What's the secret to flaky pie crusts? Mine always seem to come out tough. With a standard recipe (1/3 cup shortening or lard to 1 cup flour, plus a pinch of salt for flavor), the secret is cold. Have the lard cold. Use just enough ice water to moisten the flour to stick it together, and then handle it as little as possible. If it won't be baked right away, keep it in the refrigerator. You don't want the shortening to melt into the flour at all until the crust is baking. The little balls of shortening covered with flour are flattened when the crust is rolled out, and when they are baked, they make the flakes of a tender, flaky crust. ...more

November 30, 2008

An e-mail with the subject line 'Are you a top chef?' recently captured my attention. Ordinarily I give junk mail a cursory glance, hit delete and then move on. But this one called my name like cookies right out of the oven. ...more

October 24, 2007