspoon of salt

Two rounded 1/3 Cups of Margarine (or Crisco if you happen to have some on hand)

1/2 Cup ice water

Mix 1 3/4 cups of flour in a large bowl.  Add 1 teaspoon of salt, mix together and then add in the shortening.  Mix it together with a fork, mashing all the lumps.  

In a small bowl, mix 1/4 Cup of flour with 1/2 Cup of cold water.  Mix it together to make a paste.  Addit into the large bowl and stir it together with a fork until it is all incorporated.

With your hands, shape the dough into a ball.  I like to lay parchment paper or foil on my counter top before I roll the dough out - it just makes for easier clean up.  You can do it on the counter top if you like.  Dust the counter with flour.  Take half of your dough and roll it out in a circle . . . turning your rolling pin a little each time so you get an even circle. Make sure your circle is a little bigger than your pie plate so it will overlap the edges.  I use my rolling pin to roll my pie crust up and then it is easy to transfer it to your pie pan.

Once you have your dough in the pie plate, tuck the extra dough on the sides in between the dough and the edge of the pie plate.  Be sure to leave enough room to be able to pinch the dough (see instructions below). 

If you are making a pie with only a crust, you are ready to fill your pie crust and bake your pie.

 If you are making a pie that has a top layer, you will need to roll the second ball of dough out.  If you are doing a solid top, roll the dough in a circle just like you did for the bottom crust.  Lay the crust on top of the filling & then fold the edges like you did before & then you can pinch them to make them look nice.

 If you are making a lattice top, roll the dough out in a rectangle.  I use a pizza cutter to cut my strips, but you can use a knife just as easily.  

Start by laying strips going one direction over your pie.

Now, start with one strip in the middle going the opposite direction.  Make sure you weave the pie crust (over and under) through each of the strips.

Continue to do this until you've finished the entire top of the pie

Fold all the extra pie dough down between the pie crust and the edge of the pie pan.

Now you use both of your hands to pinch the dough so you get a nice edge around the pie.  I use two fingers on my left hand to hold the dough while I bring one finger from my right hand to indent the dough.  Do this all the way around your pie & then your pie will be ready to bake.

If you have any extra pie crust left over, it's fun to roll it into little strips and sprinkle it with cinnamon and sugar and then bake it in the oven just until cooked.