You may not have a pre made crust on hand but you most certainly have flour, butter and water!
The recipe is so easy and so delicious you’ll have a fresh homemade pie in no time.
This recipe makes two crusts. Freeze one for a quickie treat later!
Makes 1 double-crust for a 9-inch pie
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
3 tablespoons margarine or chilled vegetable shortening
1/4 cup ice water
Method
1.Hand Method: In a large bowl, sift the flour and salt. Cut the chilled butter and margarine into 1-tablespoon bits and add to the flour. With a pastry cutter, work flour and shortening together until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the ice water little by little pressing the pastry together into a ball. Wrap and chill for at least 1 hour.
2.It is very important to work the pastry as little as possible. Don’t overhandle. A secret to light, flaky pastry is to keep the mixture cool, add as little water as possible, and mix only as much as necessary.
3.Food Processor Method: Put flour and salt in bowl of machine. Cut butter and margarine into flour. Process a few seconds until mixture resembles coarse meal. Drop by drop add the water, processing very briefly. The whole process would take 20 to 30 seconds. Wrap and chill the pastry for at least 1 hour.
4.If pastry has been chilled for a long time, let it sit at room temperature for at least 15 minutes before rolling.
5.Lightly flour a pastry board, marble counter, or kitchen counter. Divide the pastry in half. Pat each piece of pastry into a flat round. Lightly flour the rolling pin. Roll pastry in one direction only, turning pastry continually to prevent it from sticking to the surface.
6.Using pie plate as a guide, measure rolled-out pastry — it should be slightly larger than the pie plate and 1-8-inch thick. Fold rolled pastry circle in half so you can lift it more easily. Unfold, gently fitting the pastry into the pie plate, allowing pastry to hang evenly over the edge. Do not trim the pastry yet.
7.Fill the pie with filling. Then roll out the second crust in the same manner as for the bottom. Fold circle in half and with a sharp, pointed knife cut little vents in a decorative pattern. Place folded pastry on one half the pie. Unfold, pressing top and bottom pastry together. Trim edges with scissors, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang. Fold bottom pastry overhang over top and press firmly to seal. Crimp rim, using fingers or the tines of a fork.
Roll out the crust.
Make it look pretty.
As for the filling I just used what I had on hand and got fancy!
I created layers by mixing some whipped cream with some pudding but you could just as easily do a layer of pudding; I used instant chocolate, and whipped cream; I made my own!
Whipped cream.
First layer of chocolate pudding.
Mix some whipped cream with chocolate pudding for a special layer of creamy yumminess!
3 tablespoons (42 grams) cold unsalted butter, cut in small pieces
3/4 cup (100 grams) Thompson raisins
1 1/2 cups (360 ml) buttermilk (soured milk)
Method
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) and place the rack in the center of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Cut the cold butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture, with a pastry blender or two knives, until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Stir in the raisins. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add most of the buttermilk. Using yours hands, or a wooden spoon, mix (adding more buttermilk if necessary) until you have a soft moist dough.
Transfer to a lightly floured surface and gently knead the dough into a 7 inch (18 cm) round. Place the round on your prepared baking sheet and then, with a sharp knife, cut a 1/4 inch deep “X” across the top of the bread.
Bake for about 40 – 50 minutes or until nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean. You can also test that is fully baked by tapping the bottom of the bread – it should sound hollow. Remove from oven. This bread is wonderful when served warm with butter. It also makes great toast.
Makes one seven inch (18 cm) round raisin soda bread.
The dough hook on my Kitchen Aid mixer makes this a peice of cake!
I always use parchment paper.
This recipe is so quick and easy.
You can have warm bread in less than an hour!
What a great last minute surprise for breakfast.
Cold butter on warm bread is a special treat!
What is especially nice is that you can usually find most of these ingredients in your pantry at all times.
No buttermilk? Add lemon juice to milk!
No raisins? Use dried cranberries or prunes.
…even chocolate chips would work nicely and the kids will love it!
I hate to waste food. So after a recent party instead of just tossing the leftovers, I made an effort to to come up with a meal that utilized the crudites that were left.
I didn’t want another raw food meal or a stir fry rice thingy.
This reminds me a little of pot roast; vegetarian style , of course.
It kind of looks like that, don’t you think?
I just sauteed the vegetables as they were, added them to some linguine added feta cheese, balsamic vinegar and Ghee. You could also use butter.
This was a complete meal and quite different from the ingredients original incarnation.
My secret ingredient ? Live music in my kitchen!
Check out this video performance of “Summertime” by Dolinar Spahija!
This easy, yummy dip can be whipped up just minutes before guests arrive and served warm with crusty bread or crackers.
This has become my new favorite dish to take to friends or to serve at parties.
Ingredients:
2 cans lump crab
1 8 oz package of cream cheese
1 cup mayonaise
1 cup sour cream
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 chopped yellow or red pepper
5-6 chopped green onions
1 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp or to taste garlic salt
Mix the ingredients well and top with some extra shredded cheese.
Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.
