Dear Culinary Experts
I have a great recipe for French Silk Pie, but I have been using a frozen
pie shell that does not really complement the decadently rich desert.
What type of pie shell would work best?
Thanks
ypauls

ypauls wrote:
> I have a great recipe for French Silk Pie, but I have been using a frozen
> pie shell that does not really complement the decadently rich desert.
> What type of pie shell would work best?
> Thanks
> ypauls
>
>


Home-made plain pastry shell, made very short by using lots of lard and
maybe a little butter.

Bob

zxcvbob > wrote in
:

> ypauls wrote:
>> I have a great recipe for French Silk Pie, but I have been using a
>> frozen pie shell that does not really complement the decadently rich
>> desert. What type of pie shell would work best?
>> Thanks
>> ypauls
>>
>>
>
>
> Home-made plain pastry shell, made very short by using lots of lard
> and maybe a little butter.
>
> Bob
>

Bob, I've never combined lard and butter. Do you have a
recipe/suggestion for the combination? I'd like to try it.

Thanks...

--
Wayne in Phoenix

If there's a nit to pick, some nitwit will pick it.

Wayne wrote:
> zxcvbob > wrote in
> :
>
>
>>ypauls wrote:
>>
>>>I have a great recipe for French Silk Pie, but I have been using a
>>>frozen pie shell that does not really complement the decadently rich
>>>desert. What type of pie shell would work best?
>>>Thanks
>>>ypauls
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>Home-made plain pastry shell, made very short by using lots of lard
>>and maybe a little butter.
>>
>>Bob
>>
>
>
> Bob, I've never combined lard and butter. Do you have a
> recipe/suggestion for the combination? I'd like to try it.
>
> Thanks...
>

They are pretty much interchangable in pastry. Lard "shortens" better,
and butter tastes better. The last pastry crust I made, for a 10"
double crust pie, was all lard:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup shortening [lard]
1 tsp salt
8 Tbsp. very cold water

Combine flour, salt, and fat with a pastry blender or your fingertips
until it looks like coarse crumbs. Some of the fat will still be in
pea-sized pieces. Sprinkle with the cold water and mix gently, mashing
against side of bowl, until all is moistened and you can form it into a
ball. Roll out and form as usual.

Cut this recipe in half for a normal-sized single crust pie. If I was
gonna use lard and butter, I'd use roughly 1/3 butter and 2/3 lard, and
mix the butter in first until it totally disappears into the flour.
Then add the lard and mix until it looks appropriately crumbly, and then
the water.

So for a single-crust pie using both butter and lard, that comes out to
something like:

1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp butter
4 Tbsp lard
3 to 4 Tbsp very cold water.

You could also try doing 3+3 lard and butter.

Best regards,
Bob

zxcvbob > wrote in
:

> Wayne wrote:
>> zxcvbob > wrote in
>> :
>>
>>
>>>ypauls wrote:
>>>
>>>>I have a great recipe for French Silk Pie, but I have been using a
>>>>frozen pie shell that does not really complement the decadently rich
>>>>desert. What type of pie shell would work best?
>>>>Thanks
>>>>ypauls
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>Home-made plain pastry shell, made very short by using lots of lard
>>>and maybe a little butter.
>>>
>>>Bob
>>>
>>
>>
>> Bob, I've never combined lard and butter. Do you have a
>> recipe/suggestion for the combination? I'd like to try it.
>>
>> Thanks...
>>
>
> They are pretty much interchangable in pastry. Lard "shortens"
> better, and butter tastes better. The last pastry crust I made, for a
> 10" double crust pie, was all lard:
>
> 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
> 2/3 cup shortening [lard]
> 1 tsp salt
> 8 Tbsp. very cold water
>
> Combine flour, salt, and fat with a pastry blender or your fingertips
> until it looks like coarse crumbs. Some of the fat will still be in
> pea-sized pieces. Sprinkle with the cold water and mix gently,
> mashing against side of bowl, until all is moistened and you can form
> it into a ball. Roll out and form as usual.
>
> Cut this recipe in half for a normal-sized single crust pie. If I was
> gonna use lard and butter, I'd use roughly 1/3 butter and 2/3 lard,
> and mix the butter in first until it totally disappears into the
> flour. Then add the lard and mix until it looks appropriately crumbly,
> and then the water.
>
> So for a single-crust pie using both butter and lard, that comes out
> to something like:
>
> 1 1/4 cup flour
> 1/2 tsp salt
> 2 Tbsp butter
> 4 Tbsp lard
> 3 to 4 Tbsp very cold water.
>
> You could also try doing 3+3 lard and butter.
>
> Best regards,
> Bob
>

Bob, thanks for your quick and very detailed response! I am baking
several pies this weekend and will give both the all lard and
lard/butter combination a try. I usually use half vegetable shortening
and half butter, so I'm looking forward to trying the lard.

Thanks again...

--
Wayne in Phoenix

If there's a nit to pick, some nitwit will pick it.

Wayne > wrote in :

> I usually use half vegetable shortening
> and half butter, so I'm looking forward to trying the lard.
>

Usually on the lard box there's a failsafe recipe for pastry...involving
vinegar and egg as part of the cold water. I'm not sure that you don't need
some vinegar when mixing lard with the butter. Just a thought.

--
Once during Prohibition I was forced to live for days on nothing but food
and water.
--------
FIELDS, W. C.

On Thu, 15 Jul 2004 16:03:14 -0500, zxcvbob
> wrote:

> Home-made plain pastry shell, made very short by using lots of lard and
> maybe a little butter.

That recipe would be fine (perfect) for me, but when I gave
a similar recipe to my son... well let's just say that lard
"smoothed" the passage of food through his digestive system.

<g>


Practice safe eating - always use condiments

sf > wrote in
:

> On Thu, 15 Jul 2004 16:03:14 -0500, zxcvbob
> > wrote:
>
>> Home-made plain pastry shell, made very short by using lots of lard
>> and maybe a little butter.
>
> That recipe would be fine (perfect) for me, but when I gave
> a similar recipe to my son... well let's just say that lard
> "smoothed" the passage of food through his digestive system.

Thus insuring regularity! <g>

--
Wayne in Phoenix

If there's a nit to pick, some nitwit will pick it.

On Fri, 16 Jul 2004 06:31:36 GMT, Wayne >
wrote:

> sf > wrote in
> :
>
> > On Thu, 15 Jul 2004 16:03:14 -0500, zxcvbob
> > > wrote:
> >
> >> Home-made plain pastry shell, made very short by using lots of lard
> >> and maybe a little butter.
> >
> > That recipe would be fine (perfect) for me, but when I gave
> > a similar recipe to my son... well let's just say that lard
> > "smoothed" the passage of food through his digestive system.
>
> Thus insuring regularity! <g>

Let's end this with me telling you that he said he'd never
sh*t so much in his life.

LOL!

It was like greased lightning!


Practice safe eating - always use condiments

sf > wrote in
:

> On Fri, 16 Jul 2004 06:31:36 GMT, Wayne >
> wrote:
>
>> sf > wrote in
>> :
>>
>> > On Thu, 15 Jul 2004 16:03:14 -0500, zxcvbob
>> > > wrote:
>> >
>> >> Home-made plain pastry shell, made very short by using lots of
>> >> lard and maybe a little butter.
>> >
>> > That recipe would be fine (perfect) for me, but when I gave
>> > a similar recipe to my son... well let's just say that lard
>> > "smoothed" the passage of food through his digestive system.
>>
>> Thus insuring regularity! <g>
>
> Let's end this with me telling you that he said he'd never
> sh*t so much in his life.
>
> LOL!
>
> It was like greased lightning!

hehehe! I have to add one more thing... Never make an oil-based pastry
crust with mineral oil.

One more tale - on me... I have always like dried prunes, even as a
kid. Oddly enough, as a kid, they absolutely never had the predicted
effect on me and I could eat practically an entire box of them. Well, a
few years ago I had a really strong desire to eat some dried prunes, so
bought a box. I ended up eating most of them in the course of a few
hours. A short time later I really thought I was going to die! Oh, the
pain!!!


--
Wayne in Phoenix

If there's a nit to pick, some nitwit will pick it.

sf > wrote in
:

> On Thu, 15 Jul 2004 16:03:14 -0500, zxcvbob
> > wrote:
>
>> Home-made plain pastry shell, made very short by using lots of lard
>> and maybe a little butter.
>
> That recipe would be fine (perfect) for me, but when I gave
> a similar recipe to my son... well let's just say that lard
> "smoothed" the passage of food through his digestive system.

Thus insuring regularity! <g>

--
Wayne in Phoenix

If there's a nit to pick, some nitwit will pick it.

On Thu, 15 Jul 2004 13:33:03 -0700, "ypauls" > wrote:

>I have a great recipe for French Silk Pie, but I have been using a frozen
>pie shell that does not really complement the decadently rich desert.
>What type of pie shell would work best?

Sounds like smashed up chocolate wafers (do they still make those?)
would be ideal. Like a graham-cracker crust, but with chocolate cookie
crumbs.

Frogleg wrote:
>
> On Thu, 15 Jul 2004 13:33:03 -0700, "ypauls" > wrote:
>
> >I have a great recipe for French Silk Pie, but I have been using a frozen
> >pie shell that does not really complement the decadently rich desert.
> >What type of pie shell would work best?
>
> Sounds like smashed up chocolate wafers (do they still make those?)
> would be ideal. Like a graham-cracker crust, but with chocolate cookie
> crumbs.

And some finely chopped nuts....

gloria p

Gloria answered:

>> Sounds like smashed up chocolate wafers (do they still make those?)
>> would be ideal. Like a graham-cracker crust, but with chocolate cookie
>> crumbs.
>
> And some finely chopped nuts....

Try this one (from _The New West Coast Cuisine_):

Walnut-Butter Pie Crust

1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup unbleached white flour
1/2 cup butter
1 cup walnuts

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Combine all ingredients in processor bowl and
process until it resembles coarse meal. Now place in a 13-by-9-inch pan and
bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and stir with a fork. Pour into
9-inch pie pan and press with back of fork into a pie crust shape. Return to
oven and cook until light golden-brown, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven
and cool.

(This is part of the book's French Silk pie recipe. I sometimes substitute
hazelnuts for the walnuts. Pecans or almonds would be good too.)

Bob

Frogleg wrote:
>
> On Thu, 15 Jul 2004 13:33:03 -0700, "ypauls" > wrote:
>
> >I have a great recipe for French Silk Pie, but I have been using a frozen
> >pie shell that does not really complement the decadently rich desert.
> >What type of pie shell would work best?
>
> Sounds like smashed up chocolate wafers (do they still make those?)
> would be ideal. Like a graham-cracker crust, but with chocolate cookie
> crumbs.

And some finely chopped nuts....

gloria p

On Thu, 15 Jul 2004 13:33:03 -0700, "ypauls" > wrote:

>I have a great recipe for French Silk Pie, but I have been using a frozen
>pie shell that does not really complement the decadently rich desert.
>What type of pie shell would work best?

Sounds like smashed up chocolate wafers (do they still make those?)
would be ideal. Like a graham-cracker crust, but with chocolate cookie
crumbs.